Slocum Enterprises, Inc.

Slocum^® Post-operative Care for Orthopedic Surgery

For eight to twelve weeks following surgery, a strict confinement regime is required with three important principles.

1. Your pet can be inside, on carpeted surfaces, under your direct supervision.  It can wander around the room at a slow walk as long as it is not constant.  Running, jumping, bounding, playing, etc., are not allowed.  

2. Your pet must be on a leash at all times when outside for airing and going to the bathroom.  If the animal has to cross slick floors or uneven ground, you need to use a "belly-band" in case it slips or stumbles.  The "belly-band" is not used for support but rather as a safety net to protect your pet.  Your pet is not allowed to be off lead when outside or to go for an actual walk.

3. When not under your direct supervision, your pet is to be confined in an airline kennel or equivalent.

General Information:

1. Playing with other animals is not allowed during confinement.  If there are other pets in your household, you will need to keep them separated. 

2. During confinement, your pet's food intake needs to be reduced to help prevent weight gain.  Most dogs will maintain their current weight if their food intake is cut in half.  Water consumption should remain normal.

3. The first two weeks following surgery you will need to monitor your pet's incisions.  Licking or chewing can cause infection or sutures to loosen.  If you notice that your pet has started licking, you will need to take steps to discourage it from doing so.

4. It takes a minimum of six to eight weeks for bones to heal. 

5. One of the most difficult aspects of confinement is that the animals will frequently feel better long before they are healed.  At this point your pet will start being more careless of the operated limb and is then more likely to be overactive and injure itself.  Until the bone is healed, you must adhere strictly to the confinement guidelines and not allow your pet to do more.  

6. If your pet is jumping or bouncing in its confined area, it is being too active.  Tranquilizers may be required to help alleviate your pet's anxiety or control its activity.

7. If at any time during your pets recovery and healing it does anything that causes it to cry out or give a sharp yelp, contact your veterinarian.  

8. Following surgery your pet should always maintain at it's current level of function, or improve.  If at any time during your pet's recovery and healing it has a set back or decrease in function, contact your veterinarian. 

9. It is imperative that you inform your veterinarian at once if your pet does something that is potentially harmful to the surgery.  If something has occurred which jeopardizes the outcome of surgery, it is usually less difficult to correct if it is caught right away, which leads to a better outcome for your pet.

10. If your pet is too active during it's confinement it may injure itself or slow healing which increases the amount of time your pet must be confined.

11. Follow up appointments are usually needed two weeks post-operatively to monitor incisions and healing. At eight weeks post-operatively radiographs are taken at which time your pet is started on a regulated activity regime.  A final appointment at four months post-operatively is needed for additional radiographs and final instructions before returning your pet to normal activity.

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