# Possible ACL tear - senior girl



## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

So we went away for the weekend and left Kya and Phinneas at their doggy daycare (which happens to be a close friend and at her house) so they were basically staying with our friend. Kya has been doing so good on the raw diet and new supplements, she acts like a 6 year old again! She does have bad hips and with the raw diet I have gotten the excess weight off of her. She loves to play with the other dogs now and will go on longer walks and romps with us again. 

When I picked her up she was a little gimpy. I chalked it up to her having overdone it over the weekend. Well she is still limping a little and on closer inspection I believe it may be her cruciate. She is still walking/running around (hard to stop her) and does not appear to be in any pain. She will let me manipulate the knee but does seem uneasy when I do it. 

Luckily for me I am a vet tech and very close with the vet I work with. I of course called her right away. We have a plan in place.

Here's my question. Kya is 12 years old. She has had medical issues her whole life, has not been under anesthesia since her spay when she was a puppy and she did badly then. Am I a bad mom in thinking I would rather manage this without surgery? I really hate to put her under anesthesia at this point. I guess I just need reassurance as most vets are all about fixing it surgically and I'm not sure I want to risk what little time I have left with her IF I can manage it without the surgery. Her well being, happiness and quality of life are the most important thing to me. 

And I know I am getting ahead of myself. All my schooling, training and experience go right out the window when I am dealing with my Kya girl. 

Thanks for listening! Any advice is appreciated.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I would see how bad the tear is before deciding how to manage it. Get the xray done and see what it shows. It might just be a pulled muscle or strain.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would see first as well, it doesn't sound to 'bad', I believe if she really blew it, she would not be putting any pressure on the leg at all.

My 11 yr old aussie had a slight tear last spring/ tho I have gone the surgical route before, I decided with him, I was going to wait it out, and try no surgery..He's back to being totally normal now, so I'm glad I waited and just managed it.

Hope it's nothing serious ..


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

Well I was jumping the gun and being an overprotective mom. Kya is doing fine and doesn't seem to have any issues anymore. I think she just overdid it and it was just her arthritis. Very happy about that.


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## Witz (Feb 28, 2011)

I have nursed 2 who actually had tears and we had the TPLO procedure when they were around 8 or so. As time went on they developed some issues with the none repaired knee's. We decided because of their age not to do anymore surgery, both were around 10. We added Glucosamine and Chondritin supplements to their food, which seem to help a little. I then went to Adequan injections which specifically helps with lubricating the joints. We saw a real improvement with that. We also would have acupuncture treatments. Also kept their weight down and made sure that they got the level of exercise they could tolerate. With all of those approaches one made it to 13 and the other to 12.


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