<p>We also have a chow/mix that had a torn ACL. She was about 8 at that time and our vet suggested we try out a dog leg brace before considering surgery. It worked out fine. After a few months, she was walking/running just fine.</p>
<p>I asked about the cortisone shot and the doc said they don’t give dogs those shots because they can’t determine the dose and to get the correct placement it would require putting her under anesthesia and shaving the area, etc. </p>
<p>I sell human knee braces, I didn’t know that they sold them for dogs. </p>
<p>She takes tramadol 3x a day, I don’t think we can up it. I believe the Rimadyl is an nsaid like aspirin. </p>
<p>The cleaning lady was here yesterday and she did once again go beserk over the vacuum. She tries to go after it, barks her head off, etc. It was actually good to see her acting her usual nutty self. </p>
<p>The vet is definitely supportive, but not making the call for us. I think there are still times through the day when she’s fine, she’s eating, drinking, laying out on the porch smelling the air. </p>
<p>Even now I’m looking at her, mouth open, panting, but she’s on her way to steal the cats food.</p>
<p>Sounds to me like she’s still enjoying life. If she is choosing to move around for recreational reasons, it isn’t time, at least IMHO.</p>
<p>But I’m sitting here in a dogless house. :(</p>
<p>Update - the meds seem to be working better and she seems stable now. In other animal news after we took in my d’s cat for radioactive iodine for her extremely over active thyroid we noticed last Friday night she was really struggling to breathe, as in I didn’t think she’d make it through the night. We took her to the animal er where they drained the fluid out and ran some tests. They thought she had congestive heart failure and recommended an animal cardiologist. She went this Friday where they said her heart was fine, but she has a tumor in her lungs 
She’s seeing the oncologist on Monday. We won’t do surgery or chemo, but if there are some medicines she can take to be comfortable we’ll do that. D is a hs senior, extremely attached to this cat and we haven’t told her every detail yet until after she sees the dr on Monday. She’s the fun, kooky, smart cat. This is bringing home that as d leaves from school we could be losing most of our pets! </p>
<p>Our dog died peacefully in her sleep. We didn’t know she was so close to the end…we thought she had a few weeks at least. In retrospect, the signs she was near the end were: she looked at me and her eyes said, “Please help me” and she solicited much more petting than she normally would have. She did have labored breathing for the last three days.</p>
<p>Euthanasia or natural death are both painful in their own way. Although we were glad we didn’t have to make the decision, discovering her after she died was traumatic in a different way.</p>
<p>I feel your pain as you go through this difficult time.</p>