Jaco the Samoyed
by Linda Gould

When I entered the boarding kennel where Jaco was staying, he barely lifted his head from the thick pile of blankets he was laying on in the far corner to acknowledge me. His owner had called me the evening before and told me that the just turned 12-year old Samoyed was having “stability issues” with his hind end and asked that I visit him at the kennels while she was on holiday to see if I could do anything to stimulate the muscles to provide more support. She was concerned that if he continued to decline, she would face a difficult decision very soon.

Though lethargic and clearly not comfortable despite his thick bed, Jaco was friendly and showed a bit more interest as I approached him and he raised his head to sniff at my hands. When Sonia, an animal massage skeptic and the owner of the boarding kennels, joined us, she explained her and Jaco’s daily routine as I gently began working on the extraordinarily tight muscles at the base of his skull and around his jaws. I quickly learned he was in worse condition than I had been lead to believe. She told me that Jaco was diabetic and she had to give him insulin shots at regular times before he was allowed to eat. His meals consisted of smooth pâté-like food mixed and yogurt basically smeared into the top of his mouth with a spatula as he could not open his jaws or chew well.

Several times per day Jaco was taken out to “do his business” while wearing a harness which was used to hold him up and support him while walking as well as when squatting to prevent him from falling back into the “business” he had just completed. He would walk the short path to the dog play field slowly, often stopping to balance himself or trying to remember where he was heading to. He also had a tendency to place his hind foot incorrectly; knuckling over and walking on the top of the foot before resetting it in the correct position. While other dogs would energetically bark at those having their turn into the dog field, Jaco would spend most of his days quietly resting in the corner of his kennel, or “singing” to himself. Sonia told me she always made sure he had enough blankets to be comfortable laying on the ground, but not too many as to cause him to trip when returning from his duties as he could not lift his hind legs high enough to step over anything more than an inch or so high.

I was listening to this play-by-play while continuing to work on Jaco’s head and neck. Suddenly Sonia stopped talking and stared at Jaco. The change was so abrupt it made me worry that something had happened that my hands had not noticed. Then Sonia smiled widely and exclaimed, “My goodness! His eyes are the same size now!” Sure enough, the release of tension and pain at the base of Jaco’s skull was already showing benefits, and it was just the beginning of what massage would do for him. On top of that, the self-proclaimed animal massage skeptic had been converted and became one of my strongest supporters.

I continued to work with Jaco regularly until, at 13 ½ years old, he moved to Canada. During that time he went from requiring the harness for nearly constant support when standing and moving to wearing only a collar and actually trotting up and down hills around his home unassisted to greet me for his bi-weekly massage. Gone were the days of knuckling over or worrying that his legs would fail him and he would stumble backwards into his own “business”. On the contrary, his 10-minute morning and evening toddles had now been increased to three true 30-minute walks! He was still fed his meals using a spatula but, considering how quickly and easily he took and devoured the treats I offered him, this was probably more down to the taste of the “special” diabetic food than the previous tension in his jaws. The last I heard, Jaco’s owner had found a new animal massage therapist in their area in Canada and he was still going strong…at 15!

Archie the PBGV
by Linda Gould

I have another great tale, of a Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen (or PBGV) dog named Archie with severe epilepsy who was having 1-2 minute seizures 2-3 times per week and was getting “doggy valium” suppositories to break him out of them.

It actually started as an experiment by the same boarding kennels owner mentioned in the first case study. She wanted to see if I could relax him when he first came into the kennels, if it would keep him from having a seizure while he was there (which also helped HER stress level). Sure enough it worked. I started massaging him regularly, I showed the owner some acupressure points to use when she saw a seizure coming on as well as techniques to keep him from tightening up, and Sonia called me for a “tune up” whenever Archie came to see her. It worked like a dream. With massage his seizures were reduced to once every 4-6 months and even then they were so brief that by the time the owner got up off the couch to calm him, the seizure was over.

One really funny thing was when I first worked on him at his home, the owner told me that during a seizure Archie would open his mouth completely and it would almost “freeze” that way during the entire seizure. So of course I worked on the TMJ to release accumulated stress there. Archie responded by gently mouthing my arm. Then he got this look on his face almost as if to say, “Hang on a minute!”, as if he realized it didn’t hurt to use his jaws anymore. He mouthed my arm a little harder, then a little harder, then a little HARDER until I had to ask the owner for a chew bone of some type since he was now using my arm as one (and I needed it to continue the massage!). The owner came back with a dental bone, but told me Archie didn’t really chew on them, that he basically just broke big pieces off and swallowed them whole. Not anymore! He spent almost the entire hour chewing on his bone, playing with it, tossing it in the air and chasing after it. It was wonderful – despite the tooth imprints he’d left in my arm!

Case Study: Gus the cat

Gus is a 5 year old domestic shorthair feline. He was rescued as a kitten and cared for at a veterinary clinic following an abusive incident. The story, told to Gus’s owner, Aileen, was that he was thrown against a car. This act shattered the growth plates near his left shoulder joint. As a result, surgery was required to remove a portion of his front left leg, leaving it half the length of his right front.

Imagine what his gait is like. As he uses all four limbs, he has to crouch to the ground to use his shorter leg for support. Subsequently, his left front leg hits the floor with harder impact than normal, and his right front leg circles around as if he’s doing a dog paddle swim stroke. Imagine yourself as a four-legged creature doing this for most of your life – every step you take. How will it affect the rest of your body? Sprinkle in some arthritic pain and how do you feel?

Overall, Gus seemed fine during his first year in Aileen’s care and made the necessary adjustments to the surgery. Then she noticed troubles with his mobility and increasing swelling in all joints. She consulted with a doctor at Hope Veterinary Clinic. DIAGNOSIS: Severe osteoarthritis, naturally occurring arthrodesis, osteophytes, cartilaginous erosion, etc. bilaterally. She was referred to me for massage.

Gus’s first massage was on March 10, 2006. For 2 months, our appointments were weekly. As Gus got back on his paws and showed signs of improved mobility, we met every 2 weeks for a couple months. As he continued to get better, our sessions became monthly. These days we get together approximately every 5 to 6 weeks. In the rare occurrence that he starts to have some difficulty, we increase the frequency of the sessions, but usually for only a couple sessions as he recovers quickly.

What happens at each session? I arrive at the Brownstone dwelling and ring Aileen’s doorbell. 90% of the time, Gus reacts to the doorbell and is hiding under the bed by the time we enter the apartment. I’m getting into massage position while Aileen is cat fishing under the bed.

Sometimes Gus is an easy catch. Sometimes not. Aileen extricates Gus and sets him down in front of me on his bed. He plays games of struggle with Aileen as she does this (claws grasping the sweater is a favorite), but as soon as I place my hands on him, it’s as if a switch goes on in his head, his body goes limp and his eyes seem to say, “Oh, yes. This. I’m ready now.” The kittie masseur begins his work. This scene has been performed for 4 years.

Gus gets a full body massage using Swedish massage techniques that are incorporated into the method taught at Bancroft. I give special consideration to his left front leg and shoulder. To help keep his joints flexible, especially those in his front legs, I will put him through some passive range of motion exercises; passive because I, the helper, am creating the motion while Gus remains passive.

After my graduation from the Tallgrass program, stimulation of appropriate acupressure points was incorporated into the sessions. I used these points to focus primarily on keeping Gus’s arthritis at bay. (FYI, I highly recommend the Bancroft and Tallgrass programs to anyone interested in entering this field.)

I occasionally try new techniques or use standard techniques in new ways, always observing to see if he responds favorably. (I first test these out on my two domestic shorthair brothers and they give me their approval ratings.)

How is Gus now? Gus improved quickly. Positive updates were reported by Aileen regularly, even after our first session. His progress continued and his condition never regressed to the severity of its early days. He quickly gained strength in his right front leg and was able to support himself more easily. There were also behavioral improvements. Gus had been somewhat timid and tense and became more relaxed and sure of himself, especially when jumping to the window to watch his favorite bird.

What contributes to the success of this case is Gus’s cooperation during our sessions. He really grooves on his massages. He’s relaxed. He’s receptive to what I’m doing. From my observations, animals who maintain this non-resistant state during the bodywork have an increased capacity to recover and improve with greater ease and speed. If I’m on the massage table, I will have a much more healing experience if I’m not squirming around and struggling with the massage therapist who is working on my body.

Also, Gus lives in a happy environment with his 2 female and 3 male feline companions. They all come from different backgrounds and they are all best of friends. That alone is going to make for more stress-free, happy, healthy kitties.

I can say with certainty that if we were not having these sessions for the last 4 years, Gus would have a VERY different quality of life today. No, I have not grown the leg back to normal length through my bodywork. (I tried. Growing Limbs wasn’t taught at Bancroft.) He has exhibited the textbook benefits of massage that you can find listed in any training manual or on hundreds of websites: improved circulation, alleviation of pain, reduced stress and decreased anxiety, enhanced immunity, greater joint flexibility, relief of muscle stiffness and tension, reduction of muscle spasms, etc.

My overall intention with this work is to make our animal friends as COMFORTABLE as possible. We may not be able to grow limbs, but we can support their natural capacity to adjust to their circumstances and make the best of them. As Walt Whitman said about animals in Leaves of Grass, 1855, “They do not sweat and whine about their condition.”

I’ll reveal a hidden agenda for choosing a cat for this case study. In the 6 or 7 years that this field has burgeoned, I find a greater interest among massage and related practitioners to work on dogs and horses, and cats are too often considered unappreciators of massage. They are too aloof or too fidgety to work on. My experience indicates the opposite. Cats benefit from massage as much as dogs or horses and can be very accepting of this work. Maybe it helps that I am a cat enthusiast and find it easy to relate to them.

Testimonial from Gus’s owner, Aileen:
“Lon has done amazing work with Gus and has given him a life he would not have otherwise had. The arthritis was making it nearly impossible for Gus to walk or jump and his condition was deteriorating rapidly prior to Lon’s treatment. Gus is now without any signs of illness and a very happy—and determined—cat.”