TPLO last week - how much activity?

I know there's a lot of archive on cruciate repair ops, but wanted to get as much up-to-date opinion on the level and type of post-TPLO activity.

Saba (7 year old English pointer) had a tplo after total rupture of the back right cruciate ligament. She had part of the meniscus taken out too. The vet here in Bordeaux has recommended a moderate amount of exercise, as they think that no exercise at all will result in muscle wastage and stiffness, which will set back recovery.

Today is day 5 after the op. I have kept her in one room with no furniture, but lots of mats and rugs. I take her out in the lead four times a day for 5 to 10 minutes. Being a pointer, she is not interested in going slowly, but when I can persuade her to walk, she is using the operated leg well. In fact better than before the op. But most of the time she tries to go faster by hopping on the three good legs (which is probably increasing the chances of a second tplo...but we'll think about that later!)

Would love to hear what fellow tplo survivors think of exercise post op. What's moderate, and what's excessive?

Also, any top tips for dealing with boredom in a dog who isn't interested in food?

Thanks
Deb ( and Saba)

hi

i would advise hydrotherapy as soon as the stitches are out,the first 6 weeks post op are the most important for muscle building.

The advice you've been given is exactly the same as what i was given and my dog done great on it and she had both done 6 weeks apart.
My dog was a very good patient though and very calm so not sure how i'd handle it if she had wanted to gallop down the road

It seems every specialist has their own exercise regime; yesterday I met owners of a Dobe who was 1 day post op TPLO - they'd been told no stairs, gentle exercise.

The guy who operated on my dog in 2008 insisted on crate rest for 6 weeks, no stairs (obviously), 5 mins x 4/day walks on lead for the 1st week increasing weekly by a few minutes. Also recommended hydrotherapy which helped enormously.

Speed of healing probably depends on size/breed etc, my dog was fine in a crate but others might go stir crazy.

Mine was very similar to twix. It was almost 6 months before I eventually let my dog off the lead as he was a loony back then. He wasn't keen on the hydrotherapy at all but it did really help and his muscle grew over 10cms on the operated leg during 3 months of weekly swimming.

Saw you are in the SE twix - my dog had his TPLO done at Davies, is that where yours had it done?

Thanks everyone...good to hear from those who have been through this. Hydrotherapy will be, er, interesting, as Saba panics if she gets into water above ankle depth. Do they basically get the dog to swim, or is it more sophisticated than that? How many sessions, and for how long?

A word of warning on hydrotherapy.

Not all hydrotherapy pools/therapists are the same.

It is essential that your vet is consulted prior to hydrotherapy and that you have a PROPERLY trained hydrotherapist with the right facilities.

There are different hydrotherapy protocols required post cruciate ligament repair, depending on whether it was an extracapsular or TPLO/TTA.

Your first port of call, after the vet, is NARCH

http://www.narch.org.uk/

I didn't take my dog to hydrotherepy for the exact reason you state and she still done ok even after having both legs done so close together. She's fine with water now funny enough but she wan't then and being a nervous dog in general i decided against it as i didn't want to put her through anymore than i had to.

then a hydro place that has a 'water walker' may be the way forward?

for hydro to be beneficial it has to be at least twice weekly