bladder update

Jersey is fiiiiiinally almost done his month-long round of antibiotics for his bladder infection. His re-check a couple weeks ago went well. He goes back in this Thursday, after his antibiotics have been completed for another urinalysis to make sure the infection is gone.

At this point, his Doctor thinks that the spot that looked like they may be stones may actually be a bacterial cyst or abscess in his bladder wall. We are going to X-ray him again in a month or to see if it has shrunk. It’s possible that he will need another (stronger) round of antibiotics to penetrate & fully eradicate it. What joy. Thank God for Pet Insurance!

Other than that, with Jersey being 5 years old now, and Oslo coming up on his 8th (!!!) birthday, I sure have been spending lots of time remembering the days when they were small. I miss those puppy bodies terribly! It’s hard to believe Jersey (who is now a 32lb giant of a frenchie) ever fit so comfortably in a carry-bag, and came to work with me this way.

 

figure 8

Oslo had his 4th rehab appointment today. They were VERY happy to see that he was walking on his own and sent us home with a couple new exercises to work on with him.

As always, we are aiming to improve his strength & coorodination, but we are also going to start working on his turning radius. He is great walking straight, but needs some help with his turning. So, to accomplish this we’ll be having him walk in ‘figure 8’s’… starting with large ‘8’s’ and slowly decreasing the size so his turns are increasingly narrow.

It was another good appointment & he is now totally exhausted and snoring very loudly in his pen!

 

 

Oslo at Rehab

We were able to attend Oslo’s rehab appointment with him today. It was very cool to see what they do with him, and especially cool to see him in the tank, on the underwater treadmill.

They started with some work on the exercise ball and doing ‘sit to stands’ where we encourage Oslo to go from a proper sitting position to a stand & back again. Then it was onto the  ‘Cavalli’ Course, which is basically just low-bars set up on the ground. The point is to get him to coordinate his legs enough to step over each one as he approaches.

Then it was onto the Tank/Underwater treadmill! Oslo goes into the tank while it’s empty (with a therapist in there with him) and then they are able to fill the tank to a pre-set level. The water is quite warm and comfortable. Once the water is where it should be, they start the treadmill.

After about 10 tiring minutes in the tank, Oslo had enough and it was time to dry him off and move onto the next part of his appointment.

To wrap up his appointment, they did his ElectroMuscular & Laser therapies. It sounds scary, but it’s really not. The ‘Laser’ is simply a wand, passed over his spine that emits light & heat. There is no ‘zapping’ and it doesn’t hurt him. The light & heat simply reduces any inflammation. Oslo was very relaxed during this process and mostly seemed happy to just have so many hands touching & massaging him.

While he was having his Laser Therapy, he was also doing his Electro Muscular therapy. 4 pads were stuck to his left leg (the leg he has most trouble with) and they off & on sent gently electrical currents into his muscles. Again, it SOUNDS painful, but it’s really not. It’s no different than those silly ‘ab working’ electric pads that were all the range in 2001.

And then our hour was up and it was time to go home! Oslo has 3 more appointments left over the next 3 weeks. We will evaluate at that point how many more (if any) we want to do. It’ll come down to how much progress he makes and how much further he has to go. It was great to attend this appointment! We’re super proud of Oslo!

Exercises

I have had a few people ask me what sort of exercises we are doing at home with Oslo, so I thought I might share the worksheets. We don’t generally do ALL of these exercises in each round… We find that Oslo gets a bit tired.. So we usually pick 3-4 and do just those, then switch it up the next time. It’s hard work to make time to do these 2-3x a day, but we do our best!

 

I wanted add– if your dog has a spinal issue, PLEASE consult a professional before attempting any of these exercises at home. Every injury is different.. and you could seriously harm you dog by having them do an exercise that is not appropriate to their specific needs & restrictions.

zonked!

As soon as Oslo got home from rehab, he immediately nestled down into his blankets and passed OUT. He is zonked!

another day at rehab

Oslo spent the afternoon with the folks at Rehab again!

They said that he did wonderful (of course!) and has made big strides since his last appointment just a week ago. He came home with another list of at-home exercises to do. We now have about 6 at-home exercises to do on a daily basis. Each one is different and works on different muscles & skills.  We have another 4 sessions already booked and are looking very forward to how much more he’ll progress from now until then.

Here is our Pig after a long, tiring afternoon at Rehab.

Sling walking

Sling walking a video by TamaraL on Flickr.

Here is Oslo walking in his sling this morning. We are 1 month post surgery today! As you can see he lacks any real coordination or strength in his rear, but he does attempt to lift & move his legs as he goes. This is something that we plan on building upon slowly. We are to do these ‘sling walks’ 2-3 times a day, for 5-10 minutes at a time. It’s just one of the exercises on our list!

Oslo’s Rehabilitation Appointments with the specialists cost $85 per appointment. He needs as many as we can afford. If you would like to help Oslo, please DONATE.

XOXOXOX

First day of Rehab

Oslo had his first day at rehab!

They had him in the tub, on the ‘under water treadmill’. Unfortunately I wasn’t there to get any photos, but it was reported that he did very well. His therapist said that they just gave him a tennis ball to hold in his mouth and did whatever they wanted him to do.

He was sent him with a sheets of exercises that we’re supposed to do with him– most are 2-3 times a day for a few minutes at a time. Our biggest focus right now will be to build his core strength. A strong core will help to support his spine, and a well supported spine is a strong spine!

His next appointment is next Monday. Until then, we have one very tired little pig on our hands!

rehab commences

I am excited to announce that we have made Oslo’s first 3 rehabilitation appointments. He starts next tuesday. We will be going 1-2x per week for the first couple weeks, and then we’ll reassess his needs. We’re VERY excited to start this new leg of his journey though. He’s so ready.

To celebrate us/him taking this next step, here is a crazy-cute photo of him as a Puppy. I think that he was probably only about 5 or 6 weeks old here? His breeder was so sweet and would send us the best weekly photos of him.

I mean, really. Who wouldn’t want to squeeze and love that little piggy face for ever & ever??