Laurie's Blogs.

The Question:

What can rehab / physio do for a very ataxic dog with cerebellar hypoplasia?

My Answer:

My thoughts are to:

1. Bandage him with an ace bandage / tensor bandage - to connect his front end to his back end.  Not too tight, just a little tension as a reminder.
2. I think that before you start to focus on movement strategies, it might be best to work on many different versions of static stability / rhythmic stabilizations / core stability / balance in various static positions.
3. If / when you do start training movement - it would be great if you could use a slow moving land treadmill so that you could stand over it (or find a plastic park bench to put over it so that you can sit...that's my set up) and then work on balance while moving - maybe pushing the rump or shoulders down, or placing the limbs - fronts and then rears... each getting a turn at being worked, or maybe stimulate the abdominals as he is walking.
4. The part I want to ask some of the other neuro physios about is whether or not they would ever recommend using small weights on the legs in order to try to get stronger, more purposeful movement.  I THINK that we do that with some neuro patients...but I'll have to ask some 'human' PT's if that's correct thinking or not!

THE QUESTION I ASKED OF THE NEURO PHYSIOS:

Would any of you ever recommend using small weights on the legs in order to try to get stronger, more purposeful movement in a cerebellar hypoplasia case? I THINK that we do that with some neuro patients - Parkinson's patients perhaps... I seem to remember weighted cutlery, etc to help with 'Activities of Daily Living' functioning... but it's been forever since school - and I never did work in neuro (with humans). So would the ataxia with a cerebellar hypoplasia case benefit from canineicer weights... or am I crazy to even think that way?
It's not my case... or I'd have just tried it out to see!!

THE ANSWERS:

Yes, yes, yes.   I weight down these guys--  not concrete shoes… but a couple of ounces on each limb OR a weighted vest.  I know FitPaws / Dogtread has a  weighted vest now that might be useful.  The hypermetria might be worse during the therapeutic exercise but improved after you remove the weights.  - Amie Hesbach

For weights, I also use small fishing lure weights.  They have a loop that you can use to hook onto cuffs or (and what I usually do) buy the flat discs and just attach them to the limbs with a few passes of VetWrap. - Nancy Doyle