{"id":6092,"date":"2022-02-18T08:35:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T13:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=6092"},"modified":"2022-04-06T14:46:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T19:46:57","slug":"vet-rehab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/vet-rehab\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterinary Specialists Help Furry Patients Get Back on their Paws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Service treats dogs\u2014and some other critters\u2014from around the Northeast and beyond<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Beth Saulnier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nikki in the treadmill tank. (Photo provided)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Nikki Caterson will work for Cheerios. It\u2019s a good thing, too\u2014because the toddler-friendly cereal bits are powering Nikki\u2019s rehab treatment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a Thursday morning in mid-January, and the 13-year-old mixed-breed dog is at the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Companion Animal Hospital<\/a> for a session of hydrotherapy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As veterinary technician Olivia Peck tempts her forward with the little circular treats, the sweet-tempered, gray-muzzled canine is gamely plodding along on a special treadmill housed inside a water tank.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The buoyancy makes walking easier, while the added resistance helps her build up strength. \u201cShe did really well today,\u201d Peck says later, as Nikki is being gently toweled off. \u201cShe\u2019ll usually let me know when she\u2019s tired, and I’ll shorten her last interval\u2014but she wasn\u2019t showing any of the signs, so I had her go the extra two minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikki has been patient at CVM\u2019s Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Service<\/a> since summer 2015\u2014when her owner, computer security specialist Catherine Caterson, woke up one morning to find her beloved pet\u2019s back limbs paralyzed, the result of spinal degeneration that had led to three ruptured discs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After consulting her local vet, she brought Nikki from their home in Pennsylvania to Cornell for surgery; by the time they arrived in Ithaca, Caterson says, the dog had lost the ability to feel what\u2019s known as \u201cdeep pain,\u201d a measure that helps doctors assess the potential for recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose dogs have about a 20% chance of walking again,\u201d Caterson observes. \u201cSo the fact that Sports Med was able to get her functional is a slight miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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