My First Big Case: From Being Paralyzed To Cantering!

At the start of November 2023, I had a call from Toffees owner about some rehab and canine massage therapy

After trying conservatively for a week and no improvement. Toffee underwent decompressive ventral slot surgery on her C6/7 (in her neck) due to a disk protrusion, compressing her spinal cord, leading to Toffee being paralyzed and unable to move her limbs (only head and tail movement).

This is after jumping out of the car.

In three weeks of working with Toffee and her owners, she had remarkable progress through 4 physio sessions! Despite initially limited limb movement, 5 weeks later Toffee was regaining strength. Due to owner dedication, dog massage and canine physio and rehab!

The first week was working on recovering the sensation in her legs, as she lost all acknowledgment of them. We done this by placing different sensation on Toffees paw pads and up her legs, such as: electric toothbrush, hot and cold stimulus, ticking and rubbing her legs. We also had her owners at home doing passive range of motion exercise, due to Toffee unable to move it just help reduced stiffness of her joint.

We had two session in the first week then weekly after these were focused on dog massage therapy and canine physio

Due to Toffees size we started her canine rehab exercises for the first week on a peanut ball, so we could implement static exercises, focusing on balance and stability. These were done 3 times a day.

A few weeks in Toffee also started hydrotherapy to compliment her dog massage and dog rehab. She completed her hydrotherapy in the south west with Kernow Paws Rehabilitation. You can view there site here at the bottom of this page. Hydrotherapy coupled with her canine massage therapy and rehab played a vital role and also helped Toffee with mental stimulation. Its also great to know how she was at hydrotherapy as this also aided me with my sessions.

Over the weeks Toffee had amazing recovery! gaining strength week by week. We really challenged her early on in her rehab, we introduced walking poles. At first she did hit them all, but each day she got a little better each time. These were done 3 times a day for a couple of reps along with some other rehab exercises

Come January she was walking all the time with no harness! and proudly walked into my clinic! Toffee had a super quick turn around, considering her size the vets weren't sure on how she was going to recover.

I am now seeing Toffee for dog massage therapy and to continue her canine physio every 4-6 weeks

The videos shows snippets of Toffee's journey, showcasing her transformation over three weeks!