Getting Pancake back on her paws
Leggy greyhound Pancake was brought to us by another rehoming charity in March 2020. She was a happy, healthy dog and just needed someone to give her a loving new home. But first, she needed some specialist care.
While we started searching for a new owner, Pancake was cared for by one of our staff fosterers, Cheyenne. Pancake had a few skin sores quite typical of greyhounds. Cheyenne treated them carefully with warm salt water at home. Pancake had also lost a little bit of hair on her back legs from rubbing on her kennel whilst at Woodgreen, which had become a bit sore. But this was easily treatable with skin supplements so there was no need for her to come out of foster care.
Four months and one Covid lockdown later, we were still searching for an owner for Pancake. Around this time, she started showing some concerning behaviour. She was constantly trying to stretch her legs and seemed to be in pain. After a thorough check at Woodgreen everything seemed ok, but our vets asked Cheyenne to keep an eye on her.
Six weeks later, our vets found Pancake was showing some small signs of being lame. They prescribed some anti-inflammatory pain killers and did an x-ray but still couldn’t find anything wrong.
Another month or so went by and we were concerned Pancake was continuing to have problems with her legs. By this time, she’d come back to Woodgreen, as she had become frustrated and reactive towards other dogs, likely caused by her pain. This made it very difficult for her fosterer to take her on walks. Her frustration also made her very tense, which was causing her muscles to tighten and hurt even more. Our team was determined to get to the bottom of the problem once and for all.
We arranged a physiotherapy assessment with our veterinary nurse, Lucy, and found Pancake had a contraction, or shortening, of some muscles in her back legs. We were pleased to have finally pinpointed what was causing the tightness and pain in her legs. We then immediately started physiotherapy and kept her treatment as gentle as possible. This care included regular therapeutic ultrasound therapy, which uses heat to heal muscles – plus the odd treat!
The physiotherapy was a game changer. She eventually got used to the therapy and started to relax. We also put together a behaviour plan for her, which worked really well. And we gradually reintroduced her to other dogs safely. She started to let off steam and frustration and get her tight muscles moving again. In just 13 weeks, Pancake made amazing progress. She seemed like a totally different dog and was finally ready for rehoming!
We found her perfect human
After 14 months of caring for Pancake at Woodgreen, we’re delighted to say we found her the loving home she deserves. Her new owner, Linda, told us: “Pancake has settled well and enjoys playing with her soft toys and our shoes. She still has her quirks and barks and cries when she sees other small animals. But she has made herself at home and we couldn’t be happier”.
Give dogs like Pancake a new home by adopting a dog or fostering a dog with Woodgreen today.