First time crating a dog after surgery

marijame

Hi there,

Hoping someone could me some advice on what to expect. My lab cross is having surgery this week for Hip Dysplasia, she will obviously have to be crated afterwards for a significant amount of time. We've never crated a dog before and would appreciate any tips or feedback anyone would have if they've been through an orthopaedic procedure which required crating afterwards. She's a 20 week hyper lab/springer cross, thanks in advance

tk123

Get her used to the crate ASAP so start feeding her in the crate now and move her bedding in - loads of praise and treats for being in the crate. I've done crate rest with my guy twice so I've decided I'm a pro haha There's been loads of threads on crate rest eg http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=74040685

But here's my tips
BE TOUGH - she'll cry to come out but this his for her own good and once you get into a routine it'll fly by - you'll think I'm mad saying that for the first few days but it WILL go faster. You also have to be tough and only let her out when you're supposed to - stick to the rules the vet gives to avoid any injuries etc
Put a blanket on/in your bed for a few days - you can put this in the crate with her to sooth/comfort her
Feed all meals in kongs to use up time and energy - put a towel under the kong to keep bedding clean and dry
Get a clicker and target stick (you can get combo ones) - you can use up LOADS of energy with training simple commands - look, stay (build up how long you're in another room etc), touch, which hand, wipe your nose aka rub your eyes, go to sleep, cross your paws etc etc
Get some good chews - eg stagbars, nylabones - bones IMO can be messy so maybe not a good idea in a crate?
Get some kids slipper socks in penneys/dunnes if her foot is bandaged up so she doesn't slip on tiles/wooden floors - we got hall runners in Ikea for €11 and put them down along the main routes he'd be taken so he wouldn't slip
Adaptil/Kalm Aid/zykelene/rescue remedy might help settle her - i used a Adaptil diffuser beside the crate and also gave him Kalm Aid every morning
Take photos of the wound once stitches come out - this way if you think something's changed like its swollen etc you have a photo to compare it to

Come on boards to vent and when you need support and advice - lots of us have done crate rest and are here to help

I found with my guy once we were relaxed he was too - we were lucky in that we had a crate in the sitting room and one in the kitchen our two main rooms in the house so we'd move him in when we had dinner etc and he was fine once he was with us.

marijame

Thank you so so much for taking the time to write that, I really appreciate it. That's exactly the advice I was looking for, very helpful and will definitely make a difference to us in the next 6-8 weeks
Thanks a million

cliona88

I had to do something similar with my lab last year when she went in for elbow dysplacia surgery. She was and still is an extremely hyper dog so we were anxious about how she would handle it. As the operation is very painful for them, the vet will give you a lot of pain killers which will sedate your dog. Even though my lab is a mentalist she just slept all day and let us know when she needed to go to the toilet. There will have to be someone at home with the dog to make monitor them but I don't think it will be too difficult otherwise.

If you can spare the cash, an orthopaedic matress would be brilliant for the dog. It's so much better than an ordinary dog bed when they're in such pain

anniehoo

Excellent advice from tk123 there so cant add anymore. I did it with my cat (luxating patella) at the end of last year. It's easier with a cat for definite, so i wont compare but the guilt got me. For the first few days you'll just feel so sorry for him so stick to what tk said:

tk123 wrote: »

BE TOUGH

Once you get the first week over with it'll be so much easier. DONT be tempted to just let him out for "a little wander",you will do more harm than good. TRUST ME!!!!!!!!!Do the necessary bits (toilet and cleaning out the cage but thats it until your vet says otherwise)

wrote:

Take photos of the wound once stitches come out - this way if you think something's changed like its swollen etc you have a photo to compare it to

+1

If you have a good vet, they wont mind you asking lots of questions or being frantic about what you should do, but definitely...

wrote:

Come on boards to vent and when you need support and advice - lots of us have done crate rest and are here to help

I did 6 weeks crate rest with my cat, who needed surgery at the start but my vet held off and suggested exercise restriction instead. No surgery was needed and the patella has stayed in place since. It felt like forever but i am sooooo glad (and so is my bank balance) that i stuck it out until the end.

marijame

Thanks Cliona, yes I'll be here until September and then will arrange for other family members to take turns, but I'll only be out of the house sporadically from that time anyway.
Didn't know about orthopaedic mattress, will look into that as we were thinking we'd need something very substantial to make it as comfortable as possible .

marijame

Anniehoo glad to hear your cat is fine now and thanks for posting. My own vet is excellent but she won't be doing the operation. We were referred to Noah not sure if I can post it here. Great stuff on web about them so hoping it'll go well and they won't mind the zillions of questions we'll have and all the "she likes you to do this before you/when you ... " that I won't be able to stop myself saying.
I just keep thinking that she won't know what's happened and will think we've been cruel to her. I know it's stupid and don't get me wrong there was zero hesitation when we first became concerned about her hips (which was only last Thursday ) I absolutely know this is the best chance for her, I just hate her thinking I did this to her, if you know what I mean.
Thanks for the replies appreciate it

andreac

It is hard, but its usually harder on you than them.

I had to crate rest my dog for 6 weeks after a cruciate operation and it was literally crate to toilet and back in to crate, for 6 weeks. But she adapted really well and it didnt seem to phase her at all.

As TK said get some kongs and make them everyday to keep your dog occupied. You can freeze them so they last longer. Lots of chewy toys like Nylabones are great for them.

Best of luck and hope your dog makes a speedy recovery.

tk123

Oh another thing - she might surprise you in that she seems fine in that she's using the leg - she could try and run/jump so be prepared. My guy's operations were to straighten out curved hocks so he had a wedge of bone to cut out and then it was pinned together with a gap between the bones left to fill in. He walked out of the vets 5 hours after getting it done! On the first one he got hurt 8 weeks after the op and it was very scary - we thought pins may have come out etc but he just needed to rest..anyhow my vet took X-rays and at week 8 there was still a big gap between the bones - so while they may seem to be bouncing back be very careful and strict with any exercise. You should start her on hydro as soon as the vet clears it - I waited until week 12 when he was allowed off the lead again. We go to Sharpwells which is over beside Dogs Trust and it's made a huge difference in my guy's recovery.