Dr. James St. Clair of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation explains the importance of post operative icing within the first 72 hours following ACL repair surgery. Icing will help constrict the blood vessels and prevent inflammatory agents from entering the knee joint. The use of ice can also help relieve pain and make your pet more comfortable.
Icing Options Following Dog ACL Surgery:
- Ice Pack (Standard) – Do not conform to body
- Gel Pack (Gel) – Great choice, conforms to body and stays cold
- Frozen Bag of Peas – Good backup, just does not stay cold very long
- Therapy Wrap – Hot and Cold therapy wrap, easily conforms to body
How to Ice Your Dog
Dogs can be very sensitive and may react. If your dog reacts to the coldness of the ice, go ahead and place a towel over the area you plan to ice in order to prepare them.
Ideally you’ll want to place the ice source so that it wraps around your dog’s injured knee – this is where having a gel ice pack therapy wrap can come in handy.
My 4 year old, 90lb shepherd mix just had TPLO surgery done on his left knee two days ago. He seems to be doing pretty well, just combating boredom now. I have been trying to apply cold compresses to his leg and he will not allow it, getting up quickly to move away from me, or even attempting to snap whenever I get near his affected leg. Even if I touch the foot on that leg he gets pretty upset. I have not tried warm compresses yet, any suggestions?? I want to help reduce some of the swelling that is settling in
I have been trying to find out how often do I ice my dog after surgery? Can’t find it anywhere even in the instruction download.
[…] during this stage of recovery. You may apply an ice pack four to five times a day to the area to help reduce swelling. The ice pack should not be wet and it is important to keep the incision point dry, you may need to […]