Anyone have experience with a dog with an achilles tendon tear?

[Obamarama]

My 17 year old Cairn Terrier (yes, 17 YEARS OLD) slipped coming up the deck stairs last evening. I immediately knew something was wrong when she was unable to stay balanced and up on her feet once I got her up on the deck. Actually, at 17 I thought she was having a stroke.

Determined later on that she probably hadn't had a stroke, kept her quiet for the rest of the night and decided to see what morning would bring. He thought if it heals she would be able to get around okay, but she would always have the limp.

This AM she was still having difficulty walking, but was walking better than she was last night. Called vet, he said bring her in. Vet was suspicious of spinal injury due to her gait. Did an x-ray and spine and leg checked out okay. Kept examining her and determined that her achilles tendon in her right hind paw is much looser than her left. He suspects it is partially torn.

Surgery is out since she's 17. He thinks it might heal enough for her to get around okay, but we'd have to take her up and down stairs. Gave us pain meds and told us to check in a week or so on her progress.

My main thing is that I don't want her to be in chronic pain just to have her around. She's been with us for 17 years and it will be very hard to part with her when her time comes...BUT, I am prepared to do so if it means she wouldn't have to hobble around in pain. When she's not on it, it appears she's not in any pain, or very little. When she walks, I suspect she's in pain yet she doesn't whimper or whine, or display other signs of pain such as panting.

If this were YOUR 17 year old dog, how would you proceed?

[China_cat]

1. Not 17, but at 10, my Elwood is equivalent

being a very large Bouvier. (In other words, he's OLD for his breed and size)

He's had a ruptured ACL for a lot of years that was never treated and it atrophied. He's stiff, has problems getting up and down but hasn't been in pain since shortly after it happened (or so I was told by the foster home he was in before we adopted him and is brother, Jake, more than a year ago). Our vet doesn't want to consider surgery because of his age and is careful to check him for pain a couple times a year. If he starts to hurt, we have the option of Rimadyl...which works very well in Bouviers...or aspirin, which doesn't and also causes stomach problems.

Just like when you sprain an ankle, you're going to have pain for a while. Then it goes away. It's way too early to start thinking about pts or chronic when she hasn't had a chance to get over the first acute pain. Give it a chance to heal, rest her, keep her quiet...no running, jumping or stairs for at least a week and then re-evaluate.

[Obamarama]

2. Thanks for the input!

As for the running, jumping, stairs, etc...that won't be much of a problem since it's all she can do to walk on all fours in this condition. And being 17, she's more sedate anyway.

Thanks for your input and sharing your experience.

[Born_A_Truman]

3. My pug

jumped off my couch in February and immediately pulled up her left hind leg. Of course it was on a Sunday night and I immediately took her to the ER vet. She diagnosed a torn ACL. She said it was a partial tear because if it had been torn completely she would have lost use of her leg instead of just pulling up and limping. I took her to my regular vet and he xrayed and found she had luxating patella, not a torn ACL. She had surgery and I had to keep her on crate rest or in my lap for 8 weeks!

At 17, I would probably just keep her from running and especially jumping. Carry her out to potty, up stairs, etc and see if it heals. Did they give you anything for the joint? My vet gave me Rymadil as any joint/knee injury can get arthritis. It also helped with pain and swelling. Good luck with your baby girl.

[livetohike]

4. No experience but just offering support KzooDem

:hug: If it were my 17 year old dog, I would let her heal on her own. Our five year old dog suffered a digital tendon injury last fall, our vet said she would be okay if we didn't repair it (the repair may not have worked anyway). She doesn't limp on it and the only noticeable effect is her one toenail sticks up in the air when she is laying down.

We also had a dog who was hit by a car at age 10. He had a broken shoulder. He was placed in a full body cast which he managed to wriggle out of on the first night! The surgeon said Ranger would heal on his own, but might get arthritis in that shoulder. Ranger did heal, he never limped and lived to be 16. He was a Lab/Shepherd mix and was still hiking with us until three weeks before he died.

Anyway, I hope these experiences will give you the confidence to trust what your vet said and that your little sweetie will get along okay.