Mrs Le Lagadec did not have the $6000 in savings but the first operation had to be paid when she collected him.
She said her home loan allowed her to pay a bit extra, and she was entitled to draw it out in an emergency, so that is what she did to pay for the first one.
Her boss has started a Givealittle page online to pay for the two operations. The second one will be in one to two months when the first has healed.
Ms Le Lagadec said her insurance policy specified it did not cover cruciate ligaments, but she has put in a claim for the initial x-rays, which cost slightly more than $600.
She said she believed the injury was something labradors were susceptible to.
She said without the operations, Kambi would have had to be put down.
"It would be a toss up between how long he can carry on, on painkillers until it damages his kidneys ..th..th. and when is the pain so much we cannot justify keeping him alive."
She said labradors typically lived to about 12 years, so he had almost half his life left and the plates would last for that time.
"He's only a young dog, and we still have a lot of years that I believe we can give to the community, to the children.
Kambi is part of the Outreach Therapy Pets programme which sees animals go into hospitals and rest homes around the country.