ACL SURGERY today!!

[Rhea]

I took my dear 5 yr old rottie to the ortho vet this morning for traditional ACL surgery. Her blood work and xrays looked great and she is "under" and being prepped for surgery.

I'm to call back around 3 pm to see how she's doing. Please cross your fingers for us!

Any advice on what I can expect for the next few days or week would be appreciated. :) She weighs around 80 lbs and we have stairs to go outdoors. My husband is planning to build a ramp down the stairs today.

We will, hopefully, be able to bring her home tomorrow. I miss her so much. :(

Thanks.

Sally

[gparcels]

My female Brandy is now at 8wks after surgery and doing very well but I will say it has been a lot of work. For the 1st 10 days she wore an E collar to keep her from licking the stiches, I kept her confined to the bedroom when I was home and her crate when at work, I had to carry her outside to go then right back in, up and down the steps, etc..for the first 5 days we used wet towels from the freezer as light weight ice packs, and for the next 5 days after warm towels and light message after short walks around the house. The main thing we had to worry about the first 2 weeks was not to let her slip on the floors which are hardwood so we had to make sure she was on carperted surfaces and kept calm. I would say the hardest part was the first 3 days as she was so uncomfortable even with pain meds, she would roll over then cry, it was very frustrating but everyday it did get a little better. Brandy is very compact and muscular at 90lbs and medium to high on the engery level scale. Good luck and be prepared for a depressed pooch it just takes time.

[flyballmom]

Hi Sally,
INSIST on aggressive pain control for the 1st few days-my dog came home with a Duragesic (Fentanyl) patch on for the 1st 3 days, then Rimadyl worked just fine. She also had to wear an e-collar when no one was with her until her stitches came out. You'll see alot of bruising and swelling, it gets worse before it gets better. Do ask your vet about icing, massage, and passive range of motion exercises. Glad to hear you got the stair problem figured out. Make sure you have non-skid runners on that ramp and any non-carpeted room she'll be in! I know she'll be fine.

[Anne]

Hi Sally, my 22 month old girl is now 14 weeks post op for cruciate surgery, she had TPLO. She was bandaged for a week and had disolving stitches so when the bandage came off the stitches were about all gone. She was confined to a crate for the first 5-6 weeks when xrays were done and she was healing well. Then I allowed a little more activity - I let her walk on carpeted floors. The ortho told me that the aftercare is what makes the difference in the success rates and I'm sure your girl will do well as you have planned her care.
I'm thinking of you as I know it's really stressful to have our dogs go through all this but she will be fine.
I take Sophie swimming to build up the muscle in her leg and she is back to normal apart from a bit of a sloppy sit.
Please keep us posted on how it all goes and good luck.
Anne