TPLO Recovery, Week by Week: A Singapore Guide for Dog Owners

What is TPLO surgery?

TPLO (tibial plateau levelling osteotomy) is a surgery that changes the angle at the top of the shin bone so a dog's knee stays stable without a working cranial cruciate ligament. A surgeon cuts and re-sets the bone, then holds it with a metal plate. It treats a cruciate ligament injury; it does not repair the torn ligament itself.

Your vet or an orthopaedic surgeon performs the TPLO. AURA comes in afterwards, once the wound is stable, to run the recovery programme through our post-op rehab service. If you want the fuller picture of the injury behind the operation, our cruciate ligament injury guide explains why the ligament degenerates and tears, and why so many dogs end up needing this surgery. What follows is the honest timeline, week by week.

The TPLO recovery timeline at a glance

TPLO recovery runs through five stages across roughly 16 weeks. Weeks 0-2 protect the repair with strict rest. Weeks 2-4 bring suture removal and the first short walks. Weeks 4-8 start structured rehab. Weeks 8-12 add loading after an X-ray check. From month three, most dogs return to normal life.

Weeks 0-2: protect the repair

The first fortnight is about protecting the bone and plate while the incision heals. Keep your dog strictly confined, on toilet-only leash walks of a few minutes, wearing the cone at all times. No jumping, no stairs, no slippery floors. This is the hardest fortnight for most owners, and the one that matters most.

Check the incision once a day. A little bruising is normal; redness that spreads, swelling, heat, or any discharge is not, and means a call to your surgeon. Singapore's humidity works against you here, so keep the wound clean and dry, and keep your dog somewhere cool so it isn't licking at a sweaty, itchy site. The cone stays on. One good lick can open a wound that took a surgeon an hour to close.

Confinement means a crate or a playpen, not the run of the flat. For HDB owners, the practical problem is the walk from the door to a patch of grass. Take the lift, never the stairs. Support your dog's back end with a towel or sling under the belly on the way, and carry small dogs over kerbs. Polished parquet and tiles are an ambush; lay down yoga mats or runners along the route your dog walks most.

Weeks 2-4: suture removal and the first real walks

Around day 10 to 14, your surgeon removes the sutures or staples and checks the wound. Once they clear it, you can begin short, slow, controlled leash walks, building from roughly five minutes to ten over the fortnight. This is usually the point where formal rehab can start, so book the assessment now rather than waiting.

These first walks are not exercise in the usual sense. They are controlled loading: a slow, even pace on a short lead, on flat ground, letting the operated leg take weight in a measured way. Many dogs have been favouring the good leg for weeks by now, which quietly overloads the other side. That compensation is how some dogs pick up a second problem, an iliopsoas strain in the hip flexor, or lose noticeable bulk to muscle atrophy in the operated thigh.

A physiotherapist catches these early. An initial physiotherapy assessment at this stage sets a baseline (how your dog stands, how it loads each leg, where muscle has already been lost) and gives you a plan instead of guesswork. It is also when we map out the weeks ahead so the rehab lines up with your surgeon's restrictions, not against them.

Weeks 4-8: structured rehab and rebuilding muscle

This is the rebuild phase. With your surgeon's clearance, structured rehab ramps up: underwater treadmill work, targeted physiotherapy, and controlled exercises that put back the muscle lost during rest. A dog can lose up to 30% of thigh muscle in the operated leg within a few weeks of confinement, so this phase does real work.

The underwater treadmill is the workhorse here. Buoyancy carries some of your dog's weight, so the operated leg can walk, push off, and rebuild strength without taking a full load through the healing joint. Warm water helps stiff muscles relax, which suits older dogs and the year-round warmth in Singapore. Hydrotherapy at AURA (the underwater treadmill is included) starts from $118 a session, and most owners buy a 10-session package at $1,050.

Alongside the water, hands-on physiotherapy from $200 a session works on range of motion, targeted muscle activation, and the compensations that crept in during the rest weeks. The two together, water for low-impact loading and physio for precision, are what a structured post-TPLO programme usually looks like. We adjust the mix as your dog gets stronger.

Weeks 8-12: loading up and the X-ray check

Around week eight, your surgeon takes an X-ray to confirm the bone has healed. Once it's cleared, activity can step up: longer walks, gentle inclines, and more demanding rehab. The plate usually stays in for life unless it causes trouble. Push too hard too early and you risk the repair, so let the surgeon set the pace.

With healing confirmed, rehab shifts from protecting the leg to challenging it. That means more resistance on the underwater treadmill, sit-to-stand repetitions, controlled work over low obstacles, and steady increases in walk length and terrain. The goal is a leg that is not just healed but strong, because a weak operated leg throws more strain onto the other one.

For active dogs, this is also where we start thinking about the return to running, fetch, and rougher play. Rushing that step is a common way dogs end up with a fresh sports injury, so the loading stays graded and deliberate right through to full clearance.

Months 3-6: back to normal, and protecting the other knee

By three to four months, most dogs are walking, running, and playing normally. Full return can take up to six months for athletic or larger dogs. The bigger worry now is the other knee: studies put the risk of the second cruciate tearing at roughly 40 to 60% within a year or two, because the same degeneration affects both sides.

You can't change your dog's breed or joint shape, but you can change its weight, and weight is the lever that matters most. Obesity roughly quadruples the risk of cruciate rupture, and carrying extra kilos loads both knees every step of the day. Keeping your dog lean is one of the few things proven to protect the second leg, which is why weight management belongs in every recovery plan, not just the diet ones.

Keeping the operated leg and its partner strong helps too. Many owners taper rehab rather than stop it cold, using an occasional treadmill session or a maintenance plan to hold onto the muscle they worked so hard to rebuild.

What does structured rehab actually add?

Dogs who follow a structured rehab programme after TPLO tend to regain strength and function faster than dogs kept on rest alone. Rehab rebuilds the thigh muscle lost during confinement, restores range of motion, and eases early pain. Be realistic, though: results vary with the dog, the surgeon, and how consistently you show up for the sessions.

The honest version is this. TPLO fixes the mechanics of the knee; it does not, on its own, bring back the muscle and mobility lost while your dog was resting. That is the gap rehab fills. Guided loading, hands-on work, and water-based exercise rebuild what confinement takes away, and early rehab has been linked to less post-operative pain and better range of motion. What no one can promise is an exact number, because a fit young Labrador and an arthritic senior recover on very different curves.

So treat rehab as the part of the recovery you control. The surgery is done in an afternoon; the outcome is shaped over the next four months in how the leg is loaded and rebuilt. Our post-op rehab programme exists to run exactly that stretch.

What TPLO rehab costs at AURA

Rehab at AURA starts with an initial assessment at $168. From there, a typical post-TPLO course combines hydrotherapy (underwater treadmill included) from $118 a session and physiotherapy from $200 a session, often bought as 10-session packages at $1,050 and $1,850. Your programme depends on your dog's stage and progress, not a fixed rate card.

Laser and massage are not billed on their own here; they are worked into your rehab or pain-management plan where they help. To put rough numbers on it, a common starting point for the water-based rebuild is the assessment at $168 plus a 10-session hydrotherapy package at $1,050, with physiotherapy added when your dog needs the hands-on work. Some dogs also benefit from a course of pain management early on. The surgery itself is a separate cost, set by your vet or surgeon, not by AURA.