Hi,

My lab, Bruce, recently ruptured one of his cruciate ligaments. He was operated on 4 weeks ago tomorrow, he had graft surgery carried out.

Currently he is kept in a pen in our lounge, getting out to have leaded walks into the garden every couple of hours for toilet breaks. which is very difficult to do as he is very much a people dog.

We have had various discussions with various vets in our practise and we have not had 2 of them agreeing on a rehabilitation plan.

My plan is to leave him under the same rest as he is getting for a further 2 weeks, meaning that he has had 6 weeks rest. The reason for the 6 weeks is due to the fact that we have him booked in for hydrotherapy, to build his muscles, and they would not take him until 6 weeks post op.

i understand that the hydro sessions are generally twice a week for 5 weeks with a re-assessment at that time.

During the hydrotherapy i intend to start walking him on his lead starting at a ten minutes walk, going up an additional five minutes each week, should he be able to do this.

ultimately i intend to have him back to the level of fitness he was at previously, i.e. untireable!!

I write this to ask if anyone has had any experience of this surgery and in particular the recovery process.

How did you rehabilitate your dog?

i look forward to your responses.

Many thanks,

Barry

our labradors surgery was slightly different as she only had one back leg (other amputated due to bone cancer), she ruptured the cruciate ligament  on her one remaining back leg, as she only had one back leg she had keyhole surgery which made the leg weight bearing the same day, it was a great success to rehabilitate her we went the hydrotherapy route, we did three times a week to start, then two, then one then we kept her on maintance once a fortnight to keep the strength in her one remaining back leg, in between swims she had very limited walks on soft ground (grass, sometimes sand if it was hard packed and no stones to cross), she came on in leaps and bounds and was soon back to running chasing her mates, digging etc and we never had anymore problems with the leg.

Hi Barry,

My bitch had TPLO surgery for her cruciate rupture..............our Specialist surgeon recommended 5 minutes slow lead walking a day from 1 week post op, as you have done, I kept her confined to a puppy pen or her crate for the rest of the time. By 6 weeks post op, we were up to 25 minutes of lead walking exercise, still keeping her confined at all other times. We were recommended hydro as soon as poss, but I wasn't confident that getting in and out the pool would benefit her , I thought it may undo the good of the surgery............we started hydro at 7 weeks post op and continued for 9 months, starting with 3 small sessions a week building to 2 longer ones each week, ending with 1 long session weekly in the last couple of months.

We were also encouraged to let her exercise off lead at 8 weeks post op, but I didn't risk this until around 14 weeks post op.

She has gone on to make a complete recovery

HTH's

Hi there, my bitch had C/L op four yrs ago. I did realize that the aftercare was AS important as the op itself. I got a huge cage that in the evening I could go in and be with her for a wee while and my older bitch would 'visit' and be with her for a while, but the only time she was out was on a lead to toilet. then after four weeks I built up vvvery slowly. I worked her at shoots and she is amazing. she is the best worker I have. although towards the end of the season she did get a bit lame.  It is worth being cautious. good luck

My dog is going for an xray tomorrow as the vet thinks he might have damaged his cruciate.  They said if it was a full rupture (unlikely) they would operate whilst he was under the anaesthetic - does this seem normal as all you guys are talking about seeing specialists and now I am getting worried????

He has had metacam for three days now and this seems to make a huge difference so fingers crossed no op needed!!

The other info on this post has been useful re aftercare if it comes to it.

It all depends on the operation being done your own vets can do the graft surgery but if you wanted to opt for the tibial plateau leveling oesteotomy (TPLO) that is usually done by a specialist and would need a referal. Is your dog insured? The first surgery your vets can do will be considerably cheaper than the other however some people prefer the TPLO as being more effective.
I myself have a  farm bred collie that has had both cruciates rupture 12 months apart  she had both her surgeries at our own vets, she made a very good recovery the first time however the second operation wasn't quiet as succesful as she still occasionally limps and is on metacalm. She is however now 10 years old and I do not wish to subject her to more surgery when she is perfectly happy pottering along as she does.

Our GSD had TPLO in May 2007, the specialist advised us not to crate her after sugery but to only allow her access to 1 or 2 rooms ensuring that there were no slippery floors. She was initially only allowed toilet breaks on lead in the garden and then 5 min walks after the first week increasing by 5 mins each week. Unfortunatly she contracted MRSA which showed up just after the 1st week so she spent a week in the hospital, when she came out we started with the 5 min walks again and built from there. 3 Months after surgery she was back to her normal level of exercise and was back doing limited training for flyball. Now 10 months after surgery she is as good as she ever was and competes in flyball as she did previously. The only problem we have with her leg now is that an infection will flare up occasionaly from around the screws in her plate , small pockets of infection are harboured by the screws despite initial aggresive anti biotic treatment and lots of subsequent ab treatments,  she may have to have the plate removed at some stage.

the metacam will help with pain relief and reduce any swelling around the joint, but if surgery is needed and your dog is insured, I'd opt for a Specialist over a GP Vet anyday........................unless your Vet Practice has an orthpaedic surgeon based with them, I'd discuss very carefully what they intend to do before allowing them to go ahead with any surgery. There are quite a few ways to deal with a RC apparently. We had Arthroscopy before the TPLO, both with a Specialist. Total cost has risen to above £5000 now, but that has included Synoquin @ £75 per bottle and the hydrotherapy, luckily, M&S has covered all costs. Hope you get on OK with any treatment recommended.

Chnage of plan - went to vets this morning and not a limp in sight so they advised carrying on with the Metacam for another week and restricted exercise to see if he gets better.  If not then they will take it from there.

In reference to the OP question is there a set aftercare protocol to follow, or is each vet different?

Yes, he is insured (phew!)

I think each vet has a different approach, you have to do what you feel is right for you and your circumstances.....................I restricted my girl far more than our Surgeon dictated, but mainly due to the Arthroscopy failing, and at the time she was a 10 month old bouncy lab puppy who couldn't keep 4 legs on the ground...................if it had been the older girl, I'm sure I wouldn't have needed to be so restrictive.

My dog had this surgery done 7 years ago.  We spent 6 weeks of trying to rest it and having pain killers everything seemed okay then we went out for a small lead walk and it went again.  We went to this fab specialist in Fakenham and he put a piece of metal around to hold it.  We did take excercise slowly namely lead work for a couple of weeks but she went on a fairly normal walk just wasnt allowed to run off.  It was the best money we ever spent.

She has since had 2 litters of puppies and touch wood although she is 9 no problems although the vet did say when he did the x ray she already had signs of arthritus we have never seen any outcome of it.

There is a column on this in Dog world by vet paul wooton (he's very good :-) )
I haven't had a chance to read it yet, just thought i would let you know regarding the post.

Hi i had a crutiate op done on a Rottie a few years ago and i successfully rehabilitated him by restricting his exercise by lead walking him, massaging his leg, and swimming, i also changed his food to a lower protein brand to help with weight control and liveliness, he also had arnica to help with healing  and wore a bioflow collar after the stitches came out for about 6 mnths, it was a tough time but he was sound then for the rest of his life. good luck