CCL surgery for dog

[keyslover]

My poor pup is going to have CCL surgery.   He's a 5 year old border collie/aussie mix.  Anyone have any suggestions and recommendations for helping with recovery?

He is crate trained and is fully comfortable in his crate. 
We have stairs, but also have a harness to help when he is able to go up stairs.

Vet suggested puppy pads.


Any other things that would be helpful?

[InBetweenDays]

Oh man. Our last dog had this surgery - probably 15 years ago? He was a very active lab/gsp mix so keeping him quiet was difficult.

We tried to fence off a corner of the room but that didn't work. We ended up keeping him on a short leash and leashing him to the furniture near us (like we did when he was a puppy). So he could be near us but couldn't move around too much or jump on the furniture. We also got lots of treat games - balls, cubes, etc. to keep him mentally active.

We cut the sides out of a reusable grocery bag and created a sling to help him up and down stairs.

And it seemed funny at the time, but we found a rehab place where they had an underwater treadmill. Once he was cleared for it we would take him there as few times a week to get him some exercise and rehab the leg. He A LOVED it.

Good luck!

[deadwing]

Do you have access to a rehab vet in your area? Your vet surgeon should be able to make a recommendation. Rehab vets are kind of like PTs for animals. They're great at helping with post-surgical recovery.

Given your dog's breed mix, I would also invest in some puzzle toys so he has something to keep him busy.

[So_Fetch]

My old boy had both of his done. One at 6 years old and one at 11. I agree with the PP about keeping him in a smaller area (and crated) or keeping a leash on him. The way Meatloaf's leg stuck out, the crate wouldn't work for us. (he's never been a fan though). They do wrap it really well (almost like a cast) so it was really supported. I was less worried about him hurting it. It was just awkward enough to make him not want to get around, which helped.

Good luck! I hope your pup has a quick easy recovery.

[expectantsteelerfan]

My older dog (she's 7 now) tore both of her ACLs and had surgery right before she turned 1. We did them back to back (well, when she was recovered enough from the 1st to put weight on it to do the 2nd). Her recovery from the 2nd was more rough on her than the 1st, but that was to be expected. But her recovery from the 1st was more rough on US because she didn't understand that she needed to rest and not use her leg and we had to go to extremes to keep her calm. We tried a gated area, and she jumped over the gate and went up the stairs (and just about gave me a heart attack). We tried an x-pen, and she knocked it down. We then crated her, and she destroyed her cone against the crate, so we then had to give her trazadone to keep her calm in the crate. I also had to keep the crate in our finished basement because if she could see/hear us she would bark/whine/dig at the crate trying to get out (she was crate trained before this, but only used to go in the crate when we were not home, she never chose to go in it on her own). She would be fine if I sat downstairs in the gated area with her, so I spent a LOT of time just sitting down there with her. I had to ice her leg and do PT stretches too, so it was a LOT to handle.

2 'things' that helped were a harness (our vet didn't provide them, but a friend had a dog go through this and we borrowed hers) that was basically just a loop around her waist with handles that I could use to help support her wait as she walked just to go out, and an inflatable cone. That was the only one that she didn't destroy.

Good luck! My girl has been fine since luckily!

ETA ours were TPLO surgeries.

[mala]

Went through this three times with our girl. First repair (a tightrope) didn't work. Second two surgeries were TPLO and they were fine. Recovery was surprisingly easier with the TPLO. Best advice is crate train/confine and follow the therapy exercises and schedule to a T. Also don't hesitate to bring it up with your vet if you think it's not healing right. If I'd done that we would have had the failed surgery corrected 6 months earlier and saved her a lot of pain.

[fernweh]

Our dog had ACL surgery a couple months ago. Honestly, trazedone was our friend the 1st couple weeks as he was ready to go before it was safe.

Beyond that we just followed the vets instructions and he healed beautifully. It was awful having to take him out on a leash in the winter because he didn’t want to just potty and come in, he wanted to explore and smell everything in the yard 13 times.

Healing thoughts to your baby.

[keyslover]

Thanks everyone. I am giving trazadone now to help him limit activity, but I find myself slowly increasing the dosage! I think because now I know why he hurts/limps I don't want him to injury himself more.

I think your words are helping me come to terms that the meds and crate are going to be a way of life for a short time and that is ok. I just wish he could understand all of this!

[keyslover]

Oh my- the vet sent the packet with costs (whatever, we knew this wasn't going to be cheap), but the AFTERCARE! Not just the post-op, but icing, range of motion exercises we have to do and then suggestions for PT!

I feel like it is more than for a human Good think I love my dog!

[tacokick]

Mar 16, 2024 9:43:23 GMT -5 keyslover said:

Oh my- the vet sent the packet with costs (whatever, we knew this wasn't going to be cheap), but the AFTERCARE! Not just the post-op, but icing, range of motion exercises we have to do and then suggestions for PT!

I feel like it is more than for a human Good think I love my dog!

Our dachshund loved her PT exercises after her back surgery! We did them at home on a mat and her tail would be wagging so hard.

After that, anytime my husband did any stretching in the house she’d run over and want to join in.

Hopefully your dog won’t mind them either!