Saturday 29 September 2012

Meet Tasha...


Meet Tasha. This beautiful nine year old Rottweiler and I first met in July 2012 after a phone call from her mum seeking some help for her.

Tasha was recovering from the removal of her left front leg in May due to cancer and was having difficulty maintaining her balance. She also needed help with her hind quarters as in recent years she had TPLO surgeries on both her back legs and was very stiff in her gait. She also suffers with some arthritis.

When I first met Tasha at her home, her balance was so unsteady that when she came to greet me, she kept falling down on her chin, which scared her greatly. With clearance given by her oncologist to proceed with weekly massage, I started on the road to help her regain her balance, proprioception and ease the tightness in her hind quarters.

On the fourth visit to Tasha, it was a delight to see her come running down her yard to greet me, the massage and propriocetion exercises had helped to give her full confidence in balancing on her three legs. To our surprise last week, she is now confident enough to jump up on her hind legs to greet us, though her owner discourages this mischievous behaviour.

Unfortunately, Tasha has not been without setbacks since I have been seeing her. In late August she suffered a reaction after having a chemotherapy treatment which left her unable to move her legs properly. Her owner decided to take her back to her orthopaedic specialist for a check up. He was unsure of what caused the reaction but recommended she maintain her weekly massages as he could see the improvement with her.

Tasha is due to have her final chemotherapy treatment in October and we all hope for a positive outcome for this beautiful lady.

I will continue Tasha’s weekly massage sessions, helping to strengthen her muscles and introduce new challenges for her as she gains more confidence with herself.

Sadly, Tasha lost her brave battle and crossed The Rainbow Bridge on 17th June 2013.