Question:on a muscle or cartilige tear in her knee. I wonder how long it will take to heal, so she can play again. And what can I expect after her surgery, as far as how she'll be a ble to get around.
Answers:
Expect it to not heal very fast, it needs time to heal properly.
Pain is the limiter in terms of animal movement, when it hurts they slow down.
Knees take a while to heal to 100%. Your vet will be happy to answer all your questions and concerns with more accuracy than any of us can, I'm sure. :)
She is having a cruciate repair. (that's a technical term the vet might throw at you for exactly what you described). I"m going to assume it's a back knee considering that's the most common. It will take at least a month to fully heal, but she can still play, just don't let her get to over worked as that tear will be sensitive for a long while and you don't want to retear it. No intense running, no jumping from high places. The complete healing process can take up to two months, depending on age, but it's not nearly as bad as it sounds, like I said she will be able to get around, she will most likely be walking the day after surgery (I've seen many do it) Depending on the vet they may leave a cast on for up to two weeks, (and also depending on the severity) But I've seen very few dogs have problems with the casts. Recently we had a little lab pup that hurt both legs at the same time. She had casts on both legs! and the very next day after her surgery she was up wobbling around and as happy as could be! One cast stayed on for about 5 days. (the repair wasn't to bad) the other was on for about 1 and 1/2 weeks.
You may have to do some physical therapy to keep the muscles stretched out. If this is necessary your vet will show you how. You will have to basically stretch the leg out all the way, and draw it back up then repeat, this just keeps those muscles stretched so they don't heal drawed up.
Anyways, the surgery will definitely lead to a better quality of life. She'll be back to normal before you know it!
Your vet will give you post operative care instructions, as well as a healing schedule and any other pertinant information.
I imagine that daenarys83 probably examined your dog's medical records and that she might assist in the procedure, so her answer here is probably best.
oh pour baby i hope he get well soon
You didn't give enough info to get a the most accurate answer possible, so hopefully you'll add some comments.
1) what breed dog?
2) what's the dog's age and activity level?
3) which surgery is going to be done?
- traditional ?
- TPLO ?
- TTA ?
- something else ?
My male pyr had TPLO surgery a year and a half ago. TPLO surgery requires about 3 mo of restricted activity post-op. Traditional surgery only requires about 1mo, I believe because the bone is not cut and does not need to heal.
Regardless of what surgery your dog will have, you should join the Yahoo Group - Orthodogs (see link) as this is a very active support group for all kinds of surgery.
How long your dog takes to heal is also affected by how young or old she is now, how active she tends to be (before she needed the surgery) and what her general health tends to be. Pepper was an extremely active guardian, running all night and VERY healthy and only 2 years old, so his surgery and recovery went quite well. He now gets around GREAT and runs all night guarding against coyotes and other predators in our rural area. His was an ACL injury and the ligament was 75-80% torn. Today you would not know he had surgery. Pepper was treated for this at the local Vet School, and they wanted to see him for followup at about 4 weeks and again at about 8-10 weeks. When xrays indicated he was mostly healed and no longer at risk of breaking a leg by normal activity, he was released. While some vets do use casts, as was mentioned above, not all do so. Pepper never had a cast... just an e-collar and ace wrap. I took out his sutures at 2 weeks. His "physical therapy" was walking on leash up and down the pastures of our hilly farm.
Please join Orthodogs. The moderators are mostly professionals in the field, caring for dogs who need surgery.
I am so sorry for you dog and you, I hope everything goes well.
Healing is best when the nutrition is the best.
http://www.drpitcairn.com Check out this link, this vets book is excellent and covers about everything you'd want to know. Good luck.
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