Advice for post-operative care

[Tina DePaul]

Hey everyone, 

My first post here but am always browsing. Anyway, my 3yo ALD Henry is likely having knee surgery Tuesday--surgery is definitely happening just not sure on if we can do it Tuesday. I was hoping to get some advise on what I should expect post-operative and what I may need to get prepared. I have the comfy e-collar and am borrowing a play pen for him for confinement.

Thanks!

Tina and Henry

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Is it to repair a torn CCL?  If so, there are many here who have been through the procedure.  There are several types of surgery that can be done.  I think the most popular is probably the TPLO.  Our Lucy had what is called the "Suture" procedure.  The recovery time for all of the procedures is fairly long.  Probably like 12 weeks from start to finish.  The first 6 weeks being completely confined to a playpen type area except to go out to potty.  No stairs.  The next six weeks you get to do some short walks and ours was allowed loose in the house only.  Any outside time was on leash but no jumping up on anything.  Some people have done the water therapy after the surgery to help build the muscle back up.  We did not.  Anyway, the one thing I would caution you on is that with the soft or blow up type e-collars our Lucy was able to get to her knee with them on.  We had to continue to use the stupid ole hard plastic one.  Best of luck and keep us posted.

[Tina DePaul]

We meet with the surgeon on Tuesday for the surgical recommendation. He is leaning toward the TPLO procedure because he is so young and he's worried about future arthritis with the suture procedure. I live in Chicago--so this is actually not terrible timing because the weather will suck for those first 12 weeks and might be easier to keep him quieter.. I hope I did not just jinx myself. We did the water therapy before surgery to see if we could avoid surgery. The good thing it helped build some strength in the other leg so we are less worried about an injury to the other knee during recover. Thanks for the tips! I will keep you posted for sure!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I've not had either of mine with a knee surgery, but it sounds like you are on the right track. Keeping Henry quiet is probably the most problem that you will encounter. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Neither of mine have had surgery besides getting fixed but Moose spontaneously developed a groin hematoma as a puppy and had to be kept calm for two weeks. I did find that treat puzzles helped keep them quiet because it kept them thinking and focused on that. I have no idea if this is something that could help in this situation (2 weeks is way different than 12!) but thought I would throw it out there! I believe I had purchased 3 different puzzles at pet co and rotated them to keep them stimulated.