Claire was all ready for her intake evaluation at CARE, California Animal Rehab, after nearly two solid months of strict crate rest! We saw Dr. Debra Voulgaris on August 25th for the intake, but the rehab appointments will be led by a physical therapist rather than a veterinarian.
(waiting)The vet met with us in a separate room to get a picture of what's going on, then took us into the main open therapy area to do the physical exam. Claire was a little overwhelmed with all the goings-on, with so many people and other animals around. It made her uncertain with the examination itself, but she still did great.
(measuring the girth of Claire's muscles to see if the sides of her body are even)
(checking range of motion)
(checking Claire's reflexes)The doc did a full neurological assessment, but as usual Claire was quite stoic, and she only yelped once, though she did pull back a bit when her mid-back was pressed.
Dr. Voulgaris ultimately said that though she doesn't deny that there is or was some level of back injury, the pain Claire presented with on Thursday was more muscular, in the Iliopsoas muscle, which wraps around her leg from the hip, and perhaps sciatic pain. Her shoulders were also quite tight. The yelp came when the vet was examining the Iliopsoas.
Dr. Voulgaris ultimately said that though she doesn't deny that there is or was some level of back injury, the pain Claire presented with on Thursday was more muscular, in the Iliopsoas muscle, which wraps around her leg from the hip, and perhaps sciatic pain. Her shoulders were also quite tight. The yelp came when the vet was examining the Iliopsoas.
(nervous licking)Dr. Voulgaris formulated a plan for Claire's physical therapy based on once a week visits to CARE, and twice daily homework. The exercises seem quite thorough but not easy to do by myself. I've put them up in a separate post so I can refer to them easily. There will be a halfway check by the vet after four weeks, and an outtake exam at the end of the eight weeks. The total will come to somewhere above $1500. Modalities covered in Claire's on site care plan include laser therapy, acupuncture or acupressure, and physical exercises.
The one exercise that makes me nervous is traction. I've heard all kinds of prohibitions against this for dogs with spinal injuries as it's too easy for them to twist in a wrong direction and end up doing damage. I'll be giving that one some thought before I decide to proceed with it.
I mentioned I was excited to see how they would acclimate Claire to hydrotherapy or the water treadmill since she's not particularly fond of baths even in our tiny kitchen sink. When I checked out, the front desk person said the Dr. wanted to hold off on water therapy until she re-evaluated at the halfway point. I need to drop her an email to find out her reasoning. I was really surprised since she hadn't mentioned that when we were talking together. Hydrotherapy is one of my main reasons for seeking out therapy for Claire, since I don't have that kind of equipment at home. If it's not warranted given her injury, that's one thing, but I can't imagine she wouldn't benefit from it.
She's also added a few supplements to Claire's diet that I'll cover in a separate post, and put Claire back on Gabapentin, a nerve pain killer, since I mentioned she'd been licking her sides quite a bit. We'll be adding these things once at a time so we can see how Claire's reacting.
Recommendations were absolutely no jumping up or down, no walking her, no sudden movements, but more supervised open crate time with gentle motion around home allowed. I can pick her up, properly and carefully, but can't yet bathe Claire as we don't want her rolling around and running actively as dogs often do to dry off. A harness is preferred over a collar by Dr. Voulgaris, and I'm going to have to continue to find a way to do Claire's nails without flipping her over on her back. Chance can sleep or stay in the same crate with Claire at this point as long as there is no roughhousing going on.
The one exercise that makes me nervous is traction. I've heard all kinds of prohibitions against this for dogs with spinal injuries as it's too easy for them to twist in a wrong direction and end up doing damage. I'll be giving that one some thought before I decide to proceed with it.
I mentioned I was excited to see how they would acclimate Claire to hydrotherapy or the water treadmill since she's not particularly fond of baths even in our tiny kitchen sink. When I checked out, the front desk person said the Dr. wanted to hold off on water therapy until she re-evaluated at the halfway point. I need to drop her an email to find out her reasoning. I was really surprised since she hadn't mentioned that when we were talking together. Hydrotherapy is one of my main reasons for seeking out therapy for Claire, since I don't have that kind of equipment at home. If it's not warranted given her injury, that's one thing, but I can't imagine she wouldn't benefit from it.
She's also added a few supplements to Claire's diet that I'll cover in a separate post, and put Claire back on Gabapentin, a nerve pain killer, since I mentioned she'd been licking her sides quite a bit. We'll be adding these things once at a time so we can see how Claire's reacting.
Recommendations were absolutely no jumping up or down, no walking her, no sudden movements, but more supervised open crate time with gentle motion around home allowed. I can pick her up, properly and carefully, but can't yet bathe Claire as we don't want her rolling around and running actively as dogs often do to dry off. A harness is preferred over a collar by Dr. Voulgaris, and I'm going to have to continue to find a way to do Claire's nails without flipping her over on her back. Chance can sleep or stay in the same crate with Claire at this point as long as there is no roughhousing going on.
One of the first things I did after our visit was to make calls to vet techs & pet walkers we know to see who would be able to assist us in doing Claire's therapy at home, at least some of the time. I need one person to hold Claire on her side while another does the physical manipulations. It looks like I will be paying for help three times a week for about $50 per week; just one more factor adding to the cost of Claire's ongoing care.
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