Massey launches vet rehab service
Sunday 24 June 2012, 11:15PM
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Animals recovering from surgery or other ailments can now hit the gym at Massey University’s new Canine Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Service.
The Veterinary Teaching Hospital, at the Manawatu campus, has launched the service to provide a range of care to companion animals.
The service offers hydrotherapy, massage, swiss ball and balance board exercises for dogs to help aid post-surgical recovery or other ailments such as arthritis.
Veterinary surgeon Dr Andrew Worth says that like their owners, pets need a workout too if they are to recover full health.
“There is good scientific evidence that early rehab and physical therapy makes a big difference to the eventual outcome and we know from experience with our own healthcare that using a physical therapist is a massive part of rehabilitation after surgery,” Dr Worth says. “Dogs are the same – they share the same physiology so we use the same techniques.”
He says the Veterinary Teaching Hospital sees many cases that could benefit from the rehab centre “We see referral cases – that is quite specialised work – and we have a primary clinic that sees members of the public and their dogs. A lot of these are surgical cases or they might be geriatric or a bit obese, and they need physical therapy and rehabilitation to get them back to optimal health.
“They could be dogs that have had spinal surgery, orthopaedic surgery, or just need to build up muscle fitness, endurance or perhaps recover the use of a limb.”
The hydrotherapy unit is basically an underwater treadmill, Dr Worth says. “We can adjust the amount of load on the animal. The more water there is the more they float so there’s less of a load on their legs. This can be used quite early on when they’re just recovering from some kind of operation.”
The rehab centre is run by a dedicated team of nurses including the teaching hospital’s head nurse Victoria Tyson and veterinary technology director Hayley Squance. In time the service hopes to have a full-time physiotherapist and add other modalities to its service.