1. After surgery your pet must be kept confined in a small area (airline flight kennel, 6 ft square area), for 4 weeks time. Your pet may be walked a short distance outside on a leash up to three times daily to relieve itself only. No free activities are allowed until after the 4-week x-rays that confirm normal healing. If you have your pet in a room with you it must be tied to a piece of furniture to prevent it from "running" to the door when it hears a sound. Your pet will need antibiotics for one week following surgery. 2. In general your first recheck appointment will be for suture removal 2 weeks postoperatively. 3. Your pet will also have follow-up x-rays at 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively. 4. If the 4-week x-rays show normal healing, then your pet may be confined to one room in the house when you are away. It may have free walk of the house when you are home (no stairs except to go upstairs to bed in the evening). If your pet is active and runs to the doorbell (and slips on the tile/linoleum) it needs to be confined to one room with good footing. You may begin to take your pet on short leash walks. Start with a 5 minutes slow leash walk. Increase the time of these walk by 5 minutes every 2 weeks. This time may be divided into two walks daily. If at any time your pet appears weak (limb shaking) or tired, you should revert to the last distance/activity which it could tolerate without these symptoms and hold there for 1 week before once again trying to increase the activity level again. Canine aquatic rehabilitation therapy may also be initiated at this time. 5. If the 8-week x-rays show normal healing, then you may continue to the progressively longer leash walks. Now you can increase the activity 5 minutes every week. Free run of the house and a small backyard are allowed. No off-leash running, jumping, ball playing, etc. is allowed. Again, if at any time your pet appears weak (limb shaking) or tired, you should revert to the last distance/activity which it could tolerate without these symptoms and hold there for 1 week before once again trying to increase the activity level. Between 12 and 16 weeks post-operatively, off-leash walking, jogging, and running is fine. No balls, frisbees, dog parks, or heavy activity is allowed for 6 months post-operatively. We recommend you avoid these types of heavy activity altogether, as there is a high percentage of dogs that will tear the cruciate ligament in the opposite leg (30% - most breeds, up to 50-60% in bull mastiffs, chows, akitas, etc.) 6. Glucosamines plus chondroitin sulfates (animal origin) are recommended indefinitely. An average dose is 10-20 mg per pound given two times daily. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) such as Rimadyl, or Deramaxx may be used as needed to treat muscle and joint stiffness and soreness as your pet rehabilitates. Side effects of all NSAID's include vomiting, diarrhea, and blood in the stool. Certain NSAID's (Rimadyl) have been linked to liver toxicity and other problems. If your pet will be on prolonged NSAID therapy, please speak with us or your regular veterinarian regarding possible side-effects of those NSAID's and what to watch for and what blood tests to monitor. If we can be of any further help to you regarding your pet's TPLO surgery, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are here 24 hours a day, & 7 days a week to help you and your special pet. Thank you for letting CM Surgical Group take care of you and your pet! |
| Postoperative Care: TPLO |