Friday, August 8, 2008

My Dog's TPLO Surgery

I just brought our dog home from the hospital. She hurt her leg a few weeks ago and snapped one of the ligaments in her knee. This operation is pretty darned expensive, but we were told that especialy for a big dog like her, this is by far the best option for her. She's a 120 lb rotti/lab cross.
I am going to be sitting in this room with my dog a lot in the next while, making sure she doesn't chew out her stitches or do any jumping or running, she is confined to a limited space for the next couple of weeks. Putting her in a wire cage would be a good way to keep her confined, but we rescued her from a pretty nasty situation when she was a pup, and there is no way she will stay in one without causing herself more harm. I decided to keep a kind of journal for her and our daily experience.
I'll add pictures...some may be kind of gross, but maybe someone else would like to know what to expect if this happens to their pooch.

They shaved her whole leg, and while our baby is a tad overweight, her leg is quite swollen. We are told day 3 and 4 could be worse, but then it should get better. We have to apply cold (gel pack) to it 3 or 4 times a day for 10 minutes.

She is on Percocet for the first 5 days, also she is taking some other medication because when they shaved her leg they noticed that she has a skin condition that may make her itchy. (we didn't know that before)

4 comments:

Tracey said...

I am just starting a blog as my dog is just going to have tplo surgery next week. I just happened to find your blog today. HOw is everything now with your dog?

Tracey

SavageBabble said...

Sorry I didn't notice this before.Our dog had surgery just about 1 year ago, and you would never know. It took about 4 months before we were really sure she was back to normal, but we try to keep her from being too crazy because we don't want this to happen to her other leg.

Tracey said...

We just had our dog's second knee done a week ago. It's a long recovery process. I'll be glad when it's all done. I'm glad to hear all is good for your dog.

Tracey

SavageBabble said...

It does take a long time. I hope you get your dog back to normal soon. The surgery really does work.