Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
A torn cruciate ligament — the dog version of a torn ACL — repaired by a veterinary orthopedic surgeon in our own surgical suite in St. Petersburg. Your dog has the surgery at Community Animal Hospitals and, in most cases, goes home the same day. Before any work begins you receive a written, itemized estimate.
Tell us what your veterinarian has told you, and whether x-rays have been taken. We’ll get back to you with the next step.
A TPLO is the most common surgery for a torn cranial cruciate ligament in dogs. The cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) is the dog’s equivalent of the ACL in a person’s knee. When it tears, the shin bone slides forward every time the dog puts weight on the leg, which is why the dog limps, sits with the leg pushed out, or stops using it.
TPLO stands for tibial plateau leveling osteotomy. Instead of replacing the ligament, the surgeon changes the angle of the top of the shin bone so the knee is stable without it, and holds the bone in its new position with a plate and screws.
A TPLO is not the only repair. A lateral suture stabilises the knee from the outside and suits some dogs. Which one is right depends on your dog’s size, age and how active they are — the surgeon decides after reviewing the x-rays, and tells you why.
A partial tear can look like a mild limp that never quite goes away. Only an exam and x-rays can tell you what is happening in the knee.
We examine your pet and image what needs imaging, on our own digital x-ray equipment. If your veterinarian has already done this, we work from their records.
For all proposed diagnostics and treatment, before any work begins. Nothing is scheduled until you have seen it and said yes.
Pre-surgical labs are run in-house and reviewed before the day of surgery — never drawn the morning of.
In most cases your pet goes home the same day. Rechecks and suture removal are included.
A veterinary orthopedic surgeon operates at Community Animal Hospitals, in our own surgical suite. Our own team looks after your pet before and after — the same people you would see for anything else.
Questions about the surgery itself are answered by the orthopedic surgeon. They usually come through one of our own doctors first, who knows your pet’s history and brings the surgeon in.
No referral needed. If your veterinarian has already taken x-rays, bring them, email them to petcare@communityanimalhospitals.com, or tell us on the form who has them and we will request them for you.
A real patient treated at one of our hospitals. Identifying details have been removed.
We quote after we know. TPLO cost depends on your dog’s size, whether one knee or both need repair, what the x-rays show and what your dog needs to go home with. A number quoted before the x-rays would be a guess.
You receive a written, itemized estimate for all proposed diagnostics and treatment before any work begins. You will never get a bill you have not approved. If we find something unexpected during surgery, we call you before doing anything about it.
Many of our clients find that financing part or all of the procedure through Cherry works best for them.
According to Cherry, the application takes under 35 seconds from start to finish, and “Cherry performs a soft credit check which does not affect your credit score.”
Check your options with Cherry
We also accept CareCredit and Scratch Pay.
Most people are less worried about the procedure than about the anesthesia. That is a fair worry, and it deserves a straight answer.
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork tells us how your pet’s liver and kidneys will handle the anesthetic drugs. It is also how we catch the problem that changes the plan — before we start, not during.
The catheter means immediate access to a vein if we need it, rather than looking for one in an emergency. Fluids maintain blood pressure, which is what protects the kidneys under anesthesia.
A trained technician is assigned to your pet’s anesthesia and does nothing else for the duration — heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen, blood pressure, temperature and breathing, continuously, with hands on your pet.
Anesthetised animals lose heat quickly, and a cold patient recovers badly — slower waking, more shivering, more pain. Active warming runs through the procedure and into recovery. It is unglamorous and it matters.
Almost never, and age by itself is not the reason to decline. In the largest study of US primary-care practice — 822 hospitals — the anesthetic death rate was 0.05% in dogs and 0.11% in cats. What moves that number is health status, not age: in sick patients it rises roughly twenty-five fold. Which is why what we do before the procedure matters more than the number on the birthday.
Bloodwork, a physical examination, and a plan built around what we find. If something turns up that changes the risk, we tell you before the day, not after.
AAHA’s 2023 senior care guidelines: “Advanced age alone is not a contraindication to general anesthesia.”
We do not provide overnight care. For most procedures your pet goes home the same day — home is quieter, and you are the person who notices first when something is not right. You will go home with written aftercare instructions and a number to call if anything worries you.
If your pet does need overnight monitoring, we will say so and refer you to a 24-hour facility that can give it. That is a judgment made on the day, about your pet — not a policy.
Most pets go home wearing a cone (an e-collar) so they cannot lick or chew at the incision while it heals.
Recheck visits and suture removal are included in the surgery price.
Questions after you get home go to us — six days a week, 7:30am–6:30pm.
5895 54th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Clients travel as far as 15–20 miles for surgery with us, from St. Petersburg · Gulfport · Pinellas Park · Seminole · Bardmoor · Tyrone Square · South Pasadena · Kenneth City · Lealman and beyond · Open 7:30am–6:30pm, six days a week
It depends on your dog’s size, one knee or both, and what the x-rays show. Once we have the x-rays — ours or your veterinarian’s — you receive a written, itemized estimate for all proposed diagnostics and treatment before any work begins.
No. You can contact us directly. If your veterinarian has x-rays or records, we can request them for you.
Often not. Send them, or tell us who has them, and the surgeon will review them. If they are not enough to plan the surgery we will tell you, and tell you what new films would cost, before anything is booked.
Most dogs put weight on the leg within a few days and are back to normal activity in a few months. In between, activity is restricted — lead walks only at first, no stairs and no jumping, then a gradual return. The restriction is the part owners underestimate, and it is what protects the repair while the bone heals. Your dog goes home with specific written instructions from the orthopedic surgeon.
Often, eventually. Whatever predisposed the first knee usually applies to the second, so a dog that tears one cranial cruciate has a real chance of tearing the other. We will tell you if we think the second one is coming.
Yes. The plate and screws are not routinely removed. If hardware does cause a problem later, taking it out is a smaller procedure than putting it in.