2K for Cruciate ligament op on 12yr old yorkie

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alison247

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as title- our 12yr old yorkie came in after ten minute pee break on three legs. no idea what happened to her although she does play rough and tumble with our gsd.
left it two days- even taken her walkies on three legs where she still nearly caught rabbits.
doesn't seem to be in any pain but wont put foot down.
vet says cruciate ligament
£400 today for xrays under GA
either 6wks rest with phsyio and hydrotherpy at £150 per week or 2K op next week to repair depending on what xrays show.
OMG how can it be so expensive?
Our horse had big cancer op last year & 5days in vets and bill £1,200
have to have it done though as she is a very fit and active yorkie.
does the price seem normal and what is the long term prognosis for her.
thanks
 
I saw a surgeon cos my dog has ruptured both but was only lame on one leg. This was as a three year old and he is now 6. The op would have cost £ 3,500 and the recuperation period was desperate. The surgeon said intervention is only needed if it can alleviate pain or increase mobility and my dog was not going to benefit. He suggested putting him on glucosamine and let him rest when he wants. Also not to route march him on long walks let him decide the level of exercise he wants.

He hasn't been lame once since this advice.

Unless the recuperation process is easier these days I'm not sure I'd put a 12 yrs dog through it. But clearly the decision is one only you can make.
 
Although the dog is a lot younger, my sister-in-law's dog injured its cruciate ligament six months ago. They opted for conservative treatment: six weeks of complete rest, followed by three weeks of ten-minute walks and swimming sessions. The dog's leg is now as good as new.
 
My friends bitch had the op, but it only cost £800
shocked.gif
 
£2000??? we would do a lateral suture procedure for about £700. not sure i'd do it to a dog that age though. prob go for rest and physio (which you can learn to do at home).
 
Thanks for your replies.
Reading about the other much younger dogs made us go by our first thoughts.
she is too old(but fit) to put her through such a big op.
I watched op on you tube!!!!
She is at vets now for the GA xrays and we pick her up at 4pm and we are going to tell the vet regardless of the results that she is not having the op and we will cope with the outcome as it goes along.
poor little dog, never been ill and so active I thought she'd get old but no!
Will update when we know more.
Thanks
 
My 10 yo Springer had a cruciate ligament op last year it was £350. In my opinion cruciate ligament ops are not 100% successful. My dog has now gone on the other back leg, I took him to vets and they said an op on opposite leg is even less successful so I gave him 6 weeks rest and then lead work for a month and he is now on Metacam(v low dose) for the rest of his life, he is like a new dog now. When he had the op he was in so much pain, yelping and crying, it upset me to see him that way.
But the vet wanted to xray under a general anesthetic then go back a week later for the op and another general anesthetic, I said no way not paying twice, you do one anesthetic, take xrays and operate staight away, if its not bad enough for op then wake him up, by doing it this way I helped keep cost down. My dog is not insured so I had no option to be harsh with the vets to help me keep price down.
I suspect cos your Yorkie is 12, like my Springer, DJD will alreay of set in.
 
Speaking from experince just get your Yorkie on Metacam, I would of done that the first time on Jerry Springer istead of putting him through an op, for a week after the op he was in terrible pain, and as I said not that successfull.
 
My female Rottie (7 in Sept) ruptured her back crutiate about 6 weeks ago. This had to be confirmed by xrays though as she was still walking on her leg but her muscles had gone soft, so not putting as much weight on it as she would otherwise be.

The vet was astounded she was still getting about, including going upstairs at bedtime and getting on and off the sofa, not once has she yelped in pain or looked miserable. I was given the option of two types of operation, one to put a band on - which is no good for dogs of her size, or one to level off one of the bones so that they lay flat against each other. Alternatively to leave it and see how she goes, possibly have Rimadyl if needed.

Having seen the op, also on you tube and the recouperation period, it would have been far more disabling for Jazmine both physically and emotionally than she currently is. She is not on pain killers as she has not looked like she needs any. If she had been younger and very energetic I may have looked at the op, but the vet agrees with me currently that she is better as she is.

See how your little dog goes and make the decision then. I never got a quote for the op, she is insured though, good luck.
 
My yorkie did his aged about 3. As he wasn't insured so the vet said to just leave it and see how he got on. He hopped around on 3 legs on and off for about 6 months and hasn't had a problem since (he's 10 now).
 
Thanks forall of your replies- it has made our decision much easier!
She had the GA for xrays and has indeed torn the ligament.
The vet wanted her back in on Monday for the op but we said we want to rest her first.
She told us that if she walks around ,jumps up on the sofa or goes upstairs she will end up with her leg removed!!!
She is on 5mls of metacam per day.
We have hired a crate for the next 6ks but she just cries continually even if we carry it in to whichever room we are in!
We have been told to take her out for loo breaks on a lead but she won't go!
hopping around on three legs very happily and shows no sign of pain.
The only pain she shows is her displeasure at being prisoned in crate- so only using it for a few hours a day.
fingers x that she will heal as she is so active.
she can keep up with horses on a two hour hack!
Hope I have made the right decision for her.
 
My rottie damaged both his cruciate ligaments at 3 years old - it took 6 months to get him diagnosed as he was evenly lame on both and vets couldn't see the lameness. I ended up taking videos of him haring across the field to show them as I think they had me down as neurotic
shocked.gif


He had the suture op on his "worst" leg first and the day he came back from the RVC managed to hurdle a baby gate
crazy.gif
and effectively wrecked the repair. 3 months later he had the other leg done and a "fix" to the first op. TBH the left leg (first op) isn't great, it doesn't bother him but there is a distinct turn on that hock, the right leg is fine.The total bill from start to finish was £4k and that was with the cheap ops, if he'd had the TPL ( bone shaving thingy) it would have been £2.5k per leg, not inc the diagnostic or aftercare bill.......

In hindsight I don't regret him having the surgery mainly because he was such a young very active dog but it was very hard work for both of us, he was restricted for 6 months from the first op until he recovered from the 2nd set of surgery and there were times he was in a lot of pain. He's also had treatment for elbow displasia this year (he's 5 now) with some surgery to remove the bone chips but from here on I decided that he won't have any more ops, unless absolutely essential. We're going for hydrotheraphy and physio which in the long run will probably cost more than the surgery but IMHO is better for him. Now all I have to do is convince him that swimming in a pool ISN'T an attempt to drown him
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BTW, most of the small dogs I've heard of with cruciate probs have managed perfectly well without surgery, maybe because they are smaller?
 
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