My
name is Danielle. In January 2006 my 18 month old Shih Tzu Tia slipped
and damaged her cruciate ligament. She was referred for 6 weeks
of canine hydrotherapy. Here is our personal account of Tia's hydrotherapy
sessions.
Session 6
On Tuesday night Tia got off her bed from a sleep and started limping
again as she had done after first doing her injury. We wondered
whether she may have got cramp whilst sleeping. Today when I got
up for work Tia seemed fine. However, it did not take long for her
to limp a little although it was a very minor limp and hardly noticeable.
I didn't worry too much and kept the hydrotherapy appointment.
When
we got to the hydrotherapy suite at 6pm I explained to Tania about
the limping and after a discussion we agreed to go through with
the day's session but to dramatically decrease it back down to 2
minutes each swim.
Tia
was very laid back in the pool today and didn’t seem to be
working as hard either. I wondered maybe if she just felt under
the weather? Anyway we got out and there was still no limping which
Tania said she expected her to have done. She also didn’t
feel any clicking in Tia's right back leg which is a good sign.
Usually when a dog’s cruciate ligament has completely gone
it will click constantly according to Tania.
We
got Tia out, showered her down and dried her and had strict instructions
of 4 days rest. We were starting to think an operation was in sight,
until we got home.......
When
we got home Tia went loopy, jumping all over the chairs and sofa,
doing high speed laps of the garden and fetching toys with a retrieve
worthy of a Crufts rosette. I don't what the water does to her but
so much for 4 days rest!
So
providing Tia seems alright through out the week, by next week’s
hydrotherapy session we should be back up to our normal times -
fingers crossed.
Danielle and Tia
Session 7 |
