Dog Cruciate ligament disease recovery. ?

(Month two)

Fun fact, when I was a teenager I used to do voluntary work at the dog hydrotherapy place that we took Clover to. I didn’t divulge this to the owner when we went though, didn’t want to seem like a weird stalker or like I had some obsession with the place. She didn’t recognise me anyway, given that I probably hadn’t been for over 13 years and looked nothing like my 16 year old self. Anyway, we turned up and it was just how I remembered it. Clover was very excited to be somewhere new. Given that she’d only been walking to the end of the road and back for weeks, the prospect of being anywhere but our street seemed to excite her.

We walked in and filled out all the expected type of forms whilst the hydrotherapy lady fussed Clover and got to know her. We then got taken through to a back room (past the swimming pool, much to mine and Clover’s disappointment) and into a smaller area which had what looked like a treadmill in a fish tank in it.

Dog hydrotherapy ?

I’ve never really known the exact qualification of dog hydrotherapy experts. I still don’t. But what I can tell you, is that they know their stuff! I was so impressed with them throughout. They told me that the best course of action for Clovers’ cruciate ligament tear was to have her walk slowly on the treadmill under the water. The water would force her to use her leg properly in the water and the treadmill would force her to walk. They even got a fake (I hope!) dog skeleton and showed me the cruciate joint and how it should operate and the difference between that and how Clover was using hers.

Then the dog hydrotherapy lady put a life jacket/harness on Clover and coaxed her onto the treadmill and began to fill it up with water. Clover was very bemused by the whole situation but she took it in her stride… obviously, because she is perfect. The hydrotherapy lady was very pleased with her. I stood at the end and encouraged her to walk to me (I had to use toys and treats to entice her to do this, because Clover walking towards me excitedly out of sheer love and adoration for me was not an option.) She walked consistently for a minute and then the treadmill was turned off for her to rest. Then it was turned back on again for a further minute and so on. This continued for about 15 minutes or so, and then our session was over. (£40 for the privilege in case you were wondering!). Add that to your ‘how much do dogs cost?’ total… starting to think I could have just bought a second home by this point with all the money I’ve spent on darling floppy ears.

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Dog Cruciate Ligament Disease Recovery- month two. ?

As mentioned, Clover had done well with her first dog hydrotherapy session (obviously!). The hydrotherapy lady told us that we could up Clover’s walks to 10 minutes at a time for the next week to see how we got on. Just the addition of an extra 5 minutes per walk felt like a huge difference. That would be half an hour of solid walking a day that Clover could now have… very slowly but surely, we were building. Clover was improving. The dog hydrotherapy lady (sorry, I don’t know what else to refer to her as!) also measured Clovers thigh so that she could record it and keep track of how much muscle, if any, Clover was putting on each week.

At the end of our session, we were told not to be alarmed if Clover slept for the rest of the day and not to panic if she started limping again. It had been a very active session with lots of smells and new, exciting things to investigate. She had also used the leg far more than she had used it for the last few months, so she was bound to be tired. Valid points, I thought, but given that our appointment was at 9.00am, I thought it perhaps slightly unlikely that our Tasmanian Devil would sleep for that long. True to form, we got home and Clover did not sleep for the rest of the day. In fact, she did not really sleep at all. It’s like the use of the leg in the water had given her a new lease of life. She was excited and happy and playful. The dog hydrotherapy lady did say that sometimes the lack of use of the leg is more of a mental thing than a physical one. That a dog thinks they can’t use the leg at all because of the pain, and once they realise they can use it (for example, in a hydrotherapy session) they begin using it much more because the mental block has been broken down. So, I hid some more treats around the house and Clover found them. Then she sat on the stairs barking at the passers by for a while (her favourite hobby). Then she chewed a bone and just sort of sauntered around the house all afternoon. Eventually, she crashed in the evening. But she didn’t limp.

Clover and I upped our walks. 10 minutes at a time, 3 times a day. We kept it slow. We kept it steady. We stopped for all the sniffs that she needed. She didn’t limp. We went back to dog hydrotherapy the following weekend. They upped the amount of time spent on the treadmill and they increased the speed by a notch. Clover smashed it again (more enticement with treats and toys from me) and was unphased by the increase in distance and speed. We were told that we could up Clover’s walks again. 15 minutes at a time, 3 times a day. So, we did.

This cycle continued for the next 4 weeks. Her underwater treadmill distance increased and so did her daily walks. 15 minutes a walk and then 20 minutes and finally 25 minutes at a time. Clover grew stronger again. Her thigh gained muscle. Her confidence grew. She was using the leg, properly using it, and she wasn’t limping. I kept her on the lead and we walked slowly, but Clover was pulling. She wanted more. She was happy and excited and keen to walk. The hydrotherapy lady could see a genuine big improvement after each session. Things were looking promising. Could this have worked? Could Clover be mending this thing all by herself?! We would find out for definite at the 6 weekly check in point at the vets the following week…

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