Laser therapy is painless and non-invasive and can be used to treat pain, inflammation, swelling and wounds. It is great for owners who don’t want, or can’t use traditional drugs/medications for pain relief for their pets due to kidney or liver disease.
During the session:
We all wear groovy goggles, including your pet – demonstrated below by Rochey. This is to protect our eyes from the Class IV high powered laser.
The settings are selected based on your pet’s case; taking into account the condition being treated, their size and coat colour. Once our little laser wand is ready to go, we direct the laser to the desired area. The treatments are very quick, usually going for no more than 5-15 minutes (depending on the amount and size of areas being treated) and all your pet feels is a nice warm sensation. Plus there’s always lots of treats and pats to make it a very enjoyable, positive experience for your pet.
What can it be used for?
The list is nearly endless! But here are a few of the common conditions that we use Laser therapy for:
- Arthritis
- Musculoskeletal injuries
- Post-surgery healing
- Wound healing
- Ear infections
How does it work?
Through Photobiomodulation. By setting the laser at certain wavelengths, different processes can be targeted within the cells of the body. Altering things such as blood flow, oxygenation, cell energy production. Put all this together and you’ll improve healing as well as reduce pain and swelling.
The same high power lasers are also used in Human medicine. You may have seen one at your Chiro, Physio, Podiatrist, Dentist or even your GP.
If you’d like to read more information on the benefits of laser therapy and delve into the science behind it (for those science nerds out there like me!) check out the K-Laser website here
https://k-laser.com.au/veterinary-lasers/lasers-for-small-animal-veterinary/
Have a think about whether your pet could benefit from laser therapy (or maybe you just want to see them in the groovy goggles!). Check out some of our happy patients below that have benefited from laser therapy.
Case Study 1 – Barkley
Barkly is a regular at our clinic, he is prone to bouts of Pancreatitis – a painful inflammatory condition of the pancreas that can cause severe abdominal pain and vomiting. We now use laser therapy to help manage his flare ups; by directly lasering over where the pancreas lies in the abdomen, our high powered laser can reach the internal organ and reduce it’s inflammation and therefore provide additional pain relief and quicker resolution for Barkley.
Case Study 2 – Captain Feathersword
Captain Feathersword is an elderly bunny. He has arthritis in multiple of his joints and chronic back pain. Although Captain was getting joint supplements and multiple pain relief medications his owner still wanted to do more to try and get him as comfortable as possible. Since coming in for his weekly laser sessions Captain’s owner has seen remarkable improvements in his activity levels and his comfort. He now does Binkies in the yard (something rabbits do when they’re really happy/excited) which he hasn’t done in years!
Case Study 3 – Ninia
Sweet little Ninia ruptured her cruciate ligament in her knee. After having surgery to fix her knee we used laser therapy to speed up Ninia’s healing and recovery. Initially coming in twice weekly for laser therapy and rehabilitation therapy, Ninia was back at full strength and function much sooner than the average patient. Not only did her laser therapy help her surgical incision heal faster, it settled the inflammation and swelling within the knee greatly helping with her pain control.