Introduction
Welcome to Mickey's blog, a blog about a dog who has been there for me and made me smile even when I thought I couldn't any more. A dog who was sent to me by a loving God who knew I needed him as much as he needed me.
Mickey's story is much like other adopted dog's stories. Left at a kill shelter at only six months because his owners didn't want him any more. He waited and waited, but because of his age and because of his energy level he was never taken home and so awaited his death. But Mickey was one of the lucky ones, the rare few who are rescued by those non-kill shelters to be given more time to find their forever home. After waiting patiently for over a year, we finally found each other at a Petco in Austin.
Five years later, Mickey is my companion, best friend and and athlete. With elite and master titles in multiple Agility venues, he competes all over the state, traveling from hotel to hotel. Not only that, he's a Canine Good Citizen and loved by everyone who meets him.
Unfortunately, the unthinkable has happened. And though its fairly common in working, athletic dogs, I was devastated and distraught. Mickey was diagnosed with an ACL tear/rupture on April 3rd 2009 and after a long weekend of research and studying the procedure, he was admitted into Central Texas Veterinary Specialty Hospital for a much needed TPLO surgery by Dr. Kerpsack.
*I'm not a vet and and in no way am I liable for any information on this blog. Please contact your local vet for information on medications or treatments.
Today marks the first day of Mickey's rehabilitation program. The first two weeks we spent watching the incision sight and keeping him from moving as much as possible. Now we are beginning the very long and slowly progressive return to "normality" after surgery. For the first couple weeks everything will seem rather simple and not like it will do very much I'm sure, but Mickey will feel it and it will help. And that's all I need to know, that its helping him.
During his vet visit yesterday they told me his muscle hadn't atrophied much, at least less than normal. So! That's a good sign that his recovery wont be as much of a struggle. The biggest issue will be rebuilding the strength of the knew and his weight bearing on it. The vet also said he was putting a lot more weight on it than is normally seen at this stage, so I'm very hopeful.
Week One PT Program -
- Walking - 5 minutes 3x per day on level ground at slow pace
- Stretches - Range of Motion stretches 3x per day
- Ice/Heat - Alternate Ice & Heat therapy 2x per day following exercises at intervals of 10 minutes in an Ice / Heat / Ice order to flush inflammatory fluids and refresh blood supply.
"whatever mom..like I'll do any of that."
what do you use for icing and heating? I have been using only ice, not heat - I put a wet towel with ice cubes in a small ziplock. Do you apply that on the inner or outer leg? again, my vet didn't say I needed to do these with my dog.
ReplyDeleteI use an ice pack (a gel one) for the icing and a warm/hot moist towel (just hot enough for my own skin.. not too hot). My vet neither said to ice it or heat it.. that was a therapy technique I found some research on.. and I only use it WITH the cold therapy and I've only started using it because there is no swelling or external heat from the area.. so I'm using it as a blood flow/therapy technique. The warm towel I apply everywhere.. I wrap it around his whole knee and the ice pack I use on the inner and outer (the first time I do it on the inner and the second time on the outer.. or I hold it in a "half way" position over the front of the knee so it sort of wraps onto both sides.
ReplyDeleteThe ice is supposed to be a pain relief for acute injury and to reduce swelling, heat is supposed to be for a muscle relief or pain relief on a chronic injury as well as to increase blood flow (which could cause swelling.. which is why I made sure there was NO swelling in the area)..
I mean that I only use heat therapy in combination with the cold therapy. :)
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to something I read about the difference between Ice and Heat and when to use it..
ReplyDeletehttp://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/rehab/a/heatorcold.htm
Also, I read the alternate therapy here..
http://www.rehabilitationandconditioningforanimals.com/ice_and_heat