I would get it fixed.. To me, pets are part of the family.. Have you asked the vet if it may be a long term problem? (as in ongoing vet bills?) It is a hard one, pets are so expensive.. Maybe you could take out pet insurance? It wont help now, but maybe if you need it in the future.. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.. I don't envy this emotionally and financially difficult situation.. Also, dogs can adapt to having 3 legs very well.. I know a lady who has a dog with 3 legs and she gets around fine..
OK.. I could be wrong seems Ihave not seen the dog and am not actually a vet but I worked as a qualified vet nurse for 10 years & had when I believe is the same operation on both legs of a dog I owned.... Ok so.. first off, it is possible that something happened that trigged her knee to start popping out while out with the kids. BUT it could have been as simple as her twisting it funny while running. It is a very common thing in smaller dogs.
2nd, while its been a few years since I was in a vet surgery $1800 seems like a LOT to me for this surgery. I would look at getting a second opinion. As far as I know once it is fixed you shouldn't have too many drama's with that knee BUT the other may very well start later down the track AND it is very possible that she will still develop arthritis which she will need some form of treatment for later on ( there is an injection called Pentosan I think, if I am remembering right that they can have that helps with their joints. So for example as winter comes on she may need a few injections to help her through the cold months when she is older)
third.. Amputating would be extream in this case, her current problem is very common & while surgery seems extream to fix it, its a fairly straight forward one. The shock her body would possible go through from loosing a leg...Personally I would put down if that was your 2 options.
i would get a second opinon on the price of surgery to fix & go from there.. I really wouldn't expect to pay over $1000 to fix that. Even that I would be thinking is high but tryig to allow for the fact its been about 4 years since I seen a vet bill LOL
I am not a vet nurse or a vet student but I am a Biol student (so don't know as much as Efjay) and as I understand it, correct me if I am wrong, dodgy breeding can commonly cause problems with hips, knees, feet etc. Is she overweight at all?
It does sound like a very excessive cost to me...but my only experience of vet costs is fostering some very sick animals over the years.
Vets in different suburbs DO have very different pricing, I have found. So def get a 2nd opinion.
Some vets also offer payment plans.
I think amputation is very drastic and will cause the dog way more stress than she and you both need. My dog had a toe amputated...just a toe!...and she was down and out for a couple of days, and was a bit unbalanced for a tiny bit. I was beside myself with just a toe going!
Is re-homing an option? You would miss her but it's probably nicer than amputation or euthanasia.
Yep I would definitely get the surgery done....after getting a second opinion on the price.
5 is pretty young and I'm sure your pooch could have a perfectly happy life once the knee is fixed. They are part of the family (even if it is your parents) and for me, I can't give up on them if something can be done. DH had a dog when I met him, and MIL wanted to get him put down because he was 10 and had arthritis....I took him under my wing...got him some cartrophen injections (I think that's what it was called) gave him glucosamine for his joints and gave him an extra 3 years
They count on us. The hard thing is without knowing the history of the parents of your pooch you will never know if this will be an ongoing problem with other joints, but you can help with the one that has a problem and try and prevent it happening in other joints later on.
Maybe you can do a payment plan with the vet, or perhaps share the cost with your parents?
Also local animal aids / shelters are able to provide a list of more affordable animal care options - have you contacted them? I had financial troubles a while ago and contacted the uni vet hospital - the final year students do work as part of their experience and it is very cheap if there is a uni near you - worth checking out. Or the RSPcA if there's one nearby.
get a second opinion, or third! Most vets will offer payment plans for such a large bill, so if you could initially go halves with your parents and then arrange to pay it off every week would that be more affordable?
I don't agree with amputation..very drastic action and in this case not necessary. If it happens to another knee then what will you do, can't amputate another one!
I want to hear your thoughts please - what would you do?
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Also, dogs can adapt to having 3 legs very well.. I know a lady who has a dog with 3 legs and she gets around fine..
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