Physical Therapy Update

This little boy had his second PT visit yesterday.  It should have been his third visit but I didn’t know they wanted me to definitely bring him in twice this week.   No one really told me what the plan was and I thought the vet was going to tell me when I talked to her Monday but I never talked to her.    This pic was taken in the private waiting room at the vets office.  They have loose dogs hanging out in the office (I find it a bit strange!) and so we have to rush Dylan into a private room so that there aren’t any dog/dog issues.  

I think we went too long between visits.  I was thinking I was seeing improvement until Wednesday.  Wednesday night we went for a walk (long slow walks on leash are all that Dylan is allowed right now).   Early into our walk, his leg seemed weak and wobbily.  It was more wobbily than it had been the past few days.  When we got back, I used the rice back to heat up his leg a bit.   If I even just touched his leg, it started trembling.    I’ve noticed more and more that he is doing things differently than normal.  His usual big stretch with paws on the floor and back legs on the couch is limited to stretching the right side.  He doesn’t extend the left rear leg when he is stretching.  Sometimes I will notice him laying with the left leg tucked way up under him and the right leg pushed forward a bit like normal.    Things are not equal on both sides for sure!

Dylan seems to be doing well with PT though.  He did 10 minutes on the underwater treadmill yesterday and the PT tech commented that he could keep going and going and going.  I told her that’s a flyball dog thing for sure.  They have to have great endurance for all the racing they do at tournaments!!! 

He relaxed (sort of) in the estim tank for 15 minutes.  He really thinks he is supposed to swim in there and its pretty cute.  I got all wet again but I held his front legs while they massaged his back legs.   He kept trying to kick those front legs to swim.. Silly Boy!! 

They had him do some work on the cavaletti poles which are similar to the PVC ladder we built for him last weekend.  We have been working on the ladder every night to help him recover.   They rehab place has a new laser that we tried out on all his joints.  The laser therapy is supposed to stimulate blood flow. 

We took in his Xrays from Tuesday.  The vet we saw last week was out of the office so another vet looked them over.  She agreed that there is no sign of athritis.   YAY!  We were happy to hear that.  She said the knee isn’t a big issue and the swelling should go down as he gets treatment for the muscles in his leg.  

While we were doing PT the vet we saw last week stopped by the office.  She came in to chat with me for a minute and looked over his xrays real quick.  She said there is an osteoarthritic point on his right shoulder.  Last week it was the left this week its the right?  I could see the rounding of the bone that she pointed out but I am not really sure what all that means.  She seemed to be just running in and out of the office so I didn’t want to take up too much of her time.  We will be seeing our regular holistic veterinarian in a few weeks.  I am sure she can explain all that to me and tell me what the risks are and how that will affect him at Flyball.

We are still contemplating Adequan.  It’s looking to be a bit more expensive than the supplement that we are currently using but I am wondering if it would be good for Marley especially.   My holistic vets office says they use it sometimes but mostly for horses.     I can’t wait to get in to see the vet so we can talk more about all of this.  I trust her and so much of this goes over my head that I need to rely on a professional that I know and trust.