Has your dog ever had cruciate ligament surgery? How was the recovery period?

Yes, we have been thru cruciate surgery with one of our dogs.

I don't know which surgery your dog is having - TPLO, TTA, Extracapsular, Tightrope, etc. Some dogs recover faster with the first two surgeries I mentioned. We opted for the Extracapsular, as I just couldn't wrap my head around cutting my dogs leg bone to alter the stifle. It was a successful surgery. No loss of function or mobility whatsoever.

Many times a dog will tear the cruciate in the other leg as well, I think the statistic is about 50% of the time. My dog suffered his injury during a swimming accident. His surgery was 4 years ago, - he walks great and they don't usually recommend this type of surgery for a 150 pound dog. The recovery period is the most important part, a successful recovery is paramount to a successful outcome. Phys therapy when it's allowed, the best thing you can do for Bojangles is hydrotherapy. You will start out with range of motion exercises, though. At any rate, make sure the Vet gives you detailed instructions on how to rehabilitate your dog. I would not let our dog have any off-leash activity for 16 weeks, it's very important that you don't let your dog "push off" with their rear legs during the recovery period. By 'push off' -I mean those impulsive quick starts that dogs tend to do when they see prey or get excited enough to run after something. He must be on leash even if it's just to go 'potty' in the backyard. He shouldn't be allowed to roam the house freely, either.

My husband constucted a giant kennel using an ex-pen and 2x4's for our boy, as we went back to work a week after his surgery. He could get up, walk a few feet, but that's it. We bought those rubber squares that look like puzzle pieces for the flooring in his giant kennel.

Bojangles will probably have no appetite for a few days after he comes home, this was very stressful for us, but our boy was on Rimadyl for the first few days, then Tramadol after that for a week or so, he did gain his appetite back when we switched meds. It's actually a little disturbing to see your dog get up to walk and drag that leg around, but I assure you, it's normal. I think it took about two (very stressful for us) weeks to get our boy back to where he was feeling pretty good and no more leg/foot dragging. We used cold compresses to help alleviate the swelling.

Here is a pic of our boy a few days post-op:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Garden_girl...

A pic of his super sized kennel:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Garden_girl...

Best of luck with Bojangles, if I can think of anything else, I'll be back to edit my answer.

Oh yeah, we placed large rugs down over our floors so he wouldn't slip on the wood floors.

Edit:Found a couple of videos for you:

Passive range of motion exercise. They don't really like it at the start, but don't baby your boy, they need this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXvTuCZKXMY

Beginning Hydrotherapy week 7 - underwater treadmill. ONly 18 seconds but gives you an idea of how it helps strengthen the legs to once again support the knees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hux1QwPbxkU&feature...

Dog Knee Surgery Recovery

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RE:

Has your dog ever had cruciate ligament surgery? How was the recovery period?

Our GR granddog had an injury today, I assume from playing with our GSD. Vet says torn cruciate ligament. At least it's not hip dysplasia. I have read that such injuries are fairly common in large dogs, especially Goldens and Labs. So Bojangles is having repair surgery tomorrow. I used to...

One of my dogs had the surgery when he was 13 years old. The vet said to expect full recovery to take 6 weeks but it only took 4 before he was bact to full activity. A year later he tore the ligament in his other knee and had that one fixed. That time the recovery period was about a week longer. After he was fully healed he more active than most dogs his age. He was a working dog for most of his life until the first surgery. I think his recovery went so well because he was in such good physical condition when the injury happened. Hopefully your dog does as well as mine did.

Dog Acl Surgery Recovery

I work for a vet and we do a lot of these every year. Depending on the tear and the method used these are pretty straight forward. It is important that you follow your vet's instructions thoroughly. Give the pain medication as directed. Make sure that this dog gets proper pain management to improve and quicken healing. The dog will need to be totally restricted for 2-3 weeks. This mean no stairs, leash walks only, crate confinement, and no running. The restrictions decrease to slow light leash walking to encourage the dog to be weight bearing and some range of motion exercises. If your vet has a physical therapy set up that's a bonus. Do not let your dog get overweight during his recovery. If he is already overweight do not allow him to gain weight. Once he is walking well and active, work to get any excess weight off of him. Statistically 75% of the time the other leg will have to operated on within 2 years. We have found that dogs that are brought in to good shape the possibility of recurrence decreases quite a lot.

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About 10 years ago, I had a dog who underwent ACL surgery. She was approx 5 or 6 at the time, and tore it while chasing a squirrel. She had traditional ACL surgery, she healed nicely. It took about 6 weeks. Make sure you keep your dog on the light side and not allow her to get heavy. A heavy dog puts added pressure on the joints, increasing the chance the the opposite leg will have a ACL rupture. Follow your vets directions. Once the stitches are out and the vet gives the OK, the best form of exercise will be swimming. It will allow your dog to help get back to full range of motion, without putting pressure on the joints. Good luck tomorrow.

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oh boy it was hell he would not let me suck his tail