Protecting Your Pet: Physical therapy

Ten-year-old Bailey loves to play outside.

"She's a very active dog she does a lot of running with my husband and myself," Bailey's owner, Melissa O'Meara, said.

Until Bailey suffered an injury to her hind leg that left her lame.

"She had torn a ligament...A crucial ligament in her knee," physical therapist, Chris Cranston, of Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital said.

To help Bailey recover, she went to rehab! Physical therapists at Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital have been working with Bailey for 11 weeks.

"I think it's really accelerated her recovery period," O'Meara said.

A doggy dip works Bailey's legs on an underwater treadmill. She also does strength training on balance boards, and exercises to help with coordination. She even gets a massage to help with her range of motion.

"I'm stretching her quadriceps and she's got great hip motion," Cranston said.

An exercise ball helps Bailey put weight on her hind legs and strengthen them.

It's a routine that Heidi the German Shepard is familiar with. The seven year old has a degenerative disease similar to multiple sclerosis in people.

"At first her right rear leg became completely useless and it's slowly progressed to the left rear leg," Heidi's owner, Jerry Schultz said.

There is no cure for the disease, but the therapy helps.

"The biggest benefit is physical therapy can help them to live longer lives," Cranston said.

Bailey's owners can't wait to see their dog run and play again.

"Our goal with working with Chris is getting bailey back to doing the things she loves to do," O'Meara said.

And for Heidi's owner, the physical therapy gives him time with his dog he might not otherwise have had.

"My big reason? She's a member of the family, she truly is," Schultz said.

At Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital the cost of physical therapy is $125 per session. 

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