Surgery repairs the structure. Rehabilitation restores the function. After a TPLO, a spinal surgery, a fracture repair, or an amputation, your pet has to relearn how to bear weight, rebuild the muscle they lost, and stop compensating with the rest of their body. Without guidance, many dogs come out of the crate-rest period stiff, weak, and favoring the surgical leg for months. At Walking Paws Rehab, post-surgical rehab is the most common reason families come to us. We work alongside your surgeon’s protocol and see patients from every orthopedic and neurology practice on the Front Range, at both our Boulder and Denver clinics.
Appointments are therapist-led and combine hands-on work, laser therapy, underwater treadmill, targeted exercise, and a home program you can follow between visits. No referral is required, though we do coordinate with your surgeon.
Every surgery is followed by weeks of restricted activity, and muscle loss begins within days. By the time a dog is cleared for normal activity, the operated limb is often noticeably smaller than the other side and the dog has learned to shift weight away from it. Rehabilitation addresses this directly: it controls pain and swelling early, protects the repair while it heals, restores range of motion in the joint, rebuilds the muscle in a controlled progression, and retrains a normal gait so the compensation pattern does not become permanent. For neurologic surgeries, rehab is where a dog relearns to place its feet and walk. The goal is not just a healed incision but a pet who moves the way they did before the injury.
Knee: TPLO, TTA, and lateral suture repair for cranial cruciate ligament tears; patella luxation correction; meniscal surgery.
Hip: FHO (femoral head ostectomy), total hip replacement, and repair of hip luxation.
Spine: hemilaminectomy and ventral slot for IVDD, and surgery for lumbosacral disease.
Other: fracture repair, elbow and shoulder arthroscopy, Achilles tendon repair, and limb amputation, where we help the remaining limbs adapt to the new load.
We also see many pets whose owners chose not to have surgery and want a non-surgical plan instead.
Earlier than most people expect. For many orthopedic procedures we like to see patients 3 to 4 days after surgery, while the incision is still healing. Early visits focus on pain control, swelling reduction, muscle relaxation, gentle range of motion, laser over the surgical site, and teaching you how to manage the crate-rest period, including safe potty walks, icing, and simple exercises. Water-based work waits until the incision is fully closed. If your surgeon has given you a written protocol, bring it; we build our plan around it. If your pet is already several weeks or months out from surgery and still limping, it is not too late. Many of our patients come to us after a recovery that stalled.
Every pet is different, but most post-surgical plans move through the same phases. Protect and calm (roughly weeks 1–2): pain and swelling control, gentle passive range of motion, short controlled leash walks, laser. Restore motion and begin loading (weeks 2–6): weight-shifting exercises, underwater treadmill once the incision is healed, longer walks, and a growing home program. Rebuild strength (weeks 6–12): progressive resistance, balance and proprioception work, hills and cavaletti, and a gradual return to normal activity. Return to sport or full function: for active and working dogs, sport-specific conditioning before they go back to hiking, agility, or fetch. Your therapist will tell you where your pet is in this progression at each visit and what the next milestone is.
Your first appointment is a full evaluation: gait analysis, joint range of motion measurements, limb circumference to track muscle, and a hands-on exam to find pain and compensation elsewhere in the body. From there, each visit typically includes manual therapy and stretching, a modality such as laser or PEMF, therapeutic exercise on our equipment, and, once appropriate, time in the underwater treadmill. You leave every visit with an updated home exercise program with videos. Our entire team rounds on patients regularly, so your pet benefits from the whole staff’s input, not just one therapist’s. We send progress notes to your surgeon and primary veterinarian.
My surgeon said to just do crate rest. Do I still need rehab?
Crate rest protects the repair, but it does not rebuild muscle or retrain gait. Rehab complements the surgeon’s instructions; we do not replace them. We are happy to speak with your surgeon directly.
How often will we come in?
Commonly once or twice a week early on, tapering as your pet progresses. Most post-surgical plans run eight to twelve weeks.
What if there is a complication?
We are experts at catching complications very early. For instance, our team can catch pretty quickly when a patient isn’t progressing normally. Historically, we catch secondary complications from surgery, such as an infection, sooner than the 8-10 week post op radiograph appointment. It allows our patients to get started on treatment sooner and back on track to healing smoothly.
Do you work with cats?
Yes. Feline post-surgical rehab is less common but very effective, particularly after fracture repair and FHO.
Do you accept pet insurance?
Many plans cover rehabilitation. We provide itemized invoices for you to submit.
