TPLO Surgery for Dogs

It is very important that your dog has strict enforced rest for the first 6 weeks following the TPLO surgery. This means confining your dog to a small room or crate for the duration of this period. The only exercise allowed is short-duration (5 minute) slow walks on a leash in the backyard or verge for toileting purposes only.

Walking up and down flights of stairs, jumping up or down, or any uncontrolled activity must be avoided, as this can risk re-injuring the leg. It’s also important to take care to avoid your pet slipping when walking on wet or smooth surfaces. We can provide a hind-quarter sling to be placed underneath the abdomen to help support your dog.

Muscle therapy in the form of passive range-of-motion exercises can be performed to aid your pet’s rehabilitation. Ideally, all joints of the affected limb should receive physiotherapy two to three times a day but we instruct clients to concentrate mainly on the knee joint if time is short.

During each session, a minimum of 10 flexions and extensions should be performed on each joint. After flexion and extension of the individual joints, the entire limb should be cycled through its full, pain-free range-of-motion 10 times. It is very important never to force the joints or cause pain, but gently manoeuvre the limb through a range-of motion that is well tolerated. Our veterinary team will be able to demonstrate this muscle therapy techniques to you and can perform these exercises for your pet if you wish.

In addition to muscle therapy, laser therapy may assist in your pet’s recovery. Class IV lasers can improve blood flow, improve healing time, reduce pain, and decrease swelling. Please ask our team if you are interested in adding laser therapy to your pet’s rehabilitation program.

Six weeks after the TPLO surgery, our veterinarians will schedule a revisit to take x-rays of the knee joint to assess the progress of healing. This x-ray is usually taken under a general anaesthetic or sedation and is included in the initial cost of the TPLO procedure.

Once healing is confirmed, then controlled exercise on a leash may begin. Leash walks should be minimal at first (15 to 20 minutes twice daily), and then gradually increased by 20 minutes per week after eight weeks post-operatively.

Undertaking a set of sit and stand exercises should also begin at six weeks post-operatively. This can be achieved during leash walking by commanding your dog to “sit” and just before the dog assumes the sitting position, the command to “walk-on” is given. This routine is repeated ten or more times every walk and helps to restore the quadriceps muscle mass, which is very important in rehabilitation following cruciate repair.

There should be no unsupervised or off-leash exercise, and running and jumping should be avoided during the initial 6 to 12 week post-operative period. Between 8 to 12 weeks after the TPLO surgery, exercise can be increased slowly to 30 to 40 minutes twice daily. If available, deep-water swimming for 10 to 15 minutes several times a week is excellent therapy at this stage.

By 12 to 16 weeks the patient should have returned to near normal activity. However, there is a large variation in how quickly individual dogs return to full function following TPLO surgery. If there is not near normal activity by 12 to 16 weeks post-operatively, then it is advisable to make an appointment with one of our veterinarians for reassessment.

With appropriate care post operatively, the complication rates for TPLO surgery are very low (3%). Infections of the surgery site or joint can usually be treated with antibiotics and appropriate follow up revisits. Mechanical complications such as bone and plate issues usually occur in dogs that have resumed exercise prematurely and before the bones have appropriately healed after the surgery. Most mechanical complications can be managed with extended rest and anti-inflammatory medication.