A Survivor’s Tail

Maggie's Story

It’s common to hear of athletes tearing their anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, but did you know that dogs can suffer from the same injury? The ACL is a ligament in the knee that can become torn or damaged, causing pain and affecting your pet’s mobility.

Maggie is a 9-year old Airedale terrier who underwent TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) surgery for an ACL injury in November 2006. She’s been protected by a VPI policy for seven years and lives in upstate New York with her pet parent, Elaine.

When Maggie first began limping in the summer of 2006, her veterinarian prescribed medication to reduce inflammation around her knee. Three months later, the limping grew worse and the diagnosis was made: a torn ACL.

Elaine scheduled surgery with a veterinarian who specialized in the TPLO procedure. In the meantime, she moved downstairs so that Maggie wouldn’t have to struggle with stairs in the house. It was the beginning of a nine month-long recovery that was filled with ups and downs. Read on for a snapshot of the post-surgery healing process from Maggie’s perspective.

One Day at a Time

Day 98: Kinda groggy today. Turns out yesterday’s road trip downstate was for surgery! I wasn’t happy about that at all. To make things worse, I have to wear this darn cone around my head. Pleeease take it off—I won’t lick the stitches, I promise!

Day 110: Woe is me. Mom calls it a crate, but I call it solitary confinement. Whatever it is, I’ve been living in it for the last week and a half. The veterinarian says my leg needs a chance to heal, so being crated is for my own good. Well, I say there’s nothing good about this.

Day 126: Yippee! The cone came off today! I feel like a free dog again! Now if I can just figure out a way to break out of this crate....

Day 136: Had my first in-crate visitor today—the neighbor boy came over to see me and crawled right inside my cell, I mean crate, with me. Mom’s been great, of course, but it was nice to have some company.

Day 202: Today was a double big day: I got out of jail and got to sleep on Mom’s soft, warm bed for the first time since the surgery. It was the best day ever!

Day 247: I got to go out in the yard without a leash for the first time today! I ran around and visited all my old haunts: the flower bed, the old oak tree, the hole in the fence where I can stick my nose out. Ahh, this is the life.

Happy Ending

Today Maggie is back to her normal self, although her pet parent, Elaine, takes extra care to make sure she doesn’t overdo it when Maggie’s outdoors. Elaine is grateful that she had a VPI Pet Insurance policy to reimburse part of the expense of the surgery: out of the $3,240 to repair Maggie’s knee injury, VPI reimbursed approximately $1,520—nearly half. “I was surprised to get that much back,” says Elaine. “VPI has been a real blessing for me. Knowing that I can worry about Maggie first and about money second makes all the difference. Thank you, VPI.”

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