His incision is healed, yea no more cone collar! He had his first rehab session-laser therapy to help stimulate healing and provide pain relief. The rehab therapist said its evident that we have been doing his ROM exercises because he is very flexible with both back legs, kudos to us! :) He is still not bearing any weight on his left leg, only intermittently putting it down at times, she would like to see him putting more weight on it but the new set of exercises for us to do may help. He is holding alot of tension in his unaffected limps and back, obviously due to not bearing weight on his left leg, she said that was to be expected.
I wish I could have been there for his first session but Doug said the ladies baby'd him and praised him all through out in baby talk (like we woman do, hehe), gave him kisses, and said he was such a sweet boy. So as long as he was loved on, I'm happy!
I had to work Tuesday too so I haven't really had a chance to do his exercises until this morning (Wed). The new exercises are to help encourage Guinness to bear weight on his left leg. Doug said these are harder than his ROM exercises b/c Guinness still doesn't bear want to bear weight on his left leg and he can't really get him to do all the exercises correctly. He did say that even for the rehab therapists they were having a hard time getting him do them properly.
New exercises
- Torso strengthening- Gently place hands on either side of the hips and rock your pet from side to side engaging the core torso muscles and promoting hind limp weight bearing. You can do this while your pet is eating. Guinness does fine rocking him on his good side but when you rock him to the other side to shift weight on his affected leg he doesn't put it down and just tries shifting his weight on his good side, looses balance and starts to fall.
- Cookies at contra-lateral hip- Have your pet take a treat from near the hip on the good side. This created bending away from the good side and shifts weight onto the problematic side. Does the same as above, doesn't put his leg down just tries to shift weight on good leg, looses balance and starts to fall. Hard to do without a 2nd person, because you have to support his abd. with one arm and give him the treat with the other.
- Sitting exercises- Ask your pet to sit and encourage them to tuck the surgical leg under the body by tapping on the foot. Rewarding your pet with praise/treat when they accomplish this task will encourage them to sit squarely each time. Tricky maneuver but I can get him to do it, again alot easier with 2 people.
- Three leg standing- Lift the good hind limb off the ground and extend it backwards. Support this leg from the knee as opposed to the shin or foot in order to discourage our pet from weight bearing through your hand and support. Haven't really been able to do this one properly, he is too off balance while I'm supporting his abdomen, he's just bearing weight through my support. But I think this one is prob. the most weight bearing exercise and thus will take more time for him to do properly.
- Paws on counter- Have your pet place their front paws on the 2nd or 3rd step of a staircase or on a chair and offer a cookie from above its head height causing weight bearing in rear and stretching of back muscles and hip flexors. Tried this one with an exercise step I have and he can do this one if I lightly hold his affected foot down to the ground, he still has the tendency to hold it up and bear all the weight on his good leg.
These are going to take more time to get down properly. I really do feel like these need to be done with 2 people, Doug said the rehab therapist was using her assistant alot with these too. So maybe we can try them tonight when Doug gets off work because they are rather difficult to do without assistance. We tried doing them last night for a little bit so I could see the techniques but trying them alone this morning is alot harder. He still didn't do them exactly right last night either with assistance. I do anticipate with time and him learning the exercises through repetition and getting more confident with bearing weight on his affected leg, that I will be able to do these unassisted. But for now I think Doug and I will need to do these together. The rehab therapist did say that Guinness was showing he is still fearful to bear weight on it during the rehab session and that's why he is so hesitant to do so. Little baby steps I guess......Maybe today he doesn't do them at all properly but through repetition and practice he will gain more confidence and do them better with time.
Another exercises we get to do with him his leash walks, yea!
Leash walks- Leashed walks may be taken for 5 minutes twice daily. Gradually increase walk time by adding 5 minutes each week. Walks are to be very slow to encourage Guinness to bear weight on his affected leg. In contrast walking too fast Guinness will only continue to hold up that affected leg.
These exercises are all so time consuming and will take practice because Guinness is still learning them. I'm not exactly the most patient person so I'm having to adjust and put his needs ahead of my own and trying to find some time to be productive in the house. I am taking time for myself though as well, whether it's just a drive out in town to get out the house or going to the aquarium/six flags this .past weekend. I look forward to my vacation in August. :)
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