Quote:
Originally Posted by NinePack
[IMG]  [/IMG]Hi guys, I like to come here to post sometimes because of the wealth of information and personal experiences.
Well i have a 9 year old blue heeler that has blown her ACL. The surgery is around $4000 . Money isnt really an issue, she is insured as well we would pay that out of pocket if need be . I have done some research and consulted a few vets . The surgery is an option but the recovery time and possible re injuring the knee is one issue , as well she is over weight , which i have learned that she can now over compensate and blow he other knee out after surgery.
anyways , at which point do you let her do her own thing and just live with it? still high energy , shows no pain , just her normal dailys but on three legs.
What would be best for her quality of life? considering her age?
Thanks for any input |
One of my dogs tore his ACL at the end of January. He was not insured, and it cost me $3000 all-in to get him operated on.
He's seven, full of life, and happy as can be, so there was no question as to whether I'd get his leg fixed or not.
However, in the three weeks between tearing his knee and the surgery, he healed remarkably fast. The vet said he would improve, but the risk of not doing the surgery meant his knee would rub and he'd wear down the meniscus, until eventually it would bone on bone and would at that point it would not be reparable.
If he were older, I probably wouldn't have gotten the knee fixed. I've since stopped letting him use the stairs, and have stopped taking him to off leash dog parks (because the vet said in smaller dogs, if one knee goes, there is a greater chance the other could, versus a big dog where a torn ACL more likely is to occur from from wear and tear) and resorted to just taking my two dogs out on leash and occasionally to play ball with no other dogs around.
I guess what I'm saying is, if my dog were older, and he was exhibiting no pain, and healed on his own, I probably wouldn't have put him through the operation.