15 month old going in for cranial crucial r surgery

[Sheree Small]

Hi all. In two days my "very active"golden doodle is going under the knife. I understand I have a long haul ahead of me. I foresee my biggest challenge will be maintaining activity restrictions. She loves to run and jump and chase her sister. Even with a sore knee. My regular vet says restriction means keep her in the house and the orthopedist says it means in a crate 6-8 weeks. I am looking for advice from people who have been through this before. We have a crate that is really just big enough to sleep in. I also have and acre with stairs so there will be no free access to outside. Zoey is 48 lbs and as I said very active. We usually play several times a day to burn excess energy. Thanks for any input. Sheree

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Good luck to Zoey today.  The next few months will be a challenge, but with your knowledge you are up to the test.  Keep us posted on your beautiful girl's progress.

[Debbie & Gibbs]

Good luck hope everything goes well.

[Sheree Small]

Just and update. Zoey went in for the surgery and after she was prepped, they found she had a skin infection on her knee. She now has two weeks of antibiotics and then we try again. Oh, and she has a really great haircut. See pic!

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Our poor babies.  Mine too had surgery before her second b-day.  We only had one dood at the time so she didn't have any tempting playmates.  We kept her on a leash to go outside. We were not told she had to be crated in the house, but we were careful with her and confined her to the living room so she could be on a rug.  She needed help the first few days to get up and around so we used a sling to help keep weight off the leg .She was only allowed walks for 4 months...increased in duration as she progressed.  Her meniscus was intact so they did not have to remove it and that helped immensely. She did very well...her dad on the other hand was a basket case!  Hard to see them with their little leg shaved.  As far as pain Skadi did excellent also.  Yes it was a long time to keep them on a leash.  But, that was 3 years ago and she is walking fine, a bit of a waddle.   However she is limited on her energy for frolicking.  She has arthritis in that stifle and cannot sit properly anymore.  Water therapy is excellent for them.  Good luck, hopefully time will pass quickly.

[Sheree Small]

So Zoey had TPLO surgery Thursday. She stayed two nights in the hospital and came home yesterday. We have a sling to help limit the weight through her hind end when she goes out for potty. We have pain meds every 8 hours, anti-inflamatories every 12 and antibiotics every 12 hours. Lots of instructions and restrictions from the doctor.
She rubbed her ankle raw with the E collar trying to get to her leg, even before she came home. I have a soft donut collar, but she is such a long legged gumby, she can reach around that.
The first night was pretty fitfull and she definitely needed her pain meds at the 8 hr point. Yesterday she pee'd twice, and none yet by noon today. I have a call in to the doctor to see if I can give her pain meds more frequently because at 5 hrs she is whimpering and restless. This is going to be an interesting ride I can tell. Right now I want her to be out of the acute pain. I feel so bad for her. I know when she feels better and wants to play but I can't let her, I'll be wishing she were back in the zombie zone. I am afraid to let her stand on her own, but in her pen or kennel she will be able to do that so I am waiting for Doctor info on that too. Anyone remember those first few days after surgery?