This is the story of the journey towards healing for Zane. It is my personal account of the various treatments sought to bring a halt to the progression of Wobbler's Syndrome, more accurately- cervical vertebral instability- in my Great Dane ~ Zane.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Happy Birthday Zane
It's birthday number 2 for Zane. It's hard to believe all that he has been through in a years time but he is a healthier and stronger dog for all of it.
Zane has now been to 2 underwater treadmill sessions. He has taken to it pretty well and has a nice smooth gait when he is being buoyed by the water. The tank gets filled almost to hip height. Since Zane holds his head lower than normal, they have to be careful to not get the water too high or his nose might dip down into it. He walked for 2 separate 2 minute sessions on Tuesday. We are working up to 3, 3 minute walks per session. It doesn't seem like much but walking in water is hard work. Five minutes in the water is equal to 40 minutes on land.
At home, Zane is taking one 8-10 minute walk daily. We will slowly increase the time walking as he is able to tolerate it. I allow him to wander the backyard freely as long as someone is there to stop him in case he tries to play. He has demonstrated that he can run quite smoothly now too. We keep that to a minimum though! He is building up his stamina by trotting through our small wooded area. When he is tired he comes up to the deck to lay on one of his mats under the umbrella.
Zane's progress is great. At his 4 week post surgery check up, his Dr stated that he is doing great neurologically. When you flip his paws over to check for ataxia, he flips them right back where they belong. Way to go Zane!
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5 comments:
Happy Barkday, Zane! We've just found you on DWB and look forward to reading your blog! There's two danes on our crew; I'm a 7.5 year old blue guy and my little sister is a 4 month old harley girl. Stop by and see us sometime and say 'hi!'
Peace + Paws,
Kai
Happy Belated Birthday Zane
Great work on the rehab ...go slow no reason to rush....
P.S. - you look very comfy with your Mom ......
Woof Zane
Happy Barkday!!! Hope you get lots and lots of treat and chew thingys. Hang in there big guy.
Desert Pups here just getting out and meeting the neighbors cause we're new in town.
Woof, woof
Scuba, Keiko, Norman and Toby from Life Inside The Fence.
Happy birthday! Keep up the good work!
Happy Belated Barkday big guy!
Butt wiggles,
Solid Gold Dancer
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