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You shouldn’t think having your dog undergo knee surgery means you won’t have any control over his recovery. You can control how quickly your dog recovers from knee surgery. Although there are a few dogs that go recover from knee surgery for dog arthritis speedily, almost all will need some physical rehabilitation and exercise support.

 Before starting any kind of dog arthritis therapy or exercise routines, mentioned below are primary things you need to know before starting with therapy.

Make Sure the Surgery was Effective

Any kind of surgery, even if for dogs, comes with potential risk of complications and unwanted effects. In terms of knee surgery for dog arthritis, the two biggest potential complications are problems on the meniscus and issues with implants. Be certain a veterinarian checks for these two problems before you commence working with your pet.

Start Out Gradually

 It can take 4 to 6 weeks before your pet dog has recovered enough from knee surgery. While you have to walk your dog on a regular basis, keep him close on a leash. It’s also wise to restrict your dog from jumping during the initial recovery period. It’s not dangerous to let your pet go up and down stairs, as long as he is doing it gradually and cautiously.

Dog Knee Surgery Physical rehabilitation

Strategy In therapy, your want to aid your pet to regain its normal weight, build muscle mass, and recover his normal walking and running skills. Prepare yourself to start the dog arthritis physical rehabilitation in the 4-6 week resting period, however go over your program with your vet and also have the vet take a look at your dog before starting.

Workouts for Increasing Mobility

When your pet is starting to walk normally and the swelling from the dog knee surgery have subsided, it is time to start the workout! You may want to ice the dog’s leg for 5 minutes before you begin so that you can help him deal with the leg manipulation routines.

Mobility exercises are pretty simple and gentle - lightly bend and then straighten your dog’s leg and holding it for a few seconds in each position. Increase the time gradually as your pet begins to show signs of being able to tolerate the manipulations.

Maintain these workouts over several weeks until your dog’s mobility returns to normal.

Continue reading to part 2 of this series where we’ll discuss other dog arthritis knee surgery exercise.

Home Dog Physical Therapy (PDF)


 
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Dog cruciate problems are known for affecting older dogs, but younger dogs  can also have problems - especially when they are overweight, inactive or hyperactive. This condition begins as a small tear in the dog’s cruciate ligament (dog ACL), and if undetected will lead to a full rupture of the cruciate, dog arthritis and cartilage (meniscus) complications.

Early detection through regular check-ups and prompt intervention is the best way of stopping the progression of this condition.

Inside the dog’s knee joint are the two cruciate ligaments that stabilize the knee and prevent it from twisting too far in any direction. If once these ligaments get ruptured, it will create pain, dog arthritis and poor stability of the knee. This can happen in two ways, the gradual degeneration or traumatic injuries.


What is a gradual degeneration? It is when the cruciate ligament weakens as a result of the dog’s age and the constant movement of the knees can cause the wear and tear of the ligaments for pups.

On traumatic injuries, the torn ligament usually occur after traumatic injury which can be seen in very active dogs, varied breeds and most especially those dogs that are constantly jumping and twisting.

At the bottom of the knee are the meniscal cartilages that serve as the shock absorbers for the joint in movement. Using the damaged knee can worsen the tear in the cartilage or meniscus causing severe pain. At the beginning, your dog may show mild lameness - just not weight bearing when standing. However the progression of dog arthritis can lead to intolerable pain and can ruin a dog’s life. Symptoms can include lameness, pain in the knee, joint swelling and atrophy (shrinking of the muscles).


Hence the treatment is by surgery and the goal is to stabilize the knee and slow,  or if possible, stop the dog arthritis.

Some of our canine friends are not suitable for surgery and may be treated with a combination of different treatments such as exercise restriction, anti-inflammatory medications, weight-loss and physical therapy. Most small dogs will regain their normal movement without the need for surgery, but will develop severe dog arthritis in later years.


Dogs with arthritis are similar to humans and will need the same tender loving care after surgery that we would expect for ourselves.


Dog Cruciate  Surgery Complications (PDF)
 
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