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Brandy's TPLO

8K views 108 replies 32 participants last post by  Sam1491 
#1 ·
Brandy's surgery went really well! The surgeon told me that her meniscus was pretty badly damaged along with her ACL. Once she heals, she should be feeling much better. We get to pick her up on Sunday, I can't wait!
 
#58 · (Edited)
I've been sick the past week, otherwise I would have posted these much sooner. Here's some pictures of Brandy the day we brought her home. Poor leg is all swollen and red, it looks much better now.







And this one just because it's cute (it was before her surgery). My mom got her this coat for Christmas. :)


She gets her staples taken out on Thursday, hopefully it will help with the licking!

If anyone has ideas other than chews to keep her occupied, please let me know! She's already going a little stir crazy and it's only been a week!
 
#61 ·
Obviously you can't do sits or downs or regular obedience work to occupy her mind, but there are other exercises you can safely do.

Do target work. Have her nose-touch various objects (your hand, a butter tub lid, a piece of paper, whatever) for treats. Mix it up between hands, change position of target, etc.

Get puzzle toys.

Get raw meaty knuckle bones--will occupy her for hours and leave her happy and content.

Learn how to do massage and give her a good doggie massage once per day at least.

Frozen stuffed Kongs are your friend.

Let her lick out the remains of a plain yogurt container.

Get creative, think about things she would like, but maybe she hasn't been allowed or had access to--as long as it's safe let her be a tiny bit naughty and get a little spoiled ;)
 
#62 ·
I posted this link in the thread about Ivan's broken toe, too. This is a blog post from my old trainer about keeping her active GSD crate bound for 8 weeks and what she did: Foundations For Life Training: crate bound
 
#63 ·
Today is day 16 post op and Brandy is continuing to heal nicely! We started taking short walks up and down our driveway which she loves, but still thinks that we're going way too slow. ;)

Here's a few more pictures to show her progress. As you can see her leg is looking much better than it did before.



View from the back, she's lost a lot of muscle mass on her right side. It will start coming back now that she's using it more.


A much more cozy and relaxed puppy.
 
#66 ·
Brandy drove me slightly crazy last night. We've been taking her out for 10 min driveway walks a few times a day and she must have decided that's ALL she wants to do. She kept telling me after I got home from work that she had to go potty, so we'd get all dressed up and trek out to the backyard. Once she was out though, she'd just whine and want to head to the driveway! I tried giving her a bully stick, her antler, a kong, but all she did was whine that she wanted to be outside. Ugh, it's going to be a long winter! :rolleyesww:
 
#69 ·
It is almost a month since Brandy's TPLO and she's still doing good! Walking on that leg more every day. In about another month we go have x-rays done to see how the bone has healed. Looking forward to that day, maybe we won't have to treat her quite like she's made of glass! :)

I'm not sure if this is related at all to her surgery, but just the last week or so she started kicking up the ground after she pees or poops. It's the funniest thing, because she's starts with her front paws and then kind of kicks out her back. You can tell she's not used to doing it, not sure what brought it about!
 
#70 ·
Ilka does that too, especially after she's marked something. I think it's related to the "I'm the toughest bitch in the neighborhood" attitude. Maybe Brandy feels that, since she's gone through so much, she's the toughest bitch in your neighborhood now. :)
 
#72 ·
Kicking up the ground after she pees or poops:
^^^^ All my dobes have done this, on the summer grass (not in winter snow).
Kicking up the turff and pee marking the territory, all in an effort to say: "I own this property, if any neighborhood dogs, cats or wolves are watching...from a distance"....LOL

Very glad Brandy leg is improving good, over time.
 
#73 ·
I love all the happy updates. All crossables crossed the rest of her recovery continues smoothly, as well.
 
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#74 ·
Well things were going really well until last night. I'm not even sure what happened, but she started picking up her leg again while standing and even walking on three legs. We had taken her to my mom and dad's for the super bowl and while she moved around more than we've been letting her at home, she slept a lot too and didn't do anything that seemed out of the norm (didn't slip, no stairs, etc). During the day yesterday she was ok, it was last night that she started hobbling. She did jump down from our couch, but it wasn't hard and she landed more with her front paws, so I'm really hoping it wasn't from that. I joined the Ortho dogs group when all this started and they said she probably just over did it this weekend and to ice it and let her relax for a few days and see how it goes. Trying not to freak out! :)
 
#76 ·
Oh no. Keeping al fingers and paws crossed that it was just a little overuse. Have you talked to the surgeon yet about when you can start physical therapy with her? With Cleo's last surgery that really made the difference. She had those spells of not using the leg all the time off an on for months. X-Rayed showed that she had healed and repeated crate rest didn't permanently help. However 10 sessions of PT each including the underwater treadmill, ultra sound and cold laser did wonders.
 
#77 ·
We could start physical therapy now, but it's honestly more than our budget will allow. The place that has the underwater treadmill is also about an hour away from us so all that gas would really add up.

I'm really looking forward to having the xrays done, so we know how the bone has healed. I think I'll call them today to get that scheduled, doing something will make me feel a little better! :)
 
#78 ·
I'm sure she will be ok just worrying mum that's all.

Darcy had her X-ray (6weeks) last week and her bone has healed fine, they say that she will be able to go off lead for short periods in a few weeks too.

Based on the above I'm sure you have nothing to worry about but I would ring the surgeon just to be on the safe side. An early X-ray may help put your mind at rest.

Fingers crossed for you both and positive vibes your way


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#80 ·
If she used the leg a bit more, she probably has some killer muscle pain. It takes a while to get those muscles back again.
That's what my husband keeps telling me...he's like trust me, I know this! If I don't freak out a little, who will!? ;)
 
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