I'm so glad this thread is helping someone else who is going through it! The day or two after surgery, he will be sleeping a lot. The doctor's office said to keep him off the leg except for going potty until after his two week check up. We are supposed to be doing therapy exercises similar to bike riding motion on that leg. HOWEVER... he will have no part of that. Same with the first leg. I talked to the doctor about it when then called after a few days to check on him and they said don't worry about it, just start with 5 minute walks. He started out on 3 legs. On day 5 he started "toe touching" along with 3 legs. Yesterday (day 7) he was bearing weight on it and actually holding himself up on that leg while he peed occasionally. Today, he is even bearing more weight. To repair the ACL, they actually make a new ACL out of something like fishing line. After a couple months, scar tissue forms around it and makes it very strong. It is important not to injure it while healing. No jumping or sudden lunging, etc. Dr said straight forward movements, like walking, is good. It's the side movements that can re-injure. At 2 weeks, he was cleared for longer walks and hydrotherapy (not needed necessary, but we have a hot tub, so good for him at around 80 degrees) At 8 weeks, they took another xray and said it was looking good and he was cleared to gradually work back up to his regular activities. Setbacks are expected, but so far we haven't had any. We intend to limit his jumping as much as possible for the rest of his life. The knees are supposed to work like regular ones, but I'm not made of money, so don't want to ask for problems. Dr said good news is he only has 2 knees. I also want to try to limit those unexpected times like suddenly racing out after a squirrel or the neighbors cat. I pick him up on walks now when we pass an unknown dog instead of just moving over. He sometimes is friendly to newbies, but can also act like a maniac until he gets to know them. |