Cruciate Ligament surgery

[Davros]

Mewler, my beautiful old lady cat (14) got savaged by three big dogs this morning. They were on leads but clearly need muzzles too. We took her straight to the vet and she has got off reasonably lightly - a couple of puncture wounds, no broken or fractured limbs, no internal damage. But she is limpy and the vet has said she needs cruciate ligament surgery. I'm looking for experiences or advice from anyone who knows about this. She has come home with pills to take, which I just about managed, and two meds by syringe which is totally impossible as she is so resistant. I'm most worried about her being more traumatised than she is already. She is a gentle, home/human loving creature who has never been unwell or injured before. Please help me decide.

My Labrador tore his cruciate, the vet said it’s excruciatingly painful - like a break.
I had the surgery done and he was fine after and able to weight bear on that leg.

Ligaments just don't mend on their own, ever. A damaged or broken ligament will mean a) constant pain and b) leading to permanent damage to the joint, causing further pain for the rest of the cat's life.

You've already found out your cat won't tolerate you giving the necessary meds, so you're left with 3 options.
a) Let the cat live in severe pain (so NOT an option really)
b) Put the cat through the short term distress of an operation
c) PTS

Sorry to be so blunt (blame it on bad sleep due to the weather) but I can't think of any other option, sorry again.

Thanks, that's what I need to hear. I will arrange the surgery. The poor thing is very subdued but actually got off lightly considering they had their jaws round her like a toy

Hope she will be ok.

I'm feeling optimistic rather than desperately worried now thanks to these replies

@Allergictoironing

Ligaments just don't mend on their own, ever. A damaged or broken ligament will mean a) constant pain and b) leading to permanent damage to the joint, causing further pain for the rest of the cat's life.

You've already found out your cat won't tolerate you giving the necessary meds, so you're left with 3 options.
a) Let the cat live in severe pain (so NOT an option really)
b) Put the cat through the short term distress of an operation
c) PTS

Sorry to be so blunt (blame it on bad sleep due to the weather) but I can't think of any other option, sorry again.

I have to disagree with this there is good evidence that pets weighing less than 15kg the joint can stabilise by itself due to fibrosis with rest and NSAIDs unless there is a global knee injury - cruciate, medial and lateral collaterals all ruptured I wouldn't rush to perform surgery on a cat. I would use analgesia and monitor closely. I have had a number of cats I have treated over the years with cruciate ligament rupture not a single one has needed surgery.

Interesting, thanks for your input. At the moment I can't give her analgesia, she won't take it, so I am concentrating on the antibiotics. I will speak to the vet again tomorrow.

Thank you for the correction @Lonecatwithkitten . I was working on my human/equine knowledge, where tears can repair but almost unheard of for full rupture.

I bow to your greater experience on this (no sarcasm, genuine respect).

@Allergictoironing there are several differences anatomical and environmental that mean this is suitable for cats and dogs.
Compared to horses in the horse the cruciate ligament is part of the passive drag apparatus that enables the horse to lock it's stifle to sleep.
Also cats and dogs are amenable to being crate rested humans and horses not.

There's definitely no need to go straight to surgery - especially in an older cat.

Many smaller breeds of cats and dogs recover just fine on a period of crate rest.

Your poor cat, and you. What a horrible and shocking thing to happen!

I have no experience of cruciate injury in cats, but my lurcher damaged her cruciate a few years ago. The vet did push for surgery but having done a fair bit of reading I decided to opt for a wait and see approach. I had to ensure dog rested and couldn’t jump up on anything. It took time, but she made a full recovery. If she had been a heavier and bigger boned dog, then surgery might have made more sense but for skinny, fine-boned dog it didn’t. I think I’d be inclined to take a similar approach with a cat.

I've booked the surgery but not for week after next. I'll see how she gets on

Update. Surgery was booked for today. I took her for a check up last week and had a long conversation with the vet. They suggested I give her some cat Valium (in Lick-e-Lix) last night so they could examine her properly for a final decision on whether to go ahead this morning. She has healed up wonderfully from the bites, is behaving very normally and barely limping. The vet decided it would be better for her not to have the surgery as she is doing so well. I'm so relieved and I really think it's the right decision

Great news, you did the right thing by waiting.