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Meet Bruno, Our October 2017 Pet of the Month. Bruno is a 9-year-old, neutered male, Boxer, who first come to see us in February of 2017. At that time, he had been having hind limb weakness issues for several months. The first thing we noticed about Bruno was his abnormal gait. He was ataxic (or uncoordinated/wobbly) in both of his HLs and was scuffing and knuckling over on his rear paws. Upon further examination, we also found neurologic deficits in both of his HLs as well. He is suspected to have Degenerative Myelopathy, which typically progresses over time.
For Bruno, we wanted to focus on strengthening his HL as well as his more and shoulder muscles. Another important goal for Bruno’s rehabilitation is to increase the nerve signals in his hind limbs. Increasing the nerve signals can help to slow down further progression of neurologic signs and may improve the strength of his reflexes over time.
Figuring out what was causing his hind limb ataxia and neurologic deficits was also an important diagnostic factor in his rehabilitation process. There are many types of injuries and disease processes that can cause or show signs of ataxia or neurological deficits.