Our Dog Tore Her ACL

[Illini Disney Girl]

We have a four year old golden retriever who recently torn her ACL, our vet said she would be fine without surgery, and would figure out what she can and can't do to compensate for the tear. If we do opt for the surgery the vet says it is highly likely she will just tear it again. For the past 5 days she has been limping along and at times even hoping on three legs. It makes me so sad to see her like this, but we can also tell she is struggling less and less each day. We go for a second opinion tomorrow.

I'm feeling like a very bad pet Mommy for even considering not opting for the surgery. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this and your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[legalsea]

We have a four year old golden retriever who recently torn her ACL, our vet said she would be fine without surgery, and would figure out what she can and can't do to compensate for the tear. If we do opt for the surgery the vet says it is highly likely she will just tear it again. For the past 5 days she has been limping along and at times even hoping on three legs. It makes me so sad to see her like this, but we can also tell she is struggling less and less each day. We go for a second opinion tomorrow.

I'm feeling like a very bad pet Mommy for even considering not opting for the surgery. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this and your thoughts.

Thanks

We have a dog in the exact same situation. She limped pretty badly for a while, but did not appear to be in any pain. As time went on she began to compensate for it very well, and she can now run like the wind again, albeit with a slight limp.

Nature does very well by dogs. If one ligament is torn others will strengthen to take up the slack.

 

[kinntj]

My dog tore his and we did have the surgery. On large dogs I'd probably do it depending on age. As a dog gets older their joints only get worse. My dog is at the end of his recovery and can now walk around the block.

Surgery for him was quite expensive, but we did the metal plate and not those temporary fixes.

I wouldn't feel too guilty if you don't have it done.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My 10 year old collie tore hers. We waited to have her surgery done for a couple weeks and she never limped. People actually didn't believe me that it was torn.

I showed her in dog agility and she refused to run . Thats how I knew something was wrong because she loved to show.

We did have the surgery and she did well. Never limped but I never did show her again. I was afraid she might tear it again or the other one.

She lived to the ripe old age of 16 and it was her hips that became very arthritic.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

My now-16-year-old cocker spaniel tore both of hers when she was 8 or 9. She had surgery both times and has prosthetic ligaments now. Our vet was pretty amazed after her first surgery, when she came in less than 2 weeks later for her checkup, and jumped up onto the bench by herself. She only stopped jumping up onto chairs about a year or two ago. She cracks a lot now, sometimes it's hard for her to stand up after she's been sitting for a while, but the vet says she does not have arthritis..."Just muscle weakness, happens to all of us when we get old."

 

[ElizK]

My (approx) 14 yr old beagle tore hers last year. Surgery was going to be over $1500.00, and they couldn't guarantee it would work. We opted not to do it. We were adviced to give her 3 baby aspirin and a glucosomine-chondroitin (sp...) tablet every day. It really helped a lot. She doesn't seem to be in pain, doesn't limp much, and is a pretty happy dog.

 

[crjack]

Our almost 8 yr old lab mix tore his ACL and we did the TPLO surgery about 9 weeks ago. He goes in next week for his 10 week follow up with x-rays and we'll find out how well he healed.

Get the second opinion and go from there. Your dog is young so her health is probably very good overall.

We are worried about another tear because our dog is active but in his case surgery wasn't optional....he definitely needed it and it was quite a surprise to us.

We have always kept his weight in line and will do what we can to avoid any future issues. We were told that a dog can over compensate using their "good" leg and over time that can cause an injury or new tear. Your vet may bring that up tomorrow.

Best of luck.

 

[aduck126]

We have a dog with all sorts of problems. We got her from a breeder that was inbreeding her dogs. She was supposed to be a pure bred shar pei. She is 20lbs under weight. She has the hip displasure of a 14 year old (she is 2). Her back leg grew at an angle due to her tibia and fibia crossing, so at the knee her leg jets inward, so she only has 3 legs to walk on. Our vet told us that we could spend upwards of 10K on surgery for her but there is no guarantee that it will work or that she will live through it. So we opted out and are providing her with the best life that we can while she is still with us. Despite all this she is a very happy dog and loves playing with our other 3 dogs.
i know it is hard but sometimes you just have to say no to the surgery.


and just because she is so darn cute, this is Bonsai

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

We have a 13 year old Aussie and he has torn both of his. The first one when he was 7 and the second when he was 9. The recovery was hard for us because we live in a 2 story house and they can't do stairs for 8 weeks. We actually left him at the vet for the first 2 weeks because they have to stay in a crate for 2 weeks. It was really hard on us but I would do it again if I had to. Good Luck!

 

[CathrynRose]

and just because she is so darn cute, this is Bonsai

Awwww - I love Bonsai!! You're right! She is darn cute!

 

[Luvchefmic]

IMHO surgery is always a last resort (not talking emergency here obviously)
for animal or human...don't feel like you are bad, time heals alot, a second opinion is a great thing

 

[PlutoPony]

A lot of people here get the surgery done at the vet school, and save a good chunk of money - like 30% +. This is a fairly common operation at a lot of the schools so the surgical interns typically have done quite a few of them.

In general, we know a lot more large dog owners who opt for the surgery than small dogs. As a PP noted, there's often concern about the large dog developing other joint/skeletal problems from compensating for the injury.

 

[minkydog]

Well, I don't think you're a bad pet mom. There *is* a bottom to the pocketbook, ya know? My Minky is 10yo and if he tore an ACL(or had cancer or whatever) I doubt that we would be able to opt for an expensive surgery. His yearly shots,lab work and grooming already have us at about $1500-2000/year. I say, if your dog isn't in terrible pain, and if the pain seems to be getting better, then perhaps you can put off surgery or avoid it altogether. They don't always so surgery on human ACLs either, unless they are very athletic. You have to decide what you can live with--taking money out of savings, or worse, running up a credit card, or letting time take care of the injury.

 

[tommya60]

There is more than one way to repair a torn ACL. Our 55lb Standard Poodle tore her ACl several years ago. Vet #1 wanted to do TPLO, scheduled the surgery etc. For a variety of reasons we were reluctant to do the TPLO....so I got a second opinion. Vet #2 did a different repair, she's fine, runs around happy, is very active. We now see vet #2 exclusively. (Vet #1 had taken over the practice when our longtime vet retired. There were several things I didn't really like about his practice. A little research on the net and I learned TPLO can be a problem if there is any history of cancer--our poodle had a toe removed due to bone cancer. This is not an agility dog, she's not a super huge dog; she's an active, spoiled member of our family.)

Keep in mind that wait and see, fishing line surgery, knee braces (goggle it), etc leave you with the option of TPLO if it doesn't work. TPLO rules out all other options. It may be best in some cases, you might want to consider a second opinion in your specific case. The size of your dog and activity level make a big difference.

 

[cristit14]

I just took our dog in last week. The vet said his is partially torn,not completely. She doesn't want to do surgery. She gave us some doggy ibuprofen to give him twice a day and he isn't allowed to run or jump. We leave for Disney on Friday and we are going to board him at the vet. That way she can keep an eye on him while we are gone and see how it is doing.

 

[WDWBarb]

My German Shepherd tore her ACL 4 years ago (when she was 4 years old). We opted for TPLO and took her to Ohio State University. I don't know if it cost less (because it was crazy expensive) but with her build, she would not have been able to live a normal and comfortable life.

She's had no further problems and I pray every day that she doesn't tear the other one..

 

[Oreo Cookie]

First off, you are not a bad mom, and don't feel guilty.

My yellow lab tore his ACL when he was 4. We opted for the surgery (and I feel this should be the last resort). He had the TTA surgery and everything went well. He was able to support his weight on his leg before he came home from the hospital. Recovery time is about 3 months, and they really don't want the dogs to go up and down stairs for the first 8 weeks, unless you stabilize and help them. I did leash walk my lab and keep him from running for the first three months. This wasn't easy because he started to feel really good after the first two weeks.

Before the surgery, I did go for a second opinion to a holistic vet. She said that sometimes rest and the combination of a couple of herbal remedies works. I tried the combo of ligaplex, glucosamine, and vitamins. It didn't work for my lab, but some people have had success. It depends on the tear.

Good luck!

 

[momsully]

Our chocolate lab had a complete tear of her ACL on New Years Eve. After several opinions we opted for conservative management (google this - they have a great yahoo group that has tons of information) as well as a knee brace. We got her brace from www.orthopets.com. She is going great, still limps from time to time and if she plays to rough with our other lab she ends up pretty sore but for us this was the best option.

 

[Hercules10]

My male German Shepherd tore his ACL. Wait too long and arthritis will start to set in in both legs (good leg is overworked compensating for bad leg).

TPLO is about 14 straight weeks of PIA recovery but it was worth it.

Grip something and just do it. Quicker you do the quicker it's over with and will have a happy pain-free dog again.

 

[cabanafrau]

Our beloved golden had the surgery at nine. Recovered well. About 2 years later his hips became a problem & he started on meds, which I didn't like & didn't really seem to help much. Started taking him for acupuncture, which really seemed to help a lot.

Unfortunately a couple months later we lost him to a stroke, likely a result of the meds. I'd advise anybody w/ a dog of any size suffering from mobility/agility problems to seek out acupuncture and see what the results are after a few treatments.