Cruciate ligament operation

[Vwoolfssister]

Woolfy dog has damaged his cruciate ligament and the vet says he needs an op (we've tried rest, anti-inflammatories etc). The op is tomorrow.
He's only 5 and usually full of energy (Jack Russell).
Recovery is 6-8 weeks. I've got a large crate for him post-surgery as I can't risk him jumping on the furniture or running to the door if the postie comes.
I'm looking for useful tips about recovery and ways to amuse him in the cage when he starts to feel better. Have any of you had experience of this? Grateful for advice.

One of my neighbours ddogs has had her first leg done. They walk her using a harness to support her back legs..
She seems to be still a happy ddog!!

@Easterbunnygettingready thank you! I wondered about this. The vet's leaflet doesn't say anything about it though. Maybe I can use a rolled up towel?

I'm worried about him. He's going to be so upset at first!

Our Lab had this when he was about 11. The first night was horrendous as he wanted to lie down but couldn't. I ended up flipping him on his side (he swore at me quite a lot for that!). But a JRT should be much easier to manoeuvre!

After that his recovery was phenomenal and apart from taking him for very short walks for a few weeks and trying to stop him going upstairs and getting on the sofa, he was absolutely fine.

The first few days he might be quite docile and be sleeping off the anaesthetic anyway. After that I don't really know as my boy was really calm anyway. Can you get him some new toys to investigate? And one of those Kong toys to distract him? And of course good old cuddles when you get a few spare minutes.

Good luck! It's has an incredibly high success rate as an operation.

Do you have hard floors? That's how ours injured himself and we ended up having to put rugs down. If yours is trying to scrabble around at first, it might be something to think about at least in the short term.

We didn't need a harness as they need to rebuild the muscle I think? I may be wrong, ask the vet.

Also he was on pretty stiff painkillers for the first week or so, so walking didn't seem to be that uncomfortable and he had a fair bit of weight to bear!

@StCharlotte thank you. It's very good to hear that your dog recovered so well.
Not sure when dog did this injury but I suspect it was crazed squirrel chasing in the woods.
We have got wooden floors, and a few rugs, but it's a small house so I think he will be OK. The crate is nice and roomy and he seems to have accepted it (asleep in it as I speak). The door is unlocked, but he doesn't know that obvs and he doesn't fret to get out. He hasn't been in a crate since he was a small puppy so I was a bit worried he would freak out.
Did you have a band to support his back legs at first?

I hope it goes well Vwoolfssister. My lab had CL surgery 4 years ago. Once the initial pain had worn off it was really hard to stop her trying to behave as if she hadn't just had surgery! 12 weeks lead walking felt like an eternity. She was bouncing off the walls due wanting to walk and play but we had to hold her back as we just couldn't risk over exercising her. This was a really tough period.

We built a ramp of cushions so that she could walk up to get onto "her" sofa. We still don't let her jump in and out of the car boot., although she hates being lifted in and out!

I think the way they do CL is different in small dogs to large ones though. Our girl had the op where the vet splits to the head of the tibia and fits a large wedge of titanium into it to stabilise the leg and stop the knee rolling off the joint when she walks. Is this what your JR will have?

The op was a great success but she definitely feels stiff in this leg sometimes and she can start limping a little if she over exercises. The vet recommended that we start giving her glucosamine tablets to help stave off arthritis in the joint so she has a "YuMove" tablet in with each meal. Labs are rather prone to arthritis anyway.

The vet also said that usually the other ACL goes too but (fingers crossed) it's been four years and the other one is still fine.

@StCharlotte sorry cross-posts! Thanks for the advice I am tremendously comforted the op was a success and all back to normal in a couple of months. I was hoping it would get better without an op, but he's still limping and I've been resting him since beginning of Jan.

@Waspie the op is called CCWO. They cut the tibia and put an implant. He is a large and stocky JR (about 13 kilos) so I think he was thought more suitable for this procedure.

I’ve not done cruciate recovery - but I have done crate rest after operations.

Don’t give him meals - make all his food be and activity that takes time, in kongs (preferably frozen so they take longer) lots of chews and stuff, use dry food in puzzle toys or as rewards for activities you’re doing with him. It’s dead easy easy to over feed them on crate rest.

Things like giving toys a name and teaching them take ages and keep them busy and if you google crate rest activities you’ll find other ideas.

And remember he doesn’t need to be in the crate all the time, just confined/kept from moving about so you can have him out with you, as long as he’s keeping fairly still

Our lab had TPLO which a bit different. I like the idea of not giving meals but making food activities, puzzles and treats to occupy his mind during recovery. Boredom was certainly the biggest issue we had with our lab and a JR probably needs even more mental stimulation so anything that relieves that will be good for him.

I hope it goes well for him Vwoolfssister