In January, 9-year-old, terrier mix, Bo was found when her owner returned home unable to use the left side of her body and had ptosis (drooping) of her left eye. She also had bladder and fecal incontinence. Because Bo was not having much pain, nausea, nystagmus or circling, a vestibular reason for her sudden onset of left-sided paresis was not likely. Instead, a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE) or Intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) was suspected as well as Horner’s Syndrome on her left side. Horner’s Syndrome is a disrupted nerve pathway on one side from the brain to the face and eye as a result of a stroke, tumor or cervical spinal cord injury.
Bo began therapy and acupuncture twice weekly right away. Bo first came to BARC unable to even move from a side-lying position to a sternal (sphynx) position, so her physical therapy program started from the very beginning of the “neurodevelopmental sequence,” first working on moving from side-lying to sternal (sphynx), then sternal to sit, then sit to stand, then standing to walking. Now that Bo is able to independently move from a side-lying position to walking, her therapeutic exercises now focus on improving her stability, coordination and strength, as well as getting her to weight bear better on her left front limb. Underwater treadmill was also added to her therapeutic plan after about 6 weeks to help with those goals as well. While Bo is not 100% back to normal yet, we are so happy to see how far she has come and we cannot wait to watch her continue to progress!
