From:
sukiec@optonline.com
Date: 2003-02-25 03:27:07 UTC
Subject: RE: new baby Paisley
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <12474267.1046143627433.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Donna, he has sarcopenia, a loss of muscle mass and muscle tone.
Luckily, a gradual increase in activity level will improve his muscularity and his stability. The young animals I've known with sarcopenia did get past it fine this way. I even knew a chimp who couldn't walk at first without leaning on a wall. A few years later he was jumping off 10' tall objects (sometimes onto us -- ouch). Remember that while an individual still has sarcopenia that injury can happen more easily due to the lack of stability that good muscles provide and due to reduced balance. (This is why there are are specially PT-run weight training programs for the elderly, BTW, to increase independence and reduce injury rates.)