Arthiritis and cruciate

sheramber

My dog had TPLO two years ago for a tear rather than a rupture.

It was stressed that the op is the easy part, the rehab is the difficult part. You must follow the instructions to the letter. Any shortcuts, no matter how good your dog feels, can lead to problems later on.

It is also important that the dog does not put extra strain on the good leg while recovering as there is a 60% chance of the other leg ligament tearing once one goes.

I started my dog on riaflex supplements glucosamine and green lipped muscle.

She returned to gradually doing agiity after her twelve week check up , with the vets approval.


My vet gave me detailed instructions as to rehab care.

I also downloaded the rehab guides from this site
http://www.topdoghealth.com/cranial-cruciate-ligament-rupture-repair-418/

which were similar to my vet's one but went into more detail.

The site also gives details of the operation.

charliewocka

Thanks Sheramber. It's amazing to see the difference already in his movement - no collapsing, yelps, sad eyes etc. Our vet has made sure we are mobile from the day after the operation and doing small on lead walks around the garden for a sniff and toilet which he is doing. Have to shout at him to stop the grass scratching though! We've progressed to a small trot on the lane, about 100m, which has been approved, but then resting afterwards. He is a real sniffer of a dog so always wants to be out in the midst of things. It's heartbreaking listening to him cry when I take my other dog out! We have a follow up with the surgeon next week to get the main rehab plan in place.


Stitches out on Saturday. Wound looks good and I've changed the dressing a couple of times to keep it clean, but it's dry and no redness. He's confined to 'doggy jail' which is a section of our sitting room we have sectioned off with a 4m long baby gate across the room to give the dogs 'their' space. Keeping him occupied with the roller ball with some of his meal biscuits in, and a brain game he loves. Need lots of patience though!

sheramber

Cleo was operated on in late afternoon on Thursday and was walking on the leg when we collected her on Saturday morning. She even wanted to jump into the car.

She stayed in the vet hospital for an extra overnight as the vet does not release them until 24 hours after the op.but we had a ten hour journey home so did not want to set off at 5 pm.

We also partitioned a part of the room off so the 'patient' could be with us but be restricted.

We found it was when she felt better that we had to watch. She would want to trot but that meant not putting full weight on the repaired leg and putting extra weight on the good leg, so slow walking was essential to make sure she used that leg.

Before allowing full off lead exercise we used a long line but my heart was still in my mouth the first time she went off lead to go charging through the sand dunes. She is an active dog who loves to run so was glad to be 'free' again.

BlueEyedGirl

My dog tore it's cruciate ligament when it was 6 years old after falling into a huge hole on a football field! Surgery was done and our beloved pooch recovered really well with no follow up problems. It seemed to take a lot longer for his fur to grow back! He did develop arthritis when he was 11 and a bit of a limp but did not seem to be in pain.

charliewocka

2 week check up today and a little bit of infection present (Basil has sensitive skin conditions and vet said it puts him at increased risk of infections anyways) so onto antibiotics for 2 weeks just to be safe.


Vet happy with progress, we've been allowed to start 15 - 20 minute slow walks on the lead outside of the garden so that will be great for his stimulation. Will walk to local pub at lunch for a coffee with him so he can rest before we head back. He's like a coiled spring at the moment! Taking him to the groomers this afternoon as a treat. That is, a treat for ME, to remove the undercoat as he is moulting like crazy!