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It’s now been four full weeks since Kojak, our young Rottweiler, had his knee repaired with TPLO surgery, and we’ve settled in to our new lifestyle. Due to the surgery Kojak is under a lot of restrictions like no stairs, no jumping on the furniture, no toys, no running and on and on (sheesh, a dog can’t have ANY fun!). These restrictions will last for about 8 weeks post surgery, then, finally Kojak can return to being the active puppy he was before the operation. If you missed last week’s recovery update you can read about it in Kojak’s Week 3: Life With a Rottweiler After Surgery. If you missed reading what TPLO surgery is all about, you can read Kojak is Getting Ready for TPLO
Our biggest concern coming out of week 3 was how badly Kojak was limping while he was walking. That was coupled with him not wanting to bear any weight on the surgical leg while standing. We could see him standing kind of hipshot with one leg bearing all the weight and the other leg dangling in the air. According to the take home instruction sheet we should look for improvements between weeks 5 and 8 so we’re letting him rest by just doing short walks. He does limp some when walking but he is using the surgical leg to walk.
Probably the highlight(?) of the week was the trip to the therapy swimming pool. We had taken Xena there after her surgery so we were familiar with the facility and the routine. Kojak was a perfect gentleman throughout the experience, even when he was not having the best of times. I did feel a little sorry for him as he did NOT like swimming and it seemed a little heartless to force him into the pool.
We DID try in our own pool and Kojak wasn’t all that keen then. We did put him in a floatation vest and he did get in the water with a strong bit of encouragement from me. But he was so out of control I feared for the liner of my pool so we only tried the one time. The therapy pool is concrete so he doesn’t have much chance of damaging that.
At the Pet Depot we did have the assistance of one of the employees, Ray, and it’s a good thing we did. He fitted Kojak with a floatation vest (Kojak started getting a little suspicious at this point) and hooked him up with a long lead – not every dog knows how to swim right away. As expected, Kojak got to the ramp leading down to the water and just pancaked, he did NOT want any part of the water. Ray had to literally pick him up and, er, strongly encourage him into the water. We tried luring him into the water by throwing a few toys into the water, but even though he hasn’t been able to play with his toys for weeks, Kojak was not about to enter the water.
We were told it’s important for dogs recovering from TPLO surgery to swim as it forces them to use that rear leg and especially extend it more than they do while walking. It does seem heartless, but like the surgery, it’s something that has to be done for the overall benefit of the dog.
Kojak did not swim well – most of the time he was thrashing at the water and kind of panicky but the water is only 4 feet deep. At that depth, we could easily wade in and rescue him if necessary. And remember we had a lead on him the whole time so he was perfectly safe albeit a bit uncomfortable. Although he thrashed a good deal towards the end of each “lap” he kind of settled into what you would normally think a dog swimming looks like. Libby reminded me that we had the same progression with Xena – resistant at first but after about 3 sessions all I had to do was throw a ball in the water and she charged right in.
Of a bigger concern, Kojak was limping even worse when we got home. He wasn’t doing that when we left the pool but sitting in the truck for 45 minutes allowed him to stiffen up (I’m assuming) the same way we would after exercise. We also think forcing him when he pancaked probably contributed to some additional stiffness. Our plan for the next visit is to use a towel under his belly to prevent him from pancaking and using his surgical leg to try to stay out of the water. Hopefully after several visits it will click and he’ll enjoy the water as much as Xena did.
Kojak did show slow improvement after the antics at the therapy pool. He is walking better and we’re trying to walk him more (and a little more aggressively) so he gets the strength back in his leg.
