Lame older hunting dog...what to do?

[netcoyote]

I few weeks ago I was out hiking with my 9 YO English Setter for a day of scouting and getting some fresh air. It was a beautiful day and I was already thinking of looking forward to yet another grouse season coming up. My setter was doing his usual thing, running like a bullet, up slopes and down slopes and just thoroughly enjoying himself. Everything was great until he got out of sight and I heard a yelp. I was worried that he got into another animal but then saw him coming towards me hanging his one rear leg loose.

I have been through this with one dog before and had a pretty good idea what his problem might be. The vet confirmed my fear the next day; it was a torn or damaged cruciate ligament. Having this problem with another dog that had this problem we opted for the suture procedure as a repair. That dog was 10 YO when he had the injury and he lasted for another two years before recently passing away.

So now my dilemma. I was thinking maybe that my setter only had a few more good years to hunt before the injury. Now, this season is out of the question regardless, even if I start with a surgical procedure solution next week. What then? One year to hunt? maybe? depending on the success of the surgery. You guys with active dogs know they don't seem to have a sense of moderation. At least that's the way my dog is. He will run flat out until something stops him. What's next? Blowing out the other leg? A real possibility.

If my setter was 4-5 or even 6-7 years old, I might be more inclined to go with an expensive TPLO surgery. Maybe the suture type procedure is more appropriate given his age. I would probably not hunt him unless we went the TPLO route. I have to decide on something. I can't leave him the way he is and despite a few improvements, I doubt he will recovery without some type of surgery.

Any of you guys faced with having an older hunting dog with a similar injury?

[Stilly bay]

Man thats a tough one. Obviously time is of the essence for this decision.

some dogs can live and hunt into their teens, I had a springer that hunted hard until 13 and she started slowing down and passed at age 14. Personally I would kick myself forever if she had a similar injury at age 9 then lived another 4 years on the bench because I chose not to get her fixed up.

My  get the surgery done, at least you will make life more comfortable for your dog. Focus on physical therapy religiously ( this will be key) and maybe in a year or two you will be shooting birds over him again. 


Then get a puppy so you don't over work him in his senior years.

FWIW the dog in my avatar had his hips crushed by a car when he was three. the Dr said he would need surgery and even then he would possibly never walk again and definitely never hunt again.
He has a limp, but he hunts hard and never takes a break and I attribute most of it to chitloads of PT. dogs are amazingly tough, resilient creatures and they will surprise you more often than not.

[Happy Gilmore]

The top surgeon for these surgeries and has done nearly every injured FC in the retriever world is in sun valley and over half the cost of the local jerk who up charges in a saturated market. I think he's $1,400. You can make sun valley in a day, rent a Prius and roll out. You'll save a lot of money. Also, probably consider leaving it? Hell have a limp but probably not a lot of noticeable pain after a couple months

[YellowDog]

The top surgeon for these surgeries and has done nearly every injured FC in the retriever world is in sun valley and over half the cost of the local jerk who up charges in a saturated market. I think he's $1,400. You can make sun valley in a day, rent a Prius and roll out. You'll save a lot of money. Also, probably consider leaving it? Hell have a limp but probably not a lot of noticeable pain after a couple months

Happy, I assume the surgeon you mention is doing TPLO? If so that is a great price if he's doing that for $1,400.  I paid $2,500 at WSU.  Local (Lynnwood/Seattle) surgery specialty centers quoted more like $3,700 and many of the vets had been trained at WSU by the surgeon that did my dog's procedures.

My dog had both cruciate legimates go out on her.  I took her to WSU to have one surgery then 4 months later did the other one.  She was 6 at the time and although she is a lab I never really hunted her. She loves to play fetch and frisbee and can be very active.

Netcoyote, if I were you I would give your dog a couple months for the inflamation to go down and/or just have him evaluated by a very good vet experienced with these surgeries.  The head orthopedic guy at WSU examined my lab and just by manipulating the joint on both legs and guaging her reaction and resistance he could tell (or was fairly sure) that both cruciate legimants were gone but the miniscus in one knee was torn and the other was not.  If a vet could tell you with some certainty that the miniscus was/was not torn it would make the decision easier in my opinion.  If the miniscus is torn, it needs to be removed or it will continue to be extremely painful for your dog and I think that can really only be done with the TPLO surgery not the suture procedure.    My lab was 6 when hers went out and she was hurting pretty bad with the torn miniscus so I couldn't see making her live 6+ years without being able to run and play.

My brother's lab also has had both go on her.  He opted for the suture method on the first one and TPLO on the second.  If she runs a whole lot she will still get gimpy on the one that had the suture procedure.  She had one go and he did the suture method. 8 months later the other one went.

If your dog has that high energy level and you want to continue to hunt him then I would go with TPLO and be done with it.  If you just want to relieve his pain and more or less retire him from hunting except for small stints in the field the suture would probably be okay.  If in a couple months he is walking without any limp then I personally would have to think hard about spending the money on the surgery, putting him through months of rehab/isolation, and might just retire him from hunting and let him hang loose around the house/property. There are statistics out there that say once a dog tears one leg, something like 60% end up tearing the other.  I'm not sure I would chance having the other one go too and putting the dog and myself through 2 surgeries at age 9.   

Either way, it sounds like it might be time to start grooming a new pup .

[netcoyote]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I contacted WSU and got a rough quote of between $2700-$3100 for the TPLO surgery. I thought that was high until I check around locally. A prominent Tacoma surgeon quoted $3600-$4200. When I was working I may have considered that doable but now that I'm retired, that's just more than what I can handle.

I just recently (yesterday actually) put down a dog that had a double knee suture operation. He wasn't a hunting dog but a herding Australian Shepherd that we had retired at about age 10. We got about two years of quality life with that dog but his rear legs finally gave out and he had other problems that just overcame him. I don't regret spending for his operation but we managed to get it done for about $2000 and it was worth it for two more years of his companionship.

I'd be OK to retire my dog at 9 and spring for a suture operation for just the one leg. I've had 8 good hunting seasons with him and can accept that that's all I get. The problem then would be to keep him from running too hard and blowing out the other one. Not sure how that would happen.

Got an appointment with another vet on Monday to have another conversation about this. I'll keep everyone updated on this. Thanks again, everybody.

I tend to agree with YellowDog...time to start looking for a pup.

[AspenBud]

The problem with that type of injury is the dog will often blow out the other knee if nothing is done about the injured one.

Whatever surgery you choose, be sure to follow it up with pt. Animal rehab will cut the recovery time down by a significant margin if done by the right pro.