My dog Molly is a medium sized beagle mix that was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease a couple years back. She is currently taking Prednisone and has gained quite a bit of weight. She has a beagle body with skinny damatian legs. Her weight gain has put a strain on her legs and she recently tore her ACL. The vet told us that surgery was the only fix, but that they wouldn't be able to perform surgery because of her autoimmune. The vet said that it could cause the disease to come back again. Right now i am not taking her on walks and trying to keep her from moving her leg as much as i can.
I feel really bad for Molly and want to make her as comfortable as possible. Is there anything I can do to heal her ACL without surgery or just make her more comfortable? Will she get worse like this? I love this dog a lot and any information would be very helpful!
Thank you
2007-11-18 12:22:30 · 0 answers · asked by softbagel14 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Oh i forgot to say that she is on tramadol also. The vet told us to keep her on the medicine and surgery was not a good idea. I think her auto immune disease was lupus but im not sure. When she was ill she was shaking a bunch, the black part of her nose turned pink and started to kind of come off, she lost fur on the top of her front two legs and her ears and she did not eat much which made her lose a bit of weight.
2007-11-18 12:45:30 · update #1
It depends if the cruciate is fully ruptured or just partially torn through.
whan autoimmue does the dog have?
What is your vet recommending?
Have you gotten a second opinion?
2007-11-18 12:32:30 · answer #1 · answered by keezy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
thats a tough one. the pred will help with inflammation though. you could talk to your vet about tramadol which is an excellent pain medication and can be given with the pred.
you could also look at getting an a trac brace for her to wear. it is a knee brace and a couple of our patients have worn them with good results. it wont fix the problem but it can provide some stability and comfort for her.
a diet would be good also to take strain off her joints. weight loss is hard while being on pred so you have to be diligent about it.
also talk to your vet about glucosamine and chondroiton for her. as well as fish oils (contain omega 3's which reduce inflammation on a cellular level).
http://www.woundwear.com/product3.cfm
2007-11-18 12:34:37 · answer #2 · answered by bob © 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋