Quote:
Originally Posted by kjc  This is probably not too popular of an opinion, lol, but here goes: I was a tech in the days before pain meds were made available to animals. One problem is that when animals feel pain, they limit their activity. When they don't feel pain, they tend to overdo and re-injure themselves. Personally, pain meds never did that much for me, lol.
That said, maybe decreasing her meds would help her to be less active, or some puppy downers to help keep her calm. And IDK if this is okay for this type of injury, but would some kind of splint or a support bandage be of any help? I would imagine it may take more therapy to get the leg fully functional after healing, but if it can prevent further injury it might be worth doing, if appropriate in this instance. |
May I just disagree a little bit with you, Kathy? Just for consideration - it's up to everyone to decide for themselves for sure but just look at the other side of it from the dog's point of view. I've heard that position of restrict pain meds so much from older vets all of my life and always thought it so easy for them to talk - they weren't the ones walking on torn ligaments, newly reduced fractures or freshly post-op with inadequate relief so as to keep them quiescent. It can be like walking with glass with a torn ligament in your leg, especially early on. And let me tell you, a fresh surgical incision hurts like the very devil - even those little less than 1 inch ones from scopes! Cut skin and torn body parts hurt in dogs just like humans but they can't moan and groan and call the doctor every 5 minutes as we do. And they are genetically programmed not to show pain except when sudden or surprised. They just shake and become agitated and restless, often isolating to suffer unseen if possible. Younger vets don't tend to agree with that under-medicating pain thinking much.
It may be harder with animals, but just like humans, they deserve as much relief from bad pain as we do. No dog should have to hurt and suffer in order to help it heal better unless its life could be in jeopardy from the pain medication. We just have to work hard to keep them corralled and quiet as they heal, as tough as that is on the dog and on us! Many pain meds tend to sedate and that can help a dog be less lively but the vet should help the owner manage his dog's pain as he heals and the rest is up to us owners to restrict their access to play with other dogs, prevent all jumps, running and stop the romp with toys, etc. It can be done. Of course with CCL, I've always read that the tear often keeps tearing until the last bit eventually fails and in the meantime, the contralateral limb is sustaining immense stress to its CCL, especially in very active, jumping dogs. Most Yorkies jump a whole lot to get to be near us on furniture, etc.
But in this little dog, apparently they have to give consideration to other medical conditions that she has that could contraindicate surgical repair. It's heartbreaking when there are no easy answers.
Here's another article on it with a slightly different take than the one in an earlier post.
Category - Faqs - Animal Medical Center - Los Angeles, California
Working for a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon who surgically treated high-performing college and professional athletes and had to find ways to keep them highly functional, I found that the surgeon in the field is often light-years ahead of the "establishment" in current thinking about surgical treatments, new techniques and possibilities, often doing the previously-thought impossible and that eventually the old thinking eventually does catch up. It seems to be the same with dogs these days in many veterinary practices as more vets work to repair things earlier and try to give the dog a more high degree of function where possible.
If this little girl can't somehow have surgery, I'm sure they will find a way to keep her at least comfortable. I know her mommie is dead set on doing what's best for her.