Running after Cruciate Repair Surgery
This is a guest post by Jon who runs with his Labrador. Lars is back to gentle runs after injuring his cruciate ligament, an important ligament in the knee, or stifle, joint.
My name is Jon and I have a beautiful Black Lab named Lars who back in July of 2011, underwent a TPLO on his rear left leg. TPLO stands for tibia plateau leveling osteotomy, and is the newest surgery to be developed for dogs who present with a torn cruciate ligament. Lars tore his cruciate when sprinting around our dog park in January of 2011, but unfortunately for him, and myself it took more than five months before he was properly diagnosed.
Once diagnosed, Lars, or Bar as I affectionately call him was booked for surgery and things began moving very quickly! Even after he tore his cruciate, Lars, who loves to run would run like there was nothing wrong, only to be hobbling around for the next day or two on his sore leg. My main concern with him being such a young dog was that he would be crippled for life, even after the surgery but the surgeon told me that a TPLO, would offer him the best chance of a full recovery and I jumped at the opportunity!
I am not going to sugar coat the recovery process. It is long, stressful and does have its fair share of hick-ups. Lars’ recovery got off to a great start, but his 12 week x-ray showed a small regression. Compared to other TPLO stories I researched online however, Lars had it easy and now that he is almost a year post-op, he is doing great and is probably as good as he is going to get. His leg lacks the muscle tone that his other rear leg has, and he pronates a little bit because of the adjusted angle that the femur and tibia connect, but aside from that, he is back to being a little jitter bug! He is back running a few days a week, and he would be running more if it was not for my extreme nervousness when it comes to letting him be more active. I am very protective of him, similarily to an overprotective parent if you will and I can just imagine what he would say to me if he could.
For anybody with a young dog who has the unfortunate luck to end up in the situation we did, I highly recommend the TPLO! It definitely is the most invasive of the surgical options, but it also has the best prognosis for recovery and the return to full, or near full activity.
My dog, Riley, just had the same surgery done back in October. She also has hip dysplasia, so can’t go on runs, but she can run some in our backyard. She is back to running at full speed now and I thought she would be crippled for life as well! It’s amazing how well these surgeons can fix our best friends up!
I just posted a video last week or this week (can’t remember which) showing her running and playing fetch in the backyard…so it was funny I saw this post.
Glad to hear Lars is better!
Wow, this is very inspiring! You’d wonder dog to do stretches to prevent this from happening ha ha. I have a shoulder injury that I’m getting over and it really sucks. Glad to hear everything is turning out okay.
Yours and fitness,
Ryan
Have you tried doing swimming and hydrotherpy with Lars? He can’t really hurt himself doing that….especially at 12+ months post surgery. My dog just had TPLO surgery on her knee 10 days ago. I think internal sutures are all healed….now for the bone to heal without her doing any damage. She is already off tradional pain meds and antibiotics and on SOD & Boswellia and titanium lotion for pain. Aloe vera also seems to help with the pain. I first put it on her leg for the awful razor burn from the surgery prep. She LOVES it and stops panting when I put it on her leg. She even lifts up her leg for me to put it on the other side of her leg.
Lars does get to swim quite often and he loves it!
Just so you know, after the bones have fused together, there is still the issue of soft tissue repair to take place as well. This usually takes a bit longer to happen and the faster you can begin your dog’s home prescribed rehab exercise routine, the better.
This has given me a little bit of hope. My dog/child/best friend, Coney had this operation 3 weeks ago. He’s a very lively 2 year old jack russel. It’s so hard to keep him still! I’m doing the short but often walks every day but it’s when he’s in the house that I have most trouble! He charges around like a whirlwind and escapes up and down the back garden, I should have called him houdini and then limps around on it. I’m terrified he’s done something to it. I’m just putting one last wish to the cosmos that he will be absolutely fine . Sorry, I’m a very stressed puppy mummy! Xxx
It’s so hard to keep them still after surgery, but it’s critical that you follow your vet’s advice after Coney’s op. This will give him the best chance of becoming a great running buddy after he’s fully healed. Give him healing hugs from us!
Sarah, I realize Coney had his surgery in August however, my dog was also very active after TPLO and I found keeping her near us but on her leash when she was inside, really helped keep her still. She was otherwise jumping off ledges, running up stairs, and bolting around the house with all of her pent up energy. I feel your pain and wish you luck.
My Weimaraner/Lab mix, Asher, had TPLO surgery 6 weeks ago. We go for x-rays at 8 weeks and will be given further rehab instructions. He is a ball of energy, to say the least, but I have kept him on strict crate rest along with his walks 2 times a day. We’re up to 20 minute walks twice a day. I also put up gates at my doorways so he can hangout with me while I cook dinner or get ready for work in the mornings without being in the crate and without anything for him to jump on/off. I was worried about him being in a crate as he is used to his dog room with a doggie door to his acre fenced yard. I’m pleasantly surprised how well he’s adjusted and all is well right now. It’s good to hear others experiences. I am a rule follower and do exactly as the vet says… It hasn’t been easy, as I have 2 other dogs, but he is a love and most definitely worth it.
Glad to hear Asher is doing so well, you’re doing a great job of his post-op care. It is definitely hard to keep them quiet but in the long run, that little bit of frustration will pay off with more freedom.
My Airedale had TPLO on her right knee two years ago and has done well since but she tore her cruciate in left knee March 31st and on April 11 had TTA procedure…. very popular now and less invasive. TTA has a high success rate and I have noticed a faster recovery after a month. I recommend researching both procedures before just going with TPLO.
My buddy cheese (grandson named him) is. 5 year old chow she tore her acl and had topology surgery 4 weeks Thursday its been the most stressful 4 weeks of my life she is a runner lives to be outside so needless to say its not been easy yesterday she escaped and 11 blocks later I caught her so now I am scared to death she has done damaged my vet (not the vet that did the tpol) said it was unlikely she hurt it after 4 weeks but she is limping more but he say she is super sore after her adventure muscles are stiff gave her anti inflammatory. Meds. But I am scared….things these surgeons don’t understand is we the pet parents will do what ever we can to get them the help they need ….but $3000 is very hard to come by and in my case its a one time thing. So pet parents pray for my girl and me that everything is good.
Me and my golden retriever honeybuns thank u for this post. it is very informative and reassuring knowing what my next steps are, post surgery. Because she was laying on the lawn today, than sprinted after a bunny she saw, which nearly gave me a hard attack. She ran as if her leg was never injured. Than started three legging it for the next two days. I’m now not overly worried that it’s re-injured, but pretty sure she just has sore muscles. I’ll keep a close eye on it though. I immediately ice packed her leg and scolded her, but Once she lost track of the bunny, and I ran up behind her, she already knew what she did was naughty. Anyways, than thanks for sharing!