physical therapy for dogs

i will graduate in may '06 in physical therapy. i am looking for a specific field that i want to go into. i have explored inpatient, outpatient, acute care, ped's, and others but i think i have found my calling:

What is Animal Physical Therapy?



Animal physical therapy is a new and rapidly developing field of health care for animals. The benefits of physical therapy have long been recognized in humans. More recently, research in the veterinary field has shown the same benefits of physical therapy to be true for animal patients. Performing orthopedic or neurological surgery or fitting an animal with a cast or splint, and then discharging the patient without proper rehabilitative care are outdated approaches. Similarly, if an animal has an injury, chronic pain, or arthritis, he/she should be referred for physical therapy

Physical therapy intervention plays an enormous role in the recovery and maintenance of numerous conditions. If your animal has been injured or requires surgery, physical therapy can speed the healing time and result in a better recovery. If your animal is experiencing pain or neurological symptoms, begins to limp, is overweight, or is just physically "out-of-shape," physical therapy, along with proper veterinary care, can help to improve your animal's condition, well being, and quality of life!

there are several web sites out ther check em out!

http://canineequinerehab.com/
http://www.caninerehab.com/
http://www.pt4animals.com/

and many more!

i will be able to rehabilitate not only man but also mans best friend!

 

I Have Heard Of This. Good Luck That Would Be Cool If You Got To Work With Animals.

 

Yes, best of luck! My dog Blue just had surgery ten days ago for an untreated hip dislocation caused by a car accident which happened before I got her...wish I could afford you....and you were closer...The advice I got from the vet was pretty minimal...if you want to hear more about it private message me.
She seems to be doing pretty well, but I am not a physical therapist. Her actual surgery was an FHO Femoral head otectomy(I think) in which they removed some of her femur to keep it from scraping against her pelvic bone as the dislocation went untreated for so long it was impossible for them to put the hip joint back in the socket. She is pretty perky...goes for walks (on vets advice) but also leaps about the house...she's only 12 months so still a puppy...
Good luck on getting N.O. back together after the big disaster

 

Good for you!!!!

Regards.

 

since posting this entry i have applied to take the required courses to perform canine physical therapy. thanks everyone for the support!

 

jmg, Best of luck to you on your new career.

 

hey marty, once i get this going well have to talk.......i could sponsor your site and be the official health care provider for this community...lol

 

Good for you. Happy to hear this. It is a good field to work in.

 

That is awesome! I'd actually love to do that too!


They have swim therapy and enderwtaer threadmills and all sorts of things for PT w/ dogs it is amazing


How is your class going?

 

That sounds really interesting. Best of luck with it.

 

It'a great field but I have to warn you... your likely hood of making a living doing this is almost nill. I took Canine Massage Therapy and guess how many times I've been paid to give a massage? Twice! I tried it privately... no good. I worked as a mobile groomer for a business that was in such demand ( it was only me and the owner ) that we could not take new clients. Our grooming was very expensive, our prices started at $45 and we charged about $45 an hour for just grooming. The reason we had such a demand is because not only were we exceptional groomers who travelled to the home, but we specialized in animals with behavioral or health concerns. The fact that we offerred massage was advertised in the yellow pages, on the mobile salon and even by mouth, but only once did I give a massage to a client. It's not like they were cheap either, they paid a lot for just the grooming, they all lived in incredible houses and they tipped sometimes $20 a pop.
It is a growing thing, physical therapy for pets. However there's not enough demand for it and the areas that do have a good collection of clients all ready have employees with more years of experience.
The only way you could possibly make decent money doing this is to work on horses. Horses who perform is the only area where money can be made.
I worked in several different animal fields and always wanted to be a trainer most of all. I came to realize I could do this forever but not ever be able to make the money I need to get ahead in life. I have two kids counting on me ( who get more and more expensive ) and I want to buy a house.
Now I am in school in a medical field of humans. Humans don't hesitate to put themselves in debt to take care of their medical needs. There's also insurance for most. The medical field is THE BEST frield to get into, IMO. I want to cry sometimes because I want to work with animals, it was very special to me, but I faced the facts when I lost my last job, that I'll never get anywhere.

 

Best of luck. I will pray that it goes good for you.

 

Actually you can make a very good living but it may take awhile to get yourself off the floor... getting in with a vet clinic on a referral basis is a good idea. There is a place with a nice set up about 45 minutes from me that does pet PT

Also actually several of the agility clubs I train at bring in canine message quite often and the people who do it do pretty well and also do it from their home. That is also something you may want to pursue


It really is a growing field IMO

 

I think it is great!!! Best of luck!!