TPLO

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TPLO, or tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy, is a surgery performed on dogs to stabilize the stifle joint after ruptures of the cranial cruciate ligament (analogous to the anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] in humans, and sometimes colloquially called the same).

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HeapOfDogs

Week 3, he licked the incision (self.tplo)

submitted 8 months ago by HeapOfDogs to c/tplo

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I'm so frustrated. I did everything to keep him from licking the wound for 2 weeks, and it worked! Lick sleeves, cones and near constant monitoring. The wound looked great! Almost totally healed minus one scab at the end.

First night without the cone I slept on the floor with him, success no licking. Second I thought we were all set, woke up to the wound licked. Scab was off. It wasn't bleeding, but you could see it was raw with drips of blood. He has disolviy stitches and an end was hanging out.

It's not terrible, but it's not great. I'm so frustrated! I thought we had made it past the incision healing stage. I should have waited until the scab came off on it's own.

Sorry for the vent.

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[–] Pronell 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

My vet tech wife says the incision is probably healed well but the surface is still raw and itchy. Likely no harm done.

[–] HeapOfDogs 2 points 8 months ago

Thank you! Gives me peace of mind to know that. Send your wife some ❤️ from me.

[–] MotoAsh 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

No idea how useful of a tip it is, but if you're worried about any surface healing risking infection, Vetbond or NewSkin work wonders to keep the surface clean and sealed. I use new skin instead of bandaids most of the time these days.

... though DO NOT use it if there are still any deep channels like unclosed cuts or punctures. Nowhere that it could end up healed inside. It's basically bio-safe superglue with antibacterial in it. If it gets healed inside, at best you have a bunch of microplastic slivers.

Also fair warning: They STING for a few seconds like most antibacterials, but if you seal off a surface wound, you can almost forget it's there the rest of the day. If you can communicate the anticipation, they might appreciate the relief.

Edit: Though some salves could probably offer the relief without the stinging if the skin is in no need of reinforcement.