[Misty Marsh]

One of my dog's just had TPLO surgery yeturday and I was wondering what people who have gone through it with thier FT dog's have done for thier re-hab? I was told by my vet that 8-10 weeks of create confinement was all the excersise that she was supposed to get besides eating and relieving herself, then an x-ray, and excersise? I'm not looking to overule my vet as I value his opinion, but know that he is very cautous and I would like all the info that I can get right now.

thanks, Trent

 

[lablover]

My dog is having a TPLO on Wed. I have opted to have VETHAB in Raleigh, NC begin the rehab process.

goto: www.vethab.com

 

[Patti Benton]

Trent,
When Dusty had his TPLO surgery in 2005 it was 10 weeks of mostly crate confinement. I would do stretching exercises 2 times a day and my husband would swim him 2 times a day(when he could start swimming). He could go out to his business and eat. Other then that he was in his crate or laying next to me on the floor. There was no jumping or running. After he was released, we still didn't let him jump in and out of the truck. We taught him " PAWS". This meant to put his front feet on the running board of the Suburban and we would lift his back end up to get in his crate in the truck. When he wanted out, he knew to let us help him down to the ground.

It's terrible to see them in their crate for 10 weeks, but the PT Doc knows best.

Good luck.

 

[Howard N]

I had the TPLO done on an 11 month old pup last Dec. 15.

The vet had me give complete crate rest for 2 weeks. No stairs, only out of the crate for airing on a SHORT LEAD which I did 4 or 5 times a day. After 2 weeks, she could be aired on a longer lead and he wanted me walking her up to a mile a day still no stairs. I was to watch her and do what she could do. I started that. At first we only went 200 yards 3 times a day. I went about 600 yards once along with a couple of 200 yarders about the 3rd or 4th day after getting the go ahead to walk her. That was to much and she was stiffer the next day than she had been. Still I continued the walks and they got longer and longer. After 4 weeks she was going 400 yards 4 times a day and later half a mile twice a day. I kept her at a mile to a mile and a half a day from 4-8 weeks.

The doc said to start swimming her at 4 weeks post op. I was in California then so I could, but the water was cold. I did put her in it every day for a bit but not as much as I'd have liked. I'd had visions of water piles and patterns getting her swimming a mile a day. Didn't happen, but I did get her in in water as much as I could, maybe a couple hundred yards a day. I went to Texas too and the water was about the same. I was only able to swim her a couple hundred yards a day usually with a vest. This was in addition to our several times a day walks on lead. I thought the swimming was doing her good as she was limping less and less. Other than our walks and swims she was mostly crated and kept 100% away from my other dogs. I didn't want her breaking anything. Although, when I was staying in motels that allowed dogs in the rooms, I'd let her out in the room. Usually after exploring the room she'd just lie down.

At 8 and a half weeks post op I had her x-rayed again and the doc said everything looked good. He thought she was in fine shape. He said I could put her back in training then. I took it easy with just a few 100 yard marks that first day graduating to a full training schedule about 3 weeks later. There were a few flare ups the doc had warned me about. Some days she seemed stiff and limping and I'd give her a day off with some rimadyl, the doc said it would be scar tissue breaking down and it would be painful for the pup. I think in the first month I used rimadyl about 5 days total. I know 3 of them were in a row. Watching her I was able to tell when we'd overdone it the day before. She never seemed to mind it while we were working but a few hours later she'd be stiff. By then I was airing her with my other dog and I could tell when she was bothered by watching them together. On days she was a little stiff in the morning during airing but smoothed out after a minute of airing I'd go ahead and train. She seemed fine on this schedule.

6 weeks after getting permission to train her, 14.5 weeks post op, I put her in a derby in which she went all four series in one day showing no signs of discomfort.

 

[pupaloo]

Your dog will FEEL better before she IS better, and if you leave it up to her, she will stress the repair. Follow the recommendations you get, and don't let her do more because she wants to!

 

[spaightlabs]

We followed the same program as Howard did...worked out great.

 

[Gun_Dog2002]

My EP had this and it was a bit slower progress than what Howard experienced. I did the crate/house restriction with her and walking on a 6 foot leash for 8-10 weeks. After that we went to a 10 foot checkcord for 10 minutes morning and night. After a month of that we went to a 30 foot checkcord for the same program and length of time. I then built a bar system for my quad and put her on a roading program in a very controlled slow speed for a few months. At this point she is running free with slight signs of surgery.

/Paul

 

[lablover]

All of this is great information.
I'll be traveling this road in a few weeks myself.

 

[Misty Marsh]

This was why I posted this question, for reference as it pertains to a FT type dog. I was told that 8-10 weeks of complete create rest, then a x-ray to confirm the bone was completly fused and then I could start walking, swiminig. He told me that pushing the light excersise too fast could cause tendonittis due to the new alignment of the knee and it's associated structres, and if she developed tendonittis it could be a lenghty problem to get over. My concern is that 8-10 weeks is a long time to do nothing and makes me think that range of motion, muscel atrophy, etc.. would suffer? Please keep your past experiences with this comming!

 

[JoAnn Stancer]

Sorry to hear about all the TPLO's. My male had one done in 2004 and this is my experience. For at least 2 weeks you do need to be very careful with walking your dog. That is the most critical period when if they take a tumble they can break off the tibal crest. You need to get some healing done on it before you attemp more exercise. I kept Norman in a crate and walked him with a sling for the first 2 weeks and cold packed his knee twice a day for that time also to keep the swelling down. I also massaged and slowly streatched his knee back and forth a coulple times a day also. I would let him walk around more than he should off for the next 8 weeks but in the end it turned out better for him, when he went in for his 8 week x-ray he was completly healed. The board certified sergeon I used could tell he was getting more exercise then he was suppost to by the way the x-ray looked. He did then admit that the exercise was why he healed up as fast as he did. They are now thinking that exercise is speeding up the healing process. (I am a tech and the dogs we do at the clinic and see for rechecks seem to be healing up faster also when the owner tells us the dog has been doing more than it should). I did alot of physical therapy by just moving his leg around and stretching it. After 8 weeks I took him for hydo therapy where he walked on a tread mill in water. That really helped him out also. The therapist couldn't believe how much muscle mass he had after surgery with what I was doing and the water work. He was out for 4 months (since this was during the winter) then went back to the trainer the following spring and was better than ever and has not had a problem with it since. I never herd about the possibility of tendanitis with too much work to soon. All I herd was that they heal up faster with exercise. I would take it easy and not over do it but I feel there is nothing wrong with short walks. You should follow there guildlines with inclines and rough terrane. Swimming is by far the best and will keep his muscles in shape.
Good luck with the recovery.

 

[paul young]

if you go the 10 weeks of crate rest deal, you will be in for a really long rehab. muscle mass loss will be huge, and the dog will still have to slough off the scar tissue.

our vet reccomended about the same as Howard's. Daisy was 5 then and 12 now. she has arthritic problems in her shoulder and elbow, but her repaired knee is fine. -paul

 

[lablover]

Does anyone have any thoughts as to why we are seeing so many TPLO repairs lately?
I've seen it written that some think genetics are a possibly.

 

[Misty Marsh]

Many people refuse to believe that genetics play a role in CCL tears and chalk it up to "sports injuries" (which does happen), but the fact that it does. It has been proven that a dog with a tibial plateau angle in excess of 21 degrees stands a much greater chance of CCL rupture. It's kind of like taking a pencil and pushing down on a peice of glass on a 21 or better degree angle, the pen slips off and with it tears ligaments. So when these dog do blow CCL's and it angles are is x-rayed in excess of the 21 degrees it seems irresponsible to breed that dog in my opinion. When TPLO is performed they shoot ofr a 6 degree angle which stabilizes the stiffe and is the whole point of the surgery. Recent studies of torn and removed CCL's have shown pre-mature genetic breadown at the tear site indicatiing a genetic link although it's cause is still unknown at this point. Also studies have shown that of all the dog's that have blown CCL's 65% have been female verses 35% male which seems like a interesting stat. Regardless it sucks, but being responsible in my opinion is looking at the tibial plateau angle and making an informed decision from there.

 

[Sabireley]

TPLO

I have heard from two vets who do TPLO surguries that they have done them on almost all breeds except greyhounds. I have seen this elsewhere and find it interesting. I wonder what the average tibial slope on a greyhound is vs. other breeds more suseptable to CCL injuries.

Steve

 

[Misty Marsh]

I've heard that grey hounds as well as a few other (sight hoound) breeds can have extreeme tibial plateau angles exceeding 30+ degrees and suffer no CCL issues as a result of them. This makes me wonder if there is'nt a genetic link to this problem outside of tibial plateau angles as it seems to becoming more prevelant in labs as time goes on, also the 65% female stat makes me wonder if it's not hormonal or something? You would think that the stats would be more 50/50, not almost 70/30 if it was a angle issue alone.

 

[Sabireley]

http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/reprint/41/2/117.pdf

An interesting study that trys to determine if there is a relationship between the age of the dog, angle of tibial plateau and a predisposition for CCL rupture.

Steve

 

[Misty Marsh]

Intersting read, thanks for posting it up!