Dog lame in one leg after injury

[spamgirl]

Hey again,

I was taking my dogs for a walk and the 10 year old yorkie quit and refused to walk. When I got him home he was not using one of his legs. I rushed him to the vet, they did xrays, but didn't find anything other than that his patellae are loose (but they've always been.) They said to give it a week until my regular vet came back and see how it goes.

He's still not using that leg, and when you put your hand on his foot and push it towards his body his knee pops, and this hurts him (I think, he moved in a way that seemed irritated when I did it so I stopped).

They also said that his other hip is arthritic and the ball is so large it's coming out of the socket. They said it could pop out in the future. If this is the case, is fixing his other leg just going to give him a few months until his hip goes out too?

Otherwise, he's eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, just having a lot of trouble walking (hopping, which is hard on our slick wood floors).

Edited to add: I did the drawer test and there is a large amount of motion in his knee joint, so I'm thinking torn cruciate ligament. Because he's a very small dog (8lbs) and old and has bad allergic reactions (to something, we've never determined what), I'd prefer fascia lata strip surgery. Do you know how much that typically costs and how long the repair would last?

[Traci]

Not sure about the costs, it depends on the vet, location, etc. I'd imagine it would be more than you are currently prepared for. That said, vet may make payment arrangements with you, or, you could apply for CareCredit - CareCredit usually allows a 6-month to 1-yr payment plan interest-free AS LONG AS you make monthly scheduled payments and pay it off in full by the term date (otherwise it is retroactive and if not paid in full by due date, one would pay the entire interest on the full amount).

Ask the vet about your options. It would be more prudent to fix the patella right away, since he has to use his leg (the hip could maybe wait, and/or talk to the vet about options coinciding with the patella) - this is one of those situations where you have to defer to the vet's best opinion, but definitely worth getting the patella fixed now (unless they feel it can be braced for an amount of time plus rest and restricted activity, but that's anyone's guess and not a guarantee of success)

[spamgirl]

Not sure about the costs, it depends on the vet, location, etc. I'd imagine it would be more than you are currently prepared for. That said, vet may make payment arrangements with you, or, you could apply for CareCredit - CareCredit usually allows a 6-month to 1-yr payment plan interest-free AS LONG AS you make monthly scheduled payments and pay it off in full by the term date (otherwise it is retroactive and if not paid in full by due date, one would pay the entire interest on the full amount).

Ask the vet about your options. It would be more prudent to fix the patella right away, since he has to use his leg (the hip could maybe wait, and/or talk to the vet about options coinciding with the patella) - this is one of those situations where you have to defer to the vet's best opinion, but definitely worth getting the patella fixed now (unless they feel it can be braced for an amount of time plus rest and restricted activity, but that's anyone's guess and not a guarantee of success)

I went in to see my vet and I was right about the ligament being torn, so he'll be going in for surgery on Tuesday at a cost of $2,200. That's $5,500 in vet bills for the two of them in 4 months. This stuff only happens when one of us is unemployed! Last time it was $10k in bills when my husband was laid of in April 2010, and now I've been laid off in April 2015 and we're doing it all over again. Deja vu. sigh.

Thanks for your help!

[Traci]

I feel for you! It's ridiculous the costs of some types of vet care and surgeries of this nature are really climbing in costs.

That said, in my opinion, worth every cent when it gives our furbabies comfort and happy lives, to me that's all that matters.

[spamgirl]

I feel for you! It's ridiculous the costs of some types of vet care and surgeries of this nature are really climbing in costs.

That said, in my opinion, worth every cent when it gives our furbabies comfort and happy lives, to me that's all that matters.

Amen. Now if only we could explain it to the rest of the world who hear about what we do for them and give us That Look.