TTA cruciate ligament surgery...

[Dizzylamb212]

my 8.5yr old cross breed had tta surgery following a ruptured cruciate ligament 2 weeks ago. does anyone have experience of this? we didn't get a post op plan from the vets :( she had the wound checked a few days afterwards and they said strict rest for the next 4 weeks, just toilet breaks. but.... after reading thousands of Web pages the general theme seems to be that they need to be moving/using the leg by now. she's going mental on cage rest... she was putting weight on the leg the day after the op. anyone been through this, when did you start short walks etc?

Go back to your vets and ask them for a plan. There are different opinions about rest and exercise post cruciate surgery - there isn't yet a definitive answer of which is right and which is wrong. They may both be right in certain cases.
Your own vets saw that joint at surgery and will be best placed to tell you the plan from how much damage and inflammation they saw.

That's the problem, I can't get an appointment with the vet that did the surgery. it's a not for profit vets, the main vet does all orthopedic surgery himself but day to day appointments are with other vets and they all have different opinions. one said start short walks after 2 weeks, one said 4 weeks strict cage rest then come back and they'll tell us what exercise to do and another said 6 weeks strict cage rest. I'm so grateful that this vets exist or we wouldn't have been able to afford this surgery but post op it seems a bit hit and miss because the lead vet is tied up operating etc

Can you send an email? Often vets can answer these much easier than phone calls.
It maybe worth pointing out that the advice you are getting is conflicting this may stimulate them to have s practice policy.

I'll try again to get an appointment with the vet that did the surgery, he's the only one in again position to assess how she's getting on really I guess. if that's not an option I'll email him for some advice. thanks for tour input

For what it's worth at 4 weeks my dog was having short sessions on a water treadmill and several 10 minute lead walks at regular intervals throughout the day - this will vary hugely though, as per Lonecat's post. Mine was a very fit and lightweight working dog and I had close input from the orthopaedic vet and a physiotherapist throughout, I've seen surgeries done subsequently in bigger and/or overweight pet dogs for whom the management is necessarily more conservative.

Missy isn't big.... 20kg at her normal weight. she's very fit and healthy apart from this, but is gaining weight due to all the rest she would normally run/walk for hours at a time, chasing squirrels, rabbits, balls, flies, fresh air, you get the gist! she's actually walking really well on it, she was from the day we brought her home, it's amazing what these vets can do

managed to get in with the surgeon that did her op, he said she's doing brilliantly so we're allowed to start on 5 minute walks, 3 times a day and build them up by 5 minutes each week

"but is gaining weight due to all the rest"

Adjust her food, during this period. Both in quantity and type (there are lots of low/light versions of kibbles.

It really is very important that she doesn't gain weight during recovery ... a little under would be better than that.

food already been reduced, she's raw fed she's not gained any more weight in the last few weeks thank god and now she's allowed to start walking hopefully she will lose the little bit she's gained