|
The family dog, my 12-year old beagle Daisy, had her front right-leg amputated 8 months ago. She was fine after the surgery, incredible even, but now she's ruptured the ACL in her back-right leg, according to the vet. She can still sort of hop around, but standing on it is impossible. Obviously this is a huge impact on her quality of life. The vet was pretty confident that nothing would work and that it would be best to put her down. But 10 seconds in google came back with this website, which seems to suggest that restricting activity might be enough to help the joint stabilize. Apparently there are leg braces for dogs that might be effective as well. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of injury and what the recovery was like. Obviously having already lost one leg is a huge complication, and I'm worried I might be grabbing at straws here. But I'd like to make sure I explored all the options.
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 20:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:29 |
|
|
Hopefully a vet will chime in. Honestly, recovering from an ACL rupture after a front leg amputation would be difficult at best, and probably impossible. And you have to ask yourself what sort of quality of life she'll have during the lengthy healing process. Then, unfortunately, dogs who rupture one ACL are more likely to rupture the other as they favour their remaining good leg. Some ACL tears can be healed through intensive crate rest, but with 3 legs... I just can't see how it would be a possibility. At best, maybe she's a candidate for a wheelchair. Have you discussed that with your vet? a life less fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Nov 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 21:02
|
|
|
a life less posted:Hopefully a vet will chime in. Honestly, recovering from an ACL rupture after a front leg amputation would be difficult at best, and possibly impossible. And you have to ask yourself what sort of quality of life she'll have during the lengthy healing process. Then, unfortunately, dogs who rupture one ACL are more likely to rupture the other as the favour their remaining good leg. She hasn't been a very active dog for years, so as long as she can walk around alright her quality of life won't dip. The healing process is about two months and doesn't require complete immobilization, so I'm not worried about that. I can help her get out into the flowerbed to crap. Injuring the other ACL is possible, but hopefully the odds will be minimized if we keep her off her feet. And really, it's not like she's got anything to lose. The vet said a wheelchair wouldn't be useful, and the info I've found agrees with that. And she can actually walk right now, just very poorly. So it's possible its just a partial tear rather than a complete rupture like the vet said.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 21:18
|
|
|
I don't know where you're getting two months from but that certainly wasn't my experience, our vet recommended at least 6 months crate rest when my parent's dog blew his ACL. Even after extensive crate rest followed by very light exercise he blew the other ACL within a year. He's older and has never been a terrible active dog but all in all it took him about two years to make a full recovery and it was incredibly hard on him, I can't imagine how much worse it would be on a three legged dog especially since it's on the same side as the amputation. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear but it seems like it would negatively impact her quality of life pretty significantly to the point where euthanasia might be kinder. It might be worth getting a second opinion from an orthopedic vet though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 21:47
|
|
|
Triangulum posted:I don't know where you're getting two months from but that certainly wasn't my experience, our vet recommended at least 6 months crate rest when my parent's dog blew his ACL. Even after extensive crate rest followed by very light exercise he blew the other ACL within a year. He's older and has never been a terrible active dog but all in all it took him about two years to make a full recovery and it was incredibly hard on him, I can't imagine how much worse it would be on a three legged dog especially since it's on the same side as the amputation. Well, the diagnosis period is 8-12 weeks apparently. That's when you'll either see recovery or know you'll need surgery. I know I'm probably erring too much on the side of doing everything possible, because I've never had to put a dog down before. Its churning my gut just thinking about it. e: She's just too alive right now. She ran out of the vet's office, for fucks sake. I've seen dogs who I wouldn't hesitate to put down--in pain, incapable, just miserable. She's not like that, though. I feel like I ought to at least give her a chance. e2: You're right though, I mainly made this thread hoping people would say "Yeah totally you should do it gently caress that vet" because that's how I'm feeling.  e3: Just realized there's a rule you can't close your own thread. I'm pretty set on this, but if anyone wants to chime in that's fine. Vengarr fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Nov 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 21:52
|
|
|
If nothing else, take her to a good orthopedic vet and see what they have to say. I'm sorry I know this is really hard for you
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 22:22
|
|
|
Good for you. It sounds agonizingly hard. Taking her to an ortho vet for a second opinion is a good idea. Sorry.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 22:37
|
|
|
Yeah, ortho vet for a second opinion. Losing a dog is the worst, but its not about how you feel, its about how the poor pup does. If quality of life is going to suffer, being put to sleep is the way to go. Either way, realizing that you were hoping for people to argue the vet opinion is a good sign that you are thinking.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 22:50
|
|
|
If it's worth it to you to get a second opinion, go ahead and do it. However, ACL tears are really hard to recover from. My in-laws own a dog who has had two ACL tears (one after the other) and he's still recovering a year after surgery. That's with four legs- a dog with three legs already has a ton of weight and stress on their remaining legs WITHOUT an injury. I'm so sorry her time is ending in what must seem like a very abrupt way. As rough as it is, think of euthanasia as a last favor you're giving her so that she goes while the majority of her days are still happy ones.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 23:01
|
|
|
The thought is probably killing you, but let's put this in a more positive light. Would you like her to go while she's still her vibrant self and in not much pain or low quality of life or are you going to wait until she's completely immobile and with a poor quality of life? Dogs are also excellent at hiding pain. I'd get a second opinion, but really be prepared. As someone who did wait too long to put a dog down it's just not the right thing and I wish I could have done it earlier. It really hurts yes and we're given a very heavy burden when we bring a pet into our home.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 23:04
|
|
|
I think it's something to get a second opinion for, or ask your vet if they can talk to a surgeon about options. It's definitely going to be a very long recovery period if you don't do surgery. It's true that there's about a 50% chance she'll tear her other ACL within the next year - not because she favours her other hind leg (that's a bit of a myth; dogs will usually shift weight to the front instead), but because whatever degenerative process is happening to one side is usually happening to the other too. So it doesn't matter how well you restrict exercise, there's still a good chance of blowing the other one. Is she overweight? Weight loss can be incredibly beneficial if so. If you do have money for surgery, I would recommend it. She'll probably walk better a few days after surgery than she is right now. I searched VIN for experiences other vets have had with ACL surgeries in 3-legged dogs, and it seems like they generally do pretty well so it's definitely an option.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2014 00:17
|
|
|
I would hesitate to put a senior dog through surgery, personally. When I was vet nursing, older dogs and cats always had a much more difficult time recovering from the anaesthesia, let alone the trauma from the surgery and healing. It is a huge risk. My Cavalier recently died at 6 years old. I hesitated to have her put to sleep and ummed and ahhed about it as she was still happy, until the last 24 hours where she went downhill so quickly and was really suffering by the time I got her to the emergency vet. No one can make the decision for you, it will be incredibly tough to make and my thoughts are with you.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2014 01:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:29 |
|
|
I think that if you're going to try this, you really do need to do what everyone else said and go see an orthopedic specialist. This isn't something to take a "wait and see" approach with, and internet research can give you some vague ideas but is really not enough to go on. These are the worst kind of situations, because the dogs don't seem depressed or sick but euthanasia may still be the kindest option. I question if she's really not in pain, though. I know it's not exactly the same, but I tore my ACL a few years ago and I was in constant pain. I could walk on it and everything, but it hurt like hell. Dogs are very stoic and hide pain. I suspect she's suffering more than you realize. And yeah, as others have said this is going to be a very long recovery process. A friend's dog went through it (he was 2 or 3, a young adult) and it was about 6-8 months of recovery. I question whether it is really fair to put such an elderly dog through this on the small chance that she might recover.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2014 03:38
|
|
