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May is Arthritis Awareness Month, which is a good time to review our approach to this common diagnosis in small animals.

Raising the standard: Arthritis awareness in veterinary practice

Pet Poison Helpline's recent installment of Toxin Tails shared the story of the Winters family, who all—including their 2 dogs—were diagnosed with ciguatera poisoning.

Toxin for one, toxin for all

From natural disasters to personal setbacks, veterinary professionals need to assess their financial risks, prepare strategically, and take control of their future with a plan that can weather any storm.

When it’s too late to prepare for the unknown and catastrophic

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, the Caring Pathways team joins Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to talk all about end-of-life care 

Leveling up end-of-life care: Excellence, compassion, and the future of veterinary hospice

Videos

Asking clients to record videos of their cat at home can play a major role in helping identify pain

Tips for identifying pain in cats

Tatiana Henriques Ferreira, DVM, PhD, MSc, DACVAA, and Marlis Rezende, DVM, PhD, MSc, DACVAA, discuss which types of cases are ideal for inhalant anesthesia vs total intravenous anesthesia.

Cases that use inhalant anesthesia

Practical suggestions for veterinary professionals

Supporting pet owning clients with cancer, and survivors

Elanco Animal Health’s ilunocitinib tablet (Zenrelia) was approved by the FDA in 2024.

Access to canine dermatitis therapy may soon expand to Europe

The rehabilitation page is a comprehensive resource for Veterinary news, animal health, and pet care insights on rehabilitation. Read more at dvm360.

Rehabilitation | Veterinary News & Animal Health | dvm360

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Clinical

Just because Pet Mobility Awareness Month is behind us, that does not mean that joint health is something that should not be talked about year round with clients. To get the conversation going outside of May, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomes Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR, to The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, to talk about joint health, MOVOFLEX® Advanced Soft chews, and what veterinary professionals can do to help support joint health for their patients. 

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity

What's one thing every veterinarian should do to support joint health proactively in all their canine patients?

Number 1 thing and I would just say this ad nauseum, [is] weight management. If your dog is overweight, the most effective strategy is going to be weight management. The number one risk factor for development [in] dogs is obesity. And even just being 10% overweight, though, these dogs will still have a waistline. Most vets actually call them ideal body weight. But if they're a body condition score 6 out of 9, that will absolutely impact their clinical symptoms of OA, so that's for me absolutely number 1 is always weight management. But beyond that it's really about education. It's really about the entire team in a clinical setting participating and owner education. You know the vet's going to be busy and appointments going in and out of appointments treating their patients. The support staff can play a really important role in educating owners about the symptoms of, okay, we know OA is a degenerative disease, which means that the initial symptoms are not evident to most owners until the dog is much older. So recognizing that when that dog tears their ACL, once they recover from their TPLO, they may not be limping.

But guess what? They have OA because any time there is an injury to the joint, that's the start of a way and that's the time that you want to intervene. Start your supplementation, make sure you do activity modification to avoid that high impact activity, but make sure they stay active and still moving and walking on a daily basis.

Make sure that they're an ideal body weight. And so that educational aspect, I think is really, really important for prevention of, and nothing's going to stop the progression of, OA, but there's a lot of things that we can do to delay progression of OA. So weight management I would say number 1. And number 2 is really education. So that owners recognize that, oh I didn't know my dog had arthritis. Like it's a Rottweiler [who is] one year old. They tore their ACL. Guess what they have...?

Yes and I think the education should certainly go beyond the exam room, especially for National Mobility Month. I mean, talk about great, social media content pieces that all of you out there can do for your team. You know, look at some gait analysis that you see of dogs walking into your clinic or, you know, just sharing best practices of what works, what doesn't work. And to start that conversation ahead of time before they come in and maybe keep that top of mind when they're looking. You want to chat about mobility, for even their wellness, you know. So I think it's good.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR, talk about all things joint health in this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, and sponsored by Virbac. 

Looking back at Pet Mobility Awareness Month

According to New York City native Matt Brunke, DVM, DACVSMR, CCRP, CVPP, CVA, his time at a mixed animal practice in upstate New York set the foundation for his career as a canine rehabilitation specialist.

“Being at a country practice gave me the opportunity to expand upon my surgical techniques because my mentors were also my bosses. I was doing surgical procedures like extracapsular repairs, MPLs, FHOs, those types of things,” he tells Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, in this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast.

Although his patients were healing, Brunke noticed that they continued to walk oddly and were struggling to run and play with their owners. That’s when he decided to explore the physical therapy options available in veterinary medicine.

In his quest to learn more, Brunke attended a certified canine rehabilitation practitioner (CCRP) course at the University of Tennessee, thus sparking his passion for sports medicine and rehabilitation.

Brunke has helped treat a variety of cases ranging from canine arthritis, geriatric, oncology, hip dysplasia to working canine injuries. He’s even aided dogs in returning to working at the White House.

Brunke attributes much of his success to learning how to advocate for his patients. Now more than ever, he says clients are putting a demand on veterinary professionals to help their pets live longer and happier lives and the best way to do that is to get better at patient advocacy, he says.

Listen below for more on Brunke’s journey to rehabilitation and his thoughts on pet advocacy.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr Christman is joined by canine rehabilitation expert Dr Brunke, as they discuss the initial spark that led him to this niche in veterinary medicine, plus why patient advocacy is so important. 

Episode 45: How working at a country practice unlocked one veterinarian's passion for canine rehabilitation

Although his professional path wasn’t linear, David Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS, has paved a legacy for himself as a veterinary orthopedic surgeon. The certified canine rehabilitation practitioner and 

 tells Dr. Adam Christman that, unlike many people in the profession, he didn’t know he wanted to go to veterinary school until college.

Dycus says he always had an interest in orthopedics, mainly because of his personal experience with injuries and surgeries. During his first week of veterinary school, he made the bold move to tell his anatomy professor that he wanted to become a surgeon. “Well, let’s get through the first month of veterinary school first, then we’ll talk about it,” his professor replied.

He did more than just get through his first year. What began as an 8-week research project as part of his residency program turned into a 4-year large research project funded by Nutramax Laboratories. As his career progressed, he’s been able to teach others the complex theories and applications that he’s learned over the years.

Dycus also explains to Christman the importance of shifting the veterinary industry pendulum from retrospective management of osteoarthritis or starting treatment post diagnosis to early recognition and intervention—identifying patients before they present with clinical and radiographic signs.

“With so many dogs affected by osteoarthritis,” he says, “we can certainly make a huge impact on improving their quality of life.”

Listen below to learn more about Dycus’s professional journey, plus learn some exciting details about his soon-to-launch state-of-the-art multi-specialist facility.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr. Adam Christman is joined by orthopedic surgeon David Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS, who shares the unique evolution of his career in veterinary medicine.

Episode 14: A veterinary orthopedic surgeon’s unconventional journey

Targeting muscle at the molecular level: How ursolic acid is redefining canine mobility support 

Zeke the horse was brought to Oklahoma State University Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital where he presented with a small bump in his chest

Veterinarians solve horse's unique medical issue

An overview of 3 types of therapy includes mesotherapy, Kinesiotape, and laser

Common modalities in equine rehabilitation

A pregnant draft mare was found to have her jejunum and duodenum distended and filled with fluid and displayed signs of endotoxemia post-surgery

Colic emergency in a pregnant horse

The female turtle was rescued in February 2024 after found suffering from cold stunned in British Columbia 

Loggerhead sea turtle returns to the ocean following months of rehabilitation

explained how laser therapy can be used in post-operative, orthopedic, and neurologic cases

How laser therapy can be used for specific patient cases

While at the Fetch conference in Long Beach, California, Tom Walsh, DVM, CCRP, MBA, owner of PrimePet Rehabilitation Therapy in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sat down with 

 in an interview to explain how lasers can benefit post-operative patients and reduce pain and inflammation. He also discussed the success he has seen with using lasers for orthopedic and neurologic cases in his practice.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

 So for post-operative pain, lasers are fantastic, because they do reduce inflammation, but they also activate photochemically, the mitochondria, which breaks the pain cycle. And so we're able to go down that path to really reduce that pain and inflammation at the same time. And that's a powerful medium for the animal because even though they can't communicate it, they can feel it and they respond to it very quickly.

Both orthopedic and neurologic cases in my practice, have benefited greatly from laser, obviously, from inflammation reduction, pain reduction. But we've also seen the advancements of studies have come out recently that say, that laser over range of motion is actually even more effective.

Tom Walsh, DVM, CCRP, MBA, explained how laser therapy can be used in post-operative, orthopedic, and neurologic cases

Conference

explained how to discuss laser therapy as a pain management option with clients

Laser therapy for pain management

 in an interview and shared his start in veterinary rehabilitation. He also explained his tips for talking to clients about laser therapy and how it could be an option for pets in need of acute or chronic pain management.  

 I was going through my clinical rotations and I fell in love with a professor that had amazing results in physical therapy. But then I went on and pursued a general practice career for many years over a decade. Then, during COVID-19, I got a chance to kind of take a deep breath and I started this company, and really followed my passion for just rehabilitation.

It really is about education, letting [clients] know why we're doing it, how often we need to do it—which I recommend 2 or 3 times a week, if not daily, for short segments, and it's a cumulative effect.

Tom Walsh, DVM, CCRP, MBA, explained how to discuss laser therapy as a pain management option with clients

discussed the most common concern he hears from veterinary professionals about lasers

Taking away the fear of expensive lasers

 in an interview and explained his background in veterinary rehabilitation and concerns he hears from veterinary professionals about laser devices. 

 I'm Dr Tom Walsh. I am the owner and veterinarian at PrimePet Rehab in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and I'm a veterinarian that focuses solely on physical therapy and rehabilitation.

I think that the biggest thing that I hear about lasers is that it's too costly and too expensive for them to apply it and/or get any sort of investment return on it...And my argument is that technology is getting better and faster, just like our cell phones. And with each iteration, the prices and competition is making things come down and there's a better spectrum now than there used to be.

Tom Walsh, DVM, CCRP, MBA, discussed the most common concern he hears from veterinary professionals about lasers

explained how laser therapy can be beneficial for reducing pain

How laser therapy can be effective in pain management

, Leslie Gallagher McMahon, CCMT, CCRT, CEO and founder of Two Hands Four Paws in Los Angeles, California, explained just how effective laser therapy can be for pain management. She also shared her tips for expressing the benefits of laser to clients and how it can be a real benefit to painful patients.

Fetch faculty member Leslie Gallagher McMahon, CCMT, CCRT, explained how laser therapy can be beneficial for reducing pain

Rehabilitation

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