Testimonials

By: Sydney Animal Physiotherapy

"Our 11 and a half year old German Shepherd Dog, Rahman, had to undergo a Tibial Tuberosity Advancement procedure on his left knee. Prior to us discovering, through x-rays, that Rahman was suffering, he was lethargic and was not remotely interested in going for his daily walks and runs.

 

The prospect of our old dog undergoing a major surgery was daunting as Rahman & his half-sister a year junior are as "substitute children" to us. The procedure was a complete success, however that was only half of what we had to do to ensure a complete success and a full recovery for our member of the pack.

 

Being aware (from personal experience) that physiotherapy is a crucial part of recovery and rehabilitation after surgery, we enlisted the help of Kristine Edwards, who was referred to us by our regular veterinarian, Dr Hendrika Tegelaar. Kristine was wonderful, her understanding of animal behaviour and the specific needs of our precious pup. It's not only the treatment, (physiotherapy & acupuncture), which Kristine performed on our dog that impressed us, but it was her demeanour and her willingness to share her knowledge and experience with us. She showed us how to do "teams" massage on Rahman, how to use and where to place magnets (as a part of his therapy), how to stimulate and exercise his muscles and how to develop his ability to put pressure and body weight on his operated knee.

 

For the first month or so we supplemented Rahman's treatment with massage and other therapies on a daily basis. As Rahman gained strength and confidence in his left leg, the need for weekly physiotherapy and acupuncture treatments subsided. Now, 6 months after the operation Rahman, now 12 years young German Shepherd Dog, is like a brand new "adolescent" pup! He's able to put his full bodyweight on his left leg whilst "cocking" his other leg to urinate. He loves going for his walks and runs happily around Seaforth Oval with my partner and his canine half-sister.

 

He's completely rejuvenated! As a part of on-going exercise and as a preventative measure to negate the effects of arthritis in both dogs, we make sure that both get plenty of daily exercise by taking them on two half-hour walks, including walking up a steep hill to strengthen and exercise the dogs' hind quarters. We also supplement their diet with fish oil (Salmon Omega3) and glucosamine with boswellia at every meal.

 

It is thanks to Kristine, the rest of the team (our Vet, Hendrika and the Specialist Surgeon, Dr Stephen Fernside) combined with "in-between-visits" care and ongoing exercise that we have been able to achieve such a remarkable recovery. Thank you very much, Kristine!"

 

Rahman

 

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"Seventeen year old male cat, walking with a limp and a wide legged gait, presumably due to arthritis and back pain. Devil's vet suggested we try acupuncture for pain control (also warned me about the cat "devil by name, Devil by nature). Devil was not a ferocious as I was expecting, with the owners help I managed to assess his back and felt traction might be a useful technique.

 

While I was applying traction Devil started to purr, presumably because the traction was releasing the pressure from his nerves in his spine: he was walking without a limp at the end of the session. I showed Devil's owner how to do this for him at home.

 

I did one more treatment and the owner reported that afterwards Devil had lost his bandy walk and was moving more like a normal cat".

 

Devil

 

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Fit female 10year old X-chow.

 

"In February she had surgery to repair her right cruciate ligament (knee ligament). She initially had treatment and was progressing well.

 

In May she started limping and was reluctant to walk more than 20 mins (had previously been walking almost an hour).Cushla was also not weight bearing on her right hind. We massaged her back and hip, mobilized her spine, worked on strengthening the muscles in her leg, gave acupuncture for pain control and circulation, shortened her walks, all this with very little change in her condition.

 

The vet confirmed that Cushla’s knee had healed well, so knee pain was unlikely to be the problem. I found painful areas in her lower back, groin and right thigh (trigger spots). Treatment then was aimed at getting rid of these trigger spots by sustained pressure and stretching.

 

This technique did the trick: Cushla was less stiff, taking weight fully on her right hind, could walk more than 30 mins without becoming lame; also, her owners said that she was jumping up on the bed, something she had not done in a long time!"

 

Cushla