First Hydrotherapy/Underwater Treadmill Session

Things progressively went from bad last week to the extent where I felt more needed to happen. After a lengthy discussion with a few people I agreed to book Kenz in for a hydrotherapy appointment and see where that went. John confirmed that was a sensible suggestion and sent through Kenz's med records. It was after glancing through them that I discovered the full extent of how bad things really were. Kenz's surgery leg back in February was again graded a high 2 medial luxating patella. The same grading as it was pre-op. John confirmed how complicated Kenz's case was with both the neuro issues and the ortho issues and felt that was why things had gone backwards at this stage.

I was worried about how Kenz would cope with the treadmill. She is "ok" with the pool but I felt the pressure of the treadmill was to much.

First up Kenz had a consult and examination with Pin. Kenz weighed in at 13.1 kg this morning which is about the norm although a little lighter then she has been which is probably due to the significant muscle wastage. I went through her history, what we had tried, where we have been, what has worked so far, what hasn't worked. The comment made was Kenz was certainly going to be a challenging case to resolve. He did comment that there was no surprise she couldn't get up the stairs with a back end as bad as that.

After the examination it was then out to the treadmill area. Once Kenz had been equipped with life jacket she was let into the treadmill. Lots of the time was just spent making her comfortable in there. She was walked up and back and given treats. She coped ok but wasn't so sure on the whole idea of walking and tried to swim. She had 3 times of the treadmill moving. Because she kept trying to come to close to the front and wouldn't walk square he used a pool noodle contraption to try and keep her square. That freaked Kenz out a little bit. Normally the final session is up to a minute but Kenz couldn't manage that so he stopped it before then.

I was able to have a look at her gait while on the treadmill and it really did look a serious mess. Pity my video camera is out of action otherwise I might have tried for some video. It would be good to be able to look back at how bad she really is.

After the treadmill Pin went through what else I needed to do with her by way of passive range of motion exercises, weight shifting exercises and heat bagging her left hind leg.

The verdict is she will need twice weekly treadmill sessions and is to be crated/rested till her next session other than allowing 3 x 1 min slow walks.

She is still on high doses of carprofen and tramadol but I am hoping to cut those back again soon.

She is booked in for another session next Monday so we will see how she does.

Below are a couple of photos taken over the weekend while she was out for a break.