Find a vet/surgeon who does a lot of these and is good at it. Use the same criteria you would use for yourself, if you were searching for an othopedic surgeon.
We opted for the filament surgery and you would be hard pressed to tell any difference now between the surgically treated leg and the normal leg. We followed the surgeon's advice on rest and rehab scrupulously. It took about 3 months of rehab for her to build up the muscle which had seriously atrophied and another couple of months before you could not tell the difference in gait. We did not have water close by (the ideal is to walk through shallow water as it offers some resistance and also is low impact), but walked daily, incrementing the distance slowly eventually up to 4 miles a day. We might have easily been labeled "anal" about the rehab program, but our meticulousness paid off. We did not use Rimydal but instead used another drug with similar properties. According to our vet, our girl was "sensitive" when it came to pain (I might have been less diplomatic than the surgeon and called it "melodramatic"). In any event, dogs differ on pain tolerance as do people. We ended up going with a heavy duty neck patch to manage pain the first 3 days. It was expensive and so I don't advise it for all cases. All in all, we are very happy with the outcome -- although I think I might look around to borrow a sling for taking her out to pee! The towel trick was pretty cumbersome or maybe I was just inept. Nancy Melone and Mt Tops Hannah Anna, CD, TDI, CGC
