Post-op care, Cruciate Surgery. How do you manage?

[sandgrubber]

I'm trying to decide whether to get cruciate surgery for Yoli.  She spends about half her time on the sofa or on my bed.  I can't figure out how I'll manage to keep her from jumping up for six weeks or more, especially as I have a second dog, and it's hard to restrict one and not the other.

If you have done TPLO or MMP (I'm considering both), how have you coped with the post-op routine.  Do you make ramps so they can get up without jumping?  Or ban them from the bedroom so they can't jump up while you're asleep?

 

[tdierikx]

I fostered a Lab/GR cross that had to have TPLO. I confined him to a large puppy pen while he recovered. He was such a good boy and coped pretty well with the confinement.

 

During his recovery, I also took on a mum dog with her pups, and he wasn't too worried that she was free and he wasn't. She'd come and give him kisses, and even brought her pups to visit with him too.

 

The hardest part was supporting a 31kg dog's back end going out for potty breaks... I have a few back steps we had to negotiate that was hard work until he was allowed to slowly walk up and down them himself. I definitely recommend getting a proper sling for that job.

 

T.