Meet Jersey, our October 2019 Pet of the Month! Jersey is a 12-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever who we first met in May 2018. At that time, Jersey was recovering from bilateral TPLO surgeries to address her cruciate ligament tears in both knees. Over the next several months, we worked to improve Jersey’s hind limb strength and reduce compensatory muscle tension. We used different modalities to achieve our goals, including therapeutic exercises, underwater treadmill, land treadmill, and laser therapy. Eventually, Jersey reached all her goals and she graduated from rehabilitation.
A few months later, however, Jersey started to slow down a bit. Her family was able to keep up with her homework exercises after she graduated, but she started to sink down in her hind limbs after standing and she did not like to sit anymore. After noticing these changes, Jersey’s family brought her back here to Pawsitive Steps. After a reassessment evaluation, we noted that a few of Jersey’s neurologic reflexes were a little bit slow and she had lost some muscle mass. Jersey resumed rehabilitation therapy with some new goals and some new exercises. This time, our focus was on improving her neurologic function as well as strengthening her muscles. Through targeted exercises and the addition of acupuncture, Jersey has improved in her mobility and her stamina at home.