Stories of dogs, cats, and other species as they journey through the ups and downs of disease management are great sources of inspiration for others going through similar processes. As our pets are truly part of our families, we must do all that we can to facilitate their recovery from health problems, just as we would our human children.
Here is the third guest blog contributed by Jana Rade, mother to Jasmine, a sweet Rottweiler hailing from Ontario, Canada.
Difficult to Manage Lameness Treated with Physical Therapy
With Jasmine it's like this: every time we think we are home free, something else goes wrong. It was no different with her bilateral Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery recovery.
Everything was going well and her legs were working beautifully, when it happened. Suddenly she started limping on her rear leg again. I was freaking out, as the lameness looked almost exactly the same as when Jasmine tore her crucial ligament. Was it possible that the knee repair failed?
I called her vet immediately but he assured me that the surgery failing at this stage was highly unlikely and that she probably just hurt her muscle. We were to keep her rested and watch for improvement in next few days. Indeed, for several days it seemed that it was improving. But then it got worse again.
We brought her in for a thorough exam. Her vet concluded that her lumbar muscles were inflamed and her left iliopsoas were particularly angry.
Since NSAIDs were out of question for Jasmine, and pain drugs didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference, our options were either another stem cell treatment or physical therapy.
Thinking that physical therapy would end up less costly, we booked an appointment with a veterinary chiropractor. Jasmine received a chiropractic adjustment and cold laser treatment, and the vet recommended underwater treadmill exercise.
Jasmine loves water but we were worried what she might think about the 'moving ground'. However, as the lameness was not improving, we decided to give it a try. Jasmine made fools of us, as it didn't bother her at all! Twice a week we'd take her for her underwater treadmill and cold laser therapy.
During Jasmine's regular appointments with her TCVM vet she also got acupuncture targeting the injury.
One thing that was very interesting was that each of the three vets was convinced of a different diagnosis. Her main vet believed that it was a muscle injury, her TCVM vet figured it was a tendon injury and her chiropractor believed the lameness was caused by arthritis in her knee or potentially meniscal damage. I found that quite curious.
Are you wondering with of the vets was right? Yes, it was her main vet. As many times before he validated once again why we kept him as Jasmine's main vet through her entire Odyssey.
At first the exercise seemed very hard on Jasmine. She was panting heavily and was able to do only couple minutes at the time. With each session, however, her condition was improved and she could do longer and longer with ease. So much so that she started to be bored and speed had to be increased to keep her occupied.
During Jasmine's next appointment her main vet was quite pleased with her progress, as out of the entire group of muscles being sore only the pectineus muscle was now unhappy. At this time Jasmines chiropractor also confirmed the main vet's diagnosis so they were now both on the same page.
Jasmine was, however, still favoring the leg, particularly after rest. So we continued with the treatment. It took several months before the lameness resolved completely, but it did, and without any drugs!
Jasmine's muscle mass evened out on both legs and they were now very strong. We were very pleased with her condition. She was as good as new! We decided to continue the underwater treadmill on maintenance basis for several more months (visiting once a month only).
I think that underwater treadmill exercise is a fantastic form of therapy. If we had enough money I'd be taking Jasmine regularly just because it is so good.
As a side note though, we were quite wrong thinking that we'd save money going with the physical therapy rather than with the stem cell treatment. By the time all was said and done we have spent over $2500 for the therapy and it took a long time. I do believe that the stem cells would have worked much faster, and given the fact that Jasmine had some banked, it would have come cheaper too!
Lesson learned. Jasmine is now having trouble with arthritis in her elbow (the one joint that didn't get treated before as it was looking good), and we are going with stem cell therapy. In fact, Jasmine had her treatment on November 9th.
All I wish is that we could do both, as I really appreciate the benefit of physical therapy, particularly hydrotherapy. But after all we spent on her treatments already, we really cannot.
Related Articles
Our Journey to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine
Using Integrative Veterinary Medicine to Treat Illness Affecting My Dog- Part 1
Using Integrative Veterinary Medicine to Treat Illness Affecting My Dog- Part 2
With Jasmine it's like this: every time we think we are home free, something else goes wrong. It was no different with her bilateral Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery recovery.
Everything was going well and her legs were working beautifully, when it happened. Suddenly she started limping on her rear leg again. I was freaking out, as the lameness looked almost exactly the same as when Jasmine tore her crucial ligament. Was it possible that the knee repair failed?
I called her vet immediately but he assured me that the surgery failing at this stage was highly unlikely and that she probably just hurt her muscle. We were to keep her rested and watch for improvement in next few days. Indeed, for several days it seemed that it was improving. But then it got worse again.
We brought her in for a thorough exam. Her vet concluded that her lumbar muscles were inflamed and her left iliopsoas were particularly angry.
Since NSAIDs were out of question for Jasmine, and pain drugs didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference, our options were either another stem cell treatment or physical therapy.
Thinking that physical therapy would end up less costly, we booked an appointment with a veterinary chiropractor. Jasmine received a chiropractic adjustment and cold laser treatment, and the vet recommended underwater treadmill exercise.
Jasmine loves water but we were worried what she might think about the 'moving ground'. However, as the lameness was not improving, we decided to give it a try. Jasmine made fools of us, as it didn't bother her at all! Twice a week we'd take her for her underwater treadmill and cold laser therapy.
During Jasmine's regular appointments with her TCVM vet she also got acupuncture targeting the injury.
One thing that was very interesting was that each of the three vets was convinced of a different diagnosis. Her main vet believed that it was a muscle injury, her TCVM vet figured it was a tendon injury and her chiropractor believed the lameness was caused by arthritis in her knee or potentially meniscal damage. I found that quite curious.
Are you wondering with of the vets was right? Yes, it was her main vet. As many times before he validated once again why we kept him as Jasmine's main vet through her entire Odyssey.
At first the exercise seemed very hard on Jasmine. She was panting heavily and was able to do only couple minutes at the time. With each session, however, her condition was improved and she could do longer and longer with ease. So much so that she started to be bored and speed had to be increased to keep her occupied.
During Jasmine's next appointment her main vet was quite pleased with her progress, as out of the entire group of muscles being sore only the pectineus muscle was now unhappy. At this time Jasmines chiropractor also confirmed the main vet's diagnosis so they were now both on the same page.
Jasmine was, however, still favoring the leg, particularly after rest. So we continued with the treatment. It took several months before the lameness resolved completely, but it did, and without any drugs!
Jasmine's muscle mass evened out on both legs and they were now very strong. We were very pleased with her condition. She was as good as new! We decided to continue the underwater treadmill on maintenance basis for several more months (visiting once a month only).
I think that underwater treadmill exercise is a fantastic form of therapy. If we had enough money I'd be taking Jasmine regularly just because it is so good.
As a side note though, we were quite wrong thinking that we'd save money going with the physical therapy rather than with the stem cell treatment. By the time all was said and done we have spent over $2500 for the therapy and it took a long time. I do believe that the stem cells would have worked much faster, and given the fact that Jasmine had some banked, it would have come cheaper too!
Lesson learned. Jasmine is now having trouble with arthritis in her elbow (the one joint that didn't get treated before as it was looking good), and we are going with stem cell therapy. In fact, Jasmine had her treatment on November 9th.
All I wish is that we could do both, as I really appreciate the benefit of physical therapy, particularly hydrotherapy. But after all we spent on her treatments already, we really cannot.
Related Articles
Our Journey to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine
Using Integrative Veterinary Medicine to Treat Illness Affecting My Dog- Part 1
Using Integrative Veterinary Medicine to Treat Illness Affecting My Dog- Part 2