Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Daily controlled physiotherapy helps dogs with degenerative
By Kathmann, I et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2006·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Daily controlled physiotherapy increases survival time in dogs with suspected degenerative myelopathy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy, a condition affecting their spinal cord, were studied to see how different types of physiotherapy impacted their survival time. The dogs, mostly German Shepherds, were around 9 years old and showed varying degrees of mobility issues. Those that received intensive physiotherapy lived an average of 255 days, significantly longer than those who had moderate therapy (130 days) or no therapy at all (55 days). The findings suggest that regular physical treatment can help these dogs stay mobile and improve their overall survival.
People also search for: dog degenerative myelopathy treatment · German Shepherd mobility issues · physiotherapy for dogs with spinal problems
Abstract
The purposes of the study reported here were to evaluate the signalment and clinical presentation in 50 dogs with degenerative myelopathy, to evaluate whether mean survival time was significantly affected by various means of physiotherapy performed in 22 dogs, and to determine whether neurologic status, anatomic localization, or age at onset had an influence on survival time in dogs that received physiotherapy. We found a significant (P < .05) breed predisposition for the German Shepherd Dog, Kuvasz, Hovawart, and Bernese Mountain Dog. Mean age at diagnosis was 9.1 years, and both sexes were affected equally. The anatomic localization of the lesion was spinal cord segment T3-L3 in 56% (n = 28) and L3-S3 in 44% (n = 22) of the dogs. Animals that received intensive (n = 9) physiotherapy had longer (P < .05) survival time (mean 255 days), compared with that for animals with moderate (n = 6; mean 130 days) or no (n = 7; mean 55 days) physiotherapy. In addition, our results indicate that affected dogs which received physiotherapy remained ambulatory longer than did animals that did not receive physical treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16955818/