Knee surgery follow-up

[kjs kids]

Hi! I'm new to this forum, but I've been reading for quite some time. I've been reading alot of the posts about knee surgery but haven't found anything relating to the problem I'm having. My 18 month old spayed female Sasha had ligament surgery on her right rear knee about 3 months ago. She was in a cast for 8 weeks (removed and replaced every 2 weeks to check progress). The vet cleared her to start slow walks around the block to build up the muscle again. However she now has a huge cyst-like growth on the outside of her knee. I took her in and had it drained a week ago, and the vet pulled 2 syringes full of fluid off the site. Over the weekend the cyst returned, only it's 3 times bigger than it was. The vet is now going to install a permanent drain in her knee for about 7 days to see if this clears it up. According to him, there's friction in the joint that causes the fluid build up. He's hoping that the drain will take care of things, otherwise he will have to reopen the knee and repair it again. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted everyone to get the full picture. Other than the knee she's a great pet/child who we adore! Thanks for listening. kjs kids

[Nancy Estes]

Hadn't heard of that happening before (just from other peoples' experiences). I know of one that developed an infection & had to have the knee re-done. Luckily so far, hopefully never, haven't had knee surgery on any of my dogs! Hope this clears up without any further surgery!

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[Lil E]

My girl had that also after surgery and had it drained twice then it just went away. Are you sure she isn't walking too much? I found that ice on the knee helped too.

[kjs kids]

The swelling and fluid build up didn't start until several weeks after she had been cleared from the vet. I haven't let her go full force on it yet, I'm still too scared she'll blow it out again. The good news is that after a week with the drain in and the e-collar on (my house will never be the same, he-he)the vet was very happy with her progress. He removed the drain and the knee is still swollen, but not fluid filled. The vet said it would take some time for the swelling to go down and that I should keep an eye on it and finish out the antibiotic treatment. Cross your fingers, my checkbook can't take much more of this. She's such a sweet girl to put up with all this without too much whimpering.

kjs kids