Final decision on Bessie. ACL surgery no longer an option.

I took Bess and Ruff into Noah's Ark Animal Clinic on Thursday for their annual check up. They laid down next to each other in the waiting room and Ruff took a nap while Bess stayed next to him and kept an eye on all the people and dogs almost as if she was on guard. She was just so calm and alert and watched everyone come and go and she made me so proud. I loved seeing everyone smile at them when they noticed us.

When our turn was called the tech put them both on the scale, Bess has lost 3 LBS and is now 112 LB. Ruff still holding at 130 LB. They got their updated shots and heartworm test and that was all good. (Heartworm test came back negative the next day.)

Dr. McGlassen called me later that evening to say they found some hook worms in Ruff's stool and he will switch brands from the Heartgard heart pills to Spectrum and get a de-wormer medicine tomorrow. Bessie is in fine shape and while she is no longer limping she is favoring her left hind leg because of the low dose of pain meds I am giving her doesn't completely hide the pain so she will not overexert herself and worsen the damage. I got a chance to talk about over my options with Dr. McGlasson about Bessie's partially torn CCL. Due to my concerns over being unable to provide proper post op rehab I have decided to keep Bess on the low dose of pain management I am using now with Gabapentin and Rimadyl instead of risking a surgical approach. 

My experience 14 years ago after Sassy had both knees repaired and the many years of pain management afterward convinced me that a conservative approach with Bess would be best. During the course of my research I found there were many potential problems with the two most popular CCL repairs. Some of the stories were just terrible to read. Any sudden movement of the leg can easily break the attached metal plate and screws holding it in place. And the leg must not be allowed to move until the bone grows back together and becomes stronger and that takes 8 to 10 weeks. What complicates the matter is that Bessie seems to have an acute sense of hearing and always jumps up and runs to the front door when there is any sound outside.

I already spent $500 on x-rays and two visits to an Orthopedic specialist for Bess and have no qualms with spending $4000 more for the surgery. BUT even if a CCL surgery was 100% successful, baring no infection or hardware implant rejection, the only way she would make it through post op rehab would be to totally sedate her 24 hours a day for 4-8 weeks to keep her absolutely still. I have no way to keep her from moving around or standing up and messing up the surgery so this was my best option.

The good news is that Bessie is doing very well and has almost no physical limitations. Since the CCL was only slightly torn there is a chance it will get better over time.