Scoliosis puppy

[lehughes]

Hi Laurie, I have a very special case and would love to hear your opinion..... It's a 5 month old Saarlos Wolfhound with a very bad scoliosis. What would be your idea for treatments for this dog?

The owners are going to do a MRI next week.....but I don't know if someone can do such an operation here.

Thanks a lot

B

[lehughes]

Oooh! Those are quite the x-rays! Wow! So, my first question is What is the dog dog's function? Is there pain?
Terrible x-rays don't need to equal terrible function. Hopefully that is the case!
I think if it were my case, I'd work on stabilizing exercises (i.e. 3-leg stands - fronts and backs, then diagonal leg stands.), chest lifts and rib springing (gentle - grade 2) if there is rib or spine pain, myofascial work (along the epaxial muscles, and by stretching the front leg into extension and a back leg (same side, opposite side, and/or both rear legs), add some cookies to the hip side bending exercises as well.
It's really just maintenance I think.

Laurie

[lehughes]

Thank you very much. The dog seems not to be in pain, he is such a happy young playfull boy!

-B

[lehughes]

Hmm... I would hate for surgery to ruin that! I find that human medicine take into account function and pain much more commonly, whereas traditional vet medicine leans a bit towards treating the x-ray / MRI / CT! With rehab becoming more common, that's starting to change.

Laurie