TPLO recovery - cruciate ligament

[Peppapig]

Hoping someone can advise. My 6 year old retriever had TPLO surgery nearly 4 weeks ago. All went well and at the 2 week check up things were fine. She’s been confined to a small space and going out in the garden on a lead most of the time. For the past week we’ve been taking her on short lead walks (10 min) as per vet’s advice. On Friday she suddenly seemed a lot lamer and at times wasn’t weight bearing. I’ve been giving her metacam and a hot water bottle on the leg but she snarls when I touch what is clearly a sore spot. We’ll take her to the vet tomorrow to see what he says but can anyone tell me if this sort of setback is common? A friend whose dog also had this surgery described the recovery as “up and down” so I was hoping this fell into that description.

I would be concerned if the dog went lame and stopped weight bearing. There can be issues with the meniscus. Absolutely does require a vet visit hopefully nothing but best to check.

My dog had this in June, like you say was doing ok. Fully crate rested, recommended increasing walks, then stopped improving. Took her back and following x-ray and ct scan we found she'd broken a bone in her leg, the plate had snapped along with two screws. Defo take your dog back and don't waste anymore time

Sorry I see you've got an appointment so ignore my last comment! They can't redo the surgery until we see how the leg heals as there's not enough bone to screw into.

Thanks Usainbolt and Kinkyafro, your poor doggy.
Vet checked her out and said she’d probably jolted/slipped but no real harm done. No walks at all for a week, ice packs and Metacam and she should be fine (well, not fine yet but at least it hasn’t broken or moved)
Kinkyafro, is your dog just crated now till it heals? What a shame.
We’ve got to go through this on the other leg one this one has healed, vet said it will need doing shortly. Aargh!

Hi Peppa, she can have walks but only short ones, she's off all pain meds which is a good thing. She's a bloody bouncy dog though so trying to keep her still is a pain. We crate trained her from a pup and she won't sleep anywhere at night unless she's in her crate so she's used to it. She's staying at mums for now only because we don't want her to have to get in and out of cars twice a day. When mum's in the same room for any length of time, dog is out of the crate and can walk around, or just sleep on the floor. She's put in her crate when mum's doing stuff otherwise she'd be on the sofa!

She had her other leg done in 2012 with no issues, we've no idea how the hell she managed to do so much damage. Here she is after DP put her on the sofa!

That’s incredibly bad luck :(
The vet who did ddog’s cruciates said one day he had just seen a dog recovering from the same op, who walked out of the house on lead, slipped off the step and needed another operation to repair the damage. Awful, and impossible to predict.

Really bad luck bubbles I'm gutted for her. She had the op mid June so she's been out of action for months, she gets really frustrated too. And don't get me started on trying to monitor her food levels!

Ddog had a TTA today and is now feeling very sorry for himself :( Luckily he only needs the one done.

Hope she's feeling better soon Peppa, how frustrating Kinky!

How's dog doing today pippa?

How dog has a speedy recovery meladicta

Sorry mAladicta

Hi Kinky, she is weight bearing properly again (phew) although a bit limpy still, but I’m not surprised at that. Will be starting walks again on Monday and I’ve got some exercises too for her
How’s your dog doing Maladicta? We’ll be going for a TTA on my dog’s other leg in due course, no looking forward to that!

Hi Peppa - how's your ddog doing? You too Kinky

We're one week on and he's going stir-crazy. He went vvv quiet and vomited at the end of last week which the vet said was probably due to the Tramadol he was on. We've had to use a Victorian collar as the temptation of the stitches was getting too much.

He's weight-bearing on the leg far more happily than before the op, the problem is going to be keeping him calm enough for another three weeks on strict rest.

Hope both your dogs are doing well today.

My girl is having hers done in the next couple of weeks - I'm fmdtrading it. We work and she normally does a mix of dog walkers, day care and a day or so when DH or I work from home.
Please let me have all your tips.

That shoukd say dreading it

FFS and should!

Doggie is doing well, back out for short walks and properly weight bearing although a bit wonky!
Pinkbraces - be prepared for your dog to try and do things it shouldn't/can't such as leaping up the path, up some stairs and into the house after getting back from the op (the vet hadn't put a collar on and the cone of shame came off in my hand when I tried to stop her). Also block off any chairs/sofas that your dog likes to lie on as they will try and climb up.
Try and make a small "room" with bed, water etc and no stairs. Easier said than done I know. We have ended up sleeping on the sofa alternate nights...

Well we're two weeks post-op and had the stitches out today.

Daft dog is doing his best to sabotage things - he's obviously feeling so much better, he's jumping around like a puppy. How he'll survive another two weeks on house rest, I don't know!

He knocked over a clothes horse the other day which hit his leg and caused lameness again. Luckily no damage caused, there's no swelling to the joint and everything's still in place.

When I spoke to the vet today, he said the cruciate had completely gone so we're very glad we had it done.

How are your dogs doing?

Great news maladicta. We're back at specialist on Monday so will update then. She's doing ok, still fairly wobbly on that leg and you see her knee/foot turn to the side when walking. As long as it's no worse then I'm happy

Kinkyafro - snap! My dog is exactly the same, walking well but limping a bit and the foot turned outwards. Back at vet today so hoping for the all clear
Best of luck for a continued recovery Maladicta

They are mad though peppa you wouldn't know she had a broken leg. Trying to keep her still and calm is a chore in itself!

Had dog back at specialist on Monday, she's healing but in a funny position. They are going to take the plate and pins out in January, leave for a month or so, see how it heals and thrn decide whether to operate. Poor bloody dog.

Meant to say decide whether to replate and pin or leave

Oh poor thing Kinky

It does seem so random as to how they recover. Ddog had his first walk outside properly today, took forever as he had to sniff/pee every two metres

Just wanted to say my golden had TPLO in April 2015 at 5yo. Hard to keep them still but tiled floors etc to be avoided/covered. Our Shackleton took a year to be walking without a limp due to scar tissue/inflammation and still limps after a long walk with other dogs. We have him on joint tablets which help.