Canine Rehabilitation – We are back up and running!

Rehabilitation has increased in popularity in the veterinary world over the past 10 years. The goal of rehabilitation is to restore, maintain and promote optimal function, fitness, wellness, and quality of life to the patient. The potential candidates for rehabilitation are numerous and include: pre-surgical conditioning, post-surgical orthopedic patients (femoral head and neck ostectomy, lateral suture, TPLO, fractures, etc.), post-surgical neurologic patients (hemilaminectomy, ventral slot, etc.), non-surgical neurologic patients (FCE, degenerative myelopathy, etc.), chronic osteoarthritic or soft tissue injury patients, athletic patients for conditioning and also overweight patients. It is important  prior to starting a patient in rehabilitation that they have an accurate diagnosis and complete physical, including both orthopedic and neurologic examinations.

We are pleased to announce Dr. Kate Fitzwater, our surgeon, has taken over the head role for rehabilitation at Circle City Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital.  She was involved with an intensive rehabilitation program both at North Carolina State University and Ohio State University during her surgical training. New initial appointments, which are 2 hours long, are now available on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.   One hour long conditioning appointments are also available on those same days.   

Rehabilitation modalities we currently offer include:

• Complete physical examination including orthopedic and neurologic evaluations
• Massage
• Moist heat
• Cryotherapy
• Stretching
• Balance training
• Endurance training
• Underwater treadmill therapy
• Underwater jet massage therapy

If you have any questions or have a case/pet you would like to discuss with Dr. Fitzwater, please feel free to make an appointment or you can email her at kfitzwater@circlecityvets.com.