fbpx

Tosca was referred to us following an operation on her right hind to repair the ruptured cranial cruciate ligament. Tosca had a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) performed which is where the angle of the knee joint is reconstructed and held in place with a titanium plate and screws.

4 weeks after the surgery on her right knee, Tosca came to us for treatment on the underwater treadmill.

The treadmill was the equipment to choice to ensure that Tosca’s legs were kept straight to build muscle to help support her knee and to help re-educate her to walk correctly again. Hydrotherapy in the pool could have been a detriment to Tosca if she had twisted or turned the knee suddenly. Treatment on the treadmill allows us to target the joint of interest with the adjustable water level.

 

Tosca was also due to have the same surgery on the left hind in a few months time so treatment on the treadmill would also help build muscle pre-surgery to help with the success of the second operation.

On her initial assessment we measured Tosca’s muscle mass around her front and hind legs.
Her initial measurements were –

  • Left fore – 24 cm
  • Right fore – 24 cm
  • Left hind – 40 cm
  • Right hind – 38 cm

Tosca’s first session went brilliantly but on her second session, Abbie noticed an issue with her left hind leg, she was twisting at the hock joint when placing the left foot down so Tosca was referred back to her referring vets. Sadly, Tosca had to have her left hind leg operated on sooner than was expected but was back in the treadmill only a few weeks after the second surgery.

After 10 sessions of twice weekly treatment on the treadmill we repeated the initial measurements –

  • Left fore – 32cm
  • Right fore – 31cm
  • Left hind – 44.5cm
  • Right hind – 45.5cm

Tosca had gained 8cm of muscle mass on her left fore, 7cm on her right fore, 4.5cm on her left hind and 7.5cm on her right hind! That’s a total of 27cm muscle mass gain!

Tosca is now nearly even in muscle, walking well on her long walks and on no medication after only 6 weeks of treatment on the treadmill!

Tosca throughly enjoyed her sessions on the treadmill and got a squeeky ball to play with once the session had finished and the water was emptying – things became a little frenzied if she got the ball during her session and we even had to remove any other balls from the session room to keep her focus! Tosca was a dream to work with and we’re so pleased she’s all fixed and walking well on some seriously muscled legs!

As part of the programmes we offer we hope to see Tosca again for maintenance or in one of our half price cancellation sessions!

 

Previous article

Waun Y Llyn