{"id":9212,"date":"2014-12-01T10:27:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T18:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/?p=9212"},"modified":"2014-12-01T11:22:07","modified_gmt":"2014-12-01T19:22:07","slug":"quick-rehab-restores-dogs-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/2014\/12\/01\/quick-rehab-restores-dogs-mobility\/","title":{"rendered":"Quick Response Restores Dog’s Mobility"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Magnum<\/a>

Magnum learns to walk again with the aid of a wheelchair.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Imagine if one day your beloved pet dog was a healthy and energetic member of the family, and the next day he was completely paralyzed in all four limbs, with no apparent cause.<\/p>\n

This is what happened to George and Jill Carter\u2019s five-year-old Labrador Retriever, Magnum. \u201cHe could not stand, or even pee,\u201d says Jill.<\/p>\n

They rushed him to VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists where neurologist Sophie Peterson ran tests. An MRI revealed hypersensitivity in the spinal cord at the level of C5-C7 but showed no compression. Dr. Peterson diagnosed Magnum with a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE) and referred him to the Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) for rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

An FCE is caused when debris from a degenerating spinal disk obstructs a spinal cord vessel causing stroke-like symptoms. It is fairly common in Schnauzers, Labs, and Boxers, and the best treatment is intensive physical therapy to restore the damaged neural pathways.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt usually doesn\u2019t recur,\u201d says Dr. Wendy Baltzer, head of the VTH Rehabilitation unit, \u201cand prognosis is good if physical therapy is started as soon as the diagnosis is made.\u201d The Carter\u2019s had the diagnosis on Saturday and brought him to OSU on Monday. \u201cHe could not move,\u201d says Jill Carter,\u201d except to thump his tail when students petted him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magnum spent a week in the hospital, receiving physical therapy treatments four times per day including walks in a wheelchair, ultrasound therapy, deep muscle massage, and passive motion exercises. By the end of the week, he was able to walk on the underwater treadmill.<\/p>\n

Now a month into his treatment, Magnum goes to rehab weekly and continues with at-home exercises. He does not have full coordination back but is now able to walk independently. \u201cIt proves you should never give up on your beloved pet,\u201d says Jill Carter.<\/p>\n

There are few full-scale veterinary rehabilitation units in the U.S. and Dr. Baltzer is grateful to all the donors, large and small, who have helped make the OSU unit a top-notch facility. \u201cThe wheelchair and hydraulic lift were donated,\u201d she says, \u201cand the new underwater treadmill.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also a shortage of board-certified rehabilitation specialists in veterinary medicine, and Dr. Baltzer would like to raise enough money to offer a residency scholarship at OSU. \u201cWe are so busy and a resident would help us treat more animals,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are only four residencies in Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Carters feel lucky to be within driving distance from OSU, and really appreciate all the care Magnum received from the doctors and staff. \u201cThe students were so attentive and aware of his emotions and needs; that is something you don\u2019t get unless your pet is being treated at a teaching hospital,\u201d says Jill.<\/p>\n

You can donate online<\/a> to the rehabilitation unit at the OSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Imagine if one day your beloved pet dog was a healthy and energetic member of the family, and the next day he was completely paralyzed in all four limbs, with no apparent cause. This is what happened to George and Jill Carter\u2019s five-year-old Labrador Retriever, Magnum. \u201cHe could not stand, or even pee,\u201d says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1802,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3054],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-and-staff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3DBMX-2oA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1802"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9212"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9220,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9212\/revisions\/9220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/collegeofveterinarymedicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}