brooke's blog

If you would like to read an interesting article in the Canine Sports Medicine Journal on non-responsive hind-limb Lameness in Agility dogs: Iliopsoas Strain follow this link:

http://www.vetsportsmedicine.com/pdf/Proof_Non-responsiveHind-limbLamenessa.pdf

In my animal physiotherapy masters I did my research on the iliopsoas muscle in the dog with Hip dysplasia.  In humans this is a very interesting muscle and likewise in the canine especially with respect to hip dysplasia and disc/spinal injuries.

Good brain food for Easter to satisfy your chocolate craving.... (hardly!)

It was great to see Roisin this week. We have been working so hard this year to get her back on track. Roisin had a total hip replacement earlier this year which unfortunately had complications.  After implant removal she needed a lot of work to slowly build her stability and strength.  With acupuncture and massage for pain relief and intensive physiotherapy and swimming at home she is finally getting back on track.  With hip dysplasia it is important to keep working on her at home and maintenance with physiotherapy to ensure we are minimising the effects of arthritis.  She is certainly a lot happier. Feel free to watch her progress in the underwater treadmill this week.  If you compare to my blog entry to October 8th you can see she is much better. 

As I reduced the height of the water you can see it becomes more difficult for Roisin as she needs the strength in her hip flexors to break the surface tension of the water. 

 This is something we can work on for her with exercises at home e.g. walking through long grass, stepping over logs, walk through ladders etc.   We also need to improve her fine stability so she can support herself standing on the leg better (a bit like pilates for dogs if you like) for her deep gluteal muscles. She is doing so well considering she was on 3 legs for months!

Well done!

Well summer is almost here. Rosy and Gucci had a lovely relaxing acupuncture session this week after her workout in the underwater treadmill.  Gucci with her chronic arthritis in her spine and hips is enjoying the warmer weather and getting to the water more often.  If you wonder if acupuncture is well tolerated (she is also having electroacupuncture here)... have a look at his picture!  Thanks for my kisses again this week Gucci!

cheers

It was great to see Roisin progressing this week.  She has had a very dedicated mum bring her down for her sessions from up North. Roisin has severe hip dysplasia and arthritis.  With complications in surgery has needed intensive Physiotherapy to get her to use her left leg again.  After months being on 3 legs it is great to see she is getting back to her 4 legged happy self

Video attached if you would like to see her underwater treadmill session with me this week

Keep going!!

cheers

Thanks to such dedicated owners the very vibrant 9yo Mynka is on the road to recovery.
He has recently had a total hip replacement for severe Hip dysplasia (arthritis).  With intensive physiotherapy and a home program to help him slowly regain muscular stability and strength around the hip joint, he is doing very well
Mynka is an excitable dog, (love her!) but settles nicely for her acupuncture and copes with the underwater treadmill well now he is used to it.

Until we can get him back to full walks his owners have found a way to help him explore the world safely. Hopefully it is not long now until we can ditch the wheels and see him cruise along nicely.

Thanks for all the hard work I look forward to seeing him get completely back on track

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks with presentations.
Last week I enjoyed presenting to quite a collection of Vets at BVSC for their quarterly seminar series.
I presented on Hip Dysplasia, explaining the benefits of physiotherapy to improve the stability and strength and quality of life.  I hope this presentation was found to be informative and enjoyed by all.
Brooke

I am often asked how you can keep a dog still during acupuncture.
Does this answer your question?




My lovely Gucci and Rosy - pretty hard physio session that day!