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.

My girl had her op yesterday, we brought her home a couple of hours ago. Its so horrible - she wont go in a crate or a doggy play pen so we have confined her to the lounge and put the play pen round the couch so she cant jump up. We have brought her water and food into the room but she wont eat.
I dont know how to get her to take tablets if she wont eat - has anyone got any advice?

Pinkbraces hide her tablets in some tinned food, or something really tasty like sardines or cat food. On his first night home my DC slept downstairs with ddog which seemed to keep him happier.

My boy had his second cruciate op a year ago ( six weeks after the first) . It's been a long, slow recovery but he will be 5 at Christmas and is bouncing around like a puppy again :)

thanks bubble I have just cooked some chicken which is her favourite and she wont touch it. Ive spoken to the animal hospital and they have said to put the tablets in her mouth and force her to take them. I cant do that so my husband will when he is home in a couple of hours. I will continue trying to get her to eat.
One of us is sleeping downstairs.
This is worse than when my dd had an op!

Corned beef
Babybel
Sausage
Sardine
Primula
All good for hiding pills.
Anyone do hydro to help with recovery? And physio?

Hi wolfie we are about to reintroduce hydro, despite dog loving swimming freely she hated hydro. It's good for her leg and good for weight management so we'll get on with it

I realise this thread hasn't been posted on for a week but I hope that doesn't mean it's zombie!

Our 3 year old lab is having MMP surgery today. I'm not sure why MMP rather than TPLO but I'm assuming the recovery is probably similar.

Does anyone have experience of recovery post-MMP please? I'm dreading the full rest for 4-6 weeks as our dog starts bouncing off walls without at least 2 hours of walks plus playtimes each day.

I hope your dogs are recovering well now pinkbraces, Maladicta and Peppapig

Hi Yoga and fellow doggy knee specialists!

MMP looks like a more modern variant of the op my Ddog had. He's now at 6 weeks post-op and doing really well. No limping, acting like a puppy despite his aged years!

Hope today went well, there's some great advice upthread about how to minimise jumping opportunities. My vet said it takes about 6 weeks for the bone to stabilise, very often the danger comes from the tendons around the kneecap and where they join to the bone - big movements can place under a lot of strain because of where they cut into the knee.

Lovely to hear that you dog is feeling more himself again Maladicta and no limping after only 6 weeks is amazing

Our girl is home again now, which we are all happy about She is not a fan of the vet's surgery at the best of times and these are certainly not the best of times. Her leg is already less red and swollen this morning, and she is bearing a little weight on it.

I've read through the thread and it's been really helpful, thank you all. Our vet said similar Maladicta - nice to hear that they are in agreement! We shall certainly implement the suggestions over the coming days and weeks

Great to hear all dogs are recovering nicely. Izzy is doing really well, all swelling has gone, she is weight bearing, and behaving like a pup. It is so difficult keeping her still. We have fenced off the couch so she can’t jump up, she sits in front of the couch barking and giving us the evils .
Nights are difficult, she is very restless, her normal sleeping place is the couch and she is most unhappy with her bed! Still only 6 more weeks to go

Great that Izzy is doing well pinkbraces. Our girl has her stitches out on Monday and seems to be doing well - bearing weight, wound healing well etc. Although she had a slightly raised temperature when she went for her post-op check up so she is on antibiotics (which we have to find new and cunning ways of disguising!)

Main problem at the moment is that she is bored She's used to being very active and now that she is feeling better she is constantly trying to get us to play ball or go for a walk. I think she thinks that she has done something wrong and we are punishing her. So frustrating that she doesn't understand English!

My golden girl has TPLO surgery 2 days ago. She needs the other leg done in 6-8 weeks. I have blocked off an area in the living room for her with her bed and easy access to the garden without having to go through the kitchen. Only trouble is she likes to lie on the floor and gets hot on her bed. She also hates the ice pack on her leg.

Feels like a long, long road.

My girl hated the ice pack too Jaime - she seemed to think that lacking all her fur on her leg made it cold enough without the ice pack!

Good luck with your girl's recovery and second operation. Are they usually so close together?

As long as this leg is healing well then my vet wants to combine her check up x rays with her new surgery.

She had her check up today and its ok so far. Stitches out next week.

Morning all,
Does anyone know if they are allowed to climb stairs 4 weeks post op?
My girl is doing really well, she has been confined to one room for 4 weeks, with the occasional trip into the hall when we clean the floors. She is going stir crazy, the three five minute walks a day isn’t doing much for her!
She wants to go upstairs and flop, she would normally jump on a bed but we won’t let her do that. We have some entertaining planned over the next week and I’m wondering if we can let her upstairs. She had her surgery at Liverpool Animal Hospital but they are on emergency cover until new year so I don’t have anyone to ask.
Hope all of your dogs are doing well

May I join in the thread? My cocker hasn’t had cruciate repairs but is 3 weeks and 4 days post bilateral knee surgeries for luxating patellas?

I think recovery is going well? On very strict crate rest with 4x5min walks a day, not allowed to jump, run, climb up and down stairs or jump on or off furnitur, we don’t even allow him to walk up and down stairs and he’s carried through the house to go outside. However he is trying his hardest to sabotage the surgeons work. Another 2 weeks and 3 days until he goes for X-rays to see whether the surgeries have been successful, we can then start in his rehab and hydrotherapy and hopefully return to Agility in the summer.

That should say curbs not stairs! (Although he’s not allowed stairs either!

Pinkbraces, I was told they can go up stairs at 4 weeks under supervision. No jumping or running up/down then though.

But I don't want to give advice that your vet might not!

Jaime my vet gave v similar advice - only under supervision and slowly.

Z boy had his eight week check on Thursday and all's good - muscle tone sound, no pain and he's able to withstand pressure from the hip. Vet did advise taking it easy with him - we're still on 2 x 15 minute lead walks a day, although he'd happily do a lot more.

Pink she must be going loopy! Watch her getting up the stairs and maybe make a step of pillows to help her get in the bed? From what my vet said, there's a risk to the ligament which holds the kneecap in place after the surgery as it attaches just below the weakest part of the knee.

We're planning to take DDog to France between Xmas and New Year so checked his pet passport - vet noticed his rabies was due again in Jan which means he was rescued a year ago. Thinking about the difference between then and now, our lovely boy isn't in pain from either his teeth or knee, has a snuggly sofa spot every night and hugs a-plenty.

Wishing all your lovely boys and girls, canine and human, a lovely Christmas!

Maladicta your boy is gorgeous.

I might try her on the stairs tomorrow.
Here she is on the ‘floor couch’ it’s the only way she settles in the evening

Aww she's adorable pink!

Did you give her a go on the stairs?