Adelaide Canine Rehabilitation Centre
New Approaches to Canine Care & Pain Management
Grand Opening on Channel 7 News
As Seen On TV’s Totally Wild Show
Rehabilitation treatment involves a multi-modal approach to maintain muscle mass, improve coordination & balance, as well as reduce pain & improve your pet’s quality of life post-surgery or in their later years. The world of regenerative & rehabilitation sports medicine is an ever evolving one and our team’s approach is based upon the University of Tennessee’s cutting edge Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner postgraduate programme.
Our Rehabilitation Team
Dr Chris Lee studied at University of Tennessee and is a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner (CCRP) and practises from our new Adelaide Canine Rehabilitation Centre located at Pet Universe Veterinary Centre Northgate.We also have one of our nurses who will qualify by the end of 2019 as a CCRP from University of Tennessee as well as a qualified Canine Myofunctional Therapy Practitioner on our team who has qualified at the National College of Traditional Medicine.
Results from Rehabilitation Therapy
• Increases function & survivability 5 times longer with degenerative myelopathy vs no rehabilitation
• Post cruciate repair prevents up to 40% of muscle loss on operated leg vs no rehabilitation
• By maintaining muscle mass, range of movement, pain control & balance, we expect post-surgical patients
to return to function 2-3 time faster with rehab compared to no rehabilitation
• In some cases able to remove use of NSAIDs completely & maintain comfortable quality of life.
• Maintenance rehab can protect against future disease & maintain quality of life as painlessly as possible
Pets Who May Benefit Are Those With
• Cruciate, knee surgery & other orthopaedic repairs
• Agility & working dogs for body conditioning
• Arthritis (acute & chronic)
• Neurological issues
• Obesity
New Regenerative Therapies
Pet Universe is proud to offer, in addition to using the Medivet Adipose SC therapy
• PRP (protein-rich platelets)
• New-Ex-Cell enriched growth factors
• Bone marrow aspirate concentrate
• Hyaluronic joint injections
Rehabilitation Modalities
• Cryotherapy
• Therapeutic laser
• Electrical stimulation & TENS
• Myofascial massage
• Canine treadmill
• Other physical techniques
• Home care programmes
Post orthopaedic recovery can be greatly improved by receiving regular rehabilitation in the days and weeks immediately proceeding surgery so we are now able to offer post surgery rehabilitation treatments as packages of five sessions.
For further information please contact us on 8369 3111.
Recent Case Studies
Portia’s Story – an amazing case for a wonderful dog!
Portia is a 15 year old Labrador and one of our much loved patient at Pet Universe.
Portia has a history of spinal pain with hip and hock osteoarthritis since 2017 which was treated successfully with acupuncture and rehab but in June 2018, Portia developed significant hindleg muscle loss and ataxia (wobbliness of her hindlegs) with weakness and loss if simple nerve reflexes on her hind legs consistent with degenerative myelopathy.
By November2018, she was having trouble standing up from a sitting position and was no longer able to get up stairs. Portia was on our complete care health plan and early kidney disease was detected on our screening test. She was treated for this with vitamin d therapy, diet and her kidney function returned to normal and has not deteriorated since. We also started PRP (platelet rich plasma) therapy as well as pain killers and electrical stimulation which treated her symptoms of osteoarthritis but her neurological deterioration slowly progressed.
By February 2019 Portia was shaking on her hindlegs when standing and started having difficulty rising from a sitting position. She was treated with acupuncture, estim and now laser was added which helped kept her mobile
By early June she was unable to stand from a sitting position without help and was crossing her hindlegs when she turns and occasionally falls over. She was also dragging her paws during her walks and was bleeding profusely so she had to have doggy shoes on her hindlegs. This was getting to the end of the line for Portia but her family decided to try another type of regenerative medicine as the last resort. Portia was placed on a strict rehab program before and after regenerative therapy which was performed in mid June.
In mid July2019, Portia’s rehab review found a 1 cm thigh girth increase and she was walking with only occasional scraping on the floor, able to stand from sitting position consistently and was no longer crossing her hindlegs on turning and falling. Her rehab program includes laser and electrical stimulation as well as home exercise program.
Currently in October 2019 and she goes for 40 minute slow walks most days and has a ball thrown for her in the park where she runs and chases it a few times. Her paws rarely scrapes on the ground when she walks and she has a great attitude and love for life! See video in the park sent by her family. I love the results of multimodal therapy of conventional medicine, alternative therapy, regenerative medicine and rehabilitation to produce amazing results previously thought untreatable diseases.
Dr Christopher Lee Bvsc (hons), IVAS, CCRP
Pickle’s Story
Pickles is an arthritic 13.5 year old German Shepherd cross
Pickles was a rescued dog who found a great home and has lots of personality. He is very forward in letting people know if he is unimpressed! Being a GSD Pickles was born with elbow dysplasia and developed osteoarthritis early. He was treated with Medivet’s SC therapy in 2012 and responded very well to therapy. He probably has some kelpie in him and an extremely athletic dog who broke both his cruciate ligaments in 2014. Pickles had repairs to his cruciate but also managed to break them before healing but eventually we were successful in repairing his cruciates. This was augmented with another regenerative medicine treatment and once again Pickles responded well. Of course, bad elbows and knees did not deter Pickles love for life and he developed a compressed L1/2 disc in his spine in 2018 along with severe collapse of his stifle joints. Pickles has had a fantastic active life despite his issues and is still sharp as a tack today but it was catching up with him mid 2018 and he was struggling.
So what can we do for Pickles? We started rehab! Pickles had advanced joint injections with artificial joint fluid, pain killers and anti-inflammatory as there was no joint cartilage left to save so stem cells had done its dash to get us this far already. He started underwater treadmill therapy and his weight dropped and his thigh muscle girth gained an extra 3 cm! By October 2018, Pickles was able to jump into the car by himself and was playing ball. His mum said he was doing puppy like behaviour again and was able to play on the beach which he couldn’t do for years! Pickles is a regular on our hydrotherapy days! By the way, he still is happy to let you know he is not impressed and believes he is top dog still so please be careful if you meet him!
