What is Animal Physical Therapy?

Just like humans, animals are not insusceptible to injuries, diseases, or any other causes that can impair their mobility. To overcome this problem, veterinary community has advanced a method called animal physical therapy (animal rehabilitation) to support existing animal medical care. Animal physical therapy is a series of techniques developed to help animals restore their range of movements after injury, reduce pain resulted from chronic illness, or simply to improve animals’ quality of life. Animal physical therapy is adapted from human physical therapy. Although it is relatively a new field, animal physical therapy becomes increasingly popular as many people nowadays are more aware of the health and well-being of their animals. As the result, the practice has been evolving during the last thirty years. Below is the short history of this field, some techniques applied these days, its benefits, as well as some suggestions to choose the best animal physical therapist. 

The earliest animal physical therapy focused on equines. Later on, it is also applied to cats, dogs, birds, rodents, and small animals. The practices are growing as the demand is increasing. This is especially true in United States and Europe. To meet the demand, some universities in the United States offer certification programs to veterinaries that are eager to work in this field.

There are some common techniques in animal physical therapy. Each technique has different purpose. Among all techniques applied nowadays are: massage, thermotherapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, balance exercises, coordination exercises, and strengthening exercises.

1.      Massage

Massage is usually done by applying some movements and pressures on animals’ body. It is especially intended to help animals relieve tensions in their muscles in order to recover from injuries and restore their mobility after surgery. It is also used to comfort animals. This technique is generally used for canines.

2.      Thermotherapy

Thermotherapy involves the use of heat to improve animals’ range of motion, decrease their muscles’ stiffness, as well as to support their blood flow. It aims to comfort animals before the application of other physical therapy activities such as strengthening exercises and hydrotherapy. It can help animals relieve pain and stimulate healing response on their injured parts.

  

3.      Hydrotherapy

The other method called hydrotherapy improves animals’ muscles and joint functions as well as relieves pains. As its name indicates, this technique uses water to achieve the goal. Some examples of hydrotherapy include swimming and aquatic treadmill. Both of them allow animals to use several muscles without putting too much weight on their limbs. That’s why the technique is most useful for animals recovering from surgery.

4.      Acupuncture

The main goals of acupuncture are to help animals reduce pain and support their healings. In acupuncture, needles are inserted to some specific points on animals’ body to trigger healing response. Several general medical conditions that can be treated with this method are traumatic nerve injury, respiratory issues, some reproductive problems, skin problems, and musculoskeletal problems.

5.      Balance Exercises

Different with previous methods, balance exercises use equipments to help animals strengthen their muscles. Some common tools for the exercises are physio-balls and wobble boards. This method is especially useful for post-surgery recovery and neurological problems such as stroke.

6.      Coordination Exercises

Coordination exercises aim to improve animals’ ability to respond their surroundings. For example, the animals are required to walk over some obstacles (it is usually called Cavaletti). If done regularly, it can help animals to have better focus and coordination in their movements.

7.      Strengthening Exercises

Strengthening exercises primarily aim to build muscles. Some activities in strengthening exercises include uphill and downhill walking stairs, sit-to-stands tasks, ramps, and standing on 2 or 3 legs. Each activity will strengthen different parts of body. For instance, uphill and downhill walking focuses on hip joint, whereas sit-to-stand exercise concentrates on thigh and stifle joint.

Research has shown that this practice is beneficial for animals, as it is for human. While the exercises are especially good for animals’ recovery, the therapy is also effective as preventive care for animals. Thus, it can also work for healthy animals. For instance, the therapy can be used to help animals improve endurance and responsiveness, lose weight, gain muscles, develop athletic skills, as well as to prevent mobility and neurological problems. Overall, the main purpose of the therapy is to improve animals’ quality of life. 

In order to ensure that your animals get the best therapy, you must choose reliable physical therapists. Be careful with some parties who claim to be professional animal physical therapists. Some of them might not have legitimate certifications to perform the service. Untrained practitioners who offer therapeutic exercises can harm your animals, as they may not have adequate skills to do so. Veterinarians are not necessarily animal physical therapist. In order to practice as therapists, they need to obtain license from authorized institutions. Thus, you need to do some research before deciding to go to a clinic that offers animal physical therapy services.

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