Commonly treated conditions:

• Arthritis
• Muscle/ligament/tendon
• Post-operative orthopedic surgery
• Strengthening before a surgical procedure
• Neurologic disorders/Disc disease
• Weight loss
• Athletic conditioning

It can help your agility dog, your working dog, your weekend warrior, your aging dog with chronic pain, and your dog that may have recently had an orthopedic or neurosurgical procedure.

More than just an underwater treadmill, rehabilitation treatment modalities include balance boards, physioballs, therapeutic laser and ultrasound, electromuscular stimulation/TENS, heat and cold compression, and any number of assorted ramps, steps, and cones – all aimed at isolating that very particular part of the body that is ailing your canine companion.

Rehabilitation veterinarians seek extensive specialized training and certification in this field, and become experts on muscle, tendon, ligament, bone, and nerve injuries.

Rehab helps pets recover more quickly, by increasing mobility and flexibility, improving endurance and agility, and reducing the need for pain medication. Before surgery, rehab can help your pet to lose weight, reduce pain, gain muscle and drastically improve the recovery period post surgery.

After surgery, weeks of cage rest have been replaced by rehab techniques that begin almost immediately, such as cold therapy to reduce inflammation. More intensive therapy begins six weeks after surgery. Rehab therapy can also enhance the conditioning of athletic or working dogs to help prevent injuries of a specific nature given the repetitive tasks that agility, flyball, and police dogs endure.

An internet search on canine rehab returns well over 100,000 results, which exemplifies its popularity and also the vast amount of information available. Ensuring your veterinarian is CCRT/CCRP credentialed is strongly recommended.

This article was contributed by Essex Middle River Veterinary Center. For more information, contact Dr. Tara Klimovitz at 410-687-1111. See our ad page xx.