Here's a little re-cap of the Instagram post: 

* Elbows are the most under-diagnosed joints with arthritis (in pets, not people)
* Pets are living longer!
* Their aging process is accelerated (i.e., 1 human year = 7 dog years)
* They WILL experience arthritis (degenerative joint disease) as a process of...LIVING
* Most pets (dogs AND cats) are overweight
* They put most of their bodyweight unto their front limbs (i.e., they are front wheel drive, or front loaded)

Therefore if you go back and look at this picture above, it makes sense! 

We "animals" have VERY similar MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEMS. 
These are TWO areas in which we differ: 1) Rate of aging and 2) They walk on their "Hands", hence all the elbow issues. 

The elbow is a hinge joint and made to bend and flex with a little bit of rotating happening at the forearm bones below. Think of your door hinge. Or your knee. 
So, like that!

​

Knowing these #facts posted above, you may find it interesting to know that in a recent study (Dempsey et al, 2019) there was no long-term difference in success between arthroscopic surgery and conservative management. 

Here's the key: MANAGEMENT

Lifelong management. 

Your pet will have degenerative wear and tear of their joints if they're lucky to live a nice long life. 
But WE can make the difference in their health and quality of life by doing a few simple things to "manage" them. 

It's entirely up to us- not them. 

What are YOU doing to help your pet's health?
I would love to hear what you have found to be helpful or even not helpful. 

And of course, you know where to find me if you're not sure and maybe want to learn a few things to incorporate in their program. 

Since I recently shared on social media that I was aware of a new meta-analysis on pulsed electromagnetic therapy, I thought I'd provide the link to last year's (brief, easy read) post for quick access. 

READ about PEMF here!

Actually, it's not really controversial because it's not my opinion; it's sharing science and facts.  
But just in case... HERE'S A PICTURE OF A CUTE PUPPY! 

Recently I came across a case study in a veterinary publication that described a treatment plan for an older, obese pet.

The main issues were the overweight status (Duh! & if you're not sure on the impact of this "disability", take a look around my Instagram account as well as this website), decreased muscle and decreased endurance - my summation from what I read. 

Basically, he was fat and out of shape. This caused him to fatigue on his walks, which were only tolerated for less than 5 minutes. 

The author went on to describe the recommended food intake, body conditioning scoring and several GREAT things. 

Here's where it fell short and why I though it IMPORTANT to write a blog post:

In regards to the mentioned "limited mobility", in rehabilitation-speak this means a limitation in movement. And limitations in movements are addressed through PROM (= passive range of motion), which the author recommended be done at the clinic and taught to the owners to do for him at home.

Follow me so far? 

Only...this pet didn't have a significant "limitation in mobility" from the notes that I read.
He had decreased endurance on his walks.
He was fat and hadn't been exercising much so he didn't have much muscle.
There wasn't any pain detected nor was there any abnormalities like lameness.
​
PROM is a passive activity done by a person to another being on an area of the body, usually a joint of an extremity or in some cases, moving the entire extremity (i.e., "bicycle" exercises). It is passive. Therefore, the muscles are not contracting. No work is being done by the client/patient/pet. Therefore, if there is no limitation in available motion/mobility/movement, I would not be doing PROM to a pet (or person) that has a muscle loss and is overweight.

They need to move more. 

People are busy and in general, compliance (the "stick-to-it") for home programs is HARD, y'all!

Your time is valuable!

If someone has extra time and wants to do PROM? GREAT! Do it. You will not create or cause a problem.

But you will not be strengthening or causing weight loss either. 

- Another recommendation was for the pet parents to walk the dog 5x a day for 2 minutes. But t doesn't say how often they were walking their pet before (when he was tiring for less than 5 minutes). Chances are it wasn't 5x a day. Maybe twice - a.m. and p.m.
Sometimes, shocking I know, pet parents don't have a chance to take their dogs on a walk every day. 

You need to find out what the baseline is and adapt to that with realistic benchmarks. 

The recommendation was to increase it by a minute the next week. That's a 50% increase in work from one week to the next. And that now makes the total time 15 minutes up from 10mins the week before. (Are you still with me?)

That's a lot. 

- In addition to PROM, it was recommended that "balance exercises" be done the clinic. I love me some balance exercises! They're great because they engage the whole body (pets' and humans') but it didn't describe him having a balance problem. So let's just call it good ol' therapeutic exercise instead. (Balance exercises ARE therapeutic exercise but not all therapeutic exercises are balance exercises.)

BOTTOM LINE: 
PROM is a great activity but I see it recommended all the time for diagnoses and issues in which OTHER activities would be far more appropriate, efficient and effective.

Diet is key and the recommendations for food intake that the author described in detail are spot-on because you MUST address this.

If obesity and muscle atrophy/weakness/loss is an issue, the best activity at the clinic to do would be the underwater treadmill. Two sessions a week for a month (even ONE session) has been proved in the research to result in a significant weight loss with a combined nutritional plan and supplemental walks at home. The underwater treadmill is a serious physical activity (swimming is NOT the same---I'll save that for another post). In the absence of an underwater treadmill, easy therapeutic exercises and a controlled, progressive walking program are best. 

Your time is valuable! And I appreciate you reading this post and would appreciate your thoughts as well.

​Now, I think you know the answer!

Hydrotherapy, "hydro", swimming, underwater treadmill, UWTM, water walking...

By any other name it is NOT the same. 

Several years ago when clinics started getting into (buying) underwater treadmills, there was a lot of internet marketing going on, which was understandable because not only would one want to promote the fact that they have the machine but these devices are HELLA expensive (more than a lot of cars). 

So I was contacted by prospective clients on the daily, inquiring if I had an underwater treadmill for their pet's condition or illness. They'd read about *it* online and wanted it for their pet. 

In general, aquatic therapy is great for the same principles (once again, as you'll read throughout my blog) as it is for humans; the principles of water therapy don't change with the species or being. 
Water provides buoyancy which can be great to decrease weight in some needed circumstances - PLUS you have hydrostatic pressure, viscosity, warmth, resistance...all good things! 

In a very tiny "nutshell", because I could write a report or guidebook alone on hydrotherapy, (traditional) swimming and the underwater treadmill are NOT the same; each have benefits for certain conditions. 

I tend to choose "swimming" activities during the rehabilitative process for pets that have little to no active motion. They are, for all intents and purposes, paraplegic or paralyzed. (Think neurologic)

I will choose treadmill activities for weakness and for pets that need help with walking post-operatively or with arthritis...or even with athletic conditioning and obesity! (Think orthopedic)

That is NOT to say that I won't switch the modalities or activities depending on the client. 

There really is no "cookbook". 

With pets that need help walking or strengthening, the underwater treadmill is great because you get more "bang for your buck"; several minutes in the treadmill equal 1 minute on land. You can assist the pet with better walking habits in the treadmill and those habits tend to eventually carry over onto land treadmill or over ground walking. But...it has to be something, if you're using it for weight loss or conditioning, that you're going to continue with. You don't join a gym to use the treadmill for 2 months to learn to walk better and then just simply stop, do you?

But for this reason, plus whether or not it's appropriate for your pet's condition, and several other reasons it does NOT make the "UWTM" something that is the gold standard or necessary in all conditions. 

Swimming tends to elicit a primitive behavior of moving the legs. It may not happen instantaneously and care needs to be taken to make sure that the cardiovascular system isn't overly taxed; it's a VERY fatiguing activity. 

Benefits:

• Warmth, in general, is beneficial to arthritic conditions
• Altering the level of water can facilitate (or hinder) motion at a particular joint(s)
• Some animals really like water
• The intervention is efficient
• Some dogs can mobilize themselves, either by water walking or swimming, that cannot do so on land
• If you have access to water (i.e., your own pool or a lake), long-term management or treatment can be cost-effective

 
Here are some con’s:

• The warmth may NOT be beneficial to some conditions. Furthermore, some skin diseases and immediate post-surgical conditions cannot be in the water
• Some dogs (& YES, even some labs) really do not like water and will “stress out”, which will negatively impact their healing and rehab
• The treatment itself is not time intensive, per above but  the treatment isn’t (or shouldn’t be) “time” intensive; the activity is intensive because the environment (water) is very taxing to a dog’s cardiovascular system, which is something to keep in mind if your dog has any chronic or systemic issues or has been under anesthesia
• Some dogs that are mobile in the water are never able to translate those gains to land (or your home).
• If you are enduring clinic-based treatments, this can turn out to be quite costly
• It’s not exactly practical or functional

All this to say...

Water therapy has its place but NOT to the exclusion of other types of activities and techniques. 
MOST PETS (dogs, cats, bunnies, horses, goats...) can be rehabbed and improve their condition and function WITHOUT the use of any hydrotherapy! 
And again, it may not be indicated for your particular pet. 

Doing, say, 3 months solid of any physical activity, and then stopping, will most likely result in a loss of those small percentage gains that you, or your animal, may have achieved.

So be realistic. Pick something, after a thorough evaluation, that you can continue with longterm ...and makes sense.

Remember: Animal rehab & health means LIFE-long management.

There is a lot more I am happy to discuss about hydrotherapy. 
LET'S DISCUSS!
What are YOUR questions? 

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This post is in tribute to m client, the beautiful "Blossy" (pictured) who recently passed over the rainbow bridge. 
She is beautiful, isn't she?!
And very loved. And missed.