Claire had an admirer this week at physical therapy. The therapists used her as bait to motivate a dog who was learning to use a wheelchair, and she was happy to help!
(attempting nose-to-tail exercises)
(doggy traction)Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Claire's 5th Adoption Anniversary
Today is the 5th Anniversary of Claire's Adoption! In honor of the day Chance, Claire, and I tried a photo shoot in our garden. I can't imagine life without our girl!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Our Friend LA Pet Tech
Today we started thrice-weekly visits from our friend Kathleen who runs the business LA Pet Tech. Kathleen has a background as a vet tech, so her dog walking/pet sitting service is ideally situated to specialize in caring for dogs with medical needs. She's coming to our home to assist me in doing Claire's physical therapy.
Claire is so wiggly to begin with, and sensitive in certain areas since becoming hurt. Add to this the fact that I've trained her to a certain routine of tricks. And I never pay her off with treats unless she's still, either sitting or more commonly in a "down" position. So getting her to do certain exercises, especially the standing ones, by myself has proved impossible. I know it's just a matter of patience and approaching the exercises as new training, but it's not been easy and I want Claire to get the benefits of p.t. right away. So I'm resorting to paying for home visits: add that to the list of costs due to IVDD.
Kathleen has a calming presence for both Claire and myself, and I learned a few lessons from her today that will make it easier to do the p.t. on other days when she is not involved. She's just the help I've needed! I'd like to recommend her publicly to anyone in the San Fernando Valley, whether your dog has special needs or just requires love. Contact her via Facebook here.
Claire is so wiggly to begin with, and sensitive in certain areas since becoming hurt. Add to this the fact that I've trained her to a certain routine of tricks. And I never pay her off with treats unless she's still, either sitting or more commonly in a "down" position. So getting her to do certain exercises, especially the standing ones, by myself has proved impossible. I know it's just a matter of patience and approaching the exercises as new training, but it's not been easy and I want Claire to get the benefits of p.t. right away. So I'm resorting to paying for home visits: add that to the list of costs due to IVDD.
Kathleen has a calming presence for both Claire and myself, and I learned a few lessons from her today that will make it easier to do the p.t. on other days when she is not involved. She's just the help I've needed! I'd like to recommend her publicly to anyone in the San Fernando Valley, whether your dog has special needs or just requires love. Contact her via Facebook here.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
A Visit to the GrandPAWrents, and Beginning Physical Therapy at Home
(What I usually get when trying to get Claire to "follow the treat" nose to sky, nose to shoulder, or nose to hip! I've trained her too well to lay down and roll over, so I'm finding it impossible to do her standing exercises. Ugh!)Claire came home from her pt evaluation with physical therapy exercises to do at home. I was glad to be visiting my folks for a week to have an additional hand in the beginning. I'm still having trouble doing the exercises with Claire on my own. We're focusing mostly on stretching her rear legs and shoulders, doing exercises to stretch shoulders, biceps, hamstrings, and iliopsoas muscles, and rotate hips, as well as some traction exercises and neck stretches. The exercises are supposed to be done twice a day and take 30-45 minutes. She has special Zukes peanut butter treats just for pt, so the whole thing becomes quite the event!
I'm making sure she stretches well at least once daily, and taking her to the pt clinic every Tuesday. I'm also augmenting by continuing laser therapy at the local holistic vet every Friday. This will be the routine for the next 3-4 weeks, till the end of September, when Claire will be re-evaluated by the pt clinic's vet for possible adjustments to her therapy regimen.
I'm making sure she stretches well at least once daily, and taking her to the pt clinic every Tuesday. I'm also augmenting by continuing laser therapy at the local holistic vet every Friday. This will be the routine for the next 3-4 weeks, till the end of September, when Claire will be re-evaluated by the pt clinic's vet for possible adjustments to her therapy regimen.
(Claire showed some tension yawns during our first couple of therapy attempts but is generally pretty relaxed.)
The best part about visiting the grand"PAW"rents? Pictured below. ;o)
(Chance gets snuggles)Claire's been enjoying more supervised motion per the pt vet's recommendation. She had been on strict crate rest through the end of August. While she's still not cleared for long leashed walks, jumping of any kind, or stairs, she does get to have an "open crate" situation around the house and yard as long as I'm around. When I'm out I'm crating her for her protection.
Claire had her first visit for physical therapy at the pt clinic this last Tuesday, Sept. 6th (the initial visit was an intake evaluation with their vet). They did stretching exercises with her much like those assigned at home, then did acupuncture with electrical stimulation, and a B12 shot into her left rear thigh. The staff there is great with Claire! I tried to address the problems I was having getting her to do therapy with me, but they basically said nothing more than "patience" and "keep trying." I know it's mostly my prior training with her that's making this difficult, so it is going to take time to perfect this routine. I can't wait for the halfway vet evaluation where we can address adding hydrotherapy!
Meanwhile I'm continuing to address correspondence on Claire's behalf and fundraise for her vetting. The Red Barn pet store in Tarzana does not allow collection jars at registers, and it took me about four visits to get to speak to a manager. They offered to help in other ways, so I'll approach them again when I'm ready to do a raffle or auction. I've also been following up on verbal commitments made previously to contribute once donations could be made directly to a vet, as we're now able to do that to the pt clinic. I can't thank Claire's supporters enough for making such great care and treatment possible. I'll be forever indebted to all.
We've started new safer routines in the car, with a wire crate secured tightly by bungee cords. This is now the only way Chance and Claire travel--previously they'd had a bucket seat that elevated them but they weren't as secured into it, so while they didn't distract me or cause accidents, they weren't safe if we were involved in one. The new crate fit only in the back seat, so I'm getting adjusted to being unable to pet them or see them as well but they're doing fine in it. We have a ramp that we'll use to get in and out once Claire is cleared for that type of movement.
Claire had her first visit for physical therapy at the pt clinic this last Tuesday, Sept. 6th (the initial visit was an intake evaluation with their vet). They did stretching exercises with her much like those assigned at home, then did acupuncture with electrical stimulation, and a B12 shot into her left rear thigh. The staff there is great with Claire! I tried to address the problems I was having getting her to do therapy with me, but they basically said nothing more than "patience" and "keep trying." I know it's mostly my prior training with her that's making this difficult, so it is going to take time to perfect this routine. I can't wait for the halfway vet evaluation where we can address adding hydrotherapy!
Meanwhile I'm continuing to address correspondence on Claire's behalf and fundraise for her vetting. The Red Barn pet store in Tarzana does not allow collection jars at registers, and it took me about four visits to get to speak to a manager. They offered to help in other ways, so I'll approach them again when I'm ready to do a raffle or auction. I've also been following up on verbal commitments made previously to contribute once donations could be made directly to a vet, as we're now able to do that to the pt clinic. I can't thank Claire's supporters enough for making such great care and treatment possible. I'll be forever indebted to all.
We've started new safer routines in the car, with a wire crate secured tightly by bungee cords. This is now the only way Chance and Claire travel--previously they'd had a bucket seat that elevated them but they weren't as secured into it, so while they didn't distract me or cause accidents, they weren't safe if we were involved in one. The new crate fit only in the back seat, so I'm getting adjusted to being unable to pet them or see them as well but they're doing fine in it. We have a ramp that we'll use to get in and out once Claire is cleared for that type of movement.
Claire's Seven Supplements
I've written before about a few supplements Claire's been on, but the physical therapist has prescribed four more, so I thought I'd recap what she's been on for the last two and a half weeks (and will continue indefiinitely).
When she was initially diagnosed in June, Claire was prescribed Prednisone to reduce inflammation and Tramadol for pain relief by the neurologist, with Gabapentin specifically for nerve pain, if needed. I started that several weeks into the process when I noticed Claire licking her side quite a bit, and refilled it once, so she was on it three-four weeks before I discontinued. The Gabapentin has to be made at a special compounding pharmacy as Claire's weight is so small, so it runs about $40 every two weeks.
The holistic vet put her on Traumeel, a homeopathic anti-inflammatory, and Dismuzyme, which contains enzymes to promote healing. She takes three tablets daily. The Traumeel comes from the vet as it's a concentrate that they mix. The Dismuzyme I found for half the vet price on Amazon.com.
The physical therapist has added Denamarin, which contains Sam-E, a half tablet daily, as well as Super B Complex and Vitamin E. She recommended the Nature Made brand of human-grade supplements because they are somewhat more regulated than other herbs. I added CoQ10 myself as I've heard other IVDD dogs taking it, and the vet said it can't hurt. I bought the Denamarin direct from the vet for the first time but will research to see if there's a better option. The company does have a rebate for a few dollars available here. The other supplements ran me about $80 at Walgreens but I've since found them at Costco as well. The PT vet also suggested we resume the Gabapentin as I mentioned Claire was still doing a fair amount of licking at her side.
So, Claire now starts her day with 1/2 tablet of Denamarin, taken on an empty stomach. I take a shower and give her a few minutes to digest that, then pass by with a Dismuzyme tablet. The Traumeel is also to be given on an empty stomach, so I go brush my hair and teeth, then give her a dropper of that. A few minutes later, I give her 1 ml of Gabapentin liquid. That finishes her morning meds. Sometime in the afternoon she takes another Dismuzyme tablet, and perhaps another dropper of Traumeel. With her meal in the evening, I add another Dismuzyme tablet and 1/2 of a B Complex tablet, which must be crushed or she'll leave it in her bowl. Every other day, I add 1 Vit E gelcap, 1CoQ10 gelcap. She's also getting a tablespoon of canned pumpkin with her dinner to help prevent constipation, and I cover her kibble with water to get some extra liquid into her. Quite the diet! It's really not as bad as it seems when it's written out, but she's getting used to eating something every time I approach her.
If your pet has IVDD, what changes did you make to their diet post-diagnosis? Please leave a comment on the blog.
When she was initially diagnosed in June, Claire was prescribed Prednisone to reduce inflammation and Tramadol for pain relief by the neurologist, with Gabapentin specifically for nerve pain, if needed. I started that several weeks into the process when I noticed Claire licking her side quite a bit, and refilled it once, so she was on it three-four weeks before I discontinued. The Gabapentin has to be made at a special compounding pharmacy as Claire's weight is so small, so it runs about $40 every two weeks.
The holistic vet put her on Traumeel, a homeopathic anti-inflammatory, and Dismuzyme, which contains enzymes to promote healing. She takes three tablets daily. The Traumeel comes from the vet as it's a concentrate that they mix. The Dismuzyme I found for half the vet price on Amazon.com.
The physical therapist has added Denamarin, which contains Sam-E, a half tablet daily, as well as Super B Complex and Vitamin E. She recommended the Nature Made brand of human-grade supplements because they are somewhat more regulated than other herbs. I added CoQ10 myself as I've heard other IVDD dogs taking it, and the vet said it can't hurt. I bought the Denamarin direct from the vet for the first time but will research to see if there's a better option. The company does have a rebate for a few dollars available here. The other supplements ran me about $80 at Walgreens but I've since found them at Costco as well. The PT vet also suggested we resume the Gabapentin as I mentioned Claire was still doing a fair amount of licking at her side.
So, Claire now starts her day with 1/2 tablet of Denamarin, taken on an empty stomach. I take a shower and give her a few minutes to digest that, then pass by with a Dismuzyme tablet. The Traumeel is also to be given on an empty stomach, so I go brush my hair and teeth, then give her a dropper of that. A few minutes later, I give her 1 ml of Gabapentin liquid. That finishes her morning meds. Sometime in the afternoon she takes another Dismuzyme tablet, and perhaps another dropper of Traumeel. With her meal in the evening, I add another Dismuzyme tablet and 1/2 of a B Complex tablet, which must be crushed or she'll leave it in her bowl. Every other day, I add 1 Vit E gelcap, 1CoQ10 gelcap. She's also getting a tablespoon of canned pumpkin with her dinner to help prevent constipation, and I cover her kibble with water to get some extra liquid into her. Quite the diet! It's really not as bad as it seems when it's written out, but she's getting used to eating something every time I approach her.
If your pet has IVDD, what changes did you make to their diet post-diagnosis? Please leave a comment on the blog.
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