According to her physical therapist, Cookie keeps improving steadily.
Obviously, getting this over with in a month, as we secretly hoped for, isn't happening. I didn't really think so but we were working towards that goal. So now we're working towards the goal of everything being sorted out in two months. But it's important to be realistic. Having experience with sore iliopsoas in the past, I know it's a long journey.
It is crucial not to jump the gun.
Going to fast could only set us back by even longer. So we're going to play it safe. As safe as Cookie's enthusiasm allows.
One of important strategies is preventing setbacks.
This can be easier said than done because Cookie is a high-spirited girl and being on the Trazodone helps but doesn't change who she is. If Cookie was a car, she'd be a Ferrari.
While there is only so much we can do controlling the outside environment (even though we are trying to work out a treaty with the squirrels), there is more we can do at home.
Iliopsoas injuries often happen from hyperextension, either during jumps or when a dog slips.
Preventing slips is then logically an important part of Cookie's smooth recovery.
The house we live in right now had a mix of hardwood and tile floors. It isn't ours and it's not set for putting down carpets everywhere like we had back at our old place. On top of that, covering all the floors with carpets would solve the problem in the house but that's not the only place Cookie goes to.
I was always intrigued by the idea of ToeGrips.
There are other traction products out there, including all types of booties and even adhesive stickers for the pads. My main concerns with those things are how they may or may not interfere with the dog's perception of the terrain. Their pads are about as sensitive as our fingertips and they use the sense of touch to feel the ground under their feet. What happens whey they cannot feel it properly?
There are many videos out there what happens when you put booties on a dog for the first time. The dogs are not impressed. And even though they learn to accept these things, could they cause more problems than they solve, particularly in a driven dog like Cookie?
My thinking is to leave the pads free to interact with the environment.
Even when Cookie cut her paw pad, I bandaged it for going outside to protect the wound but I did my best not to cover anything more than I had to. Fortunately, the cut was on the plantar pad, which is kind of out of the way and I was able to bandage it successfully without covering up the rest of the foot.
Naturally, ToeGrips were what I decided to try in order to prevent slips during Cookie's recovery.
I didn't know how long they might stay on Cookie because even with her restricted exercise she still really gets more than most dogs get on their best days. I was not concerned about Cookie trying to work them off herself because she's a good girl and wouldn't do such things. JD, I'm sure would.
I was right. They don't bother Cookie in the least.
Not from the first moment she got them on and not since. It seems she doesn't even know there is something there. Which is was I was going for. She isn't too fond of the alcohol smell (they need to be soaked in alcohol prior application so they slide on easily) but that's the only thing she takes issue with.
So far they've been staying on quite well.
It's been almost a week and we had to replace four of them. So that is much better than I expected particularly since Cookie does go outside and it's been quite wet and muddy out there.
She seems much steadier on the floors and it seems to have improved her overall posture as well.
Most importantly, there haven't been any major slips that used to happen from time to time when she got excited. And she still does get excited, believe me.
I'll make an update when she's been using them a little longer. I also wanted to have a video to show but among other things, it is impossible to take a video of her running back and forth in this house. I know because I tried. So maybe we'll be able to film that at some other place.
Further reading:
New Solution To An Old Problem For Dogs With Mobility Issues
Dr. Buzby's ToeGrips for Dogs
Related articles:
From The End Of A Lead Line To Casa Jasmine: Meet Cookie, Our New Adoptee
And So It Begins Again(?) Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie
I Didn't Know I Could Fly: Why Cookie Wears A Harness Instead Of A Collar
C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews For Dogs CAN Be A Choking Hazzard
Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie: The Knee Or The Foot?
Creative Solutions And An Incidental Product Review
Too Young For Pot: Cookie's Snack With A Side Of Hydrogen Peroxide
Taming Of The Wild Beast: Cookie's Transition To Civilization
Staying On Top Of The Ears: Cookie Is Not Impressed
Putting The Easy Back Into Walking
Cookie's Ears Are Still Not Happy
The Threat Of The Bulge Is Always Lurking
Today Is Cookie's Three-Months Adoptoversary
Cookie Meets The Electric Horse Fence And Her First Chiropractic Adjustment
Why Examine Your Dog's Vomit?
Why Is That Leg Still Not Happy? Cookie's Leg Keeps Getting Sore
Cookie Too Is Insured With Trupanion
Does Being Insured Mean Being Covered? Our First Claim With Trupanion
Is Cookie's Leg Finally Getting Better?
Is Cookie Going To Be Another Medical Challenge Or Are We Looking To Closely?
The Project That Is Cookie: Pancreatitis Up Close And Personal
Pancreatitis: Cookie’s Blood Work
Another Belly Upset: Pancreatitis Again Or Not?
Happy Birthday, Cookie
Incontinence? Cookie's Mysterious Leaks
Who's Training Whom? Stick And Treat
Don't Just Stand There, Do Something? Cookie's Mysterious Bumps
Cookie's Mysterious Bumps Update
One Vomit, No Vomit
Happy One-Year Adoptoversary, Cookie!
Cookie's Leaks Are Back: Garden Variety Incontinence Or Not?
Cookie's Leaks Update
Don't Panic, Don't Panic: Know What Your Job Is
The Continuing Saga Of Cookie's Leeks: Trying Chiropractic Approach
Cookie's Minor Eye Irritation
Regular Wellness Exam: Cookie's ALT Was Elevated
Cookie's Plantar Paw Pad Injury
How Far To Take It When The Dog Isn't Sick?
Cookie Has Tapeworm Infection
Cookie's Elevated ALT: The Ultrasound and Cytology
Cookie's ALT Update
The Importance of Observation: Cookie's Chiropractic Adjustment
Sometimes You Don't Even Know What You're Looking at: Cookie's Scary "We Have No Idea What that Was"
Living with an Incontinent Dog
Summer Dangers: Cookie Gets Stung by a Bald-faced Hornet
To Breathe or Not To Breathe: Cookie's Hind Legs Transiently Fail to Work (Again)
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Process
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Diagnosis
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Trazodone
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Other Medications
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Laser, Hydrotherapy and Chiropractic
Do you have a story to share?
Your story can help others, maybe even save a life!
What were the first signs you noticed? How did you dog get diagnosed? What treatment did/didn't work for you? What was your experience with your vet(s)? How did you cope with the challenges?
Email me, I'll be happy to hear from you!
 |
| Cookie's chiropractor was quite puzzled when she saw these. "What does she have on her toes?" she asked, thinking it was some kind of decoration. |
Obviously, getting this over with in a month, as we secretly hoped for, isn't happening. I didn't really think so but we were working towards that goal. So now we're working towards the goal of everything being sorted out in two months. But it's important to be realistic. Having experience with sore iliopsoas in the past, I know it's a long journey.
It is crucial not to jump the gun.
Going to fast could only set us back by even longer. So we're going to play it safe. As safe as Cookie's enthusiasm allows.
One of important strategies is preventing setbacks.
This can be easier said than done because Cookie is a high-spirited girl and being on the Trazodone helps but doesn't change who she is. If Cookie was a car, she'd be a Ferrari.
While there is only so much we can do controlling the outside environment (even though we are trying to work out a treaty with the squirrels), there is more we can do at home.
Iliopsoas injuries often happen from hyperextension, either during jumps or when a dog slips.
Preventing slips is then logically an important part of Cookie's smooth recovery.
The house we live in right now had a mix of hardwood and tile floors. It isn't ours and it's not set for putting down carpets everywhere like we had back at our old place. On top of that, covering all the floors with carpets would solve the problem in the house but that's not the only place Cookie goes to.
There are other traction products out there, including all types of booties and even adhesive stickers for the pads. My main concerns with those things are how they may or may not interfere with the dog's perception of the terrain. Their pads are about as sensitive as our fingertips and they use the sense of touch to feel the ground under their feet. What happens whey they cannot feel it properly?
There are many videos out there what happens when you put booties on a dog for the first time. The dogs are not impressed. And even though they learn to accept these things, could they cause more problems than they solve, particularly in a driven dog like Cookie?
My thinking is to leave the pads free to interact with the environment.
Even when Cookie cut her paw pad, I bandaged it for going outside to protect the wound but I did my best not to cover anything more than I had to. Fortunately, the cut was on the plantar pad, which is kind of out of the way and I was able to bandage it successfully without covering up the rest of the foot.
Naturally, ToeGrips were what I decided to try in order to prevent slips during Cookie's recovery.
I didn't know how long they might stay on Cookie because even with her restricted exercise she still really gets more than most dogs get on their best days. I was not concerned about Cookie trying to work them off herself because she's a good girl and wouldn't do such things. JD, I'm sure would.
I was right. They don't bother Cookie in the least.
Not from the first moment she got them on and not since. It seems she doesn't even know there is something there. Which is was I was going for. She isn't too fond of the alcohol smell (they need to be soaked in alcohol prior application so they slide on easily) but that's the only thing she takes issue with.
So far they've been staying on quite well.
It's been almost a week and we had to replace four of them. So that is much better than I expected particularly since Cookie does go outside and it's been quite wet and muddy out there.
She seems much steadier on the floors and it seems to have improved her overall posture as well.
Most importantly, there haven't been any major slips that used to happen from time to time when she got excited. And she still does get excited, believe me.
I'll make an update when she's been using them a little longer. I also wanted to have a video to show but among other things, it is impossible to take a video of her running back and forth in this house. I know because I tried. So maybe we'll be able to film that at some other place.
Further reading:
New Solution To An Old Problem For Dogs With Mobility Issues
Dr. Buzby's ToeGrips for Dogs
Related articles:
From The End Of A Lead Line To Casa Jasmine: Meet Cookie, Our New Adoptee
And So It Begins Again(?) Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie
I Didn't Know I Could Fly: Why Cookie Wears A Harness Instead Of A Collar
C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews For Dogs CAN Be A Choking Hazzard
Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie: The Knee Or The Foot?
Creative Solutions And An Incidental Product Review
Too Young For Pot: Cookie's Snack With A Side Of Hydrogen Peroxide
Taming Of The Wild Beast: Cookie's Transition To Civilization
Staying On Top Of The Ears: Cookie Is Not Impressed
Putting The Easy Back Into Walking
Cookie's Ears Are Still Not Happy
The Threat Of The Bulge Is Always Lurking
Today Is Cookie's Three-Months Adoptoversary
Cookie Meets The Electric Horse Fence And Her First Chiropractic Adjustment
Why Examine Your Dog's Vomit?
Why Is That Leg Still Not Happy? Cookie's Leg Keeps Getting Sore
Cookie Too Is Insured With Trupanion
Does Being Insured Mean Being Covered? Our First Claim With Trupanion
Is Cookie's Leg Finally Getting Better?
Is Cookie Going To Be Another Medical Challenge Or Are We Looking To Closely?
The Project That Is Cookie: Pancreatitis Up Close And Personal
Pancreatitis: Cookie’s Blood Work
Another Belly Upset: Pancreatitis Again Or Not?
Happy Birthday, Cookie
Incontinence? Cookie's Mysterious Leaks
Who's Training Whom? Stick And Treat
Don't Just Stand There, Do Something? Cookie's Mysterious Bumps
Cookie's Mysterious Bumps Update
One Vomit, No Vomit
Happy One-Year Adoptoversary, Cookie!
Cookie's Leaks Are Back: Garden Variety Incontinence Or Not?
Cookie's Leaks Update
Don't Panic, Don't Panic: Know What Your Job Is
The Continuing Saga Of Cookie's Leeks: Trying Chiropractic Approach
Cookie's Minor Eye Irritation
Regular Wellness Exam: Cookie's ALT Was Elevated
Cookie's Plantar Paw Pad Injury
How Far To Take It When The Dog Isn't Sick?
Cookie Has Tapeworm Infection
Cookie's Elevated ALT: The Ultrasound and Cytology
Cookie's ALT Update
The Importance of Observation: Cookie's Chiropractic Adjustment
Sometimes You Don't Even Know What You're Looking at: Cookie's Scary "We Have No Idea What that Was"
Living with an Incontinent Dog
Summer Dangers: Cookie Gets Stung by a Bald-faced Hornet
To Breathe or Not To Breathe: Cookie's Hind Legs Transiently Fail to Work (Again)
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Process
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Diagnosis
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Trazodone
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Other Medications
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Laser, Hydrotherapy and Chiropractic
Your story can help others, maybe even save a life!
What were the first signs you noticed? How did you dog get diagnosed? What treatment did/didn't work for you? What was your experience with your vet(s)? How did you cope with the challenges?
Email me, I'll be happy to hear from you!
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