What are the stages of dog recovery after broken leg surgery?

Hello. If you follow all instructions from the surgeon & there are no unforeseen complications, then Sophie should have a complete recovery. She will be uncomfortable for awhile, but she is young & young bones heal very quickly. She will probably need to take things easy for 6-8 weeks, but if the break did not penetrate the skin nor involve any joints or growth plates, she should do great. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

As tempting as it can be to let Mochi run around I highly advise against it. The screws and plates can become dislodged requiring another surgery. The surgical site could also become infected or inflamed. Perhaps share this information with your husband as well as the potential for having to pay for the surgery again. I am so sorry and I hope your words of wisdom to him will help him comply in the future.

With a broken bone, Biko should not be walking around at all. You need to keep him in a kennel to allow the leg the best chance to heal. He should also be in a splint, not a supportive wrap. He may need sedatives. I recommend to call the veterinarian and tell them what is happening. They can provide a splint as well as sedation for Biko. It will take 6 to 8 weeks for the bone to fully heal. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Nymeria needs to stay in her crate as much as possible and should not be allowed to walk fast. Five days is not long enough for a broken bone to heal and she needs complete rest for a couple of weeks in order for her bone to heal correctly. If you allow her too much activity, this will prevent the bone from healing, and she could end up needing surgery to fix it. Best of luck!

Poor girl. : ( It sounds like she is tweaking it a bit when she tries to do extrenuous exercise, which is expected, especially since she still has hardware in place in the leg. Her muscles also can grow tired quicker and become inflamed, which can cause some limping after increased movement. This sounds pretty normal at this stage in the healing process. However, if you are noticing any excessive swelling around the area, drainage or signs of infection, then she should be seen by your vet. Otherwise, follow-up your vet as scheduled to check on things and hopefully the leg is healing well via the post surgery x-rays that they will take. I hope that Olly's leg heals well. Best wishes and take care.

I believe the main difference is that dogs don't understand that they just had surgery. You can't explain to a dog that they need to take it easy, and if their pain is well managed (which is hopefully always the case) they will try to use a leg normally. A TPLO involves cutting the bone and then placing a plate, and a young exuberant dog can easily bend a plate or cause screws to back out of the bone running in the yard for a couple of minutes. Some surgeons will have owners do some physical therapy soon after surgery, but these are usually non-weight bearing passive range of motion type exercises.

The overall recovery for this procedure typically takes 6-8 weeks. Most dogs show significant improvement after the first 2-3 weeks, but their bone is still healing in this time. Continue following Luna's vet's directions regarding the amount of rest or physical therapy exercises that she is to follow to help expedite her recovery. I hope that she's on the mend quickly! :-)