Maggie’s Story – Stifle Birth Deformity
Stifle birth deformity, back leg amputee and shoulder dysplasia
Joined the REC family in 2024
Maggie is a gorgeous 3-year-old cross-bred who had a very tough start in life. She was abandoned at only 3 months old and was taken in by the amazing people at North Clywd Animal Rescue where her mum fell in love.
It was clear from the start that Maggie had severe back leg issues, and x-rays showed deformities in both stifles. Attempts were made to try and straighten her back right leg, but sadly this just didn’t work and the leg had to be amputated a short time later. The decision was made to not try again on the remaining back leg and Maggie was given the freedom to live her life.
Sadly things didn’t stay great for long and only 6 months later, her mum started noticing Maggie struggling, this time on her front legs. Her mum brought her to see me to see what we can do to help her, but after a full check-over, we agreed that her shoulders were not 100% comfortable. After some more x-rays, Maggie was diagnosed with bilateral shoulder dysplasia (both shoulders), hip dysplasia, and osteoarthritis in her shoulders and stifle.
In her physio assessment, we also highlighted several other focus areas, including contracted (shortened) muscles around her hips, muscle pain and muscle wastage, all limiting Maggie’s range of movement and quality of life.
We broke her treatment down into bitesize chunks, first focusing on relieving her pain. With the help of her vet, we adjusted her pain medication and started Maggie on a course of laser treatment. Her mum also started daily massages and gentle stretching to help relax her muscles and to begin the process of slowly lengthening her muscles. As Maggie improved, we started adding in exercise to build up her leg and core strength and balance to help with her overall movement.
Our original plan was just to support Maggie and keep her comfortable, but in true Maggie style she beat all our expectations and after only 9 sessions, she jumped into the car for the first time ever in her life! Now the sky is the limit, and she continues to improve every single day!
Keep up the amazing work Maggie!