ACL SURGERY

Question
my 12 year old lab has terrible arthritis. he has been on rimadyl for a little while and was doing great. 3 days ago he stopped walking and standing. our vet said he has ACL in his back left leg and recommends surgery. do you believe this should be done to a dog his age w/bad arthritis?

Answer
One of the things that pushes me toward saying no is the percentages of success in repairing a torn ACL.  Let me share part of an email from a friend that has a dog guide, about a 5 year old Lab.  He was recently diagnosed as having a partly torn ACL.  The school that trained him will give any of their working dogs whatever treatment they need for free.  

> I heard back from the vet at the dog guide school today.  She does want to see Sam on Nov. 28.  By that time we should know how much improvement
> the complete rest has been able to achieve.  He is not permitted to work at all right now and no climbing stairs.  
> I asked the vet to give me a run-down of what we might be looking at.  
> Here's what she told me.  
> 1.  Many partial tears become complete tears.
> 2.  Almost all complete tears require surgery.
> 3.  In her more than 12 years at the dog guide school no dog having the surgery has gone on to work again.  Reasons for this are that the recovery time is
> measured in months and many people can not be without dogs for that long.  Also, the likelihood of early onset of arthritis is very strong after
> such an injury.
> She said that I should be prepared for him to be anesthetised for x-rays.  Prepared for him to have to have surgery.  Prepared for him to remain
> at the clinic for a longer period of time.  Prepared for him to be retired.  Anything less than that will be good but for me to prepare myself for the
> worst case.  

Your dog's situation is very different.  He does not face the strenuous life of a dog guide.  It sounds to me like a lot to put an old dog through with an iffy chance of success.