3.5 months post TPLO update

On the 10th week I took her to the dog park and let her run for a short period of time. The OS told me to do so 2 weeks post op but I decided to wait until 10th week. She did well. We did that again for 5 minutes two days later. She looks a bit sore that day. I rested her the next day and gave her NSAIDS. We continued with walking, treadmill, rehab and some running in the backyard. When she’s at parks, she likes to run full-on, then make a sharp turn to come back to me. I was afraid that the turning could reinjure the leg.

She has been doing so well except for the hopping and occasional soreness. The same hopping that got me noticed the partial tear in the first place. She does it mostly when trotting, stopping or turning. This is the only consistent thing in the past 10 months. Her bone is healed and I didn’t understand why the hopping was still there. Worried that there might be some other issue, I contacted my OS. Via email I explained her condition and my concern. They said that she could be having a plate sensitivity and removing it could possibly fix that. I didn’t notice any swelling or infections but if that’s the case, let’s have it removed.

I took her to the OS yesterday. He was actually very impressed with the way she was using the leg. He agreed that there was no sign of infection, therefore not to remove the plate. He also said that only about 5% of TPLO dogs end up removing the plate. So it’s not that common. He checked the mobilization, her illiopsoas and other areas to rule out other issues. He concluded that it was a habitual hop. She’s been doing this for so long, it has become a habit physically and mentally. He told me to basically let her run and play more. She needs to stop thinking about the leg and just use it. It is only natural for her to be sore until she builds up the muscle. (by the way, she gained back about ¾ of 2 inches of muscle in the last 3 months) Just like humans, the dogs will be sore after exercising. I thought about the pain on my inner thighs after the horse riding the other day… He told me to give her NSAIDS before or after the exercise. I decided to give that a chance. I’m still scared to throw a ball. She takes fetching very serious (Border Collie) and I don’t want her making the quick turns. Yesterday I let her play in sprinkler while I watered the lawn. That’s one of the few ways she’d trots and run lightly. She likes to run and catch the falling water.