My Chesapeake Bay Retriever has been favoring his right rear leg for a couple of months.
At first, I thought he injured his foot, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. Other than not putting all of his weight on it, he seemed fine and not in much pain. So, I gave him time figuring it was minor and would heal.
He is still having problems with occasional minor limping, and sometimes holds that leg slightly off the ground for a few seconds; so I took him to the vet.
They couldn't find anything wrong on the first visit, so gave me an anti-inflammatory to try for a week. That had no effect, so I went back. They sedated him and checked his joints. The vet said he felt very minor looseness in his knee, so took x-rays.
The x-rays didn't show much, but there was one slightly discolored spot that he said could indicate a partial tear in the ACL. I asked for x-rays of his foot since I've suspected a foot injury since the beginning. Those x-rays also showed a slight discoloration that could be a foot injury. So, they are sending the x-rays to a specialist for review.
Now, if it is an ACL injury, the question is what to do. The vet said they sometimes heal on their own, but of course he wants to do surgery (at $1,300-$1,500, which I don't have).
Does anyone here have experience with this kind of injury? Could it heal on it's own? If I had the money, I wouldn't mind spending it on him (because I don't want him to be in pain or get worse), but I also don't want to put him through unnecessary surgery if all he needs is time.
Thoughts?
