Re: Exploratory Surgery - Arthritis/Torn Ligament

Dusty,

First, I'm really sorry you're in such a situation. I can truly relate.
We have two dogs. The first, had tremendous problems all of a sudden
with walking, jumping, even going potty. We couldn't figure it out. We
took him to vets that went to UC Davis (known as one of the top vet
schools in the country). The diagnosis - Discospondylosis. This was
said to be an uncurable "virus".

Well, it is great to have medical science provide diagnosis but it
isn't always right. This incurable illness was treated by us. How?
Nutrition. Not dog food per say. My personal opinion is that pets and
humans are malnurished to a large degree due to additives and - believe
it or not - fractionated and isolated vitamins and minerals. So, we
learned about Whole Food Nutrition.

We started feeding our dog raw meat along with whole food meal and
whole food supplements. We even obtained a product called "Dog
Inflammation Care" from www.dogcare-doghealth.com as well as other
products to deal with his problems. He fully recovered and has been
fine ever since.

It doesn't end there. Our second dog was adopted without us knowing
that she had seizures. This is a big red flag since it can mean some
serious problems besides epilepsy. It is possible, according to the
vets, that she had menge or another disease. She was finally diagnosed
as epileptic. Again, we attacked food and provided her as much
nutrition as possible. Within a short period of time - no more
seizuers. My diagnosis - malnurished.

I would say attack food first no matter what. If you are providing your
dogs with poor quality food (anything that has been heavily processed
or doesn't include raw food) than you should reexamine the situation.
Second, whole food nutritional supplements can do wonders. Again,
www.dogcare-doghealth.com has information about nutrition, illnesses,
as well as whole food products. There's amazing information about dog
food on there.

Finally, sometimes surgery is required - just like with us. But, give
healing a chance by making sure there is a means for healing to take
place. Drugs will not heal. The body is designed to consume food to
heal not drugs. Drugs have side effects (just watch some tv commercials
from drug companies - they are hysterical) because they are chemical
compounds. Foods do not have these kind of effects. There is whole food
nutrition that is packed very densely with healing foods in unique
combinations.

Be patient, love you dog, and good luck,

Kevin

Dusty wrote:
Buglady,

Thank you for your reply. It helped clarify things for me. The
recommendation for a full blood panel is great. The vet did not do
one. I don't think Sam has ever had one and he'll definitely get one
before any surgery.

Here's where I'm not understanding the vet's recommendation for
exploratory surgery:

1. Sam was diagnosed with arthritis in the right, rear knee. So, if
he has arthritis in that knee joint, I fail to see how he'll improve in
a month. Since arthritis doesn't improve. So don't know how "failure
to improve in a month" would lead to a diagnosis of ligament damage.

2. If there is also ligament damage and from what I've found in
researching it, the vet could most likely tell this from a physical
exam. Sam did receive a thorough exam of the leg and range-of-motion
movement before the x-ray. To the point where he was uncomfortable.
The vet said there was some stiffness and then said an x-ray would tell
us more. The vet said nothing after the physical exam of any ligament
damage. Only after the x-ray.

3. I do not understand how ligament damage can be determined by x-ray.
I thought that tissue did not show up on an x-ray, only bone.

4. "Exploratory surgery" bothers me. Not surgery to repair. Just
"exploratory".

While I want the best for Sam (including exploratory surgery that seems
questionable), I really feel on a fence about the need to do
exploratory surgery. Sam has always been a house dog and always on
leash. I'm the one who walks and plays with him and cannot recall any
time when he seemed to be injured or acted in pain. The limp wasn't
sudden. It developed slowly over a couple of weeks. And, once he's
been walking around for a minute or so, it seems fine.

For the time being, I'll go with conservative management, pain pills
when needed (none needed since Sunday), and a second opinion after 4-6
weeks if there is no improvement. Then, if needed, I'll ask about
exploratory vs. repair.

I'd be happy to hear what others think, too. Many thanks for your time
and help.

Dusty


buglady wrote:
"Dusty" <dustyfines@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1147142794.580612.14310@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

..............Opening a dog up to *explore* is a very last option for me. I
think I'd seek out that second opinion. It does sound odd, but I suppose if
that leg had a chronic problem that wasn't really noticeable until now, you
could get arthritis in that joint and still have a torn ligament. The main
thing to find out is if there will be any kind of permanent damage from
waiting if it is a torn ligament.

..........I'm assuming this dog had a full blood panel run also? There's
lots of other things that can cause limping and if the vet couldn't find
anything but arthritis he may be missing the boat.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

.

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