Meet Ronnie - the rescued American bulldog whose underwater treadmill saved his life
A Welsh veterinary hospital took pity on a four-month-old puppy brought in to them with a rare condition caused by undernourishment and nursed him back to health
Rescued American Bulldog Ronnie has been nursed back to health with a health regime to make a pampered celebrity jealous.
The adorable pet has had regular underwater treadmill training, acupuncture and heat pad therapy that has saved his life.
Ronnie was barely able to walk when he was brought into a Cardiff veterinary hospital as a four-month-old puppy.
His front-leg tendons had failed to grow properly because he had been wrongly fed and Ronnie crawled on his paws in constant pain.
With his belly riddled with worms and his body painfully thin, Ronnie might well have not survived.
But staff at Croeso Veterinary Hospital fell in love with caramel and white-coloured puppy and ruled out putting him down.
They set about trying to help Ronnie survive his rare condition – called Carpal Flexural Limb Deformity – using every trick in the trade.
“He looked totally sad. He would just look at us as if to say ‘help me,’” said director at Croeso Veterinary Hospital Penny Francais.
“We thought he would never come back from this, but look at him now.”
Working together with the SMART Veterinary Clinic, Croeso Veterinary Hospital put Ronnie in blue-coloured splints to support his walking and started him on a complex rehabilitation programme designed to stretch out his tendons and strengthen the front legs.
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Meet Ronnie - the rescued American bulldog whose underwater treadmill saved his life
During his weekly physiotherapy sessions, he begins the mini workout with a series of deep yoga-like stretches, helped by SMART vet Tamsin O’Brien and ACPAD physio Magda King.
Ronnie is then strapped up in a fetching orange-coloured life jacket and placed on an underwater treadmill that takes the weight and pressure off his legs as he canters along in aquatic freedom.
Finally the American Bulldog is given a cool-down from his workout, with a 20 minute session of acupuncture designed to relax his muscles and stimulate blood flow.
“It’s about getting him into a functioning walking pattern, strengthening him and stretching out his tendons,” said Miss O’Brien.
“We’ve just got to watch him until he starts to mature and we’ve got to nurture him as he grows.”
Miss Francais said that without the help of both Croeso and SMART veterinary clinics he “would’ve been crippled” and “wouldn’t be able to walk at all”.
But since beginning the programme after being rescued on April 15 , Ronnie has made a remarkable recovery that saw him begin to place his front feet normally after just 10 days of exercises.
And Ronnie’s good fortune has not stopped there, with the bulldog not only on his way to a full recovery but also now part of a new home.
Croeso veterinary nurse Abigail John, 25, took such a liking to Ronnie during his treatment that she decided to adopt the pup.
She has since welcomed him into the three bedroom terraced house she shares with her fiancee Gregg Courtney, 27, their four cats and their whippet cross greyhound Bella.
After two weeks in their Caerphilly house he has settled in perfectly, with even the cats taking a liking to Ronnie – who hops on his hind legs like a kangaroo when he’s excited.
Miss John said: “We definitely made the right choice. We just want him to have a normal life. We want him to be comfortable and pain free.”
With 10 to 11 more rehab sessions still to go, Ronnie has many more aqua treadmill training sessions ahead of him, but the hope is that in 18 months when his skeletal shape is fully formed, he will be walking without splints.
Miss O’Brien has relished being a part of Ronnie’s recovery and said: “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s very rewarding. It’s Croeso really that have given him this chance. They took him in and they helped him.”
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