Physical therapy is a service that improves mobility, flexibility, balance and strength to muscles and joints that have been weakened due to surgery, immobility, injury or aging.
Often recommended for animals recovering from injuries and/or specialized surgery, physical therapy is a tool that hastens a pet’s progress to complete recovery. In human medicine the benefits of physical therapy are well known and physical therapy after surgery is now the norm. More recently, veterinary medicine has observed that those post surgical orthopedic patients who are guided through the recovery process with special rehabilitative exercises and care return to function more quickly and more completely than those who had surgery without any formal physical therapy. Using swimming, specially developed exercises, and equipment such as the treadmill, theraball and rocker board, improvements can be made in muscle strength, flexibility, balance and coordination increasing the extent of recovery and thus the level of success of a surgery. Surgery of multiple orthopedic conditions followed by physical therapy can restore a pet to a level of mobility, physical strength, comfort and happiness that he may have not experienced prior to surgery.
Physical therapy can also be helpful in improving the quality of life of those pets with weakened muscles due to degenerative musculoskeletal conditions, obesity, aging, and arthritis. Treatment may also include home exercises that are helpful in improving strength or preventing further decline.
We are happy to be able to accept referrals into our physical therapy program! We believe that a committed owner, surgery (if recommended), and follow up visits with the primary care veterinarian, combined with the benefits of physical therapy will allow the most complete recovery for most patients with orthopedic and musculoskeletal conditions.
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