Our SBT dog who is 7 months old has elbow displacia (sp?) & after the x-ray on friday we were told there was hardly any joint there & he has been refered to a specialist vet for a operation to help, but not fix the problem.

If he has this op he will still not be 100% & will only be allowed a short 10min lead walk a day & be on metacam for the rest of his life.
If he does not have the op he will be eventually (couple of years) be in lots of pain & unable to walk at all.

When I got home it went through my mind to PTS as I dont think that would be any life for the poor little chap :-(

When I talked to my husband about this he wondered why they did not sugest amputating his leg, I will ask about this in my next appointment.

Could I ask the vet to amputate? I think they would want to operate as they will get more money this way.

Can I have some opinions on what other people would do? The money is not an issue (It is, but I want to do the best for the dog, no matter if that is the most expensive way)

Are you saying just one leg is affected?  Dogs manage very well with an amputated leg even a front one but in this case I would wonder whether the other leg would be up to the extra strain.  I know vets get a bit of a bad press on this board sometimes but personally I would find it extremely hard to believe that a vet would perform an amputation for the sake of money in my experience they are generally only concerned with the animals wellbeing.  This is so sad but like you I feel the life being predicted for this young dog is not really of good enough quality to be of value to him.

I can't help much - but my youngest dog had a very bad paw last year and didn't walk on it at all for three or four months. She managed perfectly well on three legs and would have been fine if we had had to make the decision to amputate (which looked possible for a short while) :) I'd discuss all the options with the vet - but I would have thought, with such a young dog, that amputation would be much, much better than euthanaesia :)

Daisy

The bad leg was a front one

I only thought to PTS because I had not thought of amputation, I was very upset after my vet visit.

I just wondered why the vet had not sugested it, but thought a very expensive operation miles away that would not 100% cure the problem would be OK.

The other front leg is fine - they x-rayed that at the same time.

I will ask the vet about amputation, will he still be able to go on long walks / off lead runs with 3 legs? (After he has adjusted to it - not 3 days later or anything :-) )

We live near dartmoor & they love their walks on the moors

I don't think that there would be any problems. Tara didn't seem to be at all bothered by only using three legs. She was doing obedience and agility on three legs for quite a while until her paw had healed up properly :D Of course, the only thing to consider with amputation is that as the dog gets old, the other leg may have problems earlier than normal - but I'm sure that's a fairly minor consideration :)

Daisy

My understanding was amputation, because it puts extra strain on the other joints, is not always an option.  It often works better on narrow chested dogs like collies and sight hounds than broader chested dogs like Labs, because the narrower chested dogs don't have to alter their balance so much to utilise the remaining leg, a dog like a Lab for example, would have to move the remaining leg much further into the middle - straining the remaining elbow joint, and these inherited elbow conditions usually affect both elbows to some degree already :(

In addition, I think you have to consider the shape of the dog and the weight ratio, slim chested dogs are usually lighter weight as well, whereas wider chested dogs are usually heavier, this will also have a bearing on how well the dog would cope with only one front leg ;)

Are you sure that the vet meant the dog would only ever be allowed a 10 minute walk a day for the rest of his life?  Or a 10 minute walk until the elbow is healed?  Big difference :) and as you were understandably upset, you may not have taken it in as well as you normally would ;)

True, good points - my dog is an Aussie, so light and agile :)

Daisy

If it's any help, I knew a staffie who had 3 legs and his was a front one that was amputated due to getting run over when he was a year old. He was very fit and active in his younger years, though sadly had to be put to sleep when he was 12 due to arthritis in his shoulder. But then again 12 years is a good age and he led a full life pain free for most of it.

Oh, I almost forgot about Tripod! He was a staff cross born with just one front leg and was another regular at the boarding kennels along with Sam mentioned above (two different owners I must add!).

I'd definitely discuss it with your vet as it may be a viable option for his quality of life if he isn't going to have any with 4 legs.

Different animal but I had a cat that's back leg was severely damaged and the vet operated on it to save it.  The nerves obviously were damaged as the leg was just dragging after the op and it was myself that suggested amputation.  I think vets are hesitant to suggest things these days in case the punter comes back later and says they made a wrong diagnosis etc.

The cat's leg was taken away and the cat never looked back.  Had a great life, was never indoors until it sadly died of something unrelated.

I would suggest amputation.  The dog would adapt and no need to be PTS.  My animal was insured at the time and the insurance paid for the whole lot.

CG