FENELLA Grigsby DC MMCA MHFS, animal McTimoney manipulator, has been involved with animals all her life and is now practising in New Zealand. She has worked with a broad range of smaller animals ranging from those in training for Crufts national champion show, agility dogs and greyhounds, to household friends.
Additionally, she has ridden from an early age and has worked with a large number of horses, from ponies to international competition horses. She regularly competes in dressage, show jumping and horse trials. She has also had experience with racehorses in the UK, where she worked for national hunt trainers, Richard Phillips and Susan Nock, and has also had success in treating cats.
Fenella graduated from the McTimoney College, UK, after studying for five years. During this time she trained with an animal physiotherapist for three years. She is currently studying for an MSc in animal chiropractic at RMIT University in Melbourne.
Currently the Grigsby's have two English pointers that they brought with them from the UK when they transferred last July. The older girl, Saightonlane Kyle, has recently been mated with Stonebridgeless Shaka, owned by Jenny Hamilton (pointer club president) from Christchurch and Fenella hopes to compete with the younger bitch, Duncarreg Emily Little.
What is sports therapy?
The concept of treatment and rehabilitation following athletics injury is an accepted part of human sport medicine. The same principles can be applied to animal sports medicine.
A combination of manipulative and rehabilitation techniques can be used to formulate a gentle and effective therapy regime. The aim is to restore your animal to its peak performance, although prevention is the best protection and maintenance treatments are always available.
Reasons for referral include:
Uncharacteristic changes in temperament, behaviour or performance
Irregular or odd action
Assymetry, such as stiffness when moving in a circle
Uneven muscle development or atrophy
Tail problems, e.g. holding tail to one side or not freely wagging tail
Difficulty jumping up or down
Difficulty using stairs or steps
Other problems that may be helped are urinary or faecal problems, and gait abnormalities
Manipulative therapy
Like people, animals suffer from back, neck, pelvic and musculoskeletal problems and like us, they can benefit from manipulative treatment. The McTimoney manipulation technique involves precise and rapid adjustments to correct misaligned joints and reduce muscle spasm. A correctly balanced and aligned musculoskeletal system is essential for optimal health, soundness and performance.
A series of stretches and massage techniques is also used before and after exercise to maximise the efficiency of the musculoskeletal system thus optimising the benefits of each training and rehabilitation session.
Case studies
A three-and-a-half-year-old English pointer, Polly, suddenly found the movements needed to go up the stairs to her owners flat very painful, yelping out at each step. She had a few days earlier been playing quite roughly with another dog, where they had been rolling over and tackling each other (as dogs do). She had treatment to her pelvis and lumbar region. As the injury was quite recent, treatment had a really positive effect. She has a treatment every so often now to 'check' the musculoskeletal system after over-exuberant play or long, hard runs.
A young sheepdog called Bess had caught her hind leg in some wire when jumping over a fence. She was a very timid little dog, who had possibly been harshly treated during training. She had a twisted pelvis and problems in her lumbar region, which were put right in three sessions. She was very sweet and gave her practitioner a lick at the end to say thank you very much. Dogs tend to be very expressive in their post-treatment behaviour.
Rehabilitation
A series of remedial exercises are used to overcome any compensation mechanisms that may have developed and to re-educate the dog, horse or cat in terms of the correct and most athletic movement.
All rehabilitation programmes are formulated specifically for the individual case and are designed to be progressive with the animal's return home.
By liaising with trainers, vets and dentists the aim is to address the cause of the problem, not just treat the symptoms, and restore your animal to its peak performance.
Treatments are available on most weekdays. Call-out visits are NZ Nationwide: Dogs $30, Horses $70. It is a good idea to arrange a group of four or more dogs for when Fenella visits.
For more details contact Fenella Grigsby, 15 Walden Street, Strathmore, Wellington NZ. Phone:(04) 388-5895, Mob: (021) 157-3723, E-mail: grigsbyn@xtra.co.nz
