Well the big day has come and gone and Kojak made it through his surgical procedure just fine. For anyone wondering what Rottweiler TPLO surgery is like from the owner’s perspective, this is the beginning of Kojak’s recovery story. Kojak Nation will be happy to hear he’s already bouncing back and using his repaired leg more each day. According to Dr. Walesby his cruciate ligament was 60% torn through and he also had a tear in his meniscus which had to be repaired. A further complication was the meniscus was folded back on itself so it required a bit more attention than a normal tear.
I took Kojak to the surgeon on Monday the 27th and of course the entire front office staff clustered around him – as usual he was the life of the party. If you haven’t read about how we got ready for the operation, here’s Kojak’s TPLO surgery preparation. Since this was going to be an overnight stay we had to discuss his diet as we’re starting to suspect Kojak is allergic to chicken. Unfortunately while the surgery has a non-allergic food (meaning it doesn’t have chicken) they do use chicken as an enticement to eat. Also unfortunately Kojak did NOT like the surgery’s non-allergic food and they couldn’t spike it with the chicken so Kojak ate very lightly after his TPLO procedure.
I went to pick him up on Tuesday afternoon and it was threatening to rain but I was hopeful I could get him in the truck before the heavens opened and the flood came down. There’s a whole page of care instructions which I had to review with one of the surgical technicians plus a whole little bag of various pills. We got through that and I was anxious to see how Kojak was feeling but I have to admit I could barely suppress a laugh when they brought him in wearing the “cone of shame”, hopping on three legs and still looking a little dopy from the anesthesia. He was happy to see me and nearly broke his tail wagging it so hard.
There is something I was previously unaware of called a “lick sleeve” which is supposed to help keep Kojak from worrying at his surgical site. I should have shopped it around but they had one there (at a slight additional charge of course) and I thought Kojak might be a little sensitive of someone trying to slip a sleeve on his hurting leg. They put it on him and when I got him home, it looked like they hadn’t put it on correctly. I took it off and I’m kind of taking my time putting it back on because it looks like it’ll be a challenge putting it on so it doesn’t interfere with elimination.
I’m not sure why but we noticed this same thing with each dog that had a TPLO. For some reason, the surgeon (more likely a technician) shaves almost the entire side of the dog. If you look closely you can actually see the surgical site: It’s on the front of his leg about in the middle of the deck board and you can see what looks like some little hairs sticking out from his leg. Those are the stitches that closed the incision for the TPLO. I don’t understand why they shaved almost half of his side but it’s only fur and it’ll grow back. He just looks a little pitiful wearing the “cone of shame” with half his hair shaved off!
The First Days After TPLO Surgery
He has been pretty good about walking – a lot of dogs hobble on three legs and hold the injured leg up with no contact with the ground. Kojak almost from the first moment has at least been “toe touching” and as each day goes by he uses the surgical leg more and more. This is good and bad as the discharge instructions were abundantly clean – NO JUMPING UP ON THE FURNITURE – so of course the first day home what did Kojak do? I think it’s the actual jumping the surgeon doesn’t want since the bone still has to heal around the implants. I had planned to just use a leash to “help” his hind quarters if he needed help but I notices he was getting some chafing around his, er, inner thigh so I ordered a lift harness and was glad I did. I was able to work the harness between Kojak and the couch cushion and lift him off the couch safely, not that Kojak was pleased or appreciated the foresight, effort and consideration for his comfort! I ordered the third one on this list and it worked just fine. It let me lift Kojak without putting pressure on the injured leg, and it made getting him off the couch considerably easier.
My young grandsons will be here for a several day visit in early August before returning to their home in Panama (yes, the country with the canal). When they’re here, we have Kojak sleep in our bedroom to prevent any accidents (think large boisterous dog vs. small boys – the oldest is 6). Our bedrooms are on the second floor so I should get quite a bit of usage from the lift harness moving Kojak up and down the steps for the few days they’re visiting.
What’s Next in Kojak’s Recovery
Kojak goes for suture removal in about 10 days. If you’d like to see how things progressed during his first full week at home, read Kojak’s recovery from TPLO surgery – Week 1. That starts the next phase of his recovery where we have to do stretching exercises and take him swimming. We did have him in his life vest and managed to drag him into the pool – he was not a fan. We’ll probably end up taking him to the dog swimming center (I don’t know what else to call it – they have a concrete pool with a ramp so you can “strongly encourage” your dog to swim) a few times to get him used to swimming, then we can use our own pool.
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