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PET OF THE MONTH July (If you have a special story you would like to share with us about your pets, please feel free to call us at 507-524-3748 e-mail us at allpets@hickorytech.net.)
BAXTER!!! A few years ago when Neely Camp was living in Mankato she decided that she wanted a dog. She ended up with a Boxer she named Baxter. As a puppy Baxter was a little terror – he ate the couch, he ate the pillows, and he crunched on her shoes. He had lots of fun running just out of reach and stopping to look back at her, then taking off again when she tried to catch him. He was hard to potty train. Well, Neely stuck with it and now people who meet the 90 pound Baxter would never guess that he was not always Mr. Manners. He is everybody’s friend and has settled into the family life pretty well too (Neely’s husband Clint brought Gunther, a German Wirehair along when they got married and the two dogs get along fabulously). Even Neely’s Grandma stops almost every day to say hi to Baxter. About a year ago when Baxter turned six years of age, Neely and Clint started to notice that he was having a harder time standing up, especially his rear end. She started giving him aspirin which helped a little but stopped when she learned of the side effects that aspirin can have in dogs. She tried a number of over the counter joint medications. They did not get rid of his pain and besides, he does not take pills very well. About a month ago Neely brought Baxter in and we talked about his pain. He needed help moving from a sitting to a standing position. He whined in pain from his hips. And now he was starting to show signs of pain in his front end. She had read about PST therapy on our web page, and actually had an uncle who has joint pain who had done quite a bit of research into it for himself, finding out that although it is used extensively in Europe for people the FDA has not allowed it’s use for people in the USA. But it appealed to her as an option for Baxter because it does not require giving medication. PST uses electromagnetic pulses focused on the joints that stimulate the growth of new joint cells. It does not cure arthritis, but the new joint cells make the joint work better with less pain. Some dogs show pain relief immediately, some take a few weeks. Most dogs need the treatment about once per year. Baxter started the PST therapy on Monday of this week and has had two sessions per day since then (he will be done Friday morning). Today is Thursday, and when I took the pictures of him in the PST machine, Clint told me that Baxter is already jumping into the car with no help, and Neely reported that he’s not whining when he stands up. They both laughed about how Gunther suddenly can’t get away with “hit and runs” with Baxter like he’s used to. Before he left the clinic, Baxter was even trying to play with a 3 month old puppy that another client had arrived with. We are in the pain reduction business here at All Pets, and we are all happy to see Baxter’s quality of life improving with less pain. Part of our plan is to recommend PST on all dogs 6 years of age and older to delay the onset of arthritis as long as possible. A stiff older dog is not normal but instead is a dog in pain. We want all of our senior patients to feel good enough to try to play with the 3 month old puppies in the waiting room! Baxter is getting some great care from Neely and Clint, and watching him move around more freely feels so good that we think he definitely deserves to be our July Pet of the Month! Dr. Tim Klein
Our
Hours All
Pets Medicine, Surgery and Rehabilitation Clinic, PA After-Hours
Emergency
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