Animal Rehabilitation Success Stories
Check out some of the animals I’ve had the privilege of working with. I see a huge range of cases, for all sorts of musculoskeletal and behavioural problems. Animal rehabilitation success stories are always heartwarming!
Louis – Biceps Tendon Injury
Louis is one of my dogs, and he started having problems with his right biceps tendon when he was around two years old. He would be lame after playing with his buddy Sam, and jumping down off the bed and out of vehicles.
An ultrasound showed the damage to Louis’ tendon. What to do next? Firstly, I had to stop him from doing the things that caused the lameness. The biceps tendon is used to lift up the foreleg (just as in a human it bends your elbow), but it’s also an important muscle used when dogs are landing from jumps, or decelerating from running. That meant no more playing (it was pretty high speed rough and tumble!) and no more jumping.
I was very lucky that Sam could stay with a good friend for a while, so that took care of the playing. I got some folding steps to help get him in and out of my ute (he weighs 35kg, so I can lift him, but it’s a workout). He had on-leash exercise only for several weeks so that he wouldn’t chase bunnies and would stick to a sedate walking speed while his tendon settled down.
During this time he also did simple rehab exercises, like shaking paws and other platform work. This was an easy way to get him to lift his leg without the tendon being under too much pressure. Later, we increased our walking time, started adding in trotting, and made the rehab exercises harder. Some of the last exercises were going down steps and slopes – working the biceps in it’s deceleration function.
After several months, Sam was able to come home, but I was careful for a long time about them playing. Tendons heal quite slowly, and research studies show that dogs can look completely sound to our eye even if the tendon isn’t properly healed yet (see this paper by Kern et al. (2023) about shockwave treatment, for example). Recovery from biceps injuries can take a while, but there are several options to help dogs to get back to normal. Good management and rehab are essential.
Sydney – Back Problems after puppies
Sydney is a gentle wee soul who was a breeding bitch and had multiple litters of puppies. Her spine was quite roached, or curved upwards in the middle, both while she was sitting and while moving.
Sydney had xrays taken by her GP vet, so we knew that her spine was ok. We also looked carefully for any signs of lameness, or any pain in her abdomen. Once we were confident that those things were all ok, we started tackling Sydney’s back. My first-line treatment was osteopathy, to mobilise the joints that weren’t moving properly and to get the tight soft tissues feeling normal again.
Sydney’s very dedicated owner did exercises every day, both to support the hands-on treatment for her spine and to help build up her general muscle tone. Having lots of babies hadn’t exactly left little Sydney with a gym bod!
Despite her soulful look, Sydney is now a happy wee dog who has a normal spine, way better muscle tone, and loves going for her walks – and coming for regular checkups! She even has a buddy at home, another lovely wee spaniel to keep her company. Well done, Sydney and her owner!