Post Op Achilles

Discussion related to the musculoskeletal system - injuries, post-op, lameness, extremity issues (joint, muscle, tenon, fascia...), axial skeleton issues, etc., as it relates to canine rehabilitation.
lehughes
Site Admin
Posts: 1664
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 3:25 pm

Re: Post Op Achilles

Post by lehughes »

Will do! Thank you so much for all your your resources. Your videos are so fun to watch!

E

lehughes
Site Admin
Posts: 1664
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 3:25 pm

Re: Post Op Achilles

Post by lehughes »

Thank you! <3

L
LAURIE EDGE-HUGHES

K9Rehab
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:06 am

Re: Post Op Achilles

Post by K9Rehab »

Just my two cents because I had a post-op dog this fall. I think it's imperative you educate the owners on the chance of failure if they don't watch this dog closely (and honestly if they have paid this much for the surgery they really don't want it to fail!) My client was a active 6 year old lab underwent the repair Sept 2019 was casted for 8 weeks and then the surgeon wanted a hard tarsal brace for another 12 weeks that they made custom through K9 orthotics. No fault of the company or the brace but the dog didn't tolerate it at all and started to develop bad cast sores and started refusing to weight bear when the brace was on. So I spoke with the surgeon and we just progressed with slow rehab without the brace to let her leg heal.... very gradual leash walks and strengthening. No off-leash activity and strict monitoring when in the home (meant they did have to crate her initially because there was another dog in the home and she wanted to jump and play). It wasn't until 5 months post op that we started doing more dynamic movements and off-leash time. Maybe I was uber conservative (but as Laurie I wasn't about to let this dog fail) and she did develop a slightly dropped hock on that side I think because we couldn't stabilize with a brace for the key initial rehab time. Just spoke with the owners and she's returned to an active lifestyle where she can be off-leash and play fetch and with her canine sibling, although they do always watch her a bit more carefully. Either way they couldn't be more pleased with how rehab went - about 6 months post-op.

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