Vet Rehabilitative Therapies for Horses
Integrative and holistic therapies for horses are used by our team of veterinarians in order to support your horse's health, development and performance while reading in their natural healing process after an injury or illness.
While conventional equine veterinary care is effective at addressing health issues, we will often support our medications, surgeries and therapies with PRP, Shock Wave Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy and Water Treadmill Therapy & Conditioning to improve outcomes.
The equine veterinary team at Western Veterinary Hospital understands that when your horse is in pain, it can cause issues throughout its entire body and because of this, we use our rehabilitative therapies to treat them.
Our Rehabilitative Therapies for Horses
The rehabilitative therapies that we offer our equine patients generally include one or more of the following:
- Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is derived from removing the red blood cells in whole blood. A sample of it can be taken and then spun down using a centrifuge, leaving only platelets behind for treatment.
The leftover concentrate is called PRP and is used to promote healing, reduce inflammation and can even be used to heal bone fractures.
PRP therapy is an exciting new treatment that helps the body heal itself. This therapy increases blood flow and can benefit horses suffering from inflammation, osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, bone fractures and wounds as well as horses that are recovering from surgery.
PRP therapy can provide a wide variety of benefits to animals that undergo its procedure.
- Shock Wave Therapy
Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) uses a series of low-energy acoustic wave pulsations which are applied directly to an injured area of a cat or dog.
Shock wave therapy is a non-surgical procedure that helps to initiate the body's natural healing response, reducing pain and improving mobility.
ESWT may be done at the time of a surgical procedure or at separate therapy appointments.
As the treatment process involves loud noises and could cause pain, pets are sedated for Shock Wave Therapy.
Animals typically feel pain relief about 24 hours after ESWT, but may require other types of pain control as well, depending on the severity of the condition they are being treated for.
Our vets often recommend integrating other rehabilitative therapies to help pets regain mobility and health.
- Stem Cell Therapy
In stem cell therapy, stem cells are drawn from the fat, bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood of another horse, and used to help treat your animal.
Our veterinarian will inject the stem cells into the injured, diseased, or damaged area of your horse's body. There, the stem cells will be able to replace or help repair damaged or dead tissues, reducing inflammation and promoting the growth of new tissues.
Stem cell therapy helps treat a range of conditions, diseases, or injuries in horses. Some of the most common ones include:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Damaged ligaments
- Fractured bones
- Osteoarthritis
- Liver and kidney disease
- Oral disease in cats (stomatitis)
Sometimes it can be difficult to predict the final results of stem cell therapy. There are some situations where a horse will respond well to stem cell treatment at first, but later relapse. In other situations, animals will display incredible improvements that have lasting results.
- Water Treadmill Therapy & Conditioning
Low-impact aquatic therapy can help improve strength, range of motion and endurance. AT Western Veterinary Hospital, we use a Hudson Aqua Pacer therapy either after a surgery or injury, for weight loss or just to keep your companion in shape!
The buoyancy properties of water minimize weight-bearing stress to the joints, which helps prevent tissue injuries, inflammation and pain. As well, walking through water creates more resistance for with each step, challenging your horse's muscles and strengthening their stride.
Aquatic therapy is appropriate for:
- Recovery from orthopedic procedures
- Neurological conditions
- Osteoarthritic patients
- Overweight patients
The underwater treadmill promotes controlled weight bearing and resistence by varying water level. This is especially effective for osteoarthritis and weaknesses related to neurological conditions.
Equine Collaborative Therapies
Our veterinarians prescribe our rehabilitative therapies in support of other treatments, working to help your horse to recover from serious illness, injury or invasive procedures.
Not all cases will be suitable for the use of the rehabilitative options that we offer, so be sure to ask our equine surgery specialist, Dr. Aloisio Bueno, for more information about whether or not rehabilitative therapies will be suitable treatments for helping your horse to recovery from a surgery performed at Western Veterinary Hospital.
New Patients Welcome
Western Veterinary Hospital is accepting new patients! Our experienced vets are passionate about the health of San Angelo companion animals. Get in touch today to book your pet's first appointment.