Physiotherapy for dogs

Our girl has had an ongoing problem with her right shoulder for several months now despite trying rest, Metacam, Seraquin and a host of other supplements. She has full mobility but it has grown worse and anything more than a short walk around the corner now leaves her limping for the next couple of days.

The vet has done X-Rays that showed there is no skeletal damage or signs of arthritis etc. In fact they've said there is nothing more they can really do but they suggested we try with a dog physiotherapist because they believe it can only be some kind of soft tissue injury that needs concentrated help. I am visiting a place tomorrow that does this along with hydrotherapy and I just wondered if anybody had any experience with this sort of thing?

The typical symptoms are that she will go out and seems OK for a while but seizes up a few hours later following rest and the more she exercises the worse it is. She seems to suffer particularly badly following sudden stops and turns such as when playing with a ball, which is sad for a dog that was was sprinting for a couple hours a day this time last year.

I prepared this video so the vet could see her problem clearly following a ten minute play in the garden and the second part shows her the following day where she had partly recovered. She is on a diet but we are finding it hard to keep her weight down when she is doing so little exercise. This is frustrating and we want to get our poor girl right.

http://www.sunnymede.net/bailey_limping.html

Poor girl!

I've heard that hydrotherapy can work absolute wonders!

It's so perplexing because the X-Rays show no problems at all and the vet even said there was no real point in continuing with the Seraquin, since her joints are all in A1 condition.

At one point a couple months ago I thought she was finally coming right and she could run gently or half an hour off the lead with no problems but we took her to the woods about a month ago and since then it has been particularly bad. I know it sounds soppy but I want my fearless, energetic and happy dog back to her old self. It's crushing to see her struggling like this.

i would definitely say try hydrotherapy

I think the hydrotherapy would be an excellent idea if you can get her in somewhere local to you. Maybe also get a second opinion from another vet for a diagnosis. I guess the extra weight she is carrying is not helping but it's a vicious circle trying to get it off her, swimming would help with this too as the water will not put any extra strain on her joints while she is in there.

We've seen three vets so far but the last one was by far the best with much more experience than the others. I've heard of dog osteopaths as well but who knows which is best. The nearest hydrotherapy place for dogs is about 20 miles from here and I know she wants to exercise, though she hasn't shown much inclination to swim in the past.

Limps exact the same way Moo used too, but that is arthritis, very strange. Hydrotherepy can help. Moo is on youmove and also a aloe vera gel (alternative but since being on it hasn't needed any meds).

I was in the same position as you but at least the x rays gave me an answer Xx

janey wrote:
Limps exact the same way Moo used too, but that is arthritis, very strange. Hydrotherepy can help. Moo is on youmove and also a aloe vera gel (alternative but since being on it hasn't needed any meds).

I was in the same position as you but at least the x rays gave me an answer Xx

It could well be that a couple of good massages and swim or two is all that's required to fix this, since it might just be a trapped nerve, though my guess is that we are dealing with a damaged ligament that has never fully recovered from an initial accident. In a way I suppose we should be glad it's not showing up as arthritis or something that will require an operation. The only question is how to fix it.

The vet also X-Rayed her elbow in case that was a problem but three vets have now concurred it is the right shoulder and the physiotherapist who saw the video also agrees.

Are there any animal osteopaths near you?

Caryll wrote:Are there any animal osteopaths near you?

There is one about 30 miles from here that I could try. The vet suggested the physiotherapist but that might only be because they had a brochure.

For me there isn't a choice than to keep her active, rather she lived her life to the full than to limit it.

Not an answer but I haven't got one ><

I took Bailey to the physiotherapist today who first watched her walking and then checked the good side as a point of reference.

After that she did quite a bit of prodding and pulling before identifying a problem area behind Bailey's shoulder and practically underneath her front leg that is causing some discomfort when her leg is stretched and she said this fitted in with the exacerbating effects of sudden starts and turns. If you looking at yourself it would basically be the area between your armpit and triceps.

Some more stretching exercises were followed by a laser treatment that applies gentle heat to the area and we have another appointment on Monday morning. It's hard to know exactly what the problem is but she believes it may be a badly torn muscle that has never properly healed and we've been caught in a vicious circle.

We've been advised to keep her indoors until Monday with no walks, since complete rest seems to be more helpful than exercise at the moment and it will allow her to compare more easily the next time. The physiotherapist suggested it would probably take another 2-3 massage & stretching treatments plus the laser, followed by one or two hydrotherapy sessions afterwards to start rebuilding the strength without causing injury.

Time will tell but the fact she has managed to identify a specific problem area is already something that three vets had failed to establish.

Sounds positive Xx

Just thought I'd offer an update for others who might have to go down this route. We are making gentle progress and still don't let Bailey run but she is now able to walk about 3 miles a day on the lead with no problems, which was impossible to imagine a month ago.

The physiotherapy involves massaging and a red laser treatment that seems to be helpful, then I've been steadily increasing the distances she walks. At first just a few hundred yards extra would leave her stiff but that seems to be less of a problem now, however I'm obviously anxious not to overdo things.

The hydrotherapy on a treadmill has me less convinced simply because she doesn't seem to like or understand it and only spends about 5 minutes in the water by the time they have gone through all the harness fitting, washing and filling the tank. She's only done it once and I came away thinking it wasn't money well spent.

Between one thing and another she is costing me about £400 a month at the moment, so obviously I'm hoping to see a full, rapid recovery. For the last couple of days I've been walking her on the beach with an extended lead and there is an area with a shoulder height stream at low tide, so she trots up and down quite happily for 20-30 minutes. I was a little concerned this might be too much but she hasn't shown any signs of this being a problem.

Her weight has dropped now by a kilo but ideally we need to lose another couple of kilos over time. The only area she is clearly still struggling is turning in a tight circle on the spot, so her mobility is still not 100% right, however she is walking straight under normal conditions with no sign of a limp.

Just another update in the hope it may be of use to others and perhaps save some money. After numerous physiotherapy sessions we eventually stopped going because there didn't seem to be any further progress. Yes she was walking OK if we kept to short distances but the moment she walked a little faster or further we were back to square one with the limping.

I've kept going gently for the last month with the occasional bit of limping but recently thought of giving horse liniment a try and after week of daily use the difference is significant. She is moving far better and any stiffness afterwards appears to be very minimal.

We shall keep going steadily and allow her to recover fully in her own time my gut impression is that a simple bottle of horse liniment has been more effective than all the vet treatments and specialist care put together. It just helps to heat the muscle and improve circulation. A one litre bottle costs less than £20 and you just slap it on with your hands and rub it in before exercise.

Have you ever found the reason for it?

Do you have anywhere to take her swimming, this may be a great exercise for her which would also be gentle on the joints.

Glad to hear you found something that works for her. Were you able to claim the costs of the physio on insurance if you have it ?

We knew it wasn't arthritis or anything broken because the X-Rays proved that, which basically left it us with ligaments, tendons or muscle. Unfortunately X-Rays can't show those, so the only other option would have been an MRI... After all this time with various ongoing treatments my guess is that we are dealing with a badly torn tendon, so every time she went out and ran a little or pulled a bit too hard it worse than before.

A torn muscle or some kind of strain would be fixed in a couple of weeks but tendons can take anywhere from 2-12 months assuming you give the right treatment. If you think of a dancer or athlete for example they warm up slowly before exercising to avoid injury and the liniment basically performs the same muscle warm up so when you go out everything is nicely loose and that helps to avoid repeated trauma.

Oh I know, I always hoped thats what Moo's was, thankfully it turned out to be arthritis otherwise I would have had the MRI scan even though I couldn't claim and was quoted £1000+. I am one of those that would rather have a definitive answer.

I am pleased you have found something that is aiding and helping and I really hope in time the progress betters Xx

Kathy wrote:Do you have anywhere to take her swimming, this may be a great exercise for her which would also be gentle on the joints.

Glad to hear you found something that works for her. Were you able to claim the costs of the physio on insurance if you have it ?

We have the sea nearby but it's always pretty cold in reality and that might be counterproductive. I was a bit negative about the hydrotherapy because the half hour seemed to be eaten up by preparation and she was only in there a couple time for 5 minutes. For something like this I think you need almost daily care.

We ironically stopped insuring her about a month before she injured herself so I have had to deal with the entire costs myself. I'm fairly relaxed about that though because I've spoken to lots of dog owners with insurance and even ones who have made big claims have told me the stress of dealing with the insurers made it a nightmare.

Thats a real shame, about the insurance, we had to claim for Rocky recently for a cut paw and the insurance were great (Argos Pet Insurance) I was quite surprised at how quickly they paid out, within a week of the form being sent to them.

Never mind, keep going with the liniment, it seems to be working for her

I sense we are winning now and that if we just keep walking on the leash for a couple months with daily liniment treatments she can make a total recovery.

What I find slightly annoying in all of this is that I've seen a number of highly paid specialists who have all prescribed various medicines like Metacam etc but not one of them thought of suggesting something that would help protect the area from further damage during exercise.

The most effective treatment before this was the infrared laser heating but it doesn't help that much if it isn't done immediately before exercise. The physio keeps her own horses so she must be fully aware of how to avoid injuries like this and yet nobody made a suggestion other than to increase exercise slowly. If a dog goes from sitting in the warm to moving outside in the cold further injuries are almost inevitable if there is an existing problem.

Metacam is just the basics a vets would prescribe. As for hydrotherapy, do some research, we have a place that does classes, in a pool, with other dogs and you go in also, no leads or filling a tank, personally I don't class that as hydrotherapy as its quite stressful for the dog.

I would personally still consider a full scan as I would want to know, its been going on months now....