Knee Surgery Rehabilatation

[Leslie]

It been 9 weeks this week that Charlie, our 3 1/2 yr. old rott have knee surgery on her right hind quarter.She's starting to put a little weight on it, I've notice she is carrying it farther forward on her pads instead of farther back on her toes than she did before the surgery. She stills has a noticable limp and does the bunny hop from time to time. I been massaging her leg and knee and can tell the muscle tone is starting to come back. I take her on a few short leased walks a week. I feel she should be doing better than this, or maybe I'm just being impatient. Oh, btw, she has a couple of ball bearing size places on the end of her incision, I'm thinking this is either the sutures or scar tissue, and it's a little sensitive to the touch. If anyone could give me some feedback on this I'd be most grateful.

Leslie

[Nancy Estes]

There have been several threads on knee surgery and recovery. You can do a search (upper right of screen); be sure & search all archives & forums.

Nancy

------------------
von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[Lady B]

Leslie: You ARE being impatient and so was I on Lady-B's first knee repair! So don't feel too bad. It takes a full year for complete recovery -- 6 months before full activity. Give her daily walks of about a block to start with. If she is not experiencing any pain or limping then gradually increase by a block every three days. This should be done for 2 months to slowly building up strength.
Did your vet show you how to do passive range of motion exercises? Basically you support the repaired knee with one hand under it and grasp around the ankle. You then mimic the motion of running. This is easiest done with the dog lying down. Do 20 slow reps 3 times a day.

If you can find a horse barn that provides aqua therapy then use this to help increase muscle tone. Charlie can not go running into water for a while but being lowered in and swimming for about 5-10 minutes each time will help recovery. Or if you have a swimming pool with steps available, this would be another option. You just want to avoid bouncing motion or full weight-bearing until your dog is ready.

You could try some Vitamin E massaged into those incision sites several times a day.

Good luck!!