Our dog of the month for July is Aeryn.

Aeryn is a 9-year-old German Shephard who has been coming to us since April this year.

After her owners noticed that she was beginning to scuff her hind legs when she was walking, Aeryn was diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy. This condition is a progressive neurological disorder affecting the spinal cord in older dogs, typically over 8 years old. It presents by a loss of coordination of the hind limbs, as Aeryn did. The condition sadly worsens as the disease progresses resulting in the dog eventually becoming paraplegic – the course of this can range between 6 months to a year typically. This horrible disease is really hard for the owners to witness and can be upsetting to see but it is important to know that is not a painful disease. Sadly, there is no treatment to cure or to stop the progression of this disease. However, there are ways to help slow the progression and keep dogs comfortable and mobile for as long as we can.

Aeryn first saw our ACPAT physiotherapist, Anna for her initial assessment. She has been responding really well to weekly physiotherapy sessions including laser; a deep tissue light energy treatment for pain relief. She had underwater treadmill sessions for a few weeks before deciding that the pool would be a better form of hydrotherapy for her. We wanted to try the treadmill to give her a controlled and supported environment to walk in to maintain her muscle mass but found that the standing in the tank for the duration of the session, even with the full support of the water was a little too much for her so we moved her into the pool! The pool provides a completely non-weight bearing environment where she could relax and not have weight going through her joints allowing her to get a better range of movement when swimming. She really enjoys her swimming and is doing so well. We enjoy keeping her comfortable and thinks she loves all the attention! She swims twice a week with us and this has helped to slow down the development of the disease by keeping her as strong as we can for as long as we can. Keep going Aeryn – you’re doing great!

Milo is a 4 year old retriever who has been attending the crèche since May last year and is now a regular face each week. Milo has a lovely, sweet nature making him a popular boy with all the other dogs. His best friend however is staff member Eli, who Milo goes mad for every time he sees him. As you can see from the photo Milo is no stranger to getting filthy and often ends up having a shower at the end of the day before his owners come to collect him! We really enjoy seeing this handsome chap each week and watching him play with all his friends.

Jimmy otherwise known as Jim has been attending Chapel Farm since the early days back. Around 6 years ago we first met him and he has become a firm favourite of both staff and clients (he is pretty much part of the furniture here). Jimmy is a 7 year old male Rottweiler that unfortunately has multiple joint problems, but do not worry - this does not stop him having fun in any way!

At 6 months old Jimmy had his first surgical intervention on his elbow to remove a small piece of bone that was aggravating his joint. 6 months later he ruptured both of his cruciate ligaments in his stifles (knees) that resulted in them both needing surgical repair at separate intervals. Unfortunately for Jimmy complications arose and a nasty infection occurred and resulted in him having to have the metal plates removed from his left stifle joint. As if this wasn't enough 4 years ago he had a total hip replacement. Initially Jimmy’s recovery was great but sadly for him it was short lived and more complications arose again resulting in him needing more surgery; this time to remove the implant in his hips and to have further surgery called a femoral head and neck excision.

Multiple joint problems in dogs can cause a multitude of problems so its important that the range of movement within the joints is maintained, muscle mass is kept nice and strong to help support affected joints, pain levels are kept minimal and the dogs have a great quality of life. Jimmy comes for hydro every week twice a week and absolutely loves it. He also has regular physiotherapy evaluations with out ACPAT physiotherapist! He swims mainly chasing his toys but also has sessions in the underwater treadmill to help with his gait retraining. This little superstar may not be able to go on long walks but he loves life, loves spending time in the water and is always smiling! We love you Jimmy!

Our dog of the month for May is Tom & Jerry!

We are pleased to announce our dog of the month this time are duo Tom and Jerry. Tom and Jerry and two very active and lively 4 year old springer spaniels that are litter brothers.
Initially Tom was first referred to us in September 2015 and then Jerry soon joined us in January 2016. Both boys had instability in their knee joints that needed surgical repair. We have helped them both post operative for rehabilitation reasons.
Patella luxuation is a common condition that manly affects smaller breed dogs. The Patella (knee cap) is a small bone that is positioned above the tibia (shin) that forms the front of the knee joint. In some dogs, the patella luxates (dislocates) out of its normal groove. The outcome of this is inability to properly extend the knee joint. As well as pain and lameness to the affected knee there are also varying degrees of osteoarthritis.
There are different surgical repair techniques used in dogs and dependant on the method used would depend on when the rehab process can begin.
We started both boys on a similar rehabilitation programme that included an initial assessment with our rehab vet Veerle. The programme began with a controlled activity plan with limited and short lead walks along with some home physiotherapy exercises and a hydrotherapy plan. Its important after surgery that we gain a good range of movement within the affected knee joint as well as helping to improve muscle mass to support the joints. A good gait retaining programme is normally needed as well. We started both Tom and Jerry in our underwater treadmill initially at two sessions per week. Hydrotherapy is a great way to help during the rehab process and it has also been proven to help speed up the recovery process. The boys have both progressed well with there programmes and we have even seen Jerry move on to the pool for his seasons! The boys have great characters and always put a smile on our faces when they are in the building!

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Our dog of the month for January is Bailey!

Bailey is a 7 year old chocolate Labrador who has having treatment at Chapel Farm since September 2015.
Bailey is one of our more serious, intense cases he had major spinal surgery in March 2015. Surgery was a multi site laminectomy because of a disc protrusion. A lamintectomy is a surgical procedure where a piece of vertebrae (bone) is removed to allow access to the spinal canal which allows decompression of the spinal cord. Alt

Our dog of the month for July is Aeryn.

Aeryn is a 9-year-old German Shephard who has been coming to us since April this year.

After her owners noticed that she was beginning to scuff her hind legs when she was walking, Aeryn was diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy. This condition is a progressive neurological disorder affecting the spinal cord in older dogs, typically over 8 years old. It presents by a loss of coordination of the hind limbs, as Aeryn did. The condition sadly worsens as the disease progresses resulting in the dog eventually becoming paraplegic – the course of this can range between 6 months to a year typically. This horrible disease is really hard for the owners to witness and can be upsetting to see but it is important to know that is not a painful disease. Sadly, there is no treatment to cure or to stop the progression of this disease. However, there are ways to help slow the progression and keep dogs comfortable and mobile for as long as we can.

Aeryn first saw our ACPAT physiotherapist, Anna for her initial assessment. She has been responding really well to weekly physiotherapy sessions including laser; a deep tissue light energy treatment for pain relief. She had underwater treadmill sessions for a few weeks before deciding that the pool would be a better form of hydrotherapy for her. We wanted to try the treadmill to give her a controlled and supported environment to walk in to maintain her muscle mass but found that the standing in the tank for the duration of the session, even with the full support of the water was a little too much for her so we moved her into the pool! The pool provides a completely non-weight bearing environment where she could relax and not have weight going through her joints allowing her to get a better range of movement when swimming. She really enjoys her swimming and is doing so well. We enjoy keeping her comfortable and thinks she loves all the attention! She swims twice a week with us and this has helped to slow down the development of the disease by keeping her as strong as we can for as long as we can. Keep going Aeryn – you’re doing great!