cartilage operation for my dog - anyone offer advice?

alyth · 11 January 2008 at 11:10PM

I'm almost too scared to post this, as I'm not sure I want to hear the replies!

My beloved hound is going into hospital on Tuesday to have her cartilage "done" for want of a better word. She's been limping for a while, and our vet has been fantastic and she's going into one of the best ortho-type vets in Scotland. However, I'm terrified of how I'm going to look after her when she gets home. She won't be able to leave the house for at least 4 weeks I'm told, probably more, and then only under strict instructions in the garden for about another 4 weeks. How on earth am I going to stop her moving about - she doesn't sleep in a basket, she sleeps on a chair, and I know she won't be able to get onto that, but I can't bear the thought of her being in pain and not being able to do anything about it.

The other thing is that she's left on her own during the day - always has been, she's used to it, even if I'm at home she does nothing but lie on her chair. However, she likes to lie at the top of the stairs as the landing catches the sun during the day, so I've got a stair guard to stop her going upstairs.

I'd welcome the advice of anyone who's dog has gone through this, as I say i've left it to the last minute to ask advice as I'm not sure I want to hear any bad stories, my dog means the world to me, and it's going to break my heart taking her to the vets and leaving her, I know ultimately that it's for her own good, and I want to do whatever I can to make her recovery as painfree and smooth as possible. I deliberately haven't googled on the operation as I'm worried as to what I might find, but if anyone could put my mind at ease and offer advice I'd be really grateful. Thanks, alyth.

pboae · 11 January 2008 at 11:41PM

I know someone who's dog had this done, she was a St. Bernard cross, so you can imagine she was a huge dog. The op went fine, and afterwards she mostly limited her excercise herself, and didn't usually try to go upstairs or anything. It was like she knew her limitations until it had healed.

They worried about how they were going to manage her aftercare too, but in the end it really wasn't that big a problem, and the op made a big difference to her quality of life afterwards.

EDIT: Actually, I think that is wrong, sorry. It was her cruciate not her cartlidge, *but* I'll leave my post there, 'cos in terms of aftercare it is pretty much the same thing.

Sorry :-(

snowman2_2 · 12 January 2008 at 1:10AM

As a vet myself, I have 2 suggestions for you - firstly speak to both your vet but more importantly the vet who is doing the surgery and ask their advice. They will probably give you very good advice as they will want the wound to heal perfectly first time and most referral vets don't leave anything to chance. Secondly, consider getting an indoor kennel / cage. You can get them from Argos for £50 depending on the size of your dog and will keep her restricted whilst the wound is healing but speak to your vet first.

alyth · 12 January 2008 at 9:49AM

thanks for your advice, my dog's a rottie so not a small dog, although not as massive as rotties can be. Snowman, I do have a cage that she used to sleep in when she was younger, we were going to put that in the living room and see if she might use it again as a sort of "quiet/recovery" area.

And pboae, I'm kind of hoping that she will know herself what her limitations are, I've told her about the operation and that she'll have to take time to recover, but she's a dog so not sure how much she understood! But I appreciate your replies, thanks.

WeirdoMagnet · 12 January 2008 at 10:12AM

alyth wrote: »

I do have a cage that she used to sleep in when she was younger, we were going to put that in the living room and see if she might use it again as a sort of "quiet/recovery" area.

You might have already done this, but I'd get the crate out and get her using it now, so it's not foreign to her when she comes home IYSWIM.

Good luck, let us know how she gets on.

RooBee · 12 January 2008 at 10:21PM

Not sire if you mean she is having cruciate surgery but, if so, then my (very big-52kg) Rottie cross has had it done twice with great success.

Would second the advice to get her used to using her crate again asap. Also, it may help to put something large on her favourite chair to discourage her from trying to get up there. She will, to some extent, know her limitations, especially in the very early stages of recovery. The vet carrying out the surgery should be able to give you further advice regarding exercise etc and also any appropriate supplements that may help (my boy is on Vetri-Flex joint supplement twice daily but requires no other pain meds/anti-inflammatories...he doesn't even lipm and his most recent surgery was only 4 months ago

alyth · 12 January 2008 at 10:46PM

blimey RooBee, your boy's massive, my pooch is only 30 kgs and I thought that was big! I'm so glad to hear of your dog's successful ops, she might have to have the other back paw done in time, and you are right in that it's cruciate, I keep getting it wrong!

Of course I've now left it too late to get her used to her cage again as the op's on Tuesday, but I'll put it in the living room tomorrow and see what she does. It was never used as a "naughty" place, she used to use it more as a quiet zone, although there's only the two of us so it's not a noisy house!

My biggest worry is that the clinic is about an hour and a half's drive from here, and how on earth am I going to get her into the car to get her home? I'm hoping the vets will be able to put her in the back and then me and OH can get her out when we get home.

God, it's all really worrying, at least the large thing I can put on her chair will be OH, as she claimed his sofa a few weeks ago for some reason, and he was relegated to her chair!

Thanks for your postings, I appreciate it.

RooBee · 12 January 2008 at 11:12PM

alyth wrote: »

blimey RooBee, your boy's massive, my pooch is only 30 kgs and I thought that was big! I'm so glad to hear of your dog's successful ops, she might have to have the other back paw done in time, and you are right in that it's cruciate, I keep getting it wrong!

Of course I've now left it too late to get her used to her cage again as the op's on Tuesday, but I'll put it in the living room tomorrow and see what she does. It was never used as a "naughty" place, she used to use it more as a quiet zone, although there's only the two of us so it's not a noisy house!

My biggest worry is that the clinic is about an hour and a half's drive from here, and how on earth am I going to get her into the car to get her home? I'm hoping the vets will be able to put her in the back and then me and OH can get her out when we get home.

God, it's all really worrying, at least the large thing I can put on her chair will be OH, as she claimed his sofa a few weeks ago for some reason, and he was relegated to her chair!

Thanks for your postings, I appreciate it.

Be very glad then that it's only 30kg of dog than you have to negotiate into the car and not my monster mutt :rotfl:And he's the smaller of my two dogs! :eek:

She will probably be a little more mobile than you imagine as dogs tend to cope pretty well on 3 legs although I'm sure the vet nurses will help you get her into the car. You may want to throw in a large blanket which can be used as a stretcher or sling to support her weight if she is struggling a bit (pass the blanket under her abdomen, gather the ends together above her and kind of support her from underneath...don't think I'm explaining this very well :rolleyes:) Also, try to keep ther house as quiet as possible and keep visitors to a minimum for the first few days just to try to keep her as calm and settled as possible.

Give her a nice comfy bed on the floor...an old duvet doubled over will do...if she doesn't take to the crate again and that should encourage her to stay on the floor. Mine usually sleeps on the sofa but didn't even try to get up on it for the first couple of weeks.

I believe about 70% of dogs that have one cruciate done, require the other one done as well. Bizarrely, recovery for my boy seemed to be far quicker with the second surgery than the first. He has arthritis as a result of the cruciate injury but that is managable and he really is like a different dog now. I was terrified for him when he was first diagnosed as he is so huge but really, it has all gone quite smoothly and he has new lease of life.

Best of luck for Tuesday. Please let us know how she does.

alyth · 12 January 2008 at 11:28PM

"Be very glad then that it's only 30kg of dog than you have to negotiate into the car and not my monster mutt :rotfl:And he's the smaller of my two dogs! "

I spat my wine all over my keyboard when I read that:rotfl:

Brilliant advice about the blanket, thanks so much, I was thinking about putting the cage in the car and then getting her in and out that way, but (a) not sure whether it would fit in the car and (b) as been posted before, it's a long time since she's seen the cage and might freak out when she saw it in the car.

We live out in the sticks so no-one ever comes round the house, she has a play-mate but he came round tonight to wish her luck, and he's not coming back for a month, so all will be peace and tranquility for her for a month. And again thanks for the duvet advice. At the risk of sounding totally stupid, as she usually sleeps on her chair or the sofa, I'm worried about her getting cold lying on the floor, as we live in an old house and sometimes there's draughts come in under the doors.

I'm slightly more reassured by the replies in that she herself will know what she can and can't do, her play-date's owner has made me a stand for her foodbowl and water, so she won't have to bend down, and I've been reducing her food for the last couple of weeks, only slightly so she doesn't really notice, as we go for long walks, which of course has probably made her condition worse.

I'm sounding like a mad pet-owner now, having read this back, but it's just a worry, I know she's a dog, but she can't speak therefore can't tell me if she's in pain, or needs anything, and I want to try and anticipate how she's going to be.

As an aside, I've dug out the exercise bike as I'm not going to be going walkies for a month at least!

RooBee · 12 January 2008 at 11:41PM

Re: her being cold on the floor....just put an old towel or sheet across the bottom of the door for a few weeks to block the draught.

Believe me, I know how worried you are but you will feel a whole lot better once she is home after the op. She will let you know what she needs but be careful not to spoil her too much...they are known to milk the situation for all its worth once they work out that you are prepered to do anything for them

alyth · 12 January 2008 at 11:51PM

I have to do that at the laundry room door just now, it's the only window that's not double-glazed and given this week's nightmare weather, I was going round the house this week putting towels at all the doors!

And as for milking it, OH came back tonight from the States where'd he been for a week, she does this "oh, thank god you're back, mommy has been so evil to me" stare where she lies on the floor with her head on his leg, you'd think she's never been fed/walked to/pampered for a week - sodding dog!

(love her to bits, but you're right about the playing on it - god, she can do it for Scotland!)

cartilage operation for my dog - anyone offer advice?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free