Have to decide whether to operate or PTS

[oodlesofnoodle]

I have a beautiful 2 yr old rescue dog.

I found out today that he has 2 torn ACL muscles which the vet expects will completely snap soon. Not only that but he has arthritis in both hips and 1 shoulder. He is in a lot of pain, I can see this, which is why I took him in, his pain had worsens considerably since our initial consultation to the point they saw him as an emergency today for X-rays. He isn't eating, drinking or moving at all.

Surgery will cost £1900 per leg. The ligaments can be fixed and chances of recovery are high. However the arthritis is so bad, in comparison to his age that the vet has predicted a couple of years maximum of living with 'manageable' pain levels. So even if I pay £4,000 for surgery he will still be in pain daily and need painkillers for the rest of his life. The vet said with painkillers he SHOULD be comfortable.

Money is not an issue, I have insurance and even if they reject a claim I could use my savings to fund surgery. But my gut instinct is telling me this is for my benefit and not his. The vet never suggested PTS until I did and then just said it is something I would support.

I'm so torn and I have to make this decision completely alone. My mum says it's a no brainier and he should be PTS he's too young for the trauma when it won't fix all his issues. But she doesn't have an emotional attachment to him. But is my emotional brain taking over. I've cried all afternoon just going round and round in the same circles. Deciding on surgery then changing to PTS.

At 4 yrs old our dog showed spondylosis in his back and arthritis. At 6 he had both legs done for cruciate ligaments. We were given painkillers and under the impression he would need them for life.
He's now 11 ish and still not on daily painkillers and only when he needs them (i.e rarely)

What breed are you talking here?

At 2 I'd be inclined to give him a chance-especially with insurance. After having the surgery his arthritis might not affect him nearly as much as it does now.

I recommend the Canine Arthritis Management website [and facebook page]. They have some useful tools included one to help you work out when its time to opt for humane PTS. Arthritis can be managed IF you can afford the mix of drugs, vet input, physio and all. Some of it is about adapting your home so its becomes dog sore joint friendly. The less joints are badly jarred by impacts the less the pain. My older girl has significant hip arthritis on one side. She was ref’d to a specialist vet in chronic pain/orthopaedic care. At that point I would have opted for PTS if the vet had not felt she could be helped to a better quality fo life. She now has a mix of drugs to treat the actual pain and neuropathic pain that set up from chronic physical pain. Her life quality started to improve. She is now on stage 2 of her treatment plan with acupuncture and again- its helped. Stage 3 is physio with an additional monthly injection to further improve pain levels and slow the progress of determination in her joints. She is looking at having a good 18- 24 months before she needs the heavy pain drugs. I decided against a hip replacement as she has signs of arthritis in other joints and she is possibly over 10. You know your dog and if you can meet the vet costs long term. The most important thing is pain management and quality of life. If the pain can be managed and your dog enjoys more of life than they don’t that is one thing. If the pain cannot be managed or if its managed but the side effects of the drugs seriously damage your dogs quality of life that is another. It might be worth seeing another vet - maybe a specialist - to make the best informed decision for your dog that you can.

You need a proper conversation preferably with a specialist about outcomes and how bad the arthritis is.

I’ve done managing arthritis with a young dog and to be really frank, it was shitty, for him and me.

Elbow surgery at 6 months, emergency stomach surgery at 2 caused by the painkillers he was on and then restricted exercise and various painkillers and complementary treatments for the rest of his life, he made it to 6.

If I had his time over, I’d have had him PTS at 2 when he had his stomach op - at the time, I was thinking, he’s young, he deserves a shot... but really what it meant was just a young energetic dog having to live like an old dog for the rest of his life.

Being young doesn’t always mean it’s the right thing to keep them going.

@tabulahrasa that's so sad and this is exactly what I'm worried about. Spending thousands just to give him a couple more shitty years before being PTS.

We have a specialist vet who is going to look at the xrays, hoping he had them from our vet today although haven't heard.

He isn't eating, painkillers are making him sick, he rarely gets up unless he has to. But then he'll have 5 minutes where it seems everything's fine, has a little
Burst of energy and runs round with the kids. Think he suffers greatly for doing so though.

Aw bless him.