I rescued this purebred black lab puppy from the pound about 6 months ago. She just (last 2 weeks) had double ACL surgery on both hind legs. Picking her up tomorrow from the vet. Anyone have experience with this operation and how to best manage rehab? It’s the newer tibial tuberosity grafting procedure with the metal plates placed on the interior, splitting the bone, repositioning the head of the femur onto the tibia. Kinda nervous about screwing up the daily maintenance stuff, getting her down a couple of stairs to go potty, walking, keeping her calm, etc., but she is doing the whole underwater/treadmill rehab with the tech at the vet.
The most important thing you can do, bar none, is to keep that pup calm. I have seen many of these surgeries screwed up because the dog became too active too soon. Just one slip-up can ruin an entire knee’s worth of surgery, so be very careful, and only let her do what the surgeon says she may on the proper timetable.
that’s what i was afraid of, screwing up. Rosie is a big playful girl (1 yr old, 68 lbs), loves to romp all over with her buddy Cody & play war and kill-the-teddy-bear. i’m going to crate her, the vet suggested benadryl to keep her calm. how about three steps to outside? make a sling out of a beach towel? is the surgery really that touchy after 2 weeks? (done on the 16th. i’ve been out of town. she’s been crated/rehabbed/post-op stuff at the vets.) arranging a consult with the rehab tech when i pick her up. any practical tips to care for her?
Walking should not be a problem (i.e. to go outside to potty). The problems arise when she feels good and starts bouncing around, jumping up on you or on furniture, starts tearing around the yard (or house), etc. The surgery sites are not healed yet and that kind of torque can rip the screws out and the plates off. One of our patients (a weimeraner) managed to break the plates in both of her knees simply by being too active too soon. The surgery is great and definitely “fixes” the knees, but diligent aftercare for as long as the surgeon recommends (probably 8 weeks or so) is a necessary evil.
yep thats the consensus trying to keep her calm and not excited when she is outside, feels good and sees her first squirrel or something like that.
Friend has an Akita with ACL surgery and dog got excited tried to take off and well,damaged the ligament again. More surgery.
good luck with your pup. Glad you are doind under water treadmill rehab…
