Case Studies

Ellie has intervertebral disc extrusion, the onset of is generally sudden. Poor Ellie was running on the beach when she collapsed with hind limb paralysis. The degree of clinical signs is variable. Ellies disease is best described as an ‘extrusion’ or ‘herniation’ of the inner contents of the intervertebral disc. The intervertebral disc structure can be compared to a jam donut. The normal disc is compressible and squidgy – they allow the vertebral column to flex, extend and twist. In the diseased disc the jam (nucleus pulposus) becomes hard and is no longer compressible. Consequently, normal movements (especially twisting) put strain on the disc and eventually the “donut” tears and the “jam” explodes or oozes out. Unfortunately, this is usually in an upwards direction and impacts and compresses the spinal cord above. Clinical signs range from pain to paralysis.

Hydro Progress: Ellie started swimming back in March. She is a hydrotherapy super star, as she came walking in on her hind legs after ONE session. Ellie swims twice a week now! Ellie has progressed quickly and really responding well to her therapy. She seems to enjoy her sessions and tries her hardest every week.

Success: Ellie has now completed 7 sessions with us and has progressed brilliantly. She started swimming with 3 x 30 second sessions in a life jacket for buoyancy and support. Now Ellie has advanced to doing 3 x 2 minutes’ sets in the pool…which is hard work, right Ellie? This improvement means that not only can Ellie have the use of her hind limbs again, she has built up muscles mass.

Session 1- RH 42/ LH 39/ RF 32/ LF 32/ AB 48 / CH 71
Session 5- RH 44/ LH 43/ RF 38/ LF 38 AB 46 CH 70

What a fantastic result, we are so pleased and proud of this gorgeous girl. Well done and keep it up.

Dexter has been referred to us for Hydrotherapy following a cruciate repair operation to both his hind limbs after the cranial cruciate ligament failed. He had hydrotherapy after each operation, however, the owner reports a faster recovery post operatively after his second as he had hydrotherapy before the operation. Following his operation Dexter was lame and uncomfortable, so Hydrotherapy was advised to help him build muscle in the hind limbs to stabilise him back onto four limbs and to provide an outlet for his energy.

Hydro Progress: Dexter started swimming for his second cruciate repair back in September 2016. Dexter is our biggest fan, and absolutely can’t wait for his Saturday sessions at Hydrotherapy. Dexter has progressed quickly and really responding well to his therapy. He began swimming in a buoyancy jacket and quickly progressed to a harness with his natural ability in the water, and the strengthening of his leg. Now he swims against the pools Jet system too, he’s a little trooper. Dexter is currently up to his 24th swim with us and has progressed brilliantly. He started swimming with a swim time of 30 seconds, rest, 1 minute, rest, 1.10 minutes (in a buoyancy aid for support). Now Dexter has advanced to his harness and is doing 3 x 3 minute sets with jets…which is hard work, right Dexter?

Success: Dexter has hydrotherapy for more than just his physical health. Once his muscles had built up, Dexter starting using hydro for stress therapy. He is a very sensitive boy and picks up on his family’s feelings. So, to help kick the blues he comes to hydro which turns him into a happy, waggy, puppy once again, especially when swimming with his little pig toy.

His improvement is shown in his measurements too. He gained 4cm on his hind limbs and 2cm on his fore limbs in just 10 sessions.

What a fantastic result, we are so pleased and proud of this handsome boy. Keep it up Dexter.

Simba has been referred to us for Hydrotherapy following a TPLO operation to his left hind after the cranial cruciate ligament failed. TPLO means Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy which involves creation of an arcuate cut in the top of the tibia and rotation of the plateau segment until the previous slope in the bone is no longer present. The bone is subsequently fixed in this new position using a bone plate and screws. Following his operation Simba was lame and uncomfortable, so Hydrotherapy was advised to help him build muscle in the left leg to stabilize him back onto four limbs and to provide an outlet for his energy.

Hydro Progress: Simba started swimming back in November 2016. He is a hydrotherapy regular, and swims three times a week now! Simba has progressed quickly and really responding well to his therapy. He loves his sessions and tries his hardest every week.

Success: Simba has now completed15 sessions with us and has progressed brilliantly. He started swimming with 3 x 1-minute sessions in a life jacket for buoyancy and support. Now Simba has advanced to having a harness and is nearing doing 3 x 3-minute sets in the pool…which is hard work, right Simba? This improvement means that we have built up all his muscles and even equaled out his hind limb muscle mass. (Session 1-LH= 37cm/ RH=45 cm Session 15-LH 47 cm / RH 47cm)

What a fantastic result, we are so pleased and proud of this curly monster. Simba loved swimming from session 1 and he has quickly become a firm favorite here. Well done Simba.

Murphy is a 13-year-old Labrador Retriever, referred to us for Osteoarthritis (arthritis of the bone) & Elbow Dysplasia. Murphy’s arthritis was becoming increasingly worse, especially in his hind legs and he was often badly lame after exercise.

Hydro Progress: Murphy is definitely a puppy in an old man’s body and would swim all day if he could. Murphy loves playing with piggy in the pool and swims 3 x 1 minute at a time, swimming in circles and even playing piggy in the middle! Murphy loves swimming so much, he has got himself stuck in a few ponds from time to time and needed rescuing.

Success: Sadly, elbow dysplasia often leads to other issues along the line such as severe osteoarthritis. Using hydro alongside regular laser sessions, Murphy has really slowed down his process in arthritis, and is loving his walks again! And it’s even helped him to keep off them extra pounds.

Murphy is a firm favorite paddler to our hydrotherapisit and we love seeing this gorgeous boy every week.

Referred to laser 12th Sept for a non healing open wound with bone exposed, to right forelimb, surgery had been carried out on Tommy on 20th August to remove a large lump, but with no skin margins to suture after. The wound broke down and became infected. It was thought that Tommy may lose his leg if no improvement made.

Tommy received K-Laser therapy 14 times in total to fully heal the wound and clear up the infection.

Bolt was adopted by his current owners from a rescue centre. Prior to him being adopted he had suffered a fracture to his radius that unfortunately had healed in an abnormal position. This subsequently put excessive pressure on Bolt’s carpus (wrist) which eventually caused the ligaments to tear and his carpus to collapse. This was very painful and he was unable to walk on the leg without discomfort.

Bolt underwent a huge operation called a pancarpal arthrodesis. This involves opening the carpal joint and burring off all the cartilage from the tiny bones that make up the carpal joint. After this a bone graft is placed between the bones and a large plate placed across the carpus to stabilise it. This then allows the radius (forearm) the carpal bones and the toes to heal together and become one long bone. This procedure stabilises the joint taking away the pain.

Radiographs 12 weeks later showed that healing was progressing nicely and Bolt now enjoys family walks along the beach.

As a very young puppy/A few weeks after they had Meril’s owner noticed that she wasn't as playful as they had expected. She was also smaller than their litter mates and occasionally vomited. Following abnormalities on several blood tests, we suspected a condition called a portosystemic shunt. This was confirmed with an ultrasound scan performed by our visiting specialist in diagnostic imaging, and positive contrast radiography.

A portosystemic shunt is a congenital abnormality affecting the blood supply to the liver. Normally blood from the intestines should pass through the liver to have a waste products removed. The presence of a protosystemic shunt means that some blood bypass’s the liver allowing toxins to enter the dogs circulation. These toxins can be very dangerous to the patient’s health and untreated can be fatal.

Meril underwent surgery to locate and occlude the abnormal vessel via placement of an ameroid constrictor. This gradually closes the abnormal vessel redirecting blood to through the liver.

Blood test’s for weeks following after surgery showed that the operation had been successful and Meril soon became the playful, mysterious puppy the owner had envisaged.

Mya was already well known to Tom having undergone two orthopaedic operations within the previous 12 months. She had recovered very well from these operations but late one evening Mya’s owner noticed her acting very strange. It seemed as if she could not get comfortable, pacing around the house and was retching.

Mya was seen promptly and her problem diagnosed, a gastric dilation-volvulus. This is an exceptionally serious and sometimes fatal condition where the stomach rotates causing air to get trapped within the stomach (bloat) having detrimental effect on the blood flow returning to the heart. If the bloat is not addressed quickly it can soon lead to collapse and death.

Tom was called in to examine and treat Mya. She underwent aggressive stabilisation therapy and decompression (deflating the stomach). Once she was stable Mya was taken to theatre where Tom untwisted the stomach and anchored it in its corrected position to prevent this happening again.

Mya’s recovery from the surgery was slow but she has made a full recovery and is now enjoying her walks and meals as she used to do.

Tara was brought in to see Tom by her very concerned owners. Tara had been off colour for a few days and had seen another vet. It was recommended that Tara saw Tom as she had failed to improve after the initial treatment.

The morning Tara was brought in to see Tom, she was very weak and could not manage to walk unaided into the consultation room. It was obvious how poorly Tara was because usually she objects to vets examining her but this morning she lay there silent.

After examination Tara was admitted for further investigation. That morning Tara underwent numerous tests and quickly the problem was evident. Tara had septic peritonitis, a severe infection of the abdominal cavity. This was secondary to an intestinal perforation and so surgery was scheduled immediately following initial stabilisation.

At surgery, three litres of infected abdominal fluid was suctioned out and the perforation to Tara's intestine was isolated. The perforation was debrided and sutured. A serosal patch was performed, this involves suturing an adjacent length of intestine to the affected area to reduce the chance of post operative complications.

Tara's abdomen was lavaged with sterile saline to remove any remaining infected material and fluid. Two abdominal drains were placed and Tara spent a week with us receiving around the clock nursing.

By three weeks post operatively Tara was back to herself and chasing the postman.

Twix was presented to us for a second opinion after her home veterinary practice were not sure why she was so lame. Tom examined Twix and with the help of the radiographs provided by her vet, was able to diagnose cranial cruciate ligament rupture in both of her hind legs. This meant that both Twix’s stifles (knees) were unstable making it very difficult and uncomfortable for her to stand, let alone walk.

There were numerous options for  managing Twix's injury. In this case we performed a tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) on both stifles during one operation. This technique involves making a circular cut in the tibia and rotating the top of the tibia anti-clockwise altering and neutralising the forces acting on the knee that are responsible for the pain and instability. The bone is then held in its new position with a large stainless steel plate and screws placed on the inside of the tibia.

12 weeks after the operations Twix was exercising well and showed no signs of lameness. Radiographs showed that the bone had healed in its new position and so Twix was discharged from our care.