Oh, poor Cooper. I feel so bad for him while he is recuperating. So hard for them to understand that they can't be as wild and crazy as they want to be.

I wouldn't worry about the anesthesia since he is so young. I assume your friend's dog was older? I agree that people who don't have pets don't understand why we spend the money on our furry family members. If they had a Cooper in their life, I am sure they would.

I am sure you and Cooper will come out of this just fine. You both will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Hang in there, Sue. Keep positive thoughts.

Maybe he won't have a torn acl? What was he doing? Poor guy. I would try not to worry about him under the anesthesia with him being so young.

Hoping all goes well! Keep us posted!

I wish you all the best; I know what you mean by people not understanding the cash we have to spend to have our pets fixed. Our bichon needed 2 ligaments repaired in her younger years, 2 years apart; then stones removed, etc...
I dare not tally what we spent on her in 14 years; she's still alive, my daughter has her now, not me..... she's deaf and slowly going down the hill, but she's part of the family.

Thinking of you and Cooper. Let us know how he does and what you find out. Poor baby. I think I'd spend my last dime on my pup, you're right - they are family.

tina

Poor Cooper - I hope all goes well for him - 4-1/2 is young and I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money either, assuming I had it to spend. It's a different story, IMO when the dog is considerably older and they have limited opportunity (and ability) to recover.

Oh, poor Cooper.

May I ask, what were the first signs of a problem? I have a 5 year old golden . . .

Graywings-He started mildly limping on his right rear. stiff when getting up. tucking his leg under him when he lays down. a crooked sit. and doesnt put weight on that leg- just touches his toes on that leg to balance. The vet noted our observations and said they were classic signs for ACL injury, we called the vet because we had thought his hip was getting worse.Now all that being said- it is very subtle and he had been going on the morning daily run and while walking running or trotting his gait looked good. Oh yeah- they run off leash- we walk, no running for us!

FYI Sudden profound lameness can be the first symptom of lymes disease in dogs so I would not wait to contact a vet in that case.
thanks all.

Oh, poor Cooper. And Mom. I'm so glad to hear he's so young, though. Are these problems that Goldens are prone to? Seems unusual for young dogs to have. They are so lucky you can help them heal and feel better again, so they can run and play and enjoy their life, as all should : ) I spend a fortune on my animals, too. It's hard when it's not there, but I would never miss the money.

Vet just called, Coop is fine. There are degenerative changes in the stifle( knee)indicative of a tear- but not a blowout. It turns out his right femur is longer than the left! They measured on the xray to check. Go figure. Gee I wonder if they make lifts for dogs like they do humans with one leg longer than the others?? :) I pick him and the xrays up and then next Weds we go to the surgeon. sigh. thanks for letting me whine out loud here. And I do know how lucky I am. Sue

That's great news!

I was going to say we had a Cairn Terrier who hurt her leg playing ball one day - vet said it was really bad and would require surgery. She recovered fully w/o surgery. We started giving her glucosamine tablets and she didn't even have a limp.

Glad Cooper doesn't have to have surgery.

I know you will keep us all posted so will just say that I wish you and Cooper good luck.

Yes!!

Sounds like great news! Hope all continues to go well for him. But he still needs to see the surgeon for something else?

"Cooper & Bailey's Mom",

Take care of those "Guys" for me, OK??!?!
(I'm kind of vicariously enjoying Goldens' thru your stories now...if that's OK?!?!!)

About 3yrs ago, our Vet recommended putting Sashi on Chondro-flex(sp?). Seemed to help Sashi, joint-wise. I know it wouldn't do anything for any dysplasia though.

Plz. post some pics of your crew when you can!
I'm thinkin' of them!!

Faron

Glad to hear Coop is going to be ok. My brothers yellow lab is now stiffening, hip probs. He's the same age as my girl, but we've had her on Glucosamine/chondroitin from year 1 and she's lithe and limber as ever. Our old boy has little to no arthritis as he's been on that food for years.

Hope Coop recovers soon. Wouldn't that be funny to see a doggie with 'elevator' shoes?

Thanks again for letting me talk about this to a dog/pet friendly audience.
dear Faron- of course you may, I have been thinking of Sashi since she got sick. You may find that your heart eventually longs to fill the void with a new dear one. Once you have goldens in your heart... well you know.
Cooper does need to go to the surgeon on the 21st to have his ACL evaluated,as the vet thinks the xrays show it needs repair. If the surgeon thinks its a total tear then he will operate that day( Cooper will have been fasting) if not, we will see how he wants to proceed. We trust the surgeon as he did a great job with Coopers elbow dysplasia and is a no nonsense old fashioned kind of surgical vet with a great rep.
Both of our guys are on glucosamine and chondroitin since Coopers surgery- great stuff I may start taking it for my back. Doesn't do much for an ACL tear I think but it is very good for their hips. The xray showed just mild dysplasia in his left hip which is encouraging- we were afraid it was getting worse.
Pesky- the reason I even thought of the elevator shoes is because my coworker was in a car accident as a young boy and one leg is a tiny bit shorter so he has lifts in one shoe to even his legs.
Coopers right rear is about a centimeter longer than the left rear!! I know they make snow boots for dogs...
Poor Bailey was beside herself that Cooper was gone all day. When we brought him out to the car she gave him a kiss which I have never seen her do.She was hovering around him all night as he was so dopey and out of it until about 10pm. Today he is raring to go! Both back to normal. He has been on rimadyl for a couple of days so he is not in so much pain. And he loves the cooler weather.
Faron- Here is Cooper from this summer. don't know why it is a bit blurry looks crisp on photobucket.

CB,
Thank you for your kind words!
LOVE those "Golden" pics of your gang!
He sure is a handsome Dog. How much does he weigh?
Remember, if ya need a Dog-sitter...
SO glad He's getting better!!!

Faron

Faron we had him slimmed down to 94 lbs on a weight management food and going on an off leash run every day with Bailey. She slimmed down too. But we took him in for his ears a month ago and that vet in the practice said she didnt like the reduced fat food - long story short we went back to lamb and rice food and he is now 98. even with the daily exercise. Last year he was 104. Now this vet we saw last week said she wants him at 90lbs and she likes the weight management food. We will see we could easily feel ribs and he had a tiny waist at 94 lbs. It will be tough if he has surgery to keep his weight managed with no exercise.

I've been avoiding animal threads since I lost my dear Aubrey a couple of months ago but wanted to check and see if I could handle it. I can't...you made me cry Sue and I know Coop's gonna be ok anyhoo.

I'm sorry you had a worry and hope they can help the darling out. He's lucky he's got such a wonderful mommy.

I'm with you on the care of animals...we can work a few more years to recoup retirement funds, but you can never replace the love you have for one of your fur babies. I had to tell the vet to let Aubrey go and it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I'd have paid anything to make him well again. Anything.

You give Cooper a big hug from me ok? :) And go ahead and give yourself one too :)

Aww Dawn that is sad about Aubrey- and I am with you on how that feels- same thing happened with Cody our goldie oldie 6 years ago- no money or treatment would cure her, so we let her go.
life without furbabies is just not for me! Cooper and Bailey get hugs everyday. If they wanted us to pick up Cooper early in the day- my DH and I were going to duke it out to see who got to bring him to work - after all he needed looking after ;)

Glad Cooper doesn't have a blowout! Try a Google of "dog orthotics". There are several companies that make amazing products. One of them might have a lift of some kind.

As for people who think I'm nuts for spending time and money on my furry friends... If they are rude enough to roll their eyes or comment, I just explain that I generally like cats and dogs more than humans. I've met very few mean animals. Wish I could say the same about people.

Yogacat- i think you are right. I should commit your words to memory and use them!

Awwww. That was a cute story about Bailey today.

Dawn, I am so, so sorry about Aubrey, too. It is just so hard to make that decision to put them down. But Aubrey is now in pet heaven doing just fine. He is making new friends by telling them remodeling stories. No matter what the other pets tell for stories, Aubrey tops them. Take care.

If you are open to other options take a look at Woundwear. Our Brittany had a partial ACL tear 3 years ago and our vet recommended we try this brace and acupuncture. He wore the brace for about six weeks and had no problems since.
Katharina

Here is a link that might be useful: Brace

omg, Kelly, do you really think they're swapping stories up there?

Good luck tomorrow, Cooper, Bailey, and Mom.

You betcha.

I'm so sorry Igloo!
CB, keep us posted!

tina