Calusa Veterinary Center is proud to offer the latest techniques in veterinary rehabilitation to help our patients recover from injury and surgery with maximum speed and minimum pain.
We offer many of the same modalities commonly used in the human sector, including:
Our Aquatic Center provides hydrotherapy in our heated outdoor exercise pool and our underwater treadmill provides low impact exercise in a reduced gravity environment. The warmth of the water used in aquatic therapy has many benefits. It can lessen pain, increase the flexibility of connective tissue, which allows for deeper stretching, and increase blood flow, which speeds up recovery.
Our rehabilitation programs are individually tailored to each patient and never approached as a one size fits all treatment. The veterinarians must carefully evaluate their patients prior to beginning a series of physical exercises as well as perform intermittent reevaluations of the patient to ensure that recovery is progressing and that parallel conditions, such as arthritis in other joints, are not being aggravated by the treatments.
The equipment and therapies selected for each case will:
For thousands of years, acupuncture has played a fundamental role in Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of both humans and animals. Today, veterinarians worldwide recommend combining acupuncture and other holistic therapies with the more conventional Western techniques to provide the most effective treatment for your pet. Calusa Veterinary Center is one of the few veterinary hospitals in the United States equipped to offer this unique alternative in treatment alongside its other pain management offerings. If you are not fully satisfied with the results of conventional medicine, you may want to consider adding acupuncture to your pet’s treatment plan.
Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles into specific points on your pet’s body to stimulate the body’s natural healing process. Each acupuncture point triggers a certain response from the body. Acupuncture can stimulate nerves, increase blood flow, relieve muscles spasms, and induce the release of pain-reducing hormones like endorphins and cortisol.
Acupuncture can help manage and sometimes even cure many ailments, including:
How long are the treatment sessions, and how many are required?
A session may last from 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the pet’s needs, and are usually held once or twice a week. Pets generally require 8-10 sessions.
Will the needles hurt my pet?
Almost always, no. In fact, most pets find the treatment relaxing and may even fall asleep. Some pets feel pain if there is a knot or spasm at the insertion point, and some pets, more commonly cats, may resist treatment.
If you pet is suffering from arthritis, recovering from a wound, or simply dealing with the everyday aches and pains that can come from aging, laser therapy can greatly improve his or her quality of life by decreasing pain and allowing greater mobility. Cold laser therapy, also known as low level laser therapy, is a noninvasive procedure that uses light to stimulate cell regeneration and increase blood circulation in order to treat a variety of ailments.
Cold laser therapy is used to treat:
How does cold laser therapy work?
The laser uses a beam of light to stimulate damaged cells to produce more energy, leading to improved cell function. This increase in function has a host of benefits, including improved circulation, decreased inflammation, and release of endorphins, the body’s natural pain reliever.
What are the treatments like?
During treatment, the laser is applied directly to the skin or held just above the skin’s surface if contact is painful. Sessions can last from a few minutes to half an hour, depending on the size of the area being treated. Treatment is safe and usually painless - in fact, many dogs find the treatment relaxing and enjoyable due to the release of endorphins it causes.
Dr. Andrew Turkell is now certified to perform Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell (VSRC) therapy, a modern stem cell therapy used to treat dogs suffering from arthritis as well as tendon and ligament injuries.
How does VSRC therapy work?
San Diego based company Vet-Stem, Inc., has developed a procedure that isolates stem cells from an animal’s own fat for therapeutic injection into the injured tissue or joints. Within 48 hours, Vet-Stem will isolate a pet’s stem cells and return them to an authorized veterinarian, such as Dr. Turkell, to be used in treatment of the injured pet. The stem cells are then injected into the bloodstream, which stimulates the growth of new, healthy cells in the injured area. The effects of a single injection last from several months to over a year and a half. There are no moral or ethical concerns with VSRC therapy because the cells used are adult cells, and come from your pet’s own fat tissue, which means that no embryonic cells are created or killed in the process.
Is VSRC therapy right for my dog?
If your dog is suffering from arthritic pain, you may want to consider VSRC therapy. Since 2006, over 3,500 dogs have received treatment and 80% of owners have reported improved quality of life for their dogs. Dr. Harman, founder of Vet-Stem, says, "We’ve seen stem cell therapy help dogs whose pain was previously so severe that they struggled to stand, jump into cars, chase balls or run up and down stairs." A single injection decreases pain to help your dog return to his or her boisterous self.
Laser therapy is a cutting-edge, painless treatment we offer at Calusa Veterinary Center that can help your pet heal from a variety of injuries and conditions. Laser therapy uses concentrated light to penetrate deep into the tissue, where it is absorbed by cells and used to promote healing.
Laser therapy can be used to treat a wide range of conditions, including:
What to expect during laser therapy:
Laser therapy is a non-invasive procedure that is typically well tolerated by animals. Most pets will simply lie still on the treatment table while the therapist holds the laser wand over the area being treated.
The therapist will start with a low level of laser energy and gradually increase the intensity as needed. Each treatment session usually lasts between 5 and 10 minutes.
Most pets require 2-3 treatments per week for best results. However, some pets may require more frequent treatments initially, then taper down to maintenance sessions as they improve.
If you are interested in learning more about laser therapy and how it could help your pet, please contact us today! We would be happy to answer any of your questions and set up an appointment for you.
In addition to the wide array of aforementioned veterinary rehabilitation therapies, Calusa is proud to offer other, cutting-edge treatments that can help your pet in specific instances. These include:
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