12 yr old, Addison, arthritic girl has a ruptured cruciate

[doodleygirl]

My girl chased a blackbird off the lawn and ruptured her cruciate on the left side. She had a repair on her right side 5 years ago which means we know what surgery and recovery entails.

Both my vet and the specialist ortho vet are saying we should operate but If I am honest I am reluctant and wondered if any of you lovely people have managed a ruptured cruciate in your dogs senior years without operating. I should add she weighs26 kg.

If anyone can offer advice I would be so grateful.

Is it completely ruptured?

Is she putting any weight on the leg at all?

I would not rush into a decision

She is actually walking really well, it’s much better than a couple of weeks ago. I am waiting for another consul.

Bumping for the day traffic

What breed is she?

I know you mention she's got arthritis and Addison's - what was her overall quality of life like before the cruciate injury?

She is a labradoodle. She has been on limited walks of 20 mins (approx) 3 times a day due to her arthritis, which is one of the reasons I am thinking an op won’t make much difference. She still won’t be able to walk for too long.

However, I am also concerned that it doing the op will put too much pressure on her other legs.

Her quality of life is good, she loves her toys and is really playful and happy. Obviously not at the moment!

Any advice would be so useful

I would want a lot of persuasion in your situation to do the op.

Where is her arthritis? That may help in deciding. If the injured cruciate will put too much strain on other areas then that would affect a decision.

It will take a good 3 months our of her life to have the op and recover. If her life is pretty much the same at the moment with the injury and she has little pain then maybe conservative treatment is worth considering. However if she can no longer do what she enjoys doing then that again affects the decision.

Could you look at hydro treatment and physio and see what they say as well as the surgeons.

I dont think the op will put too much pressure on her other legs, most dogs are back on 4 legs immediately or very soon after the op. She will on very restricted exercise for a while too.

A tricky one!