Cruciate Trouble?
My 10 year old GSD x Rottie slipped up in the field on Monday chasing another dog - horrible noise of crying subsided when she found me and got some sympathy but she was on 3 legs (back leg affected). Went to the vet for pain relief that afternoon and of course have been ordered to rest. I returned to day with some improvement obvious - she is bearing a little weight from time to time. My question is this - she is a rescued dog and gets mightily stressed at the vet and they now want to have her back on Monday for XRays to see if there is a tear - which would require surgery. Or would it - I tore my knee ligaments years ago and wasn't offered surgery! Being against intervention unless absolutely vital I would rather not put her through it - she is old enough to have had the best of her life already. She is managing very well on three legs and is quite happy in herself. As an aside to the thread on insurance - She is not insured but I feel that in the 9 years she has enjoyed good health has saved plenty of premiums to pay for surgery if necessary. I have thought of putting money into a savings account for a sick dog day but never quite got round to it.
Thoughts would be gratefully received - thank you.
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My small dog had cruciate repair surgery last year after a similar incident.
First approach was cage rest for several weeks but in general the smaller the dog the more likely that rest will be successful. Larger dogs tend to need surgical repair more frequently.
We weren't happy to leave our little one hopping around as he's got luxating patellas and the risk of damage from unbalanced hopping was quite high.
I'd go back for further investigation and take advice from there. You can always ask for a second opinion and referral if you aren't happy that your vet does the operation frequently themselves.
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,Pippah, Since my fall 3 weeks ago damageing my left knee they think after a CT scan (x rays evidently do not show soft tissue damage)that if it is torn ligaments, then an op may be required as us "oldies" do not repair as we would when younger,so thats probably why you were not offered an operation,
Sorry about your Dog,they do not consider they are getting older,hope thing work out,
We have not taken out Insurance for our latest rescue collie and stopped it when our last collie was older as the premiums just kept going up as she got older for no real return, We opened a savings account and put the "premiums" in there, it has now got enough to pay most vet fees ,over and above what we would have had to pay upfront with an insurance
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Several years ago our dog, a Collie Cross, suffered this injury when we were away in the caravan. Took her to a local vets who said she would need surgery but as we were going home in a couple of days said it was better just to let her rest and have the operation done at our vets. We didn't have pet insurance and the cost was somewhere between eight and nine hundred. What really disturbed me was when a friend's dog had the same injury not too long afterwards. The vet asked if they had insurance, which they did, and the cost was half as much again. I wonder if this sort of practice happens a lot.
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My opinion Pippah, you cannot leave it at that and at the very least there is a need to find out if there is damage by way of the Xray, then you and the Vet will know exactly instead of guessing, at that point you can talk of options, the dog deserves this.
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Pippah, I agree with Metheven. Wait until you know exactly the extent of the damage and then consider the options.
A friend of mine had this op carried out on her elderly collie x about 4 years ago. There’s no doubt that it helped him but he never returned to walking as before the injury. There was no insurance and the op cost about £1500.
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Concur with what everyone else has said .
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Brilliant everyone thank you - I have taken one step today in that I didn't give her the pain killer this evening to see how she goes. She can have it any time it looks necessary. I agree they can't actually "tell" us how they feel but there are a lot of signs to be read. I am slightly cynical about the money making exercises that might go on too. While I am glad they can reduce the price for uninsured animals it doesn't seem right really!
A few years ago I damaged a car - not so I couldn't drive it - but I was given a replacement for weeks and weeks on the insurance - when I could have been driving my own around until the spare parts arrived. No wonder premiums grow and grow.
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Pippah, if you love your dog, then you will do the best for her.
Surely after she has given you all those years of pleasure then she deserves to be comfortable in her latter years
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Metheven thank you very much for that.
Yes Brian you are absolutely right - I was trying to balance medical necessity with emotional well being. Stress was a major part of her first year of life and it has taken a lot of TLC to bring that stress down. Certain things trigger stress still and it is very distressing to see her in panic mode again which happily until now had not been a daily happening as it was in the early days but still does happen with various triggers particularly even routine visits to the vet.
As a result of not giving the pill last night it was quite clear this morning that was masking a lot so there is no question now of not doing the XRays. I question everything for myself having been severely let down on several occasions by the medical profession while on other occasions received life saving help. So I am doing the same for my girl. I am concerned that the prognosis is so bad for larger dogs and don't want to put her through any unnecessary procedures - just trying to weigh it all up and everyone has been very helpful. Thank you very much.
Pippa
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Pippa if she gets stressed before visiting the vet you can ask them for a mild sedative to give her before you take her in. The X-ray will be done under anaesthetic but the calmer she is the better for her.
No two operations are the same and there isn't a standard price. Pricing is complicated. Depends on staff involvement, time taken, materials used drugs needed etc. My dogs cruciate repair took quite a long time as some orthopaedic work was needed before the repair could take place. Consequently it would have cost considerably more than a tear on a similar dog.
Sometimes insured cases cost less than non insured cases. If you aren't happy with the bill then ask for a breakdown.
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Pippa, I understand your concerns about unnecessary treatment but your vet's have said they can do something. Not long ago we were faced with one of our dogs being x rayed (vet's suggestion) but no solution whatever the results. I think the vets, quite rightly are interested in seeing what is going on so they can learn but we decided in that instance we would all have to stay ignorant as there was no hope for our dog. If there is a chance of improvement that is good news.
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Thank you Brue - slight correction to that - they have said they might be able to do something as in operate but the success rates of a dog her size and age is pretty low. Successful results depend on the ability to keep the dog immobile during the recovery period - which is another problem for mine. She is a born Guard dog and I can't see how I can stop her getting excited when traffic passes. I didn't care for the way the vet poo pooed my question as to whether a brace might work - he had the close minded response to internet research that my own GP has shown to my research into thyroid problems. My research has led to me having a greatly enhanced quality of life by NOT following the guidelines. These guidelines have recently been refuted by one of the medics who put them in place originally! Remember eggs and cholesterol? Quite a few things have changed over the years. My own grandfather was a GP who taught young medics and he thought that Anti Biotics should only be used in cases of life or death - and how right was he?
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Just caught up with this thread.. Sorry to hear of your dog's injury. As your last post was dated 15th February, has there been any improvement.
My neighbour's dog suffered a similar injury and has improved tremendously after the surgery.
Kennine
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Thank you Kennine - I was finally convinced that surgery was the best option - and that was due when the snow ground Lincolnshire to a halt! She was operated on this Wednesday - and Thursday I thought I had made a terrible mistake - reminding me why I wanted to avoid her feeling that ill. However today she is happy to be alive again - at least slightly - yesterday she clearly blamed me for the awful way she felt and that was pretty bad! She adores a neighbour - so I got her in to have a chat and even that didn't lift her mood - this lady usually has her on tip top form! So hopefully onwards and upwards. My ex son in law couldn't afford the op (circa £900) on his middle aged Lab and it took her almost a year to get back on four legs but my vet says arthritis will be the result. Going from my own torn knee ligament from a ski injury many years ago - I am sure my vet is right - my knee is often good but at the moment it is giving gyp! Now it looks as though I may have to brave the snow for a check up tomorrow - however this will be done over the telephone if it's not safe to go out!
It is worth noting that I asked to stay with her until the pre-med injection took effect. There was another dog waiting for surgery and it was screaming the kennels down - her owners had left in tears - but they could have waited until she was partially sedated. I am glad my dog wasn't in an adjoining kennel to this poor creature who actually ended up being put to sleep as her tumour was too large. We can minimise the stress for our best friends if we know to ask.
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