Alexthegrape
September 22nd, 2006, 07:35 PM
We are facing a tough decision and could really use some outside input. We have two dogs from the same litter that are now a year and half old. One of the puppies started limping on her front left leg when she was five months old and has had diagnosis after diagnosis of problems in pretty much all of her joints. She has elbow displaysia in both elbows, hip displaysia in both hips, and for the last 6 months we have been working to repair a torn cruciate in her left knee(stifle). Knowing she had all of these other problems and is so young, we had a tough decision to make to repair her cruciate or not thinking about her chances for a good outcome, costs, etc.
After lots of research and choosing to take her to a veterinary school orthopedic surgeon skilled in both TPLO and extracapsular repair, we chose extracapsular repair, mostly because of her size (49 lbs). The recovery was challenging. It was hard keeping her calm and crated for so long because she has ALOT of energy, and as soon as she started to feel better, our other dog sensed it and was eager for her to be back in action making restricting her activity of even greater importance. I did her therapy tirelessly, doing everything we were told to keep her headed in the right direction. After about three weeks, we were pretty pleased with the initial outcome. We continued restricting her as much as possible, and went back for a week 4 and week 8 visit. At week 4, they felt she just had some laxity in the joint that shouldn't have been present, but no biggee, she could still have a good outcome.
Then at week 8 they examined her and told us we were essentially back to square one. The laxity and cranial drawer etc. was as if she had a ruptured cruciate still, and the surgical repair was no loner providing any stability to the joint. We knew this was a possible outcome, that the suture could fail too early, but after all of our work, her patience, etc. it was a shock to hear where we were. Our options were and are to do the surgery over again or do nothing. As we are still paying off the first surgery and couldn't afford that, we don't know what to do. We love her so much and have given her such a good life so far, but we fear (1) having a bad outcome again, and (2) facing the future very real possibility of doing this all over again with the other leg that has now been under strain for six months or so.
Our vet who is also a friend has mixed emotions about what we should do. We have realized that her future issues, surgeries, etc. seem to necessitate her being in a one animal household. Currently, we have to restrict her much more than we would like because of our other dog, our cat she loves to chase, and our big backyard, tile floors, etc. It's hard on her and it's hard on us. She also never quite learned how to inhibit her bite and definitely has a tendancy to snap to the point that, although we don't have kids yet, we worry about her being around children. In the end, we would like to find her a perfect home, with owners that are willing to take her on with all of her congenital defects, but we feel it's so unlikely.
We have the option of becoming her "foster home" as rescue groups try to find a home, but that concerns us greatly since in the meantime she needs a surgery we can't afford, and we would lose control over her fate. The veterinary school does not find her situation crucial enough to take her do the surgery and find a home, so in the end we have few options. We think adoption is not an option.
We are seriously considering putting her to sleep, because we know she has had a really good life with us, and that it would be best for us emotionaly and financially at this point. But, we worry whether we are doing the right thing, since she is outwardly healthy. I worry about my own mental well being as I have a history of depression and I feel like it will be too hard on me to see her go backwards a bit more each day or each week with the limb.
So we think perhaps we should stop restricting her, let her be a dog again, and sometime soon put her to sleep. Please let me know if you have any advice, or think we are doing the wrong thing. I know it is a personal decision to make, but I guess in the end, we're afraid of the decision we think we've made.
After lots of research and choosing to take her to a veterinary school orthopedic surgeon skilled in both TPLO and extracapsular repair, we chose extracapsular repair, mostly because of her size (49 lbs). The recovery was challenging. It was hard keeping her calm and crated for so long because she has ALOT of energy, and as soon as she started to feel better, our other dog sensed it and was eager for her to be back in action making restricting her activity of even greater importance. I did her therapy tirelessly, doing everything we were told to keep her headed in the right direction. After about three weeks, we were pretty pleased with the initial outcome. We continued restricting her as much as possible, and went back for a week 4 and week 8 visit. At week 4, they felt she just had some laxity in the joint that shouldn't have been present, but no biggee, she could still have a good outcome.
Then at week 8 they examined her and told us we were essentially back to square one. The laxity and cranial drawer etc. was as if she had a ruptured cruciate still, and the surgical repair was no loner providing any stability to the joint. We knew this was a possible outcome, that the suture could fail too early, but after all of our work, her patience, etc. it was a shock to hear where we were. Our options were and are to do the surgery over again or do nothing. As we are still paying off the first surgery and couldn't afford that, we don't know what to do. We love her so much and have given her such a good life so far, but we fear (1) having a bad outcome again, and (2) facing the future very real possibility of doing this all over again with the other leg that has now been under strain for six months or so.
Our vet who is also a friend has mixed emotions about what we should do. We have realized that her future issues, surgeries, etc. seem to necessitate her being in a one animal household. Currently, we have to restrict her much more than we would like because of our other dog, our cat she loves to chase, and our big backyard, tile floors, etc. It's hard on her and it's hard on us. She also never quite learned how to inhibit her bite and definitely has a tendancy to snap to the point that, although we don't have kids yet, we worry about her being around children. In the end, we would like to find her a perfect home, with owners that are willing to take her on with all of her congenital defects, but we feel it's so unlikely.
We have the option of becoming her "foster home" as rescue groups try to find a home, but that concerns us greatly since in the meantime she needs a surgery we can't afford, and we would lose control over her fate. The veterinary school does not find her situation crucial enough to take her do the surgery and find a home, so in the end we have few options. We think adoption is not an option.
We are seriously considering putting her to sleep, because we know she has had a really good life with us, and that it would be best for us emotionaly and financially at this point. But, we worry whether we are doing the right thing, since she is outwardly healthy. I worry about my own mental well being as I have a history of depression and I feel like it will be too hard on me to see her go backwards a bit more each day or each week with the limb.
So we think perhaps we should stop restricting her, let her be a dog again, and sometime soon put her to sleep. Please let me know if you have any advice, or think we are doing the wrong thing. I know it is a personal decision to make, but I guess in the end, we're afraid of the decision we think we've made.