Fho And Physical Therapy?

[4littleangels]

Hi all. This is my first post here (although I’ve definitely searched through this website’s forums many times before!). My little boy Mos is nearly 2 and he recently had an FHO procedure completed (3 weeks ago). His surgeon recommended physical therapy and I was wondering if any one else has had experience with PT and cats?

Mos was simultaneously diagnosed with a heart murmur that turned out to be due to hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopothy that he is currently taking atenolol for. So, I am also weary of causing unnecessary stress for him, however, I would like the best recovery as far as his FHO goes. Any wisdom would be welcomed and greatly appreciated! -Kayla

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I personally have no experience with this, but I did want to read a couple of articles about it just so I would have an appreciation of the procedure and follow up recovery. From what I read, it doesn't sound like strenuous PT is indicated - more just the goal to get Mos to use the leg through typical standard weight bearing activities - primarily walking (not running, and not range of motion exercises). And, it seems that pain meds are in order for at least 4 weeks, perhaps more if determined so by the vet.

See if this article might help you with what kind of exercise would be best for Mos (FYI - the first few paragraphs are mostly for the initial time immediately following surgery, so skip past that if you want.):

Homework for cats after FHO surgery- successful cat FHO rehabilitation

 

[1 bruce 1]

Well, the best physical therapy that's low impact and good for muscle building is swimming, but I don't think they have any PT stuff for cats that includes a water treadmill. (I'm asking, because I don't know.)
Even so with a heart murmur stress is not his or your friend. I would probably aim for moving around at a slow pace, as often as you can get him to so long as your vet says that's OK until he heals up to the point that it won't hurt him. You could also try massaging him, and maybe see if there's a vet in your area that does things like chiropractic and acupuncture to help speed his recovery.
We had a similar problem with a cat that had leg surgery and a heart problem. Later, we had a dog with the exact same issue and it's frustrating because they need the exercise to keep their muscle tone from going to pot, but they can only exercise so much because of the heart problem.
Short, slow, and as often as you can is where I would start and let him pace himself. If he wants to stop, let him stop.

 

[4littleangels]

Hi. I personally have no experience with this, but I did want to read a couple of articles about it just so I would have an appreciation of the procedure and follow up recovery. From what I read, it doesn't sound like strenuous PT is indicated - more just the goal to get Mos to use the leg through typical standard weight bearing activities - primarily walking (not running, and not range of motion exercises). And, it seems that pain meds are in order for at least 4 weeks, perhaps more if determined so by the vet.

See if this article might help you with what kind of exercise would be best for Mos (FYI - the first few paragraphs are mostly for the initial time immediately following surgery, so skip past that if you want.):

Homework for cats after FHO surgery- successful cat FHO rehabilitation

I also read that article! Super informative. The vet who did our surgery recommended ROM exercises but we were not doing them because he was up and moving around after surgery initially. We’ve been giving him pain medicine but he seems to only want to move around when I come into the room lately.

 

[4littleangels]

Well, the best physical therapy that's low impact and good for muscle building is swimming, but I don't think they have any PT stuff for cats that includes a water treadmill. (I'm asking, because I don't know.)
Even so with a heart murmur stress is not his or your friend. I would probably aim for moving around at a slow pace, as often as you can get him to so long as your vet says that's OK until he heals up to the point that it won't hurt him. You could also try massaging him, and maybe see if there's a vet in your area that does things like chiropractic and acupuncture to help speed his recovery.
We had a similar problem with a cat that had leg surgery and a heart problem. Later, we had a dog with the exact same issue and it's frustrating because they need the exercise to keep their muscle tone from going to pot, but they can only exercise so much because of the heart problem.
Short, slow, and as often as you can is where I would start and let him pace himself. If he wants to stop, let him stop.

I wasn’t able to find any information that was specific to cats for PT either. It’s difficult to decide what’s best because he was moving around really well, now he seems afraid to jump (small heights) and only seems interested in laying in his cat bed all day. His heart is still considered normal, I suppose we found out early enough to where the damage from his defect was minimal. I think you’re right though, slow and steady is best.

 

[ArchyCat]

4 4littleangels : There was an extended thread last year about the rehabilitation of a rescued black kitten, which included extensive physical rehabilitation.

If memory serves (and it may not), it did include water/swimming at one point. The kitten had impaired mobility due to his rear legs/hindquarters having neurological problems.

The thread is "Paralyzed stray kitten". The kitten is named Fenten. A rather heroic effort to help him.

 

[4littleangels]

Hi all, I wanted to update as we finally got Mos to a physical therapy consultation today and I know that it was near impossible for me to find any information on treatment. We decided to go through with it due to his resistance to moving around lately and refusal to jump up on to things. He used to jump to the highest places, and with 3 other cats, we would like for him to have the full abilities to get away from the other cats when he feels he needs some space.

Anyway, the vet recommended several different exercises to do at home and icing to reduce inflammation. I guess, either because of his heart condition or because he is a cat, there is little medication that they could prescribe for pain/inflammation that wouldn’t cause damage to his kidneys. They prescribed an Assisi loop, which from my understanding uses electromagnetic pulses externally to treat an inflamed area. They also plan on doing more extensive exercises with him, pool therapy and laser treatment (not sure exactly what the specialist called it) for pain.

She seemed to agree with my suspicion that he is afraid to jump rather than because of being in pain, which is a good thing because they are going to attempt to retrain him to use his leg properly. Hopefully he will be jumping again soon!