Torn Ligament: Please HELP!
 

Ellie hurt her leg on Friday. Today she was still not putting any weight on the leg, so we took her to ER Vet and the Ortho. specialist said she has a torn cruciate ligament and luxating patella. Said that surgery is the way to repair the injury and would cost $3000. I would like to know if anyone has any experience with this. I have read that maybe the small dogs do not need surgery and can heal with just rest. Please give me your opinions, pros and cons for surgery. And also does anyone know a surgeon in my area that may be less expensive?

Thanks

I had Zorro a yorkie who was almost 7 years old back in 1986 and we think my dtr who was a baby at the time pulled on his leg and tore the ligament. I took him to a an rthopedic specialist after two vets determined the same thing and had the surgery done. They also did his patella at the same time since he had LP. After the initial tear it did not seem tocause him pain but I did the surgery anyway. He always favored the back leg after surgery but it never seemed to bother him. If I had known more back then I probably wouldn't have done the surgey as it didn't seem to make a big difference. His recovery was not bad and i beleive the surgery was about $950.00 20 years ago. This is just my expereience and I would nt recommend one way or the other as all dogs are different. Good Luck!

I don't have any experience with this, Sailor tore a ligment in her knee last week but our vet thinks it should heal on its own. She is on meds and rest and will go back in 10 days to check on it, the first couple of days she wouldn't put any weight on it but now she is getting better. We are hoping that she is able to heal on her own without any surgery!!

I really hope that you are able to find out some good information. I would also ask for a second opinion to make sure there are no other options. I will keep Ellie in my prayers!!!

Thanks so much for your prayers. I was hoping that I could keep her crated and keep the knee as still as possible and that it too would heal on it"s own.
Does anyone know of a Holistic vet that could give me some more info.
Thanks

You could call some other vets in the area and see what they say. Get a second opinon. Good luck.

bump...

You could try one of the state universities vetrinary schools for research on these two conditions.

Yes I have certainly had experience with this exact same problem. My Bichon tore his anterior cruciate ligament. I had surgery that cost about $1000. Then - lo and behold - a couple months later, he tore the other cruciate ligament.

From a lot of reading and my own working in the medical profession - I learned that a dog that weighs less than 20 pounds ---can heal without the surgery. (They just don't have much weight on their knees).

I got surgery the first time knowing that it wasn't absolutely necesary - but the second time, I elected to go without surgery and let him heal on his own.

The problem without having surgery is that you have to keep your pup quiet and not active for a long time - several months. But, with surgery - being honest, you still have to keep them down and quiet for a long time also.

Another factor is arthritis. Without surgery they may develop more arthritis when they get older - but with surgery, they still will develop some arthritis when they age from this injury.

--- You certainly should choose not to have this surgery - and try to keep your dog down and quiet for as long as possible. (I didn't go crazy with this. I was told to keep my dog crated, but didn't. I kept him in the house and did not encourage any playing, etc. He laid around a lot, and because his knee had been injured, he didn't jump or run around a lot anyway.) And slowly, but surely, he healed -- very well.

If you choose to not have surgery - be sure and get some pain medication for your pup, because this injury is quite painful (with or without surgery) and he needs to be on pain medication for a while. His knee hurts!!!

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I promise you that I am right. I did a lot of research, and several doctors that I work for told me what I am telling you. Several of them, because they had small dogs, choose not to have surgery for their dogs. And, several of them with larger dogs said that surgery was a "must" because of their dog's weight.

If your vet is insistent - (one of my vets really wanted my dog to have surgery, but finally admitted that it wasn't absolutely necessary). Get a second opinon if you need to -- and also do some research the Internet. When I told my vet that I had decided not to have surgery - she was very good about giving me pain medication for my dog.

PS -- My Bichon had surgery on one knee and not on the other. I can honestly say that his "down time" was reasonably equal in both cases, and that I can't tell by looking at him which knee was operated on.

Don't pay $3000 for surgery -- it is not necessary. If you had a larger dog, you'd have no choice. But, you have a very small dog that can do quite well without surgery.

Good luck!!!!!

Carol Jean

Carol Jean, is this true also with luxating patella? I am under the impression that the longer you wait to get LP done the more problems you will have but you should get it done. This woman's dog has both...let me know your thoughts.

I would advise you to seek the opinion of an orthopedic specialist. The ER vet and/or ortho specialist may be exactly correct. But if it were my dog I would not want them seen in the ER clinic for such an injury.

A torn cruciate ligament should be repaired surgerialy. It will not get better on it's own or with medications. And with the luxating patella the problem is even more complex. Crate rest is good. But please be advised. Many times the dog will tear the other cruciate ligament too. This will happen because of the extra weight and work the other leg must do. You want to prevent this from happening to the other leg also if at all possible. I am not sure of the cost. Keep her crated and check around your area for other vet specialists.
I'm sorry this has happened. Keep her quite if possible and keep her on crate rest as much as possible. And please let us know how she is doing.

Thanks Carol Jean for sharing your experience with this injury. I have Ellie crated and am trying to keep her quiet. My problem is that she does not seem to be in any pain. She actually wants to play, run around the house (even if it is on 3 legs), etc. So now I am just keeping her in the crate as much as possible.
I also want to explain my ER visit. I went to this Hospital because an ortho surgeon practices there. I couldn't get an appt. with him for 10 days so I went in as an emergency. The ER doctor did the intial exam, but then took Ellie and the Ortho surgeon examined her also.
I am still doing my research on the internet and calling other doctors to get a second opinion. Ellie is only 1 and weighs only 3 lbs. so I really want to carefully consider all the options before I put her thru an operation.
I welcome any more comments and suggestions. Thanks.

It's me again - you have me remembering things now. My dog, too, after the initial injury starting getting around very well on three legs and didn't appear to be in any pain......and he wasn't as long as he kept his injuried leg tucked up underneath him. (And, I'm sure he didn't need pain medication at this point).

With the second injury - when I opted not to have surgery. He did exactly as your dog is doing - and very slowly but surely he began putting weight on his injured leg (knee). It did take him several months to get back to what we would call normal use; and it was a long time, especially, before he was willing to jump up on anything. But gradually, and over time, he has done very well.

With his first injury - when I had surgery - it still took a long long time before he got back to using his leg in a normal fashion.

There are three reasons I wouldn't not have surgery for this injury.

1) You do not need to spend so much money on an unecessary surgery.
2) This surgery is unnecessary and usually not done for a dog so small.
3) And, I would rather my dog not undergo amy surgery that is not
absolutely necessary (anesthesia -etc.).

I can't help but think that a lot of vets would rather talk you into having surgery. But, I was lucky. I had done a lot of research. I had a lot of doctors I work with who, themselves, chose not to have this surgery for their smaller dogs. And, my husband was a radiologist - who has seen this injury on films hundreds of times and is well aware of the healing process.

I did a little arguing with my vet for a while - before she finally gave in and admitted that my little dog would probably do well without surgery. She just had to add, "Well, I still think surgery is best."

Again - I can't tell which of my dog's legs was operated on. He gets around wonderfully on both of them.

Good luck - please do a lot of your research on the Internet. I found many many articles written by vets --- and they absolutely have nothing to gain one way or the other.

Keeping your little pup crated and quiet is exactly what you need to do. Darn!

Good luck - again - keep in touch.

Carol Jean

PS: I really want you to save your money and buy your dog a lot of good food, toys, and clothes instead.

I do agree with you that surgery really should only be done as a last resort. I came across a great website that really explains the surgery. It also explains the non-surgical alternative. I think I will try this conservative method for healing first. There are even braces that can be made to stabalize the joint. This helps with the healing and also provides some protection for the other leg also. I do not know how to post a link to the site so I will give the address. I hope this may provide valuable information to others with this same injury.

home.earthlink.net/~tiggerpoz/index.html

Actually, the groomer that I work with just sent her toy poodle off for surgery on BOTH knees for luxating pitellas (sp?). He just had one knee done today. And the other in three weeks. Apparently, it is a very common problem in small dogs. I'll be more than happy to talk with her more about what he went through and how he is doing tonight and tomorrow from the surgery. But $3000? It only cost her $100 per knee. Then again, his ligament wasn't torn so that could be what is upping the price for you.

The surgery that I spoke about is for the torn ACL. I will concentrate on healing this and then deal with the luxating patella. Ellie never has a problem with the patella before this injury so maybe when the ACL heals she won't have any problems with the patella. We will have to wait and see.