Digby had a number of librella objections which seemed to work to start with, but unfortunately after a couple of months his elbow became more inflamed & his mobility declined. He was unable to get up from a sitting/laying position without support, and he struggled to get into the garden again without support. The vet suggested an increase in his pain medication and put his symptoms down to severe arthritis. They put him onto Amantadine and back onto Onsior. She also suggested giving physio a try and recommended Jessica Parker.
The referral was straight forward once I had written consent from my vet. I was able to get the physio appointment straight away. After my first consultation with Jessica I was reassured to find out that his muscle tone in his back legs was still ok, and he had a good range of movement in his hips. Unfortunately Digby also had TPLO surgery on both his cruciate ligaments at a young age, and again I felt reassured from Jessica that his decline in mobility wasn’t from this previous surgery.
She explained clearly that it was his elbow along with his arthritis and it was causing him to put more weight onto his back legs. He was treated by Jessica with a combination of infra red light therapy and massage. She also gave me excersises to follow.
Initially we went every 3 weeks but we have been able to extend this to every 4 weeks. Digby seems to really enjoy his sessions so much so that he pulls and walks as quick as he can to get into Jessica’s office and is very relaxed during his sessions.
As a result he can get up and walk without any support, his mobility has improved and he certainly seems stronger and more stable when he is standing, also I haven’t yet had to increase his pain medication since visiting nor have I had to visit the vets. I feel his physio appointments have had a very positive effect to Digbys mobility and to his quality of life.