Fourth laser treatment

Today's tech was Erin. I have been impressed by all the techs we've worked with at the Canine Rehabilitation Center. They have all been patient with Cai if he was weirded out by the machine. I explain the Bucket Game to them and they follow orders exactly.

Cai was sensitive about his right side being lasered, though. He must have done something to strain it since our last appointment four days ago.

Pink and purple back

The ink smeared from Cai's tail onto his back. Oops.

Purple and pink tail

I busted out the Bark Art Blow Pens again. Since Chimera won't be competing in anything any time soon, I might as well take advantage of being able to doll him up. I had wanted to give him zebra stripes, but he doesn't like the feeling of air blowing onto his body. He's more tolerant with his tail.

First trip to rehab vet

We had an appointment with Dr Yamamoto at the Canine Rehabilitation Center in Walnut Creek. We went over Chimera's history and the notes from Dr Wallace. I told her that I thought I remembered Dr Wallace saying that the iliopsoas strain was in his right leg, but I noticed while brushing him over the past few days that he was definitely more sensitive with his left leg. She felt him up and said that BOTH legs were injured. She said that his hamstrings and quads in both legs were also tight and sore. The one good thing is that both knees are fine. Oy.

She recommend cold laser therapy twice a week. She estimated treatment would take about 2 months, assuming that there is no incidence of re-injury, which is common with iliopsoas strains. We are continuing the restricted activity protocol.

The laser machine made loud beeping noises which made Cai uncomfortable. The tech, Tracy, was patient with him. I held the laser wand (turned off) and did some quick reps of rewarding for exploring it, then allowing me to touch him with it. He still was wary when Tracy took over, but by the end he was calmly standing still and looking at me for 5 seconds between treats. I should have used the bucket game but I had been so worried and rushed this morning that I'd forgotten the bowl and even my own treats!

Visiting parents

We spent Mother's Day weekend with my parents. Chimera was more active there, and ended up yelping due to his leg injury a few times. I wish one could explain to animals that they need to take it easy when they're injured.

On the bright side, I took him to a get together and he spent the evening calmly lying next to me on leash.

We also took a trip to Home Depot and he was a model citizen, walking perfectly next to my cart.

A couple more pictures of Cai on strict rest.

Have to find new positions to sleep in.

Tired of the bed?

Begging politely for raw fish.

Calm in the car.

Zzzzz

Rally-FrEe Intermediate Encore, 1st leg

After REDD's trial at Fetch Sam in March, one of the Novice entrants was eager to participate in a video event and finish up her dog's title. One other trial entrant, a brand-new beginner, and I all signed up to bring up the numbers of the event. We scheduled our joint recording session on April 22nd at ARF and had a fun time together. She did indeed get her dog's Novice title for that run!

Chimera doesn't have the Advanced level behaviors down yet, so I signed up for the Intermediate Encore class. Since I didn't care about whether we got a leg toward our Encore title (I'm just focusing on the core title track), I was able to totally relax as we went through the course. I didn't even train for the course ahead of time. As we went through, I thought that Cai was a little off-kilter since we hadn't been reviewing the signs that were on the course. However now I know that both his shoulder and his iliopsoas were giving him problems, and that's why he wasn't as responsive as usual. I believe that most of the missed/confused cues were actually because of the pain rather than lack of attention, because it's not the norm for him.

We still scored 148 and qualified. Here's the video:

Pet insurance and restricted activity update

Chimera has been adjusting better than I expected to his restricted activity. He gets bored here and there but mostly is willing to sleep the day away. He potties promptly when we go out on leash and enjoys his leash walks. We're doing some low-movement training like putting his front paws into my sandals (he manically paws at them because he's so excited to be doing something), scent articles (just indicating, no retrieve), and match to sample (he still doesn't get it).

In the meantime, Healthy Paws has come through and are counting my 3 recent payments for chiropractic adjustments toward my $500 deductible. (Or rather, they're counting 80% of those payments.) Like nearly all pet insurance companies, they don't count the exam fee toward the deductible or cover it. I'm happy that we've got the process going, as now there's no reason they shouldn't cover 80% of any upcoming laser therapy or other rehab treatments we do for his iliopsoas (after I cover the rest of the deductible). I'm happy with my decision to get pet insurance because now I don't have to worry much about the expensive rehab!