Surgery not required for Yorkie’s torn ACL

QAt the ripe old age of 12, my Yorkie tore the ACL in his right rear leg. I’m faced with the choice of whether to pursue surgery for the problem, and if so, what procedure to do. The injury occurred three weeks ago. My vet took X-rays and showed me what was going on. After some initial bloodwork, my vet started the dog on Rimadyl for pain and inflammation, and he hobbles around pretty well. He limps but does put the leg down and otherwise is functioning normally. What should

I do? Is there much upside to doing the surgery this late in his life? Can he manage without the costly and probably painful intervention?

AYour question touches on the sensitive topic of what to do for older patients, what is feasible, what makes sense and the benefit versus risk.

One of my close friends has two elderly Yorkies, and both have issues with their knees. One also has a torn anterior cruciate ligament. We opted not to operate, and the dog has adjusted well with anti-inflammatory medications, limitations on exercise and keeping the weight down. Actually, the weight is almost never an issue with a small dog like a Yorkie.

My friend’s dog’s radiographs showed deteriorated, arthritic knees. In a matter of two weeks, she was acting quite normally, with no obvious evidence of pain other than a slight limp, much like your dog. The medication we used was also the same as what was given to your dog.

Studies have been done on whether invasive surgery is needed for small, lighter-weight dogs for this injury. They have shown that these kinds of cases can be handled or managed medically, but on a case-bycase basis. They also show that in these small breeds, that may be preferable if there are any other mitigating factors, such as age and anesthetic risk.

I suggest you work with your veterinarian and have a treatment management plan in place beyond where things are now. I’m sure you will be steered in the right direction.