Update on Gimpy (Leo)

Justin just called on his way home from the vet with Leo. Today they had a consultation with the orthopedic specialist, which included a sedated examination of Leo's knees to determine whether or not he has a ligament tear. The doctor's opinion is that yes, he does have a partial tear in his left ACL, which can be successfully repaired with surgery. The bad news is that his X-rays show that he still has a growth plate in his legs which means he can't have the surgery yet. Apparently they remove some of the bone and attach a titanium device to the bone when they do the ligament repair surgery, and that can't be done until the bone is done growing. So... poor Leo has to rest as much as possible for a few months and also try to lose some weight. The combination of needing to lose weight and also having his activity restricted means the poor guy is going to get a lot less food in his dish every day (worst case scenario for a lab!) We're thinking the surgery should be scheduled sometime in early summer. Oh, and it costs about $3000. Yikes! Too bad we never got around to signing up for pet insurance...