Rest periods after TPLO?

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Kate Richardson — Thu, 22 May 2025 13:16:21 GMT

[quote userid="8991" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31185/rest-periods-after-tplo/247194#247194"]do we really believe people can rest a 6mo cat and stop it jumping up on sofas and playing?![/quote]

Nope!! I don't even advise 'resting' the cat, I do ask them to keep them indoors for at least a week. And as for elizabethan collars as routine.......don't get me started

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Rob Loxley — Tue, 20 May 2025 07:27:30 GMT

Lead exercise means me cycling 5k and the dog on the lead running alongside, right?!

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Michael Woodhouse — Mon, 19 May 2025 22:13:00 GMT

[quote userid="8991" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31185/rest-periods-after-tplo/247194#247194"]do we really believe people can rest a 6mo cat and stop it jumping up on sofas and playing?![/quote]

Is this what people are saying? I've always said keep in the first night as may still be sleepy from anaesthetic and then back to normal.

Was walking my bitch, off lead, 4 days post spay and her insides remained, inside. Figured it would be me fixing her if it went wrong......

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 19 May 2025 21:51:13 GMT

[quote userid="8991" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31185/rest-periods-after-tplo/247194#247194"]That was 4y ago and the other one has stayed intact. [/quote]

That gives me hope.

Apart from anything else, I've never bothered with getting pet insurance. I also need some time to recover.

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

David Mills — Mon, 19 May 2025 20:18:16 GMT

[quote userid="2457" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31185/rest-periods-after-tplo/247192#247192"]Fair enough[/quote]

Haha yes I was joking - I put off my spaniel's cruciate op for a month so we could go scrambling in the Lakes for a week. He managed Jack's Rake on a busted cruciate no problem. That was 4y ago and the other one has stayed intact.

It was more that I very much doubt compliance is 100% for anyone - and that goes from a bitch spay to a fracture repair. This time of year when young cats are getting neutered - do we really believe people can rest a 6mo cat and stop it jumping up on sofas and playing?!

I suppose my general point was that is ultra conservative post op instructions becoming the norm for fear of something going wrong? Or is it a conscious or unconscious over stating the case hoping people will do enough?

(One of the dogs in question was a family members spaniel which I looked after for a week at about 6 weeks. I let it off the lead and all was well)

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Beats — Mon, 19 May 2025 17:52:18 GMT

I had been thinking of this very question this week!

Thank you to David for asking it and everyone else for providing their thoughts and experiences - it is really appreciated sharing such wisdom and experience.

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:41:17 GMT

Fair enough. But I was joking about not telling the surgeon! We aren't doing anything inappropriate for Bracken. We followed post op instructions to the letter. She is/was a very fit dog. Ben even wants me to do agility with her again ...it's me that is reluctant. Mainly because although I know the other knee is likely to go, I don't want to feel I could have avoided it.

And if Malcolm Ness also says they should resume normal exercise after the osteotomy has healed and the soft tissues have repaired/strengthened, that's good enough for me!

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

David Mills — Mon, 19 May 2025 11:02:58 GMT

Thanks for all the replies and good to know I'm not losing remaining marbles.

I had always prattled on about how (moderate) exercise is essential for recovery both in terms of healing and future outcome.

[quote userid="2249" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31185/rest-periods-after-tplo/247185#247185"]

So I don't think that your experience is standard, but may be as a result of someone having a run of bad luck, who knows.

[/quote]

Yes and there is always the slight issue of the animal not being under the surgeon's direct care post-operatively so I can see why there would be a temptation to be over-cautious, with the unsaid understanding that compliance will never be 100% e.g.

[quote userid="2457" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31185/rest-periods-after-tplo/247187#247187"]Don't tell the surgeon :-) but we've just got home from a week's walking holiday on Skye, where she was doing long off lead walks. The longest was 18km one day. She was also running around in the sea and loving her life. No lameness.[/quote]

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Malcolm Ness — Mon, 19 May 2025 06:05:42 GMT

I started doing TPLO surgery during the dear dark days beyond recall and still do one or two even now. The osteotomy is fundamentally stable even before it is fixed with relatively large implants: the repair is robust.

Perioperative antibiotics are all that should be necessary provided the surgeon washes their hands etc. I typically use NSAIDs for six weeks or so without empirical evidence but based on the observations that on one hand, these drugs are typically quite safe and on the other, each of my own major bone injuries has caused discomfort for weeks and not days.

Standard post-op exercise advice is unlimited leash exercise until 4 weeks after surgery - initially we advised rads at 4 weeks but stopped radiographing every case as a routine/requirement perhaps thirty years ago. Thereafter, allow the dog increasing amounts of off-leash exercise back to full, unrestricted activity by eight weeks or so after surgery. Any residual lameness has usually gone by 3-4mths after the op. In my experience, physical therapy offers no advantage to most cases though can be very useful in particularly chronic/unfit/obese etc dogs.

Surgical exploration of the stifle and meniscal interference makes the dog considerably more lame and uncomfortable during the first few weeks after surgery for little, if any, proven benefit so we avoided it.

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Gillian Mostyn — Sun, 18 May 2025 22:26:54 GMT

My own 4 year old collie X had a unilateral TPLO 11 weeks ago.

No rupture, just degeneration, with no meniscal damage. Operation done 5 weeks after onset of significant lameness.

She remained active from the day after surgery .. initially 5 -15 mins lead walks 6 -8 times a day, building slowly. NSAIDS for 4 weeks. No antibiotics.

The lameness was only very subtle after 6 weeks - she was assessed by video review by our surgeon, no follow up rads needed. Given the go ahead to resume off lead exercise at 8 weeks, obviously building up again. She had very little muscle atrophy and it quickly built up to where her legs were 'equal' after 10 weeks.

Don't tell the surgeon :-) but we've just got home from a week's walking holiday on Skye, where she was doing long off lead walks. The longest was 18km one day. She was also running around in the sea and loving her life. No lameness.

To be fair, she was a very fit and lean dog pre-op (running and doing agility frequently) which no doubt aided her recovery.

Shout out to Ben at Manchester Veterinary Specialists. He's an amazing surgeon who's done a brilliant job. I do think that with surgery such as this, it's literally all about the skill of the surgeon. He also reassured us that it was all the soft tissues and muscles of the knee that would provide the necessary support for the joint, so getting her back to being active was not just beneficial, its essential.

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

Dinu Catilina — Sun, 18 May 2025 21:14:49 GMT

I haven't done as many as James but we send them home with 15 min walks 3 times/day for 4 weeks followed by 20 min/walk in the second month and resume normal exercise if osteotomy has healed. If the dog has marked muscle atrophy then I'll increase exercise gradually for another few weeks.

No antibiotics going home.

Nsaids depending on the patient.

RE: Rest periods after TPLO?

James Dunne — Sun, 18 May 2025 20:47:20 GMT

Hi David.

I've done TPLO since 2003-2004 and what you've described does not sound current. I've done this procedure while working within different practice environments. NSAID are usually given for 10-14 days postoperatively; after that only if the patient requires it. Antibiotics - usually not to go home with unless there's a very real indication. Exercise is usually immediate: lead walks 3-4 times daily, starting with 5 minutes 4 times a day and working upwards; they should be able to go for 20 minutes twice daily by week 6 post surgery. We'd generally recommend people to seek an animal physical therapist as well. So I don't think that your experience is standard, but may be as a result of someone having a run of bad luck, who knows.

Hope that is of help

Kind regards

James