So, here's the story.
Our male dog (Nico) was playing fetch with our female (What). He has a typical male ego, always has to at least try to win. So I threw the ball and he planted wrong on his right hind leg. We could tell that he had injured himself (a small yelp and minor limp). Took him to the first vet (our regular) and they diagnosed achilles tendon pull and prescribed restricted activity and anti-inflammatories. No problem.
My wife (who treats her dogs as children, way over the top when there is potential sickness or injury) takes him to a "sports vet" this morning. When she comes home she is in tears. This vet states that he has a grad 2 (grades 1 through 3) tendon strain and a calf muscle tear. The treatment directions were to completely restrict his movement until told otherwise (no leash walking, no stairs, no jumping, no playing). Heat packs 3 times a day along with manipulations of the toes and lower foot (ankle area in humans). She also sold her a tPEMF device for $300 to accelerate healing. The diagnosis was based on physical examination and x-ray. These are both soft tissue injuries. We have been instructed to make return visits every week.
Of course, the skeptic in me immediately said something is amiss. Soft tissue injury diagnosed by x-ray? Reg flag #1. I then went to her website. She is a DVM but also states she has a PhD but it does not state what it is in. A little investigation turns up that the PhD is for study of fruit flies. Red flag #2. Her web site treatment modalities apart from standard accepted medical care include the following: chiropractic, traditional chinese vet medicine (TCVM which includes "we will examine the animal’s tongue and feel their pulse quality" and "diagnoses to describe how the body is out of balance"), acupuncture, chinese herbal therapy and cold laser therapy. Reg flag #3. The tPEMF (targeted pulsed electro-magnetic field) is a conductive ring with a disposable battery pack. I don't have much personal knowledge of this device but can find no documentation of trials documenting its efficacy in soft tissue injury. Red flag #4. One more bit of info, on his leash walk the last two days Nico has been pulling hard enough to take my 130lb wife off her feet.
After blowing my top we contacted a third vet affiliated with a vet teaching hospital in KS for a third opinion. That will take place later this week. If anyone is interested I'll relay that diagnosis and treatment recommendation.
Our male dog (Nico) was playing fetch with our female (What). He has a typical male ego, always has to at least try to win. So I threw the ball and he planted wrong on his right hind leg. We could tell that he had injured himself (a small yelp and minor limp). Took him to the first vet (our regular) and they diagnosed achilles tendon pull and prescribed restricted activity and anti-inflammatories. No problem.
My wife (who treats her dogs as children, way over the top when there is potential sickness or injury) takes him to a "sports vet" this morning. When she comes home she is in tears. This vet states that he has a grad 2 (grades 1 through 3) tendon strain and a calf muscle tear. The treatment directions were to completely restrict his movement until told otherwise (no leash walking, no stairs, no jumping, no playing). Heat packs 3 times a day along with manipulations of the toes and lower foot (ankle area in humans). She also sold her a tPEMF device for $300 to accelerate healing. The diagnosis was based on physical examination and x-ray. These are both soft tissue injuries. We have been instructed to make return visits every week.
Of course, the skeptic in me immediately said something is amiss. Soft tissue injury diagnosed by x-ray? Reg flag #1. I then went to her website. She is a DVM but also states she has a PhD but it does not state what it is in. A little investigation turns up that the PhD is for study of fruit flies. Red flag #2. Her web site treatment modalities apart from standard accepted medical care include the following: chiropractic, traditional chinese vet medicine (TCVM which includes "we will examine the animal’s tongue and feel their pulse quality" and "diagnoses to describe how the body is out of balance"), acupuncture, chinese herbal therapy and cold laser therapy. Reg flag #3. The tPEMF (targeted pulsed electro-magnetic field) is a conductive ring with a disposable battery pack. I don't have much personal knowledge of this device but can find no documentation of trials documenting its efficacy in soft tissue injury. Red flag #4. One more bit of info, on his leash walk the last two days Nico has been pulling hard enough to take my 130lb wife off her feet.
After blowing my top we contacted a third vet affiliated with a vet teaching hospital in KS for a third opinion. That will take place later this week. If anyone is interested I'll relay that diagnosis and treatment recommendation.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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