The Best News!

Ginny went in for sedation within an hour of arriving at the Vet's this morning.  Our Vet called me back about 9:30 and gave me the best news. 

He doesn't feel that the ACL is ruptured.  There is no positive drawer sign and at best he only hears a faint click.  He also did not find any swelling which might indicate an injury.  He took x-rays of the leg and hip and could only find a "flattened" femur bone.

They don't make a scope small enough to get in there and look around.  We both agreed that we DON'T want to put Ginny through any kind of surgical incision so he can poke around in there only to turn around and say "I can't find anything wrong."

Well...I can live with that!

As human beings we can be proactive and discuss with our Dr's our aches, pains and issues and formulate a treatment plan to correct those issues.  Animals can only give us clues into how they're feeling by their behavior.  As I told SM when I relayed the news to him, I'd been feeling guilty that Ginny's been lame for most of the year and that I'd put off a potential surgery that could've helped her.  What a weight off my shoulders!  So now the question becomes what is causing the lameness? 

I went in around lunch time to pick Ginny up and to discuss things further with the Vet.  He showed me the x-rays and we discussed each finding.  No arthritis, no swelling and the cartilage appears normal from what he could tell.  The ball of her femur that goes into each hip socket is flattened but appears normal enough that he's not concerned about dysplasia.  The team seemed almost apologetic that they couldn't come up with a reason for her lameness.  I told them this was totally worth doing. At least now we know that we're not ignoring a fixable injury.  I asked if I should curtail her activities.  He told me to let her do what she wants.  

So it's a mystery.  Like most things in life.