Cleo's Story

Name: Cleo

Breed: Labrador

Age: 2

Diagnosed Condition: Cruciate Ligament Rupture

Operation: Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA) on Left Stifle

Meet Cleo:

Cleo is a gorgeous black Labrador who was referred to us in August 2019 following surgery on her left cruciate ligament. She is a very friendly and happy Labrador who enjoys her walks and playing with her fur brother at home. Unfortunately, one day when playing in the garden her owner heard a cry and came out to find Cleo on only three legs. Cleo undertook surgery 10 days after the accident.  After her operation, Cleo was on restricted exercise at home, she was limited to what she could do such as not using stairs and using a ramp in and out of the car.  Cleo was conveying signs of stiffness after long periods of rest.

Cleo’s owner wanted to find more ways she could help her make a good recovery; she was treated by a chiropractor and undertook Laser treatment at home. Cleo’s Owner then decided to try hydrotherapy treatment.

Treatment Plan:

We started Cleo on our water treadmill, due to the reason that her left leg had lost muscle mass and was not able to support her joint, within the water treadmill we can isolate the affected limbs range of movement and ensure we are getting the correct movement within the joint. Our goal was to help balance out her muscle mass on her hind limbs and to get her back on longer walks.

When we first met Cleo on the water treadmill, she was reluctant to fully weight bear on her hind left and would only take short strides on her right to help compensate her weigh bearing. She would abduct her hind right. We felt as though Cleo would benefit from hydrotherapy twice a week to start with.  We also suggested to see a Physiotherapist (Joanne Boddy) due to concerns of the hamstrings and tendons which may be affecting her leg.

Progress:
As Cleo continued hydrotherapy, we begun to see improvements with her gait. Her owner noticed improvements at home such as being able to go for a longer walk and not showing adverse effects afterwards. After her 12^th session, we remeasured Cleo’s muscle mass on both hinds, we found that we had more of an equal measurement, it was clear to see Cleo now looked comfortable on the joint and it appeared stable.

Her owner and our hydrotherapists team were extremely pleased with Cleo’s progress, after having conversations with Cleo’s physiotherapist and vet we all agreed that Cleo could be moved into our pool for maintenance sessions to ensure we maintain her muscle mass. She now attends weekly, she enjoys her pool sessions very much!