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Posted by The Red Queen on 1/11/2009, 12:21 pm
We have a real dilemma here...and I'd like some opinions please.
Xander (almost 9 yo Australian Shepherd for those that don't know) needs his ACL repaired. He also has a grade 3 heart murmur. He was diagnosed in November, and put on strict crate rest "to see if helped". He was on 3 legs all through the holidays. Now we have him out and about in the rest of the house, as he was losing too much muscle mass everywhere. So now he's restricted to walking...(no running, jumping, etc) and he's on 4 legs again...I'm assuming scar tissue is building up now. 
The problem is, we have NO money for surgery...none. We're gonna have to scrape this up somehow. The ortho specialists are quoting $95 for the initial exam, and $3,000 for the surgery. (plus the hour long drive each way) Our regular vet will not touch him, and I wouldn't want them to...as they're more large-animal that does small animal stuff. But Sawyer (another Aussie) uses a different vet (this vet gives discounts to Service Dogs...and Sawyer is a SD...as is Xander technically, as he helps John around the house). This other vet can do ortho surgeries and the receptionist said that the exam would be $35 (regular office visit) and the surgery would be under $2,000. Now this sounds better for us, but maybe not for Xander. We haven't gotten details from this local vet as to what kind of surgery it would be, or if they can monitor his heart (I think they said they can).
Has anyone gone a cheaper route with the ACL surgery...any thoughts, experiences? 
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