Tenley O'Neil is a 3 year old Pit Bull mix, who tore her right cruciate ligament back in the fall of 2015. At the time, the best option for Tenley and her owner was to use a stifle brace to stabilize her knee. The brace worked for Tenley for nearly two years, until, in January of 2017, she suffered a rupture of the cruciate ligament in her left knee. Ouch!
Tenley saw VSC Leesburg's Dr. Jim Taylor for a consultation in February. At that time, it was decided that Tenley would benefit best from having both knees surgically repaired. Tenley had a single stage bilateral TPLO the next morning.
Tenley presented to VSCR Leeburg's Dr. Julie Wentzel two weeks later to start rehab. Tenley's owner wanted her to be able to run, play fetch, and just be a "normal dog" again. She began weekly rehab with VSCR practitioner Jessie Pulley to manage her comfort and begin strengthening her rear limbs.
Tenley had been shifting a lot of her weight to her front limbs after her surgery, so she started exercises and therapies to encourage her to use her hindlimbs more. She started with weight shifting and elevated stands. She was a bit sore in her muscles from compensating for her knees, so we also performed manual therapies, laser therapy and ultrasound therapy to provide her with comfort.
Once her muscles were more comfortable, Tenley was able to start underwater treadmill therapy. Tenley LOVED learning new exercises, such as backing up and side stepping, and she especially loved getting lots of peanut butter during her walks in the treadmill.
Tenley graduated with flying colors in early May. By that time, she was back to "normal dog" status: running, playing, and taking stairs in the house. Congratulations Tenley!
