Dog hydrotherapy in Dublin?

Amberjack

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has any experiences of hydrotherapy for dogs. One of my springers has a damage cruciate and metacam and regular injections don't seem to be working for her. I've heard that this sort of therapy can be very beneficial.
I live in Dublin 13 and I've heard of someone in Coolock who does it, does anyone have any information, contact details etc?
Hope you can help.

Cheers
Amberjack

scudzilla

Amberjack wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has any experiences of hydrotherapy for dogs. One of my springers has a damage cruciate and metacam and regular injections don't seem to be working for her. I've heard that this sort of therapy can be very beneficial.
I live in Dublin 13 and I've heard of someone in Coolock who does it, does anyone have any information, contact details etc?
Hope you can help.

Cheers
Amberjack

I also know there's one in Coolock but don't know exactly where, sorry, i THINK they may have one in the vets college at UCD.

I do know about cruciate's on dog's if it's any help, My wife's old lab snapped her cruciate about 3 years ago, she was a heavy dog too.

Dennis, one of the vets at Lissenhall said he'd be willing to try an op to replace it, but as he hadn't done one before was pretty sketchy about the odds of it succeeding.

She had the op, he'd replaced the cruciate with some sort of fish wire, she went on to a full recovery but passed away last Sept due to old age (She was 11)

Just letting you know in case you considered an op for the dog.

Amberjack

Hi Scudzilla

Thanks for your post. I have discussed the operation with my own vet and while he said it may help her, she would probably never be cured completely and could have a limp. She's 8 1/2 and a bit on the heavy side, but I'm in a catch 22 as I can't really walk her as she could damage it further, yet at the same time she needs to loose a small bit of weight. Her cruciate hasn't snapped, its ligament damage, but I am still concerned about it.

Hopefully someone here will have some info on the place in Coolock as I imagine UCD would be rather expensive and also it's a long trek away.

scudzilla

Amberjack wrote: »

Hi Scudzilla

Thanks for your post. I have discussed the operation with my own vet and while he said it may help her, she would probably never be cured completely and could have a limp. She's 8 1/2 and a bit on the heavy side, but I'm in a catch 22 as I can't really walk her as she could damage it further, yet at the same time she needs to loose a small bit of weight. Her cruciate hasn't snapped, its ligament damage, but I am still concerned about it.

Hopefully someone here will have some info on the place in Coolock as I imagine UCD would be rather expensive and also it's a long trek away.

A quick google search threw this place up, in Kildare, 30mins from Dublin

http://www.caninecountryclub.ie/chrc/facilties.php

Looks pretty good.

Wouldn't pet insurance cover this??

tk123

There's on in blanchardstown too thou the website seems to be gone :

Blanchardstown Canine Hydrotherapy Centre
1 The Mews Blanchardstown Village 15 Co. Dublin
Phone number : (01)8219401
http://blanchcanine.goldenpages.ie/

Amberjack

Thanks guys, will check out your suggestions.
Scudzilla, unfortunately I don't have pet insurance, with 3 dogs and 3 cats it is just too much. Luckily my animals have always been relatively healthy and ive always just crossed that bridge when I cam to it.

Ayone with experiences, keep the posts coming.

Thanks

tk123

Just read over your post again there OP - is it TPLO surgery your vet is talking about? My retriever had a similar op done - a wedge of bone cut out and pins and a plate put in to correct an angular limb deformity. He's 18months old (next week lol) so surgery was the best option for him as he's so young and would have damaged his joints/ligaments without it. He's a skinny 27kgs so as not to put too much stress on his joints - I got the weight off him by cutting back on his food and no treats except a handful of dry food taken from his daily allowance. Once the weight came off I cut the food back a little more to allow for his treats.

Amberjack

Hi TK,

Didn't get into the specifics of surgery as she was getting weekly injections and they seemed to be doing ok. However, she has taken a turn for the worst over the last week or so and is due to go back in for another appointment next week, so I'll ask more on the op. As a springer, it's near impossible to keep her still, I may have to get a crate to keep her in. I have 2 other dogs, one of them is her sister, so she is been led astray a bit.
I'm just worried that by not putting pressure on her sore leg, she could be damaging her other one by having all he weight on it.
Anyway, I'll keep you all updated on her progress.

tk123

Crate rest isn't so bad- our guy had 4 weeks then he was out for just over a week and hurt himself and was lame so back in for a week and a half to rest up again. At first he cried to come out every now and again the first week or so chancing that somebody would take pity on him but you have to be tough - it's for their own good. I knew he'd be getting his op so had been feeding him with Kongs in the crate for the weeks leading up to the op to get him used to it. He assoicates his crates with sleeping and treats now - if I'm giving him a treat he'll get in the crate and lie down waiting for it. The other day I had a bonio for him and he went to his crate and cried because the door was closed and he couldn't get in! :pac:

dvet

Hi OP,

There are surgeries that can be done, the TPLO one that tk123 is referring to is the best, but quite expensive, but there are some other cheaper surgeries that can help - your vet would discuss it with you anyway. Without surgery you can't cure cruciate disease, but you can try to manage it: using pain meds, weight loss, exercise control, and as you said, hydrotherapy/physio.

Regardless of whether you go for surgery or not though, it is really, really important to get him to lose weight. I can't stress this enough. Not only will it ease the pain in his bad leg, but as you mentioned, it will prevent long term damage (arthritis/DJD) being done to his other leg, which is taking all the strain for now.
Since you can't exercise him for now, this could mean a rather drastic diet, but don't let the big brown eyes fool you - you'll be doing the nicest thing for him if you cut back on his meals (and cut out the treats completely)! Dogs can tolerate quite a cutback in their food very well, it's the owners who seem to find it hardest! If you feel like you need help with his diet, your vet could probably give you some nutrition advice which is tailored to your guy in particular. It might help to weigh him regularly yourself/at the vets so you can see if you're making enough progress.

On your original question, I don't know about the other centres, but UCD has a very good hydrotherapy facility, the vet nurse in charge of it qualified to be a human physiotherapist I believe, so really knows her stuff! Wherever you go though, the best thing would be to get your vet to send a referral letter so that they know your dog's full medical history and can tailor a regime accordingly.