Dog In Pain What Would You Do

[Bwy]

I have an 11 year old American Cocker Spaniel *****.

She has severe hip dysplasia and it is bad as well the vet showed us the xray's when she was a pup. She has had this since birth and has been on Metacam all her life.

Last month she attempted to jump up on a chair in the yard and didn't make it falling back with a yelp.

She then limped away and the next day was still limping so off to the vet.

After three weeks and many visits she was still limping so the vet took another xray and found a joint at the top of her leg was out of alignment and talked to us about some problem with a ligament.

He went on to say the best cure is surgery and estimated a cost of

 

[Apache]

After three weeks and many visits she was still limping so the vet took another xray and found a joint at the top of her leg was out of alignment and talked to us about some problem with a ligament.He went on to say the best cure is surgery and estimated a cost of

 

[Bwy]

Thanks for the reply on this.

It was the cruciate ligament but I have no idea what that is.

She is 14 kg and is on 20 mg tablets and takes 1.5 tablets per day with food.

She is NOT taking any other medication as the vet stopped her Metacam.

The vet only said that many dogs can live with this problem as long as the weight is controlled.

I do agree with you when you say feed her a lot less it is just so easy. The difficult part is watching he continually licking her bowl and if we remove it she lays down in the place her bowl is put to feed her but I understand that we often have to be cruel to be kind.

Making the decision as to keeping her or not would be easy if I understood how much pain she is really in but with the vet saying "many dogs live with this" I have doubt as to the severity of the pain hence my plea for advise.

My vet would gladly keep her alive as long as possible only suggesting she goes when he really has to but I can make that decision if I understood better.

 

[Apache]

The cruciate [means 'cross'] ligament sits in the knee stopping the bones in the knee moving forwards. It is a very common condition in dogs. In light dogs it can be managed quite well with rest and anti-inflammatories.

As far as surgery goes there are a number of options and the TPLO is the option you are likely to have been quoted at

 

[Bwy]

This is fantastic news to me I am just so grateful for your advice.

From what you have now explained about the limp I am more settled about her pain and the severity of it.

Please do not think I am being chicken about making that terrible decision I am not my animal always comes first I was just so concerned that the pain would not be so bad and I had made the decision to put her down when she could have lived longer.

With you now saying you suspected the medication was 50 mg and she is only on 20 mg then am I on the right lines to say she is not in severe pain ?????????????

I have an appointment with my vet in two weeks time and I will discuss with him what options are open and ask why he did not tell me the options before.

I really do appreciate your advice thank you

 

[Watchdog]

Moved to Vet forum.

 

[Apache]

With you now saying you suspected the medication was 50 mg and she is only on 20 mg then am I on the right lines to say she is not in severe pain ?????????????I have an appointment with my vet in two weeks time and I will discuss with him what options are open and ask why he did not tell me the options before.

I really do appreciate your advice thank you

The dose for carprofen [the drug she is on] is 4mg/kg, reduced to 2mg/kg if that is sufficient to control the pain. At 30mg and weighing 14kg she's on close to 2mg/kg. There may be scope to increase the dose BUT DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR VET. They may have good reason for having the dog on the dose it is. There are extra [opioid] painkillers that can be used alongside the drug she is on if needed.

I would never advocate changing the dose based on anonymous internet advice when the dog can't be examined.

Sometimes it can be difficult to discuss 'all the options' in the limited time of consultations. Also if you throw too much information at a client they forget, so it is common for us to 'try these painkillers for a fortnight and come back and see me'. We can assess whether the dose is controlling the pain, whether we have any side effects and any other changes or options we might want to discuss.

You could probably talk about treatment of crucitae injuries for a couple of hours! It is a very broad subject. Try to work with your vet rather than confront them with a pile of stuff you have found on the internet. I can promise that makes our job that much harder!

 

[Bwy]

I will follow your advice to the letter thank you.

I will not confront the vet in any way at all I only intend to ask questions as I know and understand he is doing all he can for my animal.

One things which seems to be coming from my conversation with you is that I may well be over reacting to the situation. If I am then it is out of love for my dog and the desire not to allow her to suffer when there is no cure or control.

I now understand that the limp "may" or "could" be due to her joints and not pain but I also understand that I need to talk a lot to my vet and this will be done.

Thank you once again.

 

[Apache]

Let me know how you get on.

 

[Sidewinder]

Bwy,

Please let us all know how things go!

 

[Bwy]

Bwy,Please let us all know how things go!

Thank you so much for your concern and yes I will let you know how it works out.

Three months back my other dog, the brother of this one, suffered a back injury resulting in him not being able to walk as his back legs would not support his weight.

The vet put him on pain killers and kept him for two nights then released him to strict cage rest at home.

My poor man just got worse by the hour and his crying was terrible.

I took him to the vet and asked for him to be put out of his misery.

The vet advised me that he could get better over a three or four week period but I was not prepared to allow him to suffer for that long when the word "could" was used.

He died in my arms and he licked my face before he went, I am not over that yet hence my concern over my last remaining dog.

I will let you know the result of my next visit to the vet.

 

[a1]

We appreciate you letting us know. And sorry to hear about her brother.