Busy Couple of Weeks

So it has been a little over two weeks and Gio is doing fabulous.  He is still in therapy and each time we go, they add new activities.  He is starting to really enjoy it too!

He is getting quite playful now and is really becoming good friends with his foster sister Lucy.  He still gets a bit fresh with his foster brother Beans, but we think that is because he wants to play!

This week, Gio wants to talk about his friend Sassy who is at the shelter still.  Sassy came to the shelter with a life threatening, but completely avoidable, disease called pyometra.  This is caused by an infection in the uterus, which would have been avoided had she been spayed.  Thankfully Sassy's owner surrendered her to us and Dr. Atkins was able perform an emergency spay and start her on the road to recovery.

Sassy is an 8 year old Doberman mix who is currently staying with us at the shelter to make sure she is continuing to show improvement.  She is already doing quite well, but isn't out of the woods completely.

 Sassy getting a bath before her surgery

 Sassy relaxing after her surgery...

Sassy finally had energy today!!  She enjoyed going out for three walks and even had a little pep in her step!!

Starting to play!

So after two weeks of therapy Gio is still doing quite well.  He seems to be using his leg more frequently and when he isn't using it, he doesn't carry it as high as he used to!  And we are fairly certain he has gained some weight!  He has had three sessions of rehab therapy and in the most recent session he did 10 minutes on the underwater treadmill and followed that up with 2 minutes of swimming.  Hopefully this week the big pool will be filled and he can take a real swim. 

With only two sessions remaining, another anonymous donor stepped up and purchased 5 more sessions for him!  Hopefully this will be enough to get him to a point where he is comfortable using all four legs regularly!

Today Gio enjoyed some free time outside in the leaves.  We could definitely tell he is starting to feel better, even if he still doesn't use his leg all the time.  He was running around with little branches and chasing leaves as they blew.  It was his first time in the yard without being on a leash and he seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

Feeling Good

So after last weeks' session, we were given some instructions on things to do and things to watch for.  One of the things we were to watch was how long it took to get back to "normal" for Gio.  The first session must have really taken it out of him because he was finally back to where he was before that session last night.  We would say he actually was better than before :)  He went for his usual evening walk and used all four legs almost the entire time!!  Then after his walk, he came in and ate his dinner and then wanted to play for about 30 minutes.  It was cute, he kept bring us toys and even though they were squeaky toys, he just picked them up... we think he is afraid of the squeaky sound!

Today is his second therapy session.  Our amazing volunteer trainer, Sarah, will be bringing him to therapy because his foster mommy has to work.  Hopefully Sarah will be able to snap some cute pictures of Gio at therapy.  And hopefully he gets a good progress report!  Until then, Gio will be hanging out in the Clinic office so he can stay calm and have room to walk around.  Not to mention, he has this giant comforter to sleep on!

Gio's First Therapy Session!

Gio had his first therapy session today with Bev.  It went pretty darn well.  It started with just some information gathering and suggestions of things we can do at home to help him.  Then they took measurements of his legs to see how much muscle loss he had... his weak leg is approximately 3.5 centimeters smaller than his strong one... and when you only weigh 7 lbs that is a pretty noticeable difference.  After watching him walk for a bit on solid ground, we went into the underwater treadmill!

He wasn't so sure at first, but after a little while, he really started to get into it!  It is amazing how what seems like so little can take so much out of him.  After a 3 minute block of walking on the under water treadmill, he had a little underwater massage and stretch which he seemed to enjoy.  We then went over some stretches and massage to work on at home as well.

It is going to take a bit of work, but we all have high hopes for little Gio.  As for tonight, he has basically been sleeping since we left rehab, so hopefully he won't be too sore in the morning!

Introducing Gio

Meet Gio, the 7 pound chihuahua who is currently on the road to recovery at TJO.  Gio came to us in September after having been hit by a car.  He was in pretty rough shape and due to his injury it was decided to perform an FHO to help save his leg.  Thankfully Boston Road Animal Hospital and Dr. Stambaugh were kind enough to perform the surgery for this little guy!  Many thanks to the doctors and supports staff at Boston Road for all they did for Gio and many other TJO dogs & cats.

Unfortunately, after two weeks of cage rest, Gio was still not using his injured leg.  He is now in part time foster with a staff member and is doing quite well there.  This Friday, October 29, Gio and his foster mom will be starting physical therapy at New England Canine Rehabilitation and Fitness Center in East Longmeadow.  And it turns out that Gio has more than one guardian angel out there.  After sitting in on a session of therapy to see what it was like, Gio's foster mom received a call that some kind person had donated 5 sessions to get him started!!

Stay tuned for updates following our therapy session this Friday!  We are excited to see how this works and hope that it will be just what Gio needs to keep his leg!

Interested in helping?  Consider making a donation in Gio's name.  Can't afford a donation?  Consider volunteering!!