sara_s
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2017
Hi all - I hesitated posting this but am hoping someone has had a similar experience and can lend some advice.
My dog Ciara is a 7 year old shepherd mix. About 3 years ago, she was diagnosed with an ACL injury that had stabilized itself (right leg). The first time she showed signs of issues, we discovered this was not a new injury. The vet suggested we treat her conservatively with an anti-inflammatory (Rovera) and rest. He said statistically, fixing the ACL would not prevent arthritis from forming, and then numbers did not indicate we should, etc. So since then, while she walks with a little bit of a limp, we give her the Rovera as needed and she is happy and healthy.
A couple weeks ago, we had people working in our house, which unsettled her, and she was favoring her right leg to the point of only using 3 legs, which is not the norm. I thought it might be a particularly bad tweak, so I took her to the vet for an x-ray, which is the only type of test we haven't done since the original issue. The x-ray showed some weakening of the bone that lines up with all the scar tissue in the leg. The vet and radiologist honestly could not tell us for sure if it is advanced arthritis (which is a normal effect of her injury), or possibly a bone tumor. We did a chest x-ray, which came out completely normal, which is a good sign).
The vet gave us Tamarol (narcotic) to use with the Rovera and after a week, she was walking on all 4 legs again and appears to be better overall, which makes him think it is in fact arthritis. HOWEVER, his orthopedist took a look at the leg x-ray on Friday and while he too is leaning toward arthritis, the suggestion at this point is to do a bone biopsy, which will tell us definitely one way or the other. If the sample comes back as cancer, the recommendation would be amputation of the leg (something I'm not ready to think about).
I've been an anxious mess over this whole ordeal. I was starting to think we were past this until I got that call today. I know that I should see this all the way through, and the odds are that it is the suspected arthritis, but I am so uneasy about putting her through this invasive procedure.
My understanding is that due to the scar tissue build up, getting the sample will not be as simple as normal, and what would be 3-4 days of recovery could be 7-10.
I asked the vet what the recovery is like, and he indicated that they give her heavier pain meds, and she has to wear a cone, but other than that it is simple. It's not that I don't believe him, it's that sometimes I feel like this is so ordinary for a vet that they don't realize that I have no idea what to expect in a realistic sense. I get the feeling that she will be immobile for that amount of time, and that will be hard for us to accomplish because she is used to roaming the house, picking different spots to sleep, etc.
So....that is a long-winded way of me asking - has anyone had this procedure done on their dog before? If so, what can I expect in terms of the procedure and recovery?
She is 55-60 lb. dog, so it's not like I can keep her on the couch with me (which she'll hate). I'm trying to stay positive but the truth is I'm very nervous and upset about the thought of causing her pain. I appreciate anyone's advice about what to expect, similar stories, etc.
Thanks all! <3
My dog Ciara is a 7 year old shepherd mix. About 3 years ago, she was diagnosed with an ACL injury that had stabilized itself (right leg). The first time she showed signs of issues, we discovered this was not a new injury. The vet suggested we treat her conservatively with an anti-inflammatory (Rovera) and rest. He said statistically, fixing the ACL would not prevent arthritis from forming, and then numbers did not indicate we should, etc. So since then, while she walks with a little bit of a limp, we give her the Rovera as needed and she is happy and healthy.
A couple weeks ago, we had people working in our house, which unsettled her, and she was favoring her right leg to the point of only using 3 legs, which is not the norm. I thought it might be a particularly bad tweak, so I took her to the vet for an x-ray, which is the only type of test we haven't done since the original issue. The x-ray showed some weakening of the bone that lines up with all the scar tissue in the leg. The vet and radiologist honestly could not tell us for sure if it is advanced arthritis (which is a normal effect of her injury), or possibly a bone tumor. We did a chest x-ray, which came out completely normal, which is a good sign).
The vet gave us Tamarol (narcotic) to use with the Rovera and after a week, she was walking on all 4 legs again and appears to be better overall, which makes him think it is in fact arthritis. HOWEVER, his orthopedist took a look at the leg x-ray on Friday and while he too is leaning toward arthritis, the suggestion at this point is to do a bone biopsy, which will tell us definitely one way or the other. If the sample comes back as cancer, the recommendation would be amputation of the leg (something I'm not ready to think about).
I've been an anxious mess over this whole ordeal. I was starting to think we were past this until I got that call today. I know that I should see this all the way through, and the odds are that it is the suspected arthritis, but I am so uneasy about putting her through this invasive procedure.
My understanding is that due to the scar tissue build up, getting the sample will not be as simple as normal, and what would be 3-4 days of recovery could be 7-10.
I asked the vet what the recovery is like, and he indicated that they give her heavier pain meds, and she has to wear a cone, but other than that it is simple. It's not that I don't believe him, it's that sometimes I feel like this is so ordinary for a vet that they don't realize that I have no idea what to expect in a realistic sense. I get the feeling that she will be immobile for that amount of time, and that will be hard for us to accomplish because she is used to roaming the house, picking different spots to sleep, etc.
So....that is a long-winded way of me asking - has anyone had this procedure done on their dog before? If so, what can I expect in terms of the procedure and recovery?
She is 55-60 lb. dog, so it's not like I can keep her on the couch with me (which she'll hate). I'm trying to stay positive but the truth is I'm very nervous and upset about the thought of causing her pain. I appreciate anyone's advice about what to expect, similar stories, etc.
Thanks all! <3