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A week ago I was getting ready to take my 9 year old Cocker Spaniel to the vet for a check-up/shots/blood work up in advance of some dental work,...and literally moments before we walked out the door she jumped into the chair (which she does all the time, we have no rule that the pets stay off the furniture in our house) and did something to her leg, and started holding her left rear leg up...

At the vet, the Doc checked her over & said her patella is NOT luxated, he didn't feel anything really obviously wrong, he felt a little crackling in the joint (I can't remember if that is the exact word he used) he thought maybe she just kinda sprained it and had a little arthritis starting that made it seem worse. He prescribed her some Rimadyl as an inflammatory and told me to make her rest it. I was to call him in a week & let him know how she was.

Well, a week later and she is putting no weight on it at all. the weird thing is my dog is a REAL baby when she is hurt. I mean I used to work at the vet and i have never seen a dog act like such a cry baby as my dog. When we spayed her she didn't want to get up, even to feed herself, for a week. BUT she does not act like this HURTS. she just won't put it down. She RUNS around on 3 legs, I have a lot of trouble keeping her from jumping on the furniture, she even wants to run up and down the stairs (which I don't let her do, but I call someone every time she needs to go up or down, because MY foot is broken again, and I am in a walking boot & can't carry her & walk on the stairs at the same time! ) She is not crying at all! I am NOT saying I don't think anything is wrong with her, I just don't understand.

So I called the Doc. he wants to see her tomorrow. he's probably going to want to take X-rays. He suspects it could be a torn Cruciate ligament. If that is what it is surgery is at LEAST $1500. I'm hoping that surgery is not absolutely necessary, cause I just do NOT have that kind of money sad
BUT I know that if it is a lot of money the Doc will work out a payment plan. * sigh* every time we ALMOST get our heads above water financially, something like this happens. Ugh.

She had her appointment. Doc says she tore the ACL. He can feel the "drawer movement" in the knee... apparently it moves in a way it shouldn't be able to move if the ligament was still in place. But he feels it's OK to watch it for now. She is a small (22 lbs) low energy dog (she's 9 years old and has never been a "playful" dog, she doesn't play fetch or chase squirrels or anything) He said over time scar tissue will stabilize the joint, but it will be very easy for her to re-injure it. I have know this vet for a very long time and I trust him. If I thought she was in a lot of pain I would do the surgery right now and find a way to pay it off, but she is not showing signs other than holding it up that she is really hurting (and as I said, she is a real cry baby) The Doc suggests we wait a month and re assess the situation, so for now that's what we have decided to do.