Exotic Animals

We offer more than just canine physical therapy…

RINNY

… a tapir with hind leg lameness.

Rinny’s symptom of lameness began when she was pregnant. After a full evaluation, Tammy discovered that her lameness was due to a spinal dysfunction affecting the nerves to her hind legs. Tammy was able to utilize her own Wolfe Kinetic Technique to decompress Rinny’s spine and integrate the proper hind leg biomechanics.

Castor

… a 20 year old Komodo dragon with severe arthritis in his spine, pelvis and hind limbs.

Castor was dragging his right hind limb behind him and wasn’t moving around much except to eat his meals and take his medicine. Tammy was able to work with him using her Wolfe Kinetic Technique and taught the staff to do additional treatment between physical therapy appointments. Within a few weeks, Castor was back to using all four limbs to walk and explore all around his exhibit and is even running again!

ALMASI

… an okapi with a lumbar spine and pelvis injury along with a left luxating patella.

She needed therapy to regain full function of her hind legs as well as re-learn the proper movement patterns to return back to her normal function and activity level. This will help her greatly during the end stages of her pregnancy and when she becomes a mother.

Ronk

… a Chilean Flamingo with lateral instability in his right leg.

He needed a brace to support him before and after surgery and he needed to be taught how to walk, stand up, lie down, and move around independently while in the temporary brace.

Booshay

… a Bactrian Camel with muscular fibrosis.

She had pain in her right quadriceps and adductor muscles and was seen for physical therapy to alleviate pain, which allowed her to walk and move around normally and return to her regular activities.

Gidget

… a female Sea Lion with pain in her hips and left shoulder.

She was seen for physical therapy to alleviate pain and allow her to swim, walk and return to playing with her friends and perform as she did in her younger days.

Cyrano

… a Coati was dragging his hind legs and having pain in his back.

Tammy has been able to alleviate his pain and show the caretakers how to do exercises with him so that he can walk normally and return to playing, like he used to be able to do.

Dang

… a Mongoose, injured his pelvis and hind legs.

Tammy was able to re-align his pelvis and do manual therapy and dry needling to the legs to get him back to playing with the pack again.

Monty

… a Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, had a tendon injury on his leg.

Tammy was able to work with him and then teach the Denver Zoo staff how to continue his daily therapy to get him back to walking more normally.

Layla

… a female Gerenuk Antelope with left fore limb lameness.

Tammy was able to give her physical therapy treatments to help resolve a painful neck issue that was causing pain to radiate into her leg so that Layla could walk and stand normally again.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Logan

Woody

… a Gerenuk antelope, (Layla’s partner) who fell and injured his right hind leg tendons.

Woody had swelling and pain and was limping on the right hind leg. With modalities and massage applied daily by the staff and visits from Tammy, the tendon healed quickly and he was back to walking without a limp in just a couple of weeks.

Nigel

… a 3-legged African wild dog.

Nigel, an African wild dog, underwent a right hind limb amputation at 6 months of age. Nigel was born with severe hip dysplasia that eventually resulted in the removal of the limb. Following the amputation, he experienced a spinal infarct at L3 causing neurological deficits and weakness in the left hind limb. Therapy has consisted of neuromuscular re-education techniques and strengthening of the left hind limb to allow Nigel to be more functional.

Angelo

… a Panepinto Micro Pig.

Tammy saw Angelo for arthritis of the hips and back.

Artemis

… a Harrier Hawk was lame and weak in the right leg.

Artemis was suffering from tendonitis in the right leg and wouldn’t put full weight on it. This caused skin breakdown on the left leg too. Tammy was able to work with the staff to treat the pain in the right leg. Then the staff was able to follow through with a daily strengthening program so that Artemis could again walk and stand with even weight on both legs. Her skin healed and became healthy again too.

Fred

… is an older kudu antelope that presented with right hind limb lameness.

Tammy was able to do her Wolfe Kinetic Technique with Fred and the staff was able to do massage to the affected areas to get Fred back on his feet and moving well again.

Polo

…a male emu with a dislocated left hip.

Polo, a male emu, dislocated his left hip and the zoo called on Tammy to work with him to get him walking better and less painful.

Kira

… an Arabian camel with arthritis.

Kira, an Arabian camel, has arthritis and experiences difficulty getting up from lying and walking, especially first thing after a rest. Tammy was able to perform manual therapy to alleviate pain and muscle spasms and allow her to move much more easily and normally. She was able to train the zoo staff in techniques to help maintain Kira’s high quality of life and mobility.

Padme

… a Bactrian camel, with severe neck pain.

Padme, a Bactrian camel, was having severe neck pain and was unable to get to her food without kneeling. The veterinarian contacted Tammy. She was able to alleviate the pain in Padme’s neck that kept her from eating normally and the zoo staff was able to do daily treatments to keep Padme in top condition.