Ella- post surgery advise, please

Ella, our foster girl, is now 12 days post surgery for her luxating patellas. She is doing wonderfully - that's what concerns me. I've read so many posts and articles about the "dangers" of resumed activity that I'm afraid for her to do very much of anything. She is putting weight on both hind legs and walking quite normally. She has even begun to try to trot a bit - do I need to keep her crated so she stays off her legs? I'm not letting her out to "run" with the girls, she comes right back in after her potty break but should I have her on a leash inside the house? I sure don't want to screw up what has been repaired. Maybe I'm over-thinking all of this but hope that those of you that have had experience with this situation might have some helpful ideas for me.
JaneB

Jane - yep, contain or crate her. Given the opportunity Shelby would have been darting around the house after Jake a week post surgery. We took her out potty on a leash and lead her right back into the x-pen that became a semi-permanent fixture in our family room. Even when she was on the couch with us we had her leash on and had ahold of it so she couldn't dash if the doorbell rang. She had no freedom until her 8 weeks was up...and then we had to do it again :roll:

Our little ruby Cooper is also in the process of patella ops. He's now 2 weeks following his revision of his right patella - the first one went bad after about 3 weeks. We were told to keep him confined post op in a crate or playpen. We have to carry him out to the toilet, have him on his leash to go to the toilet and then carry him back in. We have to do this for at least another 2 weeks until the next check up and they said only then will he maybe be able to start leash walking. He is also leashed if we pick him up for a cuddle on the couch. Bear in mind we did all this the first 3weeks and the first op still stuffed up and needed revision.

We were told this is the critical time. The first week they feel pretty sore and don't want to mobilise too much, but once the stitches are out they think they can act like normal and that's when you can run into problems with the op.

I'm surprised you weren't given very strict instructions about this because from what I understand, it is this post op slow rehab period which is crucial to the ops success long term. And take it from me and Cathy, it is heart breaking to have to go through the whole process again because the op isn't a success. Remember, it's only a couple of months, which is nothing in the grand scheme of your pups long and active life and she will be so much the better for having those patellas fixed. So I would definitely keep her confined, especially if she has brothers or sisters around that she wants to play with.

Jane, I went through patella surgery with India, and was told that she could only come out of the crate or x-pen to go potty. Any time she was out of confinement, she was on a leash and was not allowed to do anything but walk on flat ground to go potty (No pavement, either). No running, jumping or trotting!

I could not trust Geordie to not try to play with her, so I confined him to an x-pen whenever I took her out.

It was a lot of work, but it's all worth it in the end to have a healthy dog!

Thanks for your input, it's pretty much what I had read or heard but I prefer getting the scoop from folks I "know." Ella's surgery was performed by a clinic (2 weeks ago)that is pretty much a no frills operation. Their work is fine but with the volume of animals they see (especially when they are rescue pups) - not much in the way of instructions or bedside manner.

We've kept her pretty well confined so far. It's amazing how calm and quiet she is, probably the leftover Puppy Mill behavior. She is coming along, slowly, but I'll take any progress. We'll continue to do as you suggest - no play!! I'll have Ella get in touch with you directly when she objects! :lol:

JaneB

We kept India in an x-pen with a bed for waking hours and a largish crate at night. Sometimes she preferred to nap in the crate, though, because she had a thick foam orthopedic mattress in the crate.

Make sure Ella has water at all times, and change her toys out often so she has different things to sniff.

Both the crate and x-pen were metal wire, so she had great visibility, and we put them right in the center the room, so she always felt like she was a part of the group and could see us and hang out with us.

When she got bored, we'd give her new/different toys, things to chew on, I'd do a little obedience (down/sit/stay) with her. I'd even let her sniff things like the mail, the newpapers, shopping bags if I went shopping, just to keep her mind stimulated.

Expect Ella to have little 'tantrums', but when she does - turn away from her so she will not continue to do it. You do not want to encourage the type of behavior where she stands on her hind legs, or anything that will impede her healing.

Hugs to you and Ella! :hug:

You had some excellent suggestions there Cathy about how to keep them stimulated.

:hugs: to both the poor babies recovering from their surgery :hug: Have a look at Cathy T's little Shelby now! She darts around like a loony on Cathy's you tube videos :lol: