Another year has passed with no bother from the hips!
Daisy went to see the chiropractor again last week just for a checkup – one or two minor adjustments but that was all she needed. There is a lot more muscle now either side of her spine apparently.
So… I think it must be true to say that her regime is suiting her – she does just about everything the other dogs do, has a few extra supplements, uses a ramp for the car, and does no ball chasing. Other than that she is normal!
Daisy went to a Mctimony chiropractor today, and had 4 or 5 small adjustments to her spine. She could see that Daze is a bit tense in her shoulders, and that further down her back she isn;t working quite as well. Her exercises can continue, and she has a couple of extra ones now to extend her spine by when standing by putting her nose between her front legs, and then diagogally out and down towards her back feet.
Daze was really good and very cooperative, but at the end she just wanted to lie down.
One more vist in about 3 weeks time.
Daisy’s had a visit from a T-touch practitioner. It was fascinating. She showed my how her front paws were warmed than her back paws, and looked at her gait as wel las examining her with her hands. As I thought – she is still stiff in her neck and shoulders, and she is not really very aware of her back end. I had instruction on t-touch, and Daisy had a go wearing a wrap to see if it helps. It made her walk with her back paws down properly rather than on tip-toes, so I think I shall use one pretty regularly.
The T-touch practitioner also suggested that Daisy sees a Mctimony chiropractor to see if her back is causing her any discomfort, but I need to OK that with the vet first.
I ave a lot of things to try out with Daisy now – all of which will help her to relax a bit more I hope.
Daisy was at the vets for an ear checkup, and while she was there he thought he’d check out her hips. He manipulated her and said her range of movement was good. He also felt her muscles and said that she has built up quite a bit, so it seems as though the hydro is still doing the trick for Daisy!
Daisy has been having an on-going ear problem, and needed a GA to get it properly looked at. I asked the vet if he would x-ray her hips again while she wae under. Here is her new x-ray. When the vet talked me through it, he said that it is the same as the first one. She hasn’t got any worse, and there is still no sign of arthritis, so I think that what we are doing is working for her!
So ….. here we are one year on! It’s hard to believe that it is only a year since we found out about Daisy’s hips – it’s as though we’ve always known! We’re in a state of “managing” her as the vets call it. Basically she has no restrictions imposed on her regarding exercise, other than I don’t play ball games with her. She plays with Poppy as she wants. I don’t actively encourage jumping, but if she jumps a tree trunk rather than runs round it then I’m happy that she feels good enough to do it. I cringe when she spins round to get a dog to play with her, but I know that if anything it might mean a few days of lead walks, or an anti-inflamm tablet.
She has changed some of her behaviours though. If a dog gets too bouncy then she will lie down to protect herself. She paces more than she used to – you know – the spotty dog walk. She likes to have her hips rubbed (I don;t know if that is anything to do with it, but it’s a newish thing!). She loves water now – as a result of the hydro I think.
Overall she’s still the happy crazy naughty lively Daisy we all know & love – it’s me that worries, not her!
Well here are the bars, but Daisy sidestepping over them is still a work in progress! Just trotting over them should help[ keep her properly balanced.
Just a little update on Daisy, because it’s a bit out of date, and I’m getting more & more queries from people with suspected hip probs, who I’m directing here.
She had a short spell of aching, but nothing like as bad as before when she squeaked when touched, but she did have 3 weeks on her lead (including the NF doodle show, which was a pain!). I suppose that is a cycle that will repeat itself from time to time, but at least now I know what to look out for so it won’t get too bad
We’re now back to learning to do side-stepping which will work the right muscles to keep the hip in place, as well as still doing the fig 8 swimming once a fortnight. Once Daze has perfected her sidestepping technique, I’ve made some very low hurdles for her to do it over (about 2″ high), but I shan’t be introducing them until she has done a good bit of sidestepping without them.
She’s still going to see Lezleigh from time to time for her massage, and as well as helping Daze feel better, Lezleigh can point out things that need work, and areas of stiffness, so it’s useful info for me too. (and Barney gets a holistic massage at the same time which REALLY helps him).
It’s almost the deer rutting season, and the pheasant shoots will start soon too, so Daisy’s hip will be getting a real test over the next couple of months! Fingers crossed she doesn’t get as bad as last year when it all came to light
Just a little update on Daisy’s massage
She has progressed to having some homework exercises. She is still doing the one which involves her sitting down, and having her head lured up, down, left & right as far as she can – she can now move her head round so that her nose touches her sides. This is a huge improvement for her as she was very tense in her neck & shoulders.
The other exercise is to get her to stand with each back paw on a wobbly cushion, and gently rock her from side to side so that she has to use her adductor muscles to centre herself again – these are the ones that hold the hip in place. Here she is balancing on the cushions, and some pics of her enjoying a relaxing massage after the intense one.
We are starting to notice some differences in the way Daisy moves now – her back is flatter, and she is stretching her back legs out behind her as she moves. She is also coming to stand by my chair in the evenings for some stroking and fussing which is really lovely, and not normal for Daisy!
Our next exercise will be getting her to do some side-stepping with her back legs, if I can figure out how to get her to do it without her standing on her back legs!
Daze had her second massage yesterday, and is still completely zonked out this morning! She has to have 48 hours with no exercise, but to be honest I don’t think she wants to do much except sleep today – she was the same last week, but tomorrow she will be fed up at missing her walks. The ideas is that she has been using the muscles that move her forward & backwards and they are nice & strong, but the ones that control sideways movement are the ones that are weak. I think those must be the ones that have a lot to do with supporting the bad hip. When she has been worked on she has to rest to stop the muscles going straight back to working the way they are used to, and to give them a chance to start the new way of working – at least that’s what I understood – I was a bit sidetracked by the way Daisy’s eyes glazed over as Lezleigh got her all relaxed
