Sam is a beautiful 11 year old NZ huntaway. She came to me with a sore front right leg which started ~2yrs ago. She had a limp more obvious going up and down stairs. She also looked really compressed through her low back and hips, as if her bum was tucked under and back legs closer to her front legs. Sam enjoyed walks but often pulled up stiff afterwards.
Observation suggested she was not extending through her right front wrist on weight bearing when compared to the left. Basically when she put her paw on the ground her wrist was not bending (similar to if you put your hands on the ground to try and do a press up but your wrist got jammed doing it). Her low back was flexed and her hips didn’t like extending out behind her when she walked (she had a shortened stride).
Examination revealed that she had decreased hip extension and her hip flexors (psoas) were very tight, as were her gluts. In her wrist there is a little bone called the accessory carpal bone that didn’t move very well and her third and fourth metacarpal (hand bones) were also quite stiff.
Treatment was initially to gain trust with light soft tissue and articulation (movement) of the left wrist / hand, and both hips / low back. The wrist changed quite quickly and while Sam still didn’t like hip extension, her hip flexors felt softer. Sam did well as she slept a lot after her first treatment.
On follow up, Sam’s posture through her back end had improved dramatically. While she was still limping through her left front limb her owner had said it had been much better through the week and she hadn’t been as stiff after her walks. We had had four visits now and Sam is limp free. We will continue maintenance treatments on a semi-regular basis.