Cripple Hound

Well Moose seems to have finished off his knee on Saturday night. So sad. He was doing very well and we were being very careful to prevent any high impact activity since we learned his CCL was damaged last month but last night he was in the back yard and I heard a yelp and went out and he would not put that foot down. I have no idea how he did it but he must have bolted after the neighbor cat or something. We are headed to the vet in the morning to see what she says. She was very reluctant to recommend surgery before because it is not always successful but now that the injury is worse I think that might change. Honestly I do not like any of the options and just want a clear answer about what I should do for him. Down side of surgery: Horrible mutilation of bone, potential for complications or death, 2 to 3 months of recovery time, will not stop the progression of arthritis, expensive. Down side of non-surgical management: Uncertain recovery time and potential, long term pain management medications with potential liver damage, since it is likely the other knee will go (regardless of treatment) he may have 2 bad knees and be essentially immobile making surgical intervention and recovery more difficult in the future. What to do what to do what to do? In the mean time I got a crate to keep him from moving too much. I thought he would hate it but he does not seem too bothered by it so far. Of course having Dinner and some treats in there seems to help. I am in the middle of packing to move and all of my moving around meant that he would get up and follow me so I was worried he would make it worse by getting up and trying to walk every few minutes! Poor baby boy.