Tripawds Community member gjen received grant #102 from the Maggie Moo Fund for Tripawd Rehab. Free rehab for front leg senior Tripawd Border Collie Wisp helps her stay strong. Read her story, and learn how you can get a free veterinary rehab evaluation for your dog or cat.
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Wisp is a 13-year-old petite senior Tripawd Border Collie, at 26 pounds. She was originally adopted by my sister at 2 years old through a Border Collie rescue. Wisp was devoted to my sister and stayed by her side through assisted living, until my sister’s death in Feb., 2020.
Wisp is beloved by the whole family but it was decided that I was her best home. She has been so happy living in the Colorado mountains, going for runs in the National forest. She’s transferred her devotion to me. A year after moving here she began to limp and it worsened gradually. Our vet diagnosed her with infiltrative liposarcoma in her right front leg giving me two choices- amputation or euthanasia. I chose the former, I simply couldn’t look at her adorable face and do the latter. Her surgery was on April 6, 2021.
Rehab Helps Senior Tripawd Border Collie Wisp
I researched leg amputation online and found Tripawds and signed up with username gjen. Through them I found K9 Body Shop Rehab in Arvada, Colorado. Wisp’s evaluation was on May 12, 2021. I had concerns about the positioning of her left rear leg. The therapist, Jane Macgregor PT CCRT, examined her and determined she had strained the iliopsoas or groin muscle in her left rear leg. Jane demonstrated 8 massages and manipulations to relax the groin muscle and ease the tight oblique muscles in her lower back.
I learned back and oblique muscle massage, gentle iliopsoas massage, manipulation of the left leg to shorten and relax that muscle and gentle tail-pulling as well as massage of the surgical scar to improve healing. Also I have her stand on a foam pad while pushing gently on either side, I do the same while she eats to strengthen muscles and improve balance. As a senior tripawd Border Collie, she’s limited to 10 minutes slow leash walking per day and isn’t supposed to run or jump – a challenge for any age Border Collie!
Massages are done once a day, manipulations 1-2 times a day and scar tissue massage 2-3 times a day. I’ve learned that aging people aren’t the only ones with iliopsoas strain! This has been a journey. Wisp, being a herding breed, is not always entirely cooperative so I’ve learned to be creative (and patient) as we move through this new way of life.
~ Gail and Wisp (aka: gjen)
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