Anyone familiar wih Yorkshire Terriers?

[LittleEsmeWeatherwax]

My Mum has a 9 year old Yorkie. She took him off an elderly couple who were becoming more and more incapable of looking after him, about 18 months ago. I've been trying to persuade her to take out pet insurance, but she's always put it off.

She's just phoned me in a right state. Apparently he twisted awkward whilst out on a regular jaunt last week, yelped, and has been in discomfort ever since. A few visits to the Vets have concluded in a plan for him to undergo an operation to the cost of £1300 at the most, £750 at the least.

I've been trying to calm her down persuade her to get it written up exactly what kind of op the wee doggie needs, so that we can phone around a few surgeries in her county, to see if the price varies.

Is this OK to do? She's really 'old school' and feels that she'll be dissing the Vet somewhat if she asks for this. Is it worth our while to do this?

Also, the Vet has said that he has a knee problem that's common to his breed. In the meantime, I thought I'd research it a bit more. Apparently, as mentioned above, if the op is straightforward, it'll cost £750. If they spot another problem that's often common with the knee problem, it'll increase to £1300.

Does anyone know anything about this?

Huge thanks in advance, and apologies for the epic post.

When I say that she 'took him', I mean that they were desperate to find a good home for him as the husband had suffered a stroke and his wife, also elderly, couldn't cope.

a ham handed way of saying that my dear Mum didn't snatch him or 'owt

I am not a vet but in our rescue we have had a few yorkies that have had
luxating patellas - basically a dislocated kneecap which can lead to other problems like tearing the cruciate ligament.

I think we were told that there were different degrees of LP. Surgery can help the problem massively both the dogs were operated on and were then rehomed with no further problems although one did have

Hopefully a vet will be along soon to correct this as I could easily be wrong.

Luxating patella is the first that springs to mind, but could also be cruciate ligament rupture. It is okay to phone round thought these are not your run of the mill everyday surgeries so I would be checking that the vet has taken additional training for them. I do do these surgeries and under went a 2 day intensive course with cadaver surgeries before starting.

Is the vet saying that surgery is the only option? My friend's Westie has similar and the vet said to try conservative treatment as it often works with small dogs.

Thanks everyone for your advice. It's all really welcome and v helpful.

He is on anti-inflammatories (I think) but she's having real difficulty getting him to take them.

Vet has said that he will get arthritis if he doesn't have the operation.

outmonday what is conservative treatment?

Lizcat, thank you for your information. How much would operating on a luxating patella cost? I'm imagining that should the vet spot the cruciate ligament rupture then this explains the increase to £1300. Am I putting you on the spot here by asking how much you would charge?

Snoopy thanks tons for putting me on the right track. It sounds about right. Time to start phoning a few vets now I think.

Just to let you know that because the dog is now 9 you probably wouldn't be able to get him insured anyway.

Most insurers have a cut off age of about 8 years old.

The two different ones I have been with do anyway.

Hi, I'm a vet, but I tend to refer orthopaedic work (as lizcat says, it is specialised), so not sure about prices, but that does sound about right.

The only thing I would suggest is possibly going back to the vet with your mum and discussing if surgery if essential and the only feasible option. Or getting a second opinion from another vet. Yes, for something like a ruptured cruciate, surgery is the gold standard BUT many older smaller animals (with less well-off owners!) do really very well with just conservative treatment. Yes, they may well get arthritis in the joint, but even with surgery you can run the risk of that. lots of small dogs also live happily enough with luxating patellas. I have many in my practice who flare up occasionally when they twist or jerk, but settle down over a couple of weeks with anti-inflammatories. So it really depends on the degree and type of injury. Surgery may be the best option, but not the only option, iyswim. Worth discussing with your vet.

You can get insurance for older dogs - ours are 12, 13 and 8 and all insured. Costs a lot though and of course you will be excluded for existing conditions, which this now would be. I'd still say it's worth getting though.

Oh blimey, you lot are awesome!
Thanks so much .

Been in A&E all afternoon with my littlest one (hairline fracture in wrist ) so I've not been in touch with my Mum to discuss stuff. She'll be happier tonight though I'm sure when we've discussed all our options.

Needless to say, when all this is sorted, we'll be looking into OAP canine insurance!

This happened to our westie and she didn't have the operation because I didn't want her to have it unless it was essential. She had some injections, a long course of anti-inflamation pills and doggy glucosamine tablets. Now she's happily terrorising the cat again.

Kladdkaka, thanks.

Can I ask how you managed to get your Westie to take her pills? My Mum has tried camouflage, crushing and mixing etc, but he spits them out. He's typically snappy and very very fast, the little bugger so I think she fears losing a finger too.

If she can't even get the essential tablets inside him, then an op may be her only sensible option?

With this westie it was easy. She'd eat stones if you put them in her bowl :o

The other one is a bit of pain. Different things work depending on how determined he is not to eat them. You can try:

• chunk of favourite dog treat (cheese or dairy fudge in his case) with it stuffed inside
• crushed and mixed into his dinner
• crushed and mixed into mushed up food and then put in a syringe (not the injectiony type) and squirted bit by bit into his mouth. Even if it's only on his teeth he has to then lick it off.

I forgot to add, the vet easily managed to open the boy westies mouth once and put the tablet so far down his throat that he had no choice but to eat it. Husband tried to re-enact this at home and nearly lost his arm :o

Littleesme sorry been on call so not able to MN. The prices sound about right the specialist equipment is not cheap, you need a sterile assistant and the job takes time to do properly.
Unfortunatly the surgery still comes with meds that need to be given afterwards. I quite like the one two three technique first tasty morsel has nothing in it, second tasty morsel has tablet in it and third tasty morsel which you show to dog as soon as it gets the second has nothing in it. Preferred tasty morsels cooked liver, cheese, sausages.

kladdkaka

Lizcat thank you. I'll discuss with my Mum, and see how things go.

OP- would your mum be eligable for the dog to get treatment at the PDSA if there is one near you? Might be worth investiagting.