Urgent. PLEASE help

Our 50 pound German Shepard X has been dx'd with ACL. Our vet does not do this type of surgery, says Axel will need to go to an Orthopedic Specialist. We called the three he recommended and the lowest price estimate we got was $2900.00 and none of them will let us make payments. If we could afford this, we wouldn't hesitate for an instant, but it is totally out of the question for us financially. There is no one we can borrow this kind of money from. The sad fact is that our dog will not be able to get the surgery he desperately needs. So what do we do? If we keep him confined except to pee and poop, will this eventually heal on it's own? I do realize the kind of injury this is and know that even if it does "heal," it won't heal correctly and he'll always be crippled, but will he always be in pain? Will he be suffering? I can't bear it if you say we should put him down.
After a night on the couch, he walks fairly well on it although it sort of "wobbles" a bit. His appetite is very good and we've never heard him cry out in pain. He is sleeping well and seems basically normal but a little "needier" than usual. Any advice would be extremely welcome.
Thank you so much.
Linda in Seattle  

[Misfits4Me]

Hi Linda.....As always, Ginger has wonderful suggestions!!!  I wish I knew her!!!!!
Check out "CareCredit" .com. I'm not real familiar with them, but had my poodle at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital on Christmas Eve 1 1/2 yrs. ago. He was there for an emergency back surgery that was also thousands of dollars. He had become paralyzed the night before due to NO injury. I noticed the care credit add and asked what it was. It is a credit card for human or animal medical needs. They pay the bill & you pay them back monthly. It seemed at the time that the interest was NOT overwhelming and seemed like a fair deal. You might want to check them out.
I see you are top poster in the "Anxiety" forum. Please do not stress over your dog, yet. Remain calm!!!   ;)    I will get back with you on my dogs story of a torn ACL. It has been that way for 1yr. 3mos. & I will tell you why......You do have time to raise money if you need......I'll be back, have to go somewhere for awhile.......Karla

[ginger899]

Hi Linda,
I am sure you've thought of all the financial possibilities around this. You seem to have done. But I can only suggest what you may already know or have checked out.
I don't know from personal experience about this ACL surgery, so I don't know enough about it, and whether surgery is mandatory, or not. Hopefully someone else will be able to help. But the price quoted for a surgery at this level seems more or less right. Other people may think differently, I don't know.

Then there are all the possible options you have left to raise the money...(?)
Do you have a car you could sell? Could you sell anything else? Jewelry? (Heaven's sake...even your engagement ring!) Laptop? Anything of any value at all?
Is there any charitable help you could apply for, if you are on very low income or benefits? I'm not sure how that would work, but it might be worth investigating.

What does the vet say? Does he give any advice about what to expect if you decided not to have the surgery? I would ask.

[Misfits4Me]

Hi Linda.....As always, Ginger has wonderful suggestions!!!  I wish I knew her!!!!!
Check out "CareCredit" .com. I'm not real familiar with them, but had my poodle at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital on Christmas Eve 1 1/2 yrs. ago. He was there for an emergency back surgery that was also thousands of dollars. He had become paralyzed the night before due to NO injury. I noticed the care credit add and asked what it was. It is a credit card for human or animal medical needs. They pay the bill & you pay them back monthly. It seemed at the time that the interest was NOT overwhelming and seemed like a fair deal. You might want to check them out.
I see you are top poster in the "Anxiety" forum. Please do not stress over your dog, yet. Remain calm!!!   ;)    I will get back with you on my dogs story of a torn ACL. It has been that way for 1yr. 3mos. & I will tell you why......You do have time to raise money if you need......I'll be back, have to go somewhere for awhile.......Karla

[lindapalm]

Try clicking on Animal Health-General on the right side of this page, and ask one of the vets there, possibly he can give you some answers.

[greenlydia]

Hi!
I don't mean to be pushy, but you said you'd tell me about your dog that had an ACL for over a year.............I would REALLY like to hear how he/she did and anything special you did for for them to make them more comfortable.
It just breaks my heart every time I look at my dog. He seems depressed becasuse he can't do much of anything.
Thanks so much
Linda

[Misfits4Me]

Hi Linda, I'm so sorry that I did not get back to you....When you never responded, I assumed you moved on and didn't come back. This seems to happen all the time on this forum!
Anyway the story: In Jan. of 09, I went to let the dogs in from a potty break and found the one (Male, 20 lb. Bichon) sitting and shaking. He was not limping.  Although he was able to move, it was painful for him. I immediately took him to a Vet where xrays showed a small back problem (Disc related), sent him home with anti-inflammatories, pain meds, & 2wks. cage rest.
The plan was to get him off  of the meds. & free of pain so that he would qualify for a surgery at a teaching hospital 120 miles away to fix the back...  2mos. later the appointment was made. When he was examined there, they said the back was not the issue and would not recommend surgery. They decided that it was his hips!  Yes, xrays were done!

Ok, now I have a hip problem, so joint supplements were started, weight management put into place and pain meds. as needed. This went on for exactly one year! He went to his regular Vet many times for this...
Then he started limping and holding a leg up. Again, he went to his Vet still thinking it was his hips...

I was getting nowhere with any of this so off to another town (60 Miles away) to a wonderful Holistic Vet that treats one of my other furkids for Disc Disease. Well, well,
he immediately diagnosed torn ACL.. Xrays revealed that arthritis had aready set in as the injury was an old one.  ;(  Now, everything made sense!!!  

I asked about the mandatory surgery, his reply was "Absolutely NOT". This surprised me as everything I read said surgery was a must...He told me maybe later, but assured me that the leg will be much worse if I choose surgery;  it could be done, down the road if I felt I had to, but still held to "Do Not"!!!
He changed Sam to a different joint supplement (The Drs. favorite for many reasons) Yes, I inquired why he liked only this one when there were so many on the market. He had reasons to back up the whole ingredient list and we added omega 3 fish oil for inflammation help. Samson also receives Acupuncture (It's affordable and works wonders) for pain as needed....
All of this has been amazing.....If Sam does someting crazy and pulls his leg, I do have pain pills that he can have for a few days as needed, then we go back to regular treatment...It's been a year and 5mos. since the tear and he's doing wonderful!!!!

I do not know if your 50lb. dog would be different from a 20lb. dog or not. I have also been looking at canine knee braces online. They are made to stabilize the knee and keep it from being reinjured. This would probably help your guy as his legs are longer that Sam's. His are very, very short.....Anyway, let me know if you have any other questions....I will be happy to respond...Again, I'm sorry for the delay, I will check in later tonight.
My son had surgery yesterday and I'm having a hard time keeping up!!! Take care, Karla

P.S. When I mentioned all of this to his regular Vet, she said he needed surgery!!
So, there you have it...   :)

[greenlydia]

Thank you so much for sharing this story. You have given me a lot of ideas, which I really appreciate.
Our vet said that some dogs 20 pounds and under don't always need the surgery, but those over 40 pounds absolutely need it. We did locate a vet who does the surgery for $1500 which is half what the other vets quoted us, but that is still sadly way out of our reach.
I spent some time researching the braces and was a bit shocked at how much they wanted for them. I did locate one company that sold a stifle brace for around $200. It looked exactly like the one for $500!
My husband and I are going to see where we can cut yet more corners and order one for our dog.
I would like to ask what joint supplements you give your dog. I know that glucosimine and chondritan (sp) are suppose to be good, is there anything else? And what do you give your dog for the pain? I have give Axel a couple of Tylenols, but didn't see much relief. Is there something better?
Thank you for all your advice and I will get in touch if and when I have more questions. I just hate that I can't afford to help my dog.
I hope your son is recovery well and nothing serious.
Linda

[homenalto]

Hello,  I do know of one woman who was faced with a very similar situation with one of her dogs.  She trains drug sniffing dogs for the military.  One of her dogs had the same problem I believe and surgery as also suggested.  However, she used a Far Infrared wrap she purchased from EyeOn Equine Care and the leg healed very quickly.  She even posted a blog entry on the web site.  

[greenlydia]

Thanks everyone for your responses. You've given me a lot of good ideas and much to think about. Best of all you've given me some hope that I will be able to help my dog.
I am very grateful to you all.
Peace
Greenlydia

[Jaybay]

Our 60-pound dog completely blew out her ACL years ago.  It happened on a Saturday and the one vet we could find in the office diagnosed it as a case of sprained toes.  She was in so much pain she couldn't walk at all, so that Monday we went to our own vet who correctly diagnosed the problem without even needing an x-ray.  We did do the TPLO surgery which at that time was a fairly new procedure.  It cost $5,000.  The ligament was completely severed so there was no other option.

The surgery got her back on all four paws for the rest of her life, although the joint was plagued with arthritis.  That's a pretty common problem after an injury of this type, particularly if weeks or months go by before surgery is attempted.  The dog will need anti-inflammatory meds like rimadyl or deramaxx - possibly for the rest of his life.  

A torn ligament is extremely painful so it must be dealt with.  Ginger has made some excellent suggestions.  At these times, you have to think outside the box (which I'm happy to see you're already doing!) and leave no stone unturned.  Until then, get your dog on anti-inflammatory meds.  If you haven't done so already, check out Care Credit at www.carecredit.com for more information.  You can apply for a line of credit online.

Please keep us posted.  These situations are so heartbreaking and I pray you will be able to find a way to help your dog.

[skydnsr]

There is a yahoo group offering support for conservative management of this kind of injury.  Here is the link:  http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ConservativeManagement/

You'll have to just check it out and see what you think.  If you can't do the surgery, or if you simply choose not to, the people in the Conservative Management group can help advise you on how to get through the long period of crating and all the rest of it.

There is also a more general yahoo group for owners of dogs with orthopedic injuries:  http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodogs/?yguid=10426352

The yahoo groups are kind of similar to this forum, only I would say that the postings are not as well indexed.  Also, there is no Expert input on the yahoo groups.  It is all peer support.   Like here, there are some "regulars."

Good luck.

[greenlydia]

Thank you both so much for your replies. Dog owners are just the best!
Truthfully and sadly, there is absolutely no way, even with the help from CareCredit, that we can afford the surgery for Axel. I'll keep my sob story very short. My husband has been out of work for over a year and right now we are fighting just to keep our home. I'm sure you can figure out the financial crisis we are in and why there is simply no money for a $2000+ surgery for Axel. If this had happened a year ago, he'd be recovered by now.
I've looked into the stifle braces, but I'm finding a great many people who spent the money and were terribly unhappy. They aren't cheap, either, but much less than the surgery. I actually had a little bit of hope going there for awhile.
Jaybay...........we do have him on anti-inflammatory meds and keep him as quiet as possible, but he's so young and is used to running free, we fear he is getting depressed.

skydnsr.............thank you for the links, I will most definitely check them out.

My fear and sadness is that I know without the surgery what is going to happen and I can't bear to think about it. I swear, I'd sell a kindney to get him the surgery.

Again, thank you both..........thank all of you for caring.
Warmly,
Linda & Axel

[skydnsr]

Some of those people on the Conservative Management group do feel that their dog was better off for not having had the surgery.  Sometimes things have a funny way of working out for the best.