Lucy | Torn ACL

Robert and I found Lucy on craigslist about a year and a half into our relationship. Most of the people in our family, and our close friends, all know we went through a couple dogs before we found our precious baby. I probably isn't a smart idea to get a pet while in college. We were too irresponsible, and just wanted to party. Any way, we drove 2 hours to get this dog. She was a year old (so we were told), and already had some pups. The previous owners didn't want her anymore, so we got to adopt her into our life.

Well, a couple of weeks ago (she is now 4 -5 years old) Lucy started limping. It wasn't a bad limp. She could still put pressure on it, but she held up her back left leg while eating. We tried to limit her activity, which is hardly any to begin with. The only problem I see now looking back, is our stairs. We live on a second story, and that was a bad decision. I believe this is what has caused her problems to worsen. Of course, you can never truly know what the definite problem was. You can read more about how it started and the vet's diagnosis here: http://alorabhuff.blogspot.com/2013/05/doggy-problems.html .

The vet originally said her knee was popping out of it's socket when she relaxed, and when she stood, the muscle tried to push it back in to it's original place. We got her meds, and no more limping. At all. Then Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, we noticed she wasn't even using the leg. Out of no where, she went from being just fine, to not being able to use it at all. I'm sure there are tons of factors contributing to this problem, weight, stairs, her climbing out of her cage...

On Tuesday, I called the vet and spoke to her over the phone explaining what had happened. The vet told me it sounds like she torn her ACL and she was going to refer me to a specialist/surgeon and we can go for a consultation. Rob took her in on Thursday to speak with the surgeon. And I'm not putting Rob down at all, but I know he doesn't ask enough questions, or the questions that I would ask. He doesn't know this, but I always call the vet when he leaves to get the full scoop. (haha :) ) So the consultation ended up costing $120, which included nothing but "Yeah, we need to do surgery" No other options were given (not sure if the question was asked), no x-rays, just the doctor feeling the knee, and rushing off to surgery. I'm sure the doctor is extremely busy, but how to you plan on gaining new patients without giving them all of your time.

I ended up calling our vet back and discussing our options. She explained to me some thing that I already knew from research.. Here's what I want everyone to know... Surgery is not the only option. Surgery might be the better option, but it isn't the only option, and it sure isn't the cheapest. Our surgeon was going to charge us $3500 for one knee, and told us it's only a matter of time for the other one to go out.

Rob of course was all for it, but here's my thoughts: Lucy is just an animal. She's the best dog I've ever had and my heart would be crushed for months if I lost her, but she is already halfway through her lifespan and I cannot see spending all of our savings ($7k) on a dog. If I get surgery, they will insert a metal rod in her leg to help take the pressure off the other knee. After surgery she will not be able to do any activities for 12 weeks. Years later, she'll develop arthritis in that knee. Her other leg will still give out. If I don't get surgery, her body will build scar tissue around the ligament which will help stabilize the knee. This isn't fixing the problem, the knee isn't back to normal. This is just giving the appearance on the outside that everything is fine. Her two bones/knee will rub together on a constant basis without the ACL, cause arthritis. The arthritis is inevitable, it just happens a lot sooner without surgery. She will need to wear a stifle/brace for 8 months to help take the weight off the other leg. Costing us around $300 rather than $3500. Plenty of people have seen their dog with improvement on the non-surgical method. Even larger dogs have done it this way and years later still have no problems. This lady on the video did the same thing, and 3 years later her dog is swimming and playing around. She just gives it supplements and arthritis meds.