Win's recovery journey
Shih Tzu · 16 years · male
58 total sessions · 16 hydro · 18 land rehab · 17 HBOT · Feb 2025 – Feb 2026
- Cervical IVDD
- 58 visits
- Multimodal
- 16 hydro
Presentation
Win arrived tetraplegic from acute C3–C4 compression on a background of chronic IVDD — unable to walk, with a family committed to a non-surgical rehabilitation path.
Assessment
Neurological and spinal assessment mapped absent conscious proprioception in all limbs, lumbar and cervical pain, and safe loading limits. Hydrotherapy was planned only once land pain management stabilised daily comfort.
Rehabilitation plan
Sixteen hydrotherapy sessions alongside eighteen rehabilitation and seventeen HBOT visits — supported underwater treadmill with carefully controlled water depth, practising weight-bearing steps with buoyancy while a therapist managed belt speed in real time.
Progress
Willingness to attempt steps returned first; reflex clarity and home mobility improved over a long multimodal plan spanning more than a year of clinic visits.
Outcome
A gentler day-to-day life at home — not a cure narrative, but meaningful movement regained without surgery on a guarded grade 5 presentation.
Individual results vary by diagnosis, age, and home adherence. This case summary is drawn from RehabVet clinic records with owner consent to publish the pet's name — it is illustrative, not a guarantee of outcome.