Triple Pelvic Osteotemy

[lifeisgood]

Hi...I'm new to this so please forgive/correct any breaches in etiquette. Our 8 month old pup had hip surgery 1 week ago. He is doing great, my main concern is his activity level. I'm looking for anyone who has gone through this surgery and what the recovery was like for your dog. I'm so terrified of the plates coming lose. He is confined to his crate or a small gated area, but man, this dog wants to move! He spends quite a bit of time standing up. I would love to hear of other people's experience with their dog's post op recovery and any suggestions to keep him mentally stimulated!

[katieliz]

welcome to the board. what were your postop instructions from your pup's surgeon?

[qbchottu]

Mentally stimulating toys that dispense treats might be helpful. I like the following:
- Kong (fill it with most anything. Try freezing peanut butter for a change)
- Atomic treat ball
- Busy buddy chuckle, bottle, jug or bone
- Nylabones
- IQ treat ball
- buster cube

Some others:
- Hide a squirrel
- Kong wubba
- JW toys like Bad Cuz, Great ape, Bone or Holee
- Puppy keys
- Plush toys
- Kong squeakers

Have you tried putting the radio or TV on? Sometimes dogs like listening and watching. Just be careful with the soft or easily destroyed toys and be sure to watch the pup when he plays with those. Good luck!

[lifeisgood]

Confinement to a small room about the size of a bathroom. We are doing that, he's just standing a good deal more than I thought he would. We are supposed to use a sling on slick surfaces but he fought it so hard that we are just working around any slick surfaces by moving him through the backyard to relocate around the house. I wasn't crazy about the surgeon quite honestly...he wasn't very helpful, like I was taking too much time.

[qbchottu]

Some info I took from other sites:

WHAT CAN I EXPECT AFTER THE OPERATION?
Most dogs walk on their newly positioned hip joint immediately after surgery. Patients should remain inactive for 6 weeks postoperatively. They should remain indoors, but allowed outside on a leash to eliminate. Short leash walks are allowed after 3 weeks. If necessary, tranquilizers are prescribed. Gradual return to normal activity is allowed between 6 and 8 weeks postoperatively.Most dogs show a significant improvement in attitude, personality, and activity levels. In instances of severe dysplasia, marked improvement in walking, sitting, climbing stairs, standing, running, getting into the car, playing, and performance can be expected. Most dogs lead a normal, active life following TPO.

Post-op care
Early in the post operative period, the pain and discomfort your animal experiences will cause it to limit its own activity. However, as the swelling and pain decreases (generally 2-4 weeks) your animal will want to increase its activity. It is extremely important to remember that the bone has not healed at this time and most stresses are still absorbed by the implant. You must continue enforced rest and supervised exercise. As a rule of thumb you should restrict your pet’s exercise to short leash walks only for 12 weeks following surgery. When the animal is unsupervised it should be confined to a crate or small room to limit running and jumping. We realize that enforced rest becomes more difficult as healing progresses, but you must continue this practice for 12 weeks, at which time most osteotomy sites are completely healed. The most common complication noted with this procedure is implant loosening, with an increased incidence of implant loosening directly related to the amount of activity allowed the patient in the recovery period.

Recovery from triple pelvic osteotomy, in most cases, takes approximately three months. During this time, once the dog feels comfortable walking on the surgery leg, they can start taking controlled, short leash walks. If the follow-up radiographs taken at around 4-6 weeks show the bone is healing well and the implants are all holding up okay, then these leash walks are increased to help build up the muscles of the hind legs which were lost as a consequence of the surgery. Physical therapy done early in recovery can also help speed up recovery and help maintain more muscle after the surgery. Restrictions during the first three months are no off-leash activity like running, no stairs, no slick floors, and no playing with other pets. Activity level around the house can be confinement to a crate or confinement to one area of the house, depending on the surgeon’s preference. If both hips are done at the same time, the dog will usually need to be walked with a sling under their belly to help them get up and around for the first one to two weeks.

[katieliz]

thanks qbchottu, great info. docs and vets have been on my poop-list lately, so i hear ya about your feelings re the surgeon. hope the above post helps.

[lifeisgood]

Thanks so much for the toy selection. I will check some of those out. The frozen peanut butter in the Kong is one of his favorites. I haven't heard of many of the other toys so I have some shopping to do! Thank you also for the post op stuff you found....very helpful.

[qbchottu]

No problem! Let me know if you need further suggestions.

[wolfspirit]

My (late) GSD had this op done when he was 8 months old, and I still remember the recovery being a nightmare. It's very hard to get them to just lie still and be calm for soooo long.

Taking mine out for car rides, once he was allowed a few minutes walk (to account for getting out to the car) really helped.

If it's any consolation, my boy went on to have 3 hour off lead walks every day, run, jump even do some agility and at the age of 9 climbed a mountain.

[LisaT]

My vet kept mine confined for much too long, which is not good. At the six week point, if all is looking good, slow steading increase in activity. They heal pretty quickly.

My huge regret is that she had a screw back out after several weeks, and the surgeon and vet said it wasn't a worry. I think it bothered her all her life.