Author(s): "Mary Carter"
Read this case contributed by Michelle Bishop, DVM, from Rau Animal Hospital in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
"Joma" was a 14-year-old shepherd mix who presented after an acute onset of vestibular disease three weeks previously. The owners had been away on a cruise, placing Joma with a pet sitter when the vestibular signs occurred. The pet sitter had her admitted to their veterinarian for supportive care.
Joma lay in lateral recumbency for almost two weeks, unable to stand or walk on her own. She was gently turned and cleaned daily but did not receive any other physical therapy or treatment. When the owners returned home from their vacation, her condition had not improved at all and she could not walk on her own or stand to urinate or defecate on her own. They were told by their veterinarian that her quality of life was
very poor and they were advised to euthanize her. The owners elected at that time to bring her home for a few days to see how it would go.
Joma was presented for a rehabilitation evaluation a week after being home. She was carried into the hospital on a stretcher. She was not on any medications except for Deramax for her chronic arthritis. Joma was unable to stand on her own but could stand when assisted. She could take only two or three steps before falling to her right. She had a right head tilt but no nystagmus was present.
Joma had good strength as each leg was picked up one at a time and she was able to stand three-legged for a minute. Joma was encouraged to take a few steps but would only take two or three steps before falling to the right. We started a few simple exercises with Joma on the physioball and gently rolled her forward and backward until she started placing both front legs on the floor. While on the ball her hind legs were extended to the floor and then she was gently rolled side to side to allow Joma to take a few steps to the left and then to the right. We then placed Joma on the mat in sternal recumbency and gave her a laser massage. We used the chronic arthritis preset protocol with the large contact ball treatment head and lasered her neck, shoulders, spine and hips. The base of her right ear was also treated.
During the laser treatment, you could see how much Joma was enjoying her treatment as she would lean into the laser wand. When the treatment was finished, we stood Joma back up on her feet and she was able to stand with very little assistance. She then proceeded to take about 10 steps across the room to her owner’s side. We placed a sling around her abdomen and a leash around her neck and walked her outside. Joma immediately got in position to defecate and then she squatted to urinate. Joma walked to the car and was placed in the back seat to go home. She was instructed to return the next day for another treatment.
The following day, Joma was walking with minimal sling assistance. She could walk up one step and step over cavaletti rails. She was able to weave in and out of cones as well without falling over. We placed her on the physioball again for stretching and weight shifting and she had another laser treatment. She was instructed to
return again the following day for another treatment. The next day Joma trotted into the office! She was able to walk without stumbling or falling and needed no assistance with a sling. She had another laser session and was then scheduled to have six more treatments
using three treatments the first week, two treatments the second week and one treatment the third week.
Joma had a remarkable recovery and the owners were extremely grateful that the Companion Laser gave her a second lease on life. She continued to return for maintenance laser treatments approximately once a month. She eventually needed to add more pain management for her arthritis, however, and the owners also sought out acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment. Joma had a good quality of life for another two years and recently passed away at the age of 16 after a bout of seizure activity.