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05-25-2013, 07:00 AM | #1 |
Luv Love LOVE My Boys! Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 2,220
| Completed 8 week LP recovery & back to skipping Hello YT! It has been so long since I have visited this wonderful website but am so glad to be able to lean on all of you for your advice and wisdom. My 4lb, 5 year old yorkie just completed the dreaded LP 8 week recovery from surgery and the vet checked him out and said that it was solid and that his knee was tight and not bothering him when she moved it in every direction imaginable. She told me to gradually add activity back into his routine as he has no muscle mass built up in that leg and it would be awhile before he figured out how to get it working/moving again and to be sure that he didn't over do it and hurt himself. I understood and brought him back home. I allowed him to cruise around my tiny place as usual and he wasn't crazy active but of course, had a great deal more room than he did when he was confined the last 8 weeks. A day after his recheck (yesterday) and today he is back to skipping on his right hind leg like he did when he had the LP. I need to know from those of you that have had your dogs go through this.....is this normal? Is this because his leg is so stiff and he has to learn how to get that knee to bend again? I am so worried that after all of this $$$, time and energy that he is still going to skip hop when he moves at a quick walk or run. Thank you in advance for your replies and for reading my lengthy post.
__________________ Derby , Jockey & Baci's Mom |
Welcome Guest! | |
05-25-2013, 08:33 AM | #2 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas
Posts: 1,921
| My Jez recently had surgery for LP and also TPLO for a torn tendon. Tuesday will be 8 weeks, and we go in for x-rays on Wednesday, so we are right behind you on the recovery calendar. Our instructions were total confinement for the first two weeks, except for potty breaks. Then, beginning on the third week we were instructed to take walks 2-3 times per day, beginning with a length of 5 minutes and increasing by 5 minutes each week until the walks were 20-30 minutes in length. We are up to 25 minutes. When she reached the six week mark, I started allowing her a little bit more freedom and she is not confined to the ex-pen. She can get up and move around from one bed to another, get water, go to the back door and ask to go outside, and just move around a bit more. We have boxes on the furniture so that she will not jump on/off of them anda sign posted on the front door asking people not to knock or ring the doorbell (that sets her off). When we allow her to sit with us on the furniture, she is teathered to us so that she cannot jump. She has not been left alone the entire 8 weeks, either me or my husband has been with her at all times. So that's the "physical therapy" we've done up to this point. I have noticed that she favors the good leg sometimes when she gets up from resting, like it is stiff or something, so what you are seeing is probably not unusual. Katy-yorkie 's Buster went through surgery on both legs and has been completely rehabbed and released to do full activities for a long time, and she mentioned that he still limps occasionally. Even though Jez is doing great, I don't expect her to be fully released on Wednesday. We will probably get further instructions for more increased activity / exercises for rehab for the next 4 weeks to work on building the muscle back up. Did they give you any specific instructions on what to do to build the muscles back up? Here is a short video (featuring Jez's surgeon) where he discusses rehab, it contains some useful tips. Frequently Asked Questions Just scroll down and look at the next to last video. I know your pup did not have TPLO surgery, only the LP fix (mine had both LP and TPLO), but the rehab and building back muscle would be the same.
__________________ Life is merrier with a Yorkshire Terrier! Jezebel & Chuy ... RIP: Barkley Loosie & Sassy Last edited by OwnedByJezebel; 05-25-2013 at 08:34 AM. |
05-25-2013, 10:07 AM | #3 |
Yorkie mom of 4 Donating YT Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: LaPlata, Md
Posts: 23,247
| When Callie got LP surgery all of a sudden after weeks of using it she would not walk on her back leg at all so we took her back in and the pins they put in where trying to come out so they had to remove the pins. Did yours have pins put in? Also Callie would still limp on her leg for awhile afterwards and many people told me it was normal for up to a year. If your worried about it give your surgeon a call.
__________________ Taylor My babies Joey, Penny ,Ollie & Dixie Callie Mae, you will forever be in my heart! |
05-25-2013, 11:46 AM | #4 |
My hairy-legged girls Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: lompoc, ca.
Posts: 12,228
| Give him a few days to see if he starts putting it down. Could be he's just so use to having it up that he's afraid to put it down or it could be stiff and a bit sore. Don't let him get back to doing everything he use to do. Take things gradually. My Zada had LP surgery by a regular Vet. and she also started limping again but I took her to an orthopedic specialist and she ended up needing surgery again. The doctor said the little area the cap sits on was not deepened the first time.
__________________ AZRAEL RAZAEL JILLI ANN |
05-25-2013, 11:59 AM | #5 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas
Posts: 1,921
| Whoa! I would be really mad at the vet that did the first surgery. Deepening that groove is essential to an LP repair.
__________________ Life is merrier with a Yorkshire Terrier! Jezebel & Chuy ... RIP: Barkley Loosie & Sassy |
05-25-2013, 01:33 PM | #6 |
My hairy-legged girls Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: lompoc, ca.
Posts: 12,228
| I was livid, and when I called that first Vet. he had retired and moved to Utah. He didn't even say goodbye to any of his long time patient's such as myself. So rude. I even ask if he left his address or email but they said they can't give it out. Makes me wonder how many others had problems.
__________________ AZRAEL RAZAEL JILLI ANN |
05-25-2013, 05:28 PM | #7 |
Luv Love LOVE My Boys! Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 2,220
| Thank you so much for the responses and sharing your stories/experiences. He was confined for the entire 8 weeks in a very small pen in my house and he had tiny xpens outside for when he needed to go out to go potty. I have 2 other small dogs so it was the only solution to not have them interact and play and run around together. I was told no playing, no running, no jumping, no stairs for 8 weeks and he didn't do any of that. He does not walk well (and never has liked being on a leash).....prefers to be carried unlike my other two that want to be on the ground, going going going all of the time. I was not told to walk him each day just to be sure that he didn't have a lot of activity and to keep him confined. If he wasn't in the small pens then he was with me....on my lap or in my arms. It got to a point that if I didn't take him with me and I left the house he would panic himself and salivate like crazy and his little heart would be going a mile a minute when I returned.....so he was pretty much with me all of the time. They had me move his leg and stretch it in and out a few times a day for about 20 times each time. This he tolerated most of the time but didn't enjoy it. He did not get pins in his leg.....the surgeon did it all with special internal stitches. Once he got into the surgery the surgeon noticed he also had a torn cruciate ligament so that needed to be repaired as well. He had the cone for the first 2 weeks until the stitches came out then he had reprieve from that and that was huge. Poor guy. Felt so bad for him to endure all of this. I spoke with my vet today and she said to watch him over the next week or two and if he isn't using his knee joint more then I will need to go to more extreme physical therapy.....she mentioned that these little dogs get used to not using the joint and then have little muscle mass left and prefer to do the skip hop instead of bending the joint......one solution is to put something on the good leg so that he cannot use it and is forced to use the leg that is recovering. Guuuuuhhhhhh.....sounds awful to me. I hope over the next week or two he will use the joint more. He is putting weight on the recovering leg when he is walking slowly and the joint remains straight. It's just when he picks up any speed at all that he hop skips it just a bit off of the ground. Thank you all again for your replies and I will watch the video that you shared and hope for the best. I will try to take him on short walks each day and hope he will be forced to get it back to the motion necessary for his knee to function properly.
__________________ Derby , Jockey & Baci's Mom |
05-25-2013, 06:23 PM | #8 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas
Posts: 1,921
| Sloan,when I picked mine up the next day after her surgery, I asked when to expect her to start bearing weight. The vet said that large dogs start to bear weight right away, but smaller ones take longer because, unlike larger dogs, they have a much easier time getting around on three legs. So maybe your pup isjust doing it out of a habit learned when the knee was injured. I like Dr. Beagle's suggestion of walking them in tall grass (which doesn't have to be all that tall to be tall for a Yorkie)! It forces them to rely on all four legs and they can't walk through it stff-legged. They have to bend and flex the leg.
__________________ Life is merrier with a Yorkshire Terrier! Jezebel & Chuy ... RIP: Barkley Loosie & Sassy |
05-25-2013, 09:12 PM | #9 |
Yorkie mom of 4 Donating YT Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: LaPlata, Md
Posts: 23,247
| Callie was toe touching the day we picked her up but after the first 4 weeks we went to physical therapy once a week and they would put her on the water treadmill and give me a sheet of exercises to do with her. The first week of physical therapy they told me walk her for five minutes twice a day every day then the next week it went up to 10 minutes and then so on until her 8 weeks. One of the things they did to make sure they where using the leg was I had to make her step over like a broom stick many times so she had no choice but to use the leg maybe set up a course of things to step over and walk him on the leash through it.
__________________ Taylor My babies Joey, Penny ,Ollie & Dixie Callie Mae, you will forever be in my heart! |
05-26-2013, 05:02 AM | #10 |
Luv Love LOVE My Boys! Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 2,220
| Thank you for the follow up suggestions ladies. I will definitely get him walking in grass and try your other suggestions as well. I appreciate your recommendations so much. Thank you!!!
__________________ Derby , Jockey & Baci's Mom |
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