animal therapy

TLC Therapies Many Pet Owners Now Embrace

Diane Weinmann Animal Health, animal hospice, healing your pet ,

By Dr. Becker with comments by Diane Weinmannpet-rehabilitation

Rehabilitation therapy can be invaluable for pets, but it hasn’t always been considered as part of mainstream veterinary care.

Demand for such services has been growing significantly in recent years, however, including for upscale facilities that improve pets’ strength, functional ability and quality of life using tools ranging from obstacle courses and underwater treadmills to laser therapy and massage.

Let me tell you a brief story about a dog with a loving message about rehabilitation:  I was asked to talk with a dog that a vet’s office basically took care of for at least a year. The owners didn’t want to deal with his medical issues any longer and signed him over to the vet.  I was told that everyone at the clinic was heartbroken that the dog had passed away and would appreciate a message from him.  I talked to the dog and he gave many loving messages for the people who cared for him in the clinic.  One of the most profound messages didn’t make sense to me but brought all of the workers to tears.  He told me to thank them for the water.  What I didn’t know is that they let him participate a lot in hydrotherapy because he has terrible painful arthritis.   Obviously the water therapy was extremely helpful to him medically and it meant a lot to him that they took the time to let him participate .  So, that being said, listed below are some reasons why therapy helps pets…..

3 Reasons Why Rehabilitation Centers Are on the Rise

There are a number of reasons why rehabilitation centers are growing so rapidly, starting with pet obesity.

 

The majority of dogs and cats in the U.S. are not a healthy weight, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP). The organization revealed that 58 percent of cats and 54 percent of dogs were overweight or obese in 2015.1

 

The extra weight puts stress on joints, which can leave your pet unable to get around. Other common complications of excess weight in pets include arthritis, torn knee ligaments and diseased discs in the spine, along with other orthopedic diseases.

While the foundational solution to address these complications is weight loss, rehabilitation is incredibly beneficial for stimulating your pet’s metabolism through movement.

For extremely obese pets who are unable to move around, rehabilitation centers can provide life-saving solutions to get your pet moving, such as walking in water, which takes pressure off joints.

Some owners also bring in their aging pets to help them retain and recover mobility and strength. Why else are rehab services becoming so sought after by pet owners?

  • High-Impact Activities: Some dogs suffer from sports-related injuries as a result of running or engaging in other strenuous activities with their owners.
  • Pets Are Part of the Family: About 90 percent of pet owners view their pets as part of their family and, as such, want to provide them with similar medical services to those available to humans, such as post-surgery physical therapy, which improves surgical outcomes and speeds recovery time.

Michael San Filippo, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) told the Daily Herald:2

“Over the last few generations we have brought our pets into our houses, into our beds in some cases and included them as a part of our families … Along with that comes a demand or expectation that they can get the same kinds of treatments that we get as humans.”

What Types of Treatments Are Available at Pet Rehab Facilities?

From dogs with obesity and arthritis to those recovering from surgery or a sports-related injury, there are rehab options that can support your pet. These include more familiar strategies like massage, therapeutic exercise and stretching, heat therapy and acupuncture as well as:

  • Cold laser therapy (aka low-level laser therapy): This is used to stimulate cell regeneration and increase blood circulation to promote wound healing and treat arthritis, tendon injuries, sprains and strains, back disc problems and more.
  • Acoustic compression therapy: This technique uses sound waves to provide deep-tissue massage in muscles, tendons and joints. It offers increased circulation and pain relief.
  • Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS): This involves a battery-powered device that sends a low electrical current to the body, which disrupts pain perception pathways, helping to relieve pain. TENS is also sometimes used to stimulate acupuncture points.
  • Aquatic therapy: Various therapies using water are available, including underwater treadmills to promote weight loss, strengthen cardiovascular health and muscle strength. As explained by the American Association of Rehabilitation Veterinarians (AARV):3

“The [underwater] treadmill can be used in the very early stages of learning to move well again; the higher the water level, the more of your pet’s weight that is supported.

As strength and correct movement improves, the water level is lowered each session to further increase strength. Underwater treadmills can decrease recovery time from surgery, improve arthritis through low impact exercise, and improve cardiovascular fitness.”

  • Thermography: Thermography is the study of how much heat the body is giving off, which reveals areas with inflammation and, therefore, likely pain. Thermography may be used at rehab facilities to diagnose orthopedic or other health issues or to monitor progress during therapy sessions.4

There are many other therapeutic modalities used as well, including:

✓ Pulsed magnetic therapy ✓ Active exercise
✓ Veterinary chiropractic ✓ Therapeutic ultrasound
✓ Joint mobilization ✓ Neuromuscular electrical stimulation

Health Conditions That May Be Treated With Rehabilitation Therapies

If your pet is having trouble recovering from an injury, is struggling with mobility, or has unresolved pain, a rehabilitation specialist may help. AARV provided the following list of conditions that may be successfully treated with rehabilitation, as well as the types of improvements that may be experienced:5

✓ Osteoarthritis: Increased mobility and range of motion, decreased inflammation ✓ Hip dysplasia: Build-supporting muscle mass, increase mobility and comfort ✓ Muscle injuries: Speed healing, restore normal functional length and decrease inflammation
✓ Back injuries: Prevent reinjury and manage pain ✓ Fractures: Speed recovery and prevent muscle contracture ✓ Amputation: Help with adaptation, build supporting muscles and manage pain
✓ Neuromuscular disease: Strengthening, adaptation and pain management ✓ Joint dislocation: Strengthen supporting muscles and ligaments and prevent reinjury ✓ Tendon injury: Increase range of motion and strength, decrease inflammation and scar tissue

Keep in mind that rehabilitation isn’t only for dogs. Cats, horses, rabbits and many other pets may also benefit. In the video below, for instance, you can see underwater treadmill therapy for a rabbit. These therapies excel at providing your pet with improved quality of life, regardless of species, so if your pet is in need of extra physical support and healing, consider seeking the help of a professional rehabilitation specialist.

 

Conventional vs Alternative Animal Healing Methods, part 2

Diane Weinmann Animal Health , , , , ,
Photo courtesy of Natural Healers (http://www.naturalhealers.com/alternative-medicine/animal-therapy/)
Photo courtesy of Natural Healers (http://www.naturalhealers.com/alternative-medicine/animal-therapy/)

In last week’s blog I discussed the differences between traditional veterinary, alternative, complementary and integrative care.  In today’s blog I am going to explain some treatment options that fall under alternative and complementary care.

A holistic vet can bring a wide variety of treatment options that may have a wide encompassing affect than just using traditional veterinary medicine.  After all, we are simply seeking the best for our pets, right?  A holistically trained vet or alternative therapy provider can bring the following treatment options to the table for consideration and use with your pet which can be used as a stand- alone healing modality or in conjunction with traditional veterinary care:

Aromatherapy using therapy grade essential oils to heal emotional and physical issues can be used  alone or with other healing techniques.

Animal communications can be used to heal emotional issues.  It uses telepathy to communicate a thought from one person/animal to another. Technically, telepathy is the communication between beings using thoughts, feelings, desires, or other means that cannot be understood in terms of known scientific laws.  Telepathy is considered a form of extra-sensory perception and is often connected to various paranormal phenomena such as precognition, clairvoyance and empathy.

Bach flower essences are all natural, very dilute solutions made from spring water, an alcohol preservative, and the parts of specific flowers. They are used to help balance the emotions and bring about a state of equilibrium in living organisms, and have been successfully used with people and animals to treat a specific emotion or state of mind such as fear, anger, apathy, anxiety, anger, grief, etc.  This healing technique does not negatively interact any other healing modalities.

A Certified Nutritionist can recommend changes including mineral supplements, enzymes, vitamins, fatty  and amino acids to make up nutritional shortfalls in the diet which will complement any other medical steps.

Massage uses the sensation of touch to engage your pet’s mind. A light touch brings awareness to the coat and upper layers of connective tissue and surrounding superficial muscles. Stronger pressure heightens awareness of deeper muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments. Joint mobilization promotes body-movement awareness and gives the animal permission for exploration of movement to rediscover his “place of comfort.”

Chiropractic care maintains each joint, especially the spine.  By freeing the spinal nervous system which is connected to the brain, they can establish pain free flow of energy from the brain through to the extremities.

Energy-based body work which includes: TTouch, Healing Touch for Animals, Reiki, and acupressure to elicit a state of well-being emotionally or physically and is great for relieving pain and stress.

Healing with crystals uses the energy of the crystal to invoke both physical and emotional healing.

Color therapy has been known to strengthen, cleanse, invigorate, balance and may regulate metabolic processes positively influencing bodily functions and moods.  It harnesses the nutritional aspects of color to provide emotional, physical, anti-aging, and spiritual benefits.

Certified Herbalist using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) uses plant remedies to treat a variety of ailments. For example, alfalfa is used for arthritis and allergies.

Acupuncture uses very fine needles inserted into specific areas on your pet’s body to balance the flow of energy.

Homeopathic remedies are used to jumpstart the animal’s own healing response with very diluted substances that cause the same symptoms the dog is suffering from. For instance, a dog with diarrhea would be given tiny amounts of a substance that causes diarrhea.

Be aware that some veterinarians don’t care for alternative therapies since, unlike conventional veterinary medicine; most of them haven’t been scientifically proven to work.  However, that doesn’t mean they’re ineffective; it just means they haven’t been put to the test in well-conducted studies.

There are plenty of vets who are open to the alternative approach. Some veterinary schools now provide studies in holistic medicine, and some vets offer alternative therapies alongside conventional treatments as they see the benefit in treating the whole animal not just the disease.  Why not try everything possible to bring your beloved animal companion into wellness?