Ruby came to us as a referral client after seeing a member of our extended family – Dugie Gemmill who is our expert Orthopaedic and Laparoscopic Surgeon who regularly refers cases to us for rehabilitation. Ruby has luxating patellas which means her knee caps move out of place and Dugie recommended for her to try treatment on the underwater treadmill to build muscle to support her knees in the aim to avoid surgery.
On Ruby’s initial consultation we took some measurements of her muscles. We found she was over- muscled in her front legs due to her weightbearing more through them. This was a clever way her body had adjusted to avoid putting extra weight through her knees. Ruby was quite lame on her back right leg and had a significant difference in the muscles of her back legs. There was a 7cm difference!!! Ruby was also on pain relief at the time of starting her treatment.
After a treatment programme of 10 sessions, coming twice a week, we repeated the measurements and found that Ruby had lost a small amount of muscle from her front legs, confirming the treatment was helping her to balance better and that she had gained 2cm of muscle on her left hind and 7cms on her right hind!
With now only 1cm difference between her back legs, no longer on any pain medication, moving better and much happier in herself, what a difference a few treadmills made! Ruby continues to be treated by our rehabiliation team at Mochdre Vets – what a success story!!