In the 4 weeks we have been open we have had tremendous support from both the veterinary community and our clients. We are following our passion for veterinary surgery and rehabilitation while fulfilling our dreams. Without this support, we would not be able to continue to help create new movement, give patients a new life, and allow them to start a new beginning. All of us at Resurge want to thank all of you for the support. Thank you! Passive range of motion exercises for the stifle can greatly enhance overall outcomes for patients recovering from knee surgery. We recommend starting these exercises 2-3 days following surgery for our patients at Resurge. If you have any problems or this appears uncomfortable to your pet, please stop and contact us. Treadmill Tricks is part of an exercise program that our therapist, Robert J Porter CCRP, has created and developed over the last 20 years. The program started out as a few exercises to help agility dogs recover from injury and now has become a highly complex set of actions and positions. Robby has been teaching his program for many years and it has brought him all over the world to veterinary symposiums, continuing education programs, and dog training facilities. The majority of our patients benefit from this same program as it starts out at a very basic level. Even neurologic patients that have little to no function can benefit since the exercise program is also paired with a positive reinforcement training program. Over time, the exercises continue to build in intensity and skill as the dog understands more about their body and/or as recovery progresses.
Most of our patients that are in recovery don’t get to the level of treadmill tricks that is seen in this video. However, it gives a place to continue to challenge patients in a formal and consistent way without having to re-train or train new behaviors. This basically means that there is something more challenging and harder to do. Athletic dogs competing in agility, herding, flyball, disc, dock dog, and other sports can also benefit from this program. Most of the actions mimic real life decelerating actions but at a lower intensity. This can greatly improve performance and theoretically help prevent injury. In this video Robby and his Border Collie, Lois Lane, demonstrate treadmills tricks. Some may think that only “smart” dogs can perform this way, but that’s not the case at all. Robby has trained just about every breed of dog in the world with his method. Keep an eye out for future videos of patients that have benefited by his program and positive approach to therapeutic exercise. Want to see video before they are posted on other social media channels? Subscribe to our YouTube channel and receive notifications of new and upcoming videos. Kinesiology Tape for canine patients suffering from conscious proprioception deficits(CP deficits)1/14/2021 What is Kinesiology Tape Kinesiology tape is an elastic cotton/fabric tape with an acrylic glue that is water resistant. There are many companies that produce kinesiology tape so the name may differ from company to company. Kenzo Kase, a Japanese-American chiropractor, developed the first kinesiology tape in the 1970s. However, it did not start to becoming popular until the the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. It is now commonly used in human physical therapy and athletics for a variety of movement problems and injuries. Some benefits of K-tape in humans are enhanced body awareness, edema management, alignment and correction of weak muscles, facilitation of joint movement, can aid in pain control and help support healing soft tissues. K-tape comes in a variety of colors and you may have seen it placed on professional and non-professional athletes. At the Resurge physical rehabilitation department we personally prefer purple, green, and gold tape for our patients:) Veterinary Case example: Colton is a rescue case who suffers from conscious proprioception deficits in his rear limbs due to an unknown neurologic disease. We have been using kinesiology tape to help him place his feet properly and not knuckle as much (see below video). This helps pattern more normal movement and also keeps him from dragging and damaging the top part of his paws. There are many conditions in patients that can benefit from K-tape such as IVDD (intervertebral disc disease), DM (degenerative myelopathy), FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolism), Lumbosacral stenosis (LS disease), brachial plexus avulsions, and many others. K-tape is very safe as long as it is applied properly. Depending on the activity and functional limitations of the patient you can sometimes get 3-5 days out of one tape application. We find k-tape especially useful for between therapy visits to better pattern movement when at home. This can help reduce the overall time neurological patients spend in rehabilitation as well as overall cost. When in neurologic recovery can kinesiology tape be beneficial for dogs suffering from conscious proprioception deficits? In my experience, patients need to have mild to moderate conscious motor/movement. Reflex movement doesn’t count. Motor needs to be conscious for k-tape to be beneficial. If your four legged friend has no pain sensation to the limbs in question, there will likely be no benefit. However, those patients may benefit from other assisting devices and/or other therapies. Patients don’t need to be able to walk on their own, but should be able to walk with some assistance. If you think your dog could benefit from k-taping, please give our office a call and we can set you up for a physical rehabilitation consultation. *We do not recommend using kinesiology tape without the direct supervision of a veterinary professional with experience and training in this specific modality. !!!!!SAVE 10% on your initial Physical Rehabilitation Consult Fee!!!!! **LIKE and SHARE for 10% off of your physical rehabilitation consult fee. For the month of February 2021 the 10% you save for liking and sharing this blog will be donated to a local animal rescue shelter. Offer is only good for the rest of January and the month of February 2021. Dr. Dena Lodato DVM, MS, DACVS, CCRP and Robert Porter CCRP will be doing a livestream on YouTube January 20, 2021at 5:30 to 6:30pm.. They will be answering questions geared toward orthopedic and neurological conditions in small animal medicine. Anyone is allowed to join. If you’d like to leave a question on this post we will do our best to include them in the livestream. Thanks and hope to see you all there! Save the link below January 20, 2021 at 5:30-6:30 Lots of work getting done for the grand opening of Dr. Dena Lodato’s new clinic, Resurge Veterinary Surgical Specialists! Daily surgical equipment deliveries, a constant hustle of everyone getting together furniture, construction details, and receptionists calling clients to schedule appointments. There was a little time for fun today though. Melissa O’Brien RVT, CCRP (one of rehab therapists) and Lois Lane (Robert Porter CCRP’s dog) tested out the new Oasis underwater treadmill. It was Border Collie and therapists approved! 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