Guest guest Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Has anyone had any results using rehabiliation and hydrotherapy for a dog with cerebral hyperplasia. I have an owner interested in trying hydrotherapy for her 12 week old Great Dane that was diagnosed with this condition. I haven't seen the dog yet, she says that he can walk 4-5 steps until his body takes over and he falls down. He is currently in a home made cart moving around. Thanks in advance for any input. CCRA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Hi all, We have been rehabing a King puppy for several months now who was born with Cerebellar hyperplasia. The whole litter was born with it but he was the worst one out of all of them and two of the puppies even died. We got him at about 6 months old and he was really bad. He couldn't walk at all and so we started doing all kinds of extensive rehab with him including swimming him in the underwater treadmill since he wasn't walking at all and certainly wasn't coordinated enough to even attempt walking on it. After some time we got him walking and even running on land (not the prettiest or most graceful sight to see) but wonderful for him and the owners. Unfortunately the dad passed away and so they became very tight for funds and he only comes once every two weeks which has caused him to have some setbacks in the way of his coordination (he used to be able to climb stairs even and has a lot of difficult with it now). The owner is an older lady and is overwhelmed with the loss of her husband, so she does not really do too much with an HEP either (the dad used to do it) so that doesn't help either. I think most likely it is the type of diagnosis (atleast in this dog's case) where he will always need some degree of rehab like a child with Cerebral Palsy. They don't just get rehab for a short time, they tend to get it their whole life. He is a very happy guy but extremely spastic and uncoordinated so it is very difficult to get him to do static activities or fine motor ones and tends to do better if he doesn't seem to have to stop. Again, he was better with all of his rehab activities when he was coming regularly 2-3 x/week, so I do think there is certainly hope for your client's great dane and I wish you luck with him. If you want to know specifics on what we were doing with " Duke " I will be happy to share. Shari Sprague, MPT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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