As we move into a complete week post op, I have zero complaints about his progress. Except that he doesn't want to sit still.
From other blogs I have read, this is not the most common thing. Most dogs are 3 to 6 weeks post op before they feel as good as Dante does.
When we left Guardian Vet Centre with our care plan Dante was on Tramadol for pain, Metacam for muscle anti inflammatory and pain and an antibiotic so prevent infection from the surgery.
The Tramadol was only for 4 days, but since we had some from before the surgery we gave it to him for an extra day. This morning was the first morning with no Tramadol, only the Metacam and I was surprised that he didn't seem to notice. Of course he could have been slightly less comfortable, but he didn't let me know. We gave him half a tramadol before bed, just so he would have something and wouldn't be cut off cold turkey, in hopes he would get a good sleep. We are no longer sleeping on the living room floor, he is back to his dog bed at the foot of our bed. One day he dreams to be able to use his dog stool to get up on the people bed again.
Since we have made it to a week post op, we are allowed to exercise a bit more, so we have been making twice daily trips to the gate.
Dante is scared of ice packs, so I haven't been icing his knees like at all. Which I feel bad about, I am going to do it tomorrow at least once. He just hates the crinkly noise the ice pack makes, giant puss puss.
I booked the appointment to get Dante's staples out for next Monday. He has an appointment with Dr.Pam to have a manual adjustment and ACCUPUNCTURE after that. YIKES, they are gonna needle my dog! Scary stuff, turning him into a living pin cushion, but I'll try it once and see if he likes it or if it helps. He lost pretty much all of the muscle mass in his body during his injured time, so I want to make sure he gets it back properly and is in no pain due to it.
Tomorrow progress pictures of his bruising!
Hi Tamara - I met you at the Guardian Hospital when my chocolate lab (Kenya) was being assessed for TPLO. You told me about your blog, so I hope you didn't mind me looking this up.
ReplyDeleteKenya had surgery on Sept 20 and is doing great. She desperately wants to play in the snow, and is trying to overuse her knee...the little brat! I have to distract her with peanut butter to do her Passive Range of Motion exercises, otherwise she locks her knee up from being annoyed. Otherwise, she's peachy.
I'm glad I met Dante - I think seeing him was the visual boost of confidence I needed. He's my hero, and he's got an awesome mama. Thanks for your motivation, and I hope you're both doing well!