My senior dog has ruptured ligaments. What about her quality of life?

Hello, and thanks for your question. There is no single right answer to this question, and you may get different answers from different veterinarians. My own thoughts, without knowing all the details about Lola, is no - I probably would not recommend that you pursue the operation in this case. The surgery will help stabilize her knee, but it won't reverse the damage from arthritis. The recovery period can be really hard on dogs with other orthopedic issues, and older dogs heal slower. Also, her small size works in her favor, as small dogs definitely fare better than large dogs without surgical correction of a cruciate tear. All of these factors to me would add up to the benefits of surgery not outweighing the down sides. I do encourage you to have a frank conversation with Lola's primary vet who knows her best - or even request a consult with the surgeon. Most surgeons will be pretty frank about how much improvement you can expect. I have had patients pursue cruciate surgery in their older years - but typically it's my older patients who are still quite active, who I expect to do well through recovery. From your description, I'm not sure Lola would be in that category. I hope this helps! I know it's not an easy straightforward decision and I can tell you're trying to make the best choice for her!

Hello. I agree, surgery at this age would not be ideal given her age. You do not indicate what meds she is already on, but she should be receiving an NSAID such as meloxicam, carprofen, or any one of several excellent drugs in this classification. I would also have her on gabapentin, possibly tramadol, & maybe even Adequan injections, just in case some of her joints are painful. An alternative for the NSAIDs would be steroids as they are very good at reducing inflammation, but that does put her at some risk for side effects. Hopefully, these can keep him comfortable for some time to come. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

The best treatment is surgery. There are some dogs that may respond ok to rest and pain medications or a brace (mypetsbrace.com) but in the end most do best from surgery. I would consider having the surgery performed or going to get the opinion for a surgeon. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

The answer to your question really comes down to her examination and your goals. It is possible for a cruciate ligament to be partially torn or fully torn. If it is fully torn, the knee is unstable and surgery is the best option to stabilize the knee and slow down the development of arthritis in the joint. If the cruciate ligament is only partially torn, you can see signs like you have in Hambro where she seems pretty normal unless she injures the cruciate ligament again with high activity. For a large dog who is young, partial cruciate ligament injures are often problematic because they inhibit dogs from being able to play normally without being painful, but it sounds like Hambro has done well for 6 months. Another consideration is that if she has a partial tear, she may completely tear the cruciate ligament in the future which will necessitate surgery. There is also a potential complication of cruciate injuries that involve a tear in the meniscus. If that happens, she will be consistently lame and will need surgery. Unfortunately, only you can decide on the right answer for Hambro. Surgery provides the best possibility for return to normal activity without lameness, but certainly isn't without potential risks and complications. I have attached a handout on cruciate ligament injuries below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1975 Finally, if this is a partial cruciate injury and you would like to avoid surgery, I would recommend trying to find a rehabilitation veterinarian to help you with physical therapy exercises to strengthen Hambro. They will also be able to give you a second opinion. Hopefully you can find a vet in the UK at this site. http://www.caninerehabinstitute.com/Find_A_Therapist.html http://www.caninerehabinstitute.com/action.lasso Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Poor girl! So you have a few options. If she is just holding it up but not crying out, you may just consider medical management and not euthanize her as long as she is playing eating and drinking normally. I would make sure she is on a high quality joint supplement like flexadin or dasuquin. I would also have a vet prescribe her an anti-inflammatory like rimadyl or galliprant. You could give that on days she is really painful. If she is only having pain in one leg and the other leg is normal, you could consider having that leg amputated. Dogs do amazing with 3 legs as long as the other is normal. There is also a surgery called an FHO with gets rods of the hip joint of that is the problem area. You could also look into that as an option. Another option would be to look for an alternative or integrative vet who practices acupuncture and herbal therapy. These can be wonderful for pain relief and mobility. I would only decide to euthanize her when you feel she has more bad days than good days. When these other options are no longer helping or if she stops eating or doesn’t want to play, then I would start to consider her quality of life is poor. I hope this helps!

I am so sorry to hear about Brandy but happy that she seems to be doing well. Your options will really depend on the type/severity of the break. Some breaks can heal if bandaged/splinted without surgery if the bones are aligned well enough. If that is the case, you may be able to manage her under supervision of your vet with strict confinement and pain management and regular rechecking. If the leg is shattered into too many fragments for the leg to heal this way, you may have to make the tough decision of going ahead with surgery knowing that there is a risk. Even though she is an older dog, if she is otherwise healthy and has no known kidney/liver/heart disease she may do fine with surgery as long as she has good monitoring during anesthesia and supportive care after. If your vet isn't comfortable with this you may ask for a referral to a hospital that does more surgeries or a veterinary college that handles this type of case.

I am so sorry to hear about Lilly. If this just happened it may take some time for her to heal. If it has been a week or more she may need additional testing (if she hasn't had an x-ray this is needed, as well as possible sedation to evaluate the joints, particularly if the hind leg is affected we want to check her cruciate ligament in her knee). If she seems painful even at rest, you can talk to your vet about secondary pain medications as well.