Business Opportunities Weblog

Physical Therapy For Pets

By on April 1, 2013 in Ideas

If you thought it was difficult administering physical therapy to a human, you should try getting an animal to do the necessary exercises. Woodstock Independent has a story about one woman who is helping animals get back into shape.

Mary Kay Dobbeck, a physical therapist who has been working at the Woodstock Veterinary Clinic for the past year-and-a-half, has been doing just that after decades working with human patients. Surprisingly, Dobbeck said therapy for human and animal patients is quite similar, as long as the patient is willing to work toward the goal.

“Physical therapy is physical therapy,” Dobbeck said. “Whether it’s a human or an animal, the principles remain the same. It’s just the mechanicals that are a little different.”

Woodstock Veterinary Clinic has recognized a need for such services in the area — with no other animal physical therapy services offered within 20 to 30 miles of the clinic — and is expanding its current building, in part, to meet that need.

The clinic has an exercise mat, exercise balls, tread mill and other workout equipment one might find at any gym or physical therapy office. The only difference is each piece of equipment is designed for dogs or cats.

Most animals are cautious at first, but Dobbeck said she has about a 98 percent success rate with her patients. Usually the first one or two sessions involve bonding with an animal, Dobbeck said, adding that once comfortable, the animal is usually excited for its workout.

Photo by Mish Sukharev

animals

Angela Shupe has added 5,783 posts to Business Opportunities Weblog.

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  • http://n.a. Cindy Hawkins

    Our veterinarian at East Village Vet has long been a practitioner of pet massage for nervous, or older animals, or pets recovering from an injury. He also routinely – and easily combines homeopathy with a traditional veterinary practice. EVV is extremely popular because of these methods that are slightly ‘unusual’. So the notion of a pet workout really rings a bell with us. We don’t have out of shape pets but bowser-cise(!!) for a furry pal who may be leaning towards chub makes perfect sense. Arf!!

  • http://www.dog-crate-shop.com Donna White

    The more people elect to count their pets at members of the family, the more these types of services are needed. I have met many dogs that have had a broken leg or surgery to a section of their bone structure, and they are left with a limp, or a curving of the body in some way. Some still have pain in that area. I believe that, had these dogs been given therapy after their surgery, they would not have had these after effects.