After much consideration I've decided not to go ahead with Dante's TPLO surgery for his torn CCL Ligament. The surgery was scheduled for this Friday (4/20/12) at Virginia Tech. But my gut kept tugging at my conscious telling me not to go forth with this surgery. It's been almost 2 months since Dante's visit to his Orthopedic doctor. Since this visit his leg has improved by 70% with careful restriction to his daily activity. During this time I was able to do in-depth research on the TPLO surgery and I don't believe Dante is a good candidate for surgery at the moment.
Although this surgery has a high success rate it's still very invasive (see picture), the recovery time is lengthy and a K9 needs to be at optimal health. With Dante's consistent skin allergies and infections his risk for an uncomplicated recovery is 50/50.
I spoke with his veterinarian and explained my concerns about the surgery and why I decided against it for now. She shockingly agreed with my decision. She said, if he's not in pain (which he's not), and if he's able to walk on all fours (which he is) then we shouldn't take the risk of surgery, especially because we're moving overseas and don't quite know what veterinary care is like in Riyadh. Even though I already had made the decision against the surgery it was reassuring that Dante's vet completely agreed with me. If and when his leg gets worse we'll cross that bridge, but in the mean time I feel confident with my decision and my mind is at ease.
Now onto good news in regards to getting Dante to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Thankfully we will all be on the same flight from Dulles to Riyadh, and we'll be on the pet friendliest aircraft, Lufthansa. Lufthansa is the the way to go when flying with a pet(s). They are experienced with transporting pets safely, especially during the hottest months of the year. They also DO NOT fly pets as cargo instead as as excess baggage which makes a HUGE difference. Flying a pet as cargo can make it a lengthy process when clearing customs. Although rare, there has also been horror stories of pets dying when flying as cargo, especially during summer months. This is because pets who fly as cargo are stowed away with all the other cargo while waiting to clear customs, and depending on the country it can take hours to clear customs. Plus these holding areas don't have A/C or someone to tend to the pet therefore leading to an unfortunate disaster for the pet and an emotional roller coaster for the owner. So, needless to say I'm extremely happy about our flight reservations. We depart on July 21st. :)
