by Janelle Allen, LVT

Winter Fitness Tips for Your Pet

Winter time brings many challenges. We tend to be less active and it can affect our mood negatively. Our pets can experience the same thing and don’t get as much exercise either. This can often lead to cabin fever, or the winter time blues, for our pets, as well as weight gain and possible injury come spring. They also lack the mental stimulation from running, playing, and exploring outside, which may cause a more depressed attitude. After a winter of inactivity, muscles can atrophy (lose tone and mass). When the weather finally turns nice, our pets can injure themselves chasing after toys or those pesky squirrels.

Think of a professional athlete; they train during the off-season to keep in shape but also to prevent injury when they get back to the regular season. Though our pets may not be high performance athletes, the same concept applies to them as well. Keeping your pet active during the winter months will help to keep them happy and healthy. To help with this goal, we’ve put together a list of tips for winter fitness. Continue…

Electrotherapy in Veterinary Rehabilitation

by Cathryn Adolph, LVT

I remember the day that my physical therapist was trying to convince me how electrical shocks would make the neck pain I was suffering from better.  I’d like to hope I didn’t make a face at him, but I am pretty sure I did.  My PT and his assistant attached the probes, gave me a moist heat pack, asked me to lay on a padded table with a pillow, pulled the curtain shut, and told me they would return in 15 minutes.  I fell asleep and my transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) became my favorite part of my therapy. Continue…