About six months ago, after much thought and many training session, our nursing team at the Mewes launched their mobility clinics.
Our intention was to provide free of charge support to owners of cats and dogs whose mobility was becoming impaired through advancing age, or injury.
I wanted to find out how this was helping our patients, and asked one of our clients for his feedback. This is what he wrote:
“We don’t know how old our rescue dog Crestie is, but we knew she was a middle aged dog when we adopted her. After about a year we noticed that her back legs were getting a little stiff when running, and getting down the stairs in the morning or getting in and out of the car seemed to take more effort than previously.
When we saw that The Mewes Vets was running a mobility clinic we thought it was worth learning how we could best support Crestie. We had a one-to-one session with Laura, the Head Veterinary Nurse, who provided excellent advice.
Some of it was already familiar to us, but it was learning how to perform canine massage that made the biggest impression.
Laura was so patient with both Crestie and us, she showed us how to gently manipulate Crestie’s legs, and how to use rotating massage movements up her legs and massage along her spine.
Now we massage her legs every morning at the top of the stairs. She stands very patiently and enjoys it, positioning herself to just the right place to get the full impact of the rubbing. It gets her circulation going and once warmed up she is more confident coming down and going for her walk before breakfast. She’ll often get more massage before walks later in the day too.
The nurse-led Mobility clinic is a must for anybody with an older or stiffer dog. Relaxed, informative and interactive, explaining gentle, safe treatments that owners can do at home, as well as explaining when to come back to the vets. Done on a one-to-one basis, it’s free, expert advice in a kind, supportive environment.”
