Puppy surgery advice

[jdmsource]

i have a one year old chihuahua who is having some knee problems where the knee pops out of place from time to time, recently it has gotten worse so i took her to the vet and as suspected he said she has luxating patella (where the knee pops out of place, said to be common amongst small breeds). He referred us to a surgeon at the animal hospital on 4th street where i met with the surgeon and he examined her and said the same thing and that it would need surgery to correct it. now i have read alot online and many people have had this surgery done on their dogs, what i want advice on is if any one here have dealt with this and if so what hospital they have used? what surgeon? and the outcome? im not really concerned about cost i just want the best for her, so if any one has any advice on any good surgeons, hospitals? or experiences i would really appreciate it! Thanks

[JC522]

the pet hospital on 4th st nw by mcknight really sucks, I've been told by a few of my friends and even had some bad experiences myself. I would check out the airdrie animal health clinic, never had a bad experience there and the staff is great. I can't remember if they do surgeory there or if they recomend you to a different place though

[Lex350]

Originally posted by JC522
the pet hospital on 4th st nw by mcknight really sucks, I've been told by a few of my friends and even had some bad experiences myself. I would check out the airdrie animal health clinic, never had a bad experience there and the staff is great. I can't remember if they do surgeory there or if they recomend you to a different place though

I've had the exact opposite experience with Calgary North vet. They have been great with all our dogs....and this spans over 35 years.

[luv2ride_bikes]

Originally posted by JC522
the pet hospital on 4th st nw by mcknight really sucks, I've been told by a few of my friends and even had some bad experiences myself. I would check out the airdrie animal health clinic, never had a bad experience there and the staff is great. I can't remember if they do surgeory there or if they recomend you to a different place though
I have taken my dogs to this location a few times and they have been great. No problems at all.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by rotten42


I've had the exact opposite experience with Calgary North vet. They have been great with all our dogs....and this spans over 35 years.



Originally posted by luv2ride_bikes

I have taken my dogs to this location a few times and they have been great. No problems at all.

Ditto.

My cat's emergency surgery was over $3k. Don't know if this typical since I have no other rates to compare.

[rony_espana]

My puppy had a tumor removed at the pet hospital on 32nd ave (I think its called Calgary North East Pet Hospital), not sure if your talking about the same place. But my experience was great. The castleridge vet performed surgery and the lump came back about 4 weeks later and they wanted to charge me again ($1800) to perform the surgery again because they said it was a new lump. Didn't have that problem at the pet hospital. Also it was a lot cheaper. Recovery was tough though, he weighed 180 lbs when he had surgery and he couldn't walk for a couple days....

[teggypimp95]

Try the animal place in airdre right by the co-op. Our puppy needed some surgery and that was the best place by far. We did alot of research and alot of calling around before hand. Their advice seemed to be the best, and with the best price too.

[masoncgy]

Nothing wrong with the Calgary North Vet clinic. Sadly, I had to have one of my cats put down there as she could not be helped, but the staff were very compassionate and even allowed me to return later on to clear up the bill since I was not in a good state at the time.

I recommend this clinic.

Vets are expensive. My dog spent enough time at the vet as a puppy and I have pet insurance for her now, which has come in handy already on a couple occassions.

[JC522]

really? I've used their emergency services once at about 3am, because my new puppy was having dhiarrea. The lady at front desk didn't seem too happy when my puppy threw up in the waiting area. The vet tested my puppy for parvo (even though I informed him he is up to date with his vaccines), did a fecal exam with float test. The problem I have with this place was that he couldn't come up with a solution or even an idea why my puppy was having dhiarrea and throwing up. I would have been more then happy to shell out more money for different tests to get a diffinative answer but he just gave me dhiarrea medication and sent me on my way. Took him to the airdrie vet the next day within 10 minutes they had the test done and told me it was bacteria in his upper intestine.

[bubbley]

Man my dog got ran over and took it to 4th (dog is great btw)...place is like a rip off service...trying to upsell me on stuff lol...then they wanted to charge me to take out stitches and suggested i keep the dog there for a few days at a ridiculous price...took the dog home, monitered myself and took out stitches myself as well

[sevewone]

Originally posted by bubbley
Man my dog got ran over

:eek: Thats intense

[Tik-Tok]

I know you aren't asking about it, but stay away from C.A.R.E. in Deerfoot meadows as well. Expensive as hell, try to upcharge you on EVERYTHING, and generally don't know WTF they are doing.

My dog got hit by a truck, we took him there as our normal vet was closed for the day. They barely did anything for him, except dope him up, and "examine" him

The next day, we took him to our normal vet, and he found a 4" RIP in his skin near his crotch. It was literally ripped open.

Those a$$holes at CARE didn't even see it.

[mac_82]

My friend's mini Italian Greyhound had the same problem. Starting giving the dog glucosamine and it's fine. I would look at alternative solutions before you jump into surgery.

[jdmsource]

thanks for all the responses, i wasnt really doubting 4th st animal hospital, but i just want some feedback about them and also experiences on other places

[Kritafo]

I agree, look into something else before surgery.

Have you heard of Elk Antler they use it on dogs as well as humans. They have it out at Rocky Mountain Ranch have many friends with sighthounds that use it.

http://www.crmr.com/ranch/products.php#elkantler

[cooperS]

go to coach hill vet,is all the way up on bow trail by patterson.

my dog have been going there since 15 yrs ago. They are very professional and never under estimate the situation. if we are freaking out about our dog, they usually sneak us in for an appointment.

don't ever go to transcanada by 16 ave. that place is so shady and the prescription they gave dont even have the dog's name, prescription name or expiry date.

[Tearin]

If you are looking for a second opinion on orthopedic issues - I highly recommend Dr. Audrey Remedios at the Western Veterinary Specialist Centre (west end of downtown).

I spent $3000 on TPLO surgery for a torn cruciate and my dog recovered with flying colours and lived to be 12 running around as happy as could be.

Bottom line, big picture though - specialist surgeons are expensive. It's a question of who you feel comfortable with.

[CaptainReboot]

I would get a second opinion first before surgery.

Our vet told us our yorkie needed it and had to be done in a month, etc.

We decided not to do it as she didn't show any signs of it hurting.

The next year we brought her back to the vet for her check up, and he said the leg was fine and didn't need surgery.

Sounded a little sketchy to us as our dog also had baby teeth that he said needed to be pulled and quoted us on that, but they eventually fell out.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by jdmsource
i have a one year old chihuahua who is having some knee problems where the knee pops out of place from time to time, recently it has gotten worse so i took her to the vet and as suspected he said she has luxating patella (where the knee pops out of place, said to be common amongst small breeds). He referred us to a surgeon at the animal hospital on 4th street where i met with the surgeon and he examined her and said the same thing and that it would need surgery to correct it. now i have read alot online and many people have had this surgery done on their dogs, what i want advice on is if any one here have dealt with this and if so what hospital they have used? what surgeon? and the outcome? im not really concerned about cost i just want the best for her, so if any one has any advice on any good surgeons, hospitals? or experiences i would really appreciate it! Thanks

My min pin had this done after 1 yr. I went to the animal hospital by the bestbuy/ikea off of deerfoot. I forget exactally how much it cost, it was few grand tho. Luckily it was right around the time i got my bonus from work.

It took her about a month to recover almost fully. But you will want to minimize as much of the pups moving around if possible. I bought a little baby carriage and put it upside down with my dog in it with some pillows, blankets, food, water, etc so she could stay in the living room and watch tv if i wasnt with her.

You really need to baby the pup after as well, expect to be up early in the morning to take it out to the washroom since you cant just let it out to do its business. You basically have to carry it to the backyard and wait.

Its quite heartbreaking because the dog gets pretty upset it cant run around and you cant explain why it needs to go through the pain :(

heres a few pics of my dogs surgery. (the last one made me laugh, she wasn't too happy with me obviously ;) )

But shes now 3 years old so its been about 2 yrs since she had the surgery and shes been fine since.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/cryage/sashasurgery1.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/cryage/sashasurgery2.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/cryage/sashasurgery3.jpg

[jdmsource]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


My min pin had this done after 1 yr. I went to the animal hospital by the bestbuy/ikea off of deerfoot. I forget exactally how much it cost, it was few grand tho. Luckily it was right around the time i got my bonus from work.

It took her about a month to recover almost fully. But you will want to minimize as much of the pups moving around if possible. I bought a little baby carriage and put it upside down with my dog in it with some pillows, blankets, food, water, etc so she could stay in the living room and watch tv if i wasnt with her.

You really need to baby the pup after as well, expect to be up early in the morning to take it out to the washroom since you cant just let it out to do its business. You basically have to carry it to the backyard and wait.

Its quite heartbreaking because the dog gets pretty upset it cant run around and you cant explain why it needs to go through the pain :(

heres a few pics of my dogs surgery. (the last one made me laugh, she wasn't too happy with me obviously ;) )

But shes now 3 years old so its been about 2 yrs since she had the surgery and shes been fine since.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/cryage/sashasurgery1.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/cryage/sashasurgery2.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/cryage/sashasurgery3.jpg

thanks for the info, it is greatly appreciated, ya it is quite tough to not let her run around cuz of the knee popping out, glad to hear that she is doing good now, did they keep her overnight? also after it was healed and the hair grew back was the scar visible?

[403Gemini]

They did keep her overnight just to monitor her and make sure she came out of the meds okay (I guess its like a 1/50,000 chance anything could even happen so theres an incrediably small chance anything bad could happen).

All of her hair grew back, and there isn't even a scar so it healed up very nicely.

Good luck with the surgery man, if you need any other advice or anything just ask :thumbsup:

[cancer man]

What the heck do you do if you don't have 3 grand??
are you guys serious about the price..

[jdmsource]

Originally posted by cancer man
What the heck do you do if you don't have 3 grand??
are you guys serious about the price..
ya i was quoted $3100, it is hard for some to fork over that much but i think its tougher to see your puppy go through pain day in and day out

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by cancer man
What the heck do you do if you don't have 3 grand??
are you guys serious about the price..

Like I said man, I was lucky it was around bonus time for work. Even with my bonus though, I had to use up most of my Vacation to Germany fund I was saving for 2 years... oh well, Oktoberfest can wait 1 more year... *sigh*

If I didn't have the money I'd get my visa limit increased, get a line of credit, ask my family for money (I had A LOT of family and friends offer to help pay, but my pride is a bitch ;) ).

I'm un-married and I have no kids, so my pup is the closest thing to a child I have, of course I'd pay for this surgery for her.

edit: For those that don't fully understand what is up with the dogs leg, an example would be feel your knee cap and how you can move it around, underneath your kneecap is a fissure where the rest of the bones and cartilage sits in to stay connected/joined. Basically in these smaller dogs sometimes that fissure doesn't "grow" to be deep enough and therefore the kneecap slides to the side of the leg... now imagine how much pain that would be since you can't walk on it since the entire leg is out of place.

What they do is slice open the dogs leg and grind down the fissure a bit more so it does set properly.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by cancer man
What the heck do you do if you don't have 3 grand??
are you guys serious about the price..

I would seriously be considering a new dog at that price.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by cancer man
are you guys serious about the price..

Yep.

[GQBalla]

doesn't pet insurance cover some of this? If you have it?

[jdmsource]

Originally posted by GQBalla
doesn't pet insurance cover some of this? If you have it?

unfortunately no, they consider it a "hereditary" problem so no coverage

[bignerd]

Depending on how badly you want a second opinion and price... there is the veterinary school in Saskatchewan (there is one here as well but I do not know if they are taking patients for case work or not). Saskatchewan does and sometimes they are cheaper as they are a teaching hospital (obviously they have great vets/professors there so it is all done correctly).

I know a lady who had a dog with a serious hernia problem and they did a great job there and were the cheapest-she drove from Provost to there to have it done. Was $3500 vs $5000 in Alberta.

As it is a school (and they use to have a tv show on channel 13 I think) they have a lot of specialists theer and high tech equipment, as well I believe they do some surgeries there that other vets will not attempt.

[kails]

I have a Pomeranian and he had this surgery done last year at the Valley Ridge Veterinary clinic. They have a specialist that comes in to perform the surgeries and he was very good.

The hardest part was keeping the dog confined for 2 weeks, he didnt like sitting in his kennel all day. The other thing to note is that the surgery isnt 100% effective, but the sooner you do the surgery the better the chance it will work, as the joint starts to get arthritis after many months of the patella moving.

Best of luck in deciding, its always good to get another opinion though.

[Impreza]

My dog had great care when he was ran over and I took him to 4th st animal hospital. The doctor and the nurses were all very nice and helpful. My dog had to have some surgery on his leg and it turned out pretty successful. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them .

[AndyL]

Calgary north - good care, but there's a big difference depending on which vet you're dealing with - and how well the staff like your animal...

Our Pyrenees cross spent a week there this year - price was high, but they weren't pushing us to do things that weren't needed...

Though one of our friends (background - he has 2 dogs - his now exwife has 8 cats) swears by trans canada vet clinic... Turns out he would have come in at ~ 1/2 calgary north for that incident with the pyrenees...

[5000Audi]

my little pug went to get spade, 45 mins later i get a call saying my dog died.. that was at the castleridge location..

[drtoohotty1]

Originally posted by 5000Audi
my little pug went to get spade, 45 mins later i get a call saying my dog died.. that was at the castleridge location..

:( Brutal

[bignerd]

Definitely call around if you have the time to shop, there is really no rhyme for reason to veterinary prices. I needed some X-rays for my dog for breeding purposes and the lowest quote in Calgary I got was about $545. I went to Edmonton and the price was $220. Yes I had to drive a ways and pay for gas but we went for a nice dinner and still came out a bit ahead.

You can try calling some clinics in Okotoks or Cochrane and see what they charge.

[phreezee]

Originally posted by bignerd


You can try calling some clinics in Okotoks or Cochrane and see what they charge.

Good call. Difference in price for a spay was $100 in the city vs Cochrane.

Friends had their lab's knee done at the hospital need ikea on deerfoot with good results.

[nusneak]

I go to Krebbs Vet Clinic in Disbury, it is waaaay cheaper then any of the mentioned vets.

Little bit of a drive, but it is worth it to go to a vet that it not so busy/has good prices.

[black_2.5RS]

We took our cat to the 4st North vet clinic after he fell down the stairs (he jumped into a bag, freaked out and fell down the stairs). Anyways, got to go see them on short notice and thought they did a good job. The doctor was a wee bit rough with our cat in my opinion but i'm also a big softy.

[quazimoto]

FYI do not use this clinic for surgery for animals or for anything of an emergency type nature. They will seriously overbill you and try to talk you into things that may not be necessary. I ended up paying just under $2,000 for blood tests and a bowel exam that showed nothing. Went to my normal vet two days later to find out my dog had increased bacteria levels in her intestines that were causing harsh problems. Somehow the vet missed this.