AT THIS LUXURY PET REHAB CENTRE, CATS AND DOGS GET HOT STONE MASSAGES AND LASER THERAPY

As more people view pets as family members, a speciality vet in the US now offers holistic treatments, such as acupuncture, for its patients

Ruffian the champion show cat reclined on a fur pillow wearing tiny protective goggles to shield his eyes from the laser therapy being used to treat his inflamed joints.

Veterinary physiotherapist Kerry Kilgannon hovered a laser wand over Ruffian's hips one December morning while using a dangling cat treat to bribe the supine feline into submission. After laser therapy, Kilgannon worked Ruffian's sore muscles in a speciality massage as soothing spa music created a Zen-like atmosphere.

There are no thermometers in behinds at this veterinary experience.

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At Walking Paws Rehab in Boulder and Denver, in the US state of Colorado, pets are treated to holistic and conventional rehabilitation services to help them recover from injuries.

If pets need orthotics (braces or splints), prosthetics or a wheelchair, Walking Paws Rehab can help. If they need diagnostic ultrasound, or wound culture (a test to find infection-causing germs), Walking Paws has that covered.

On the less conventional side, the rehab also offers acupuncture, whole body vibration plates, underwater treadmill therapy, exercise routines, weight loss programmes and even hot stone massages.

"I was unsure if this concept of starting a practice focusing on diagnosing injuries and pain management and physical therapy and thinking about the patient as a whole, combining traditional medicine with holistic, was going to work out," says Danyel Wynn, owner of Walking Paws Rehab.

"I was unsure if it was going to be a flop. It wasn't. It took off."

Wynn's practice, which opened in Boulder in 2016, has grown to 12 doctors with a new Denver location.

The growth aligns with Americans' ever-increasing financial devotion to their animal companions.

While Hong Kong does not yet have vets who offer hot stone massages for cats and dogs, the city does have some similar services befitting its status as an "ultra-premium pet market in Asia".

"Hong Kong's pet care per capita spending is hovering around US$140 and pet owners continued to splurge on pet products despite high inflation and rising cost of living, as pets are considered as an extension of the family," says a 2024 market intelligence report published by the US International Trade Administration.

Treatments such as physiotherapy and acupuncture, as well as luxury spas, for pets have long been available in Hong Kong. Similarly, in China - where pets are expected to outnumber infants and toddlers this year - massages and traditional Chinese therapies such as moxibustion (burning dried mugwort on particular points on the body) for pets are not uncommon.

A similar phenomenon to that in China is under way in the US, where children in American households have declined in the last 20 years, but pet ownership has climbed steadily.

"When we ask about the amount of money people spend on pets, it usually implies that there are better ways to spend money," says Leslie Irvine, a University of Colorado Boulder sociology professor who has studied people's relationships to animals for nearly 20 years.

"People spend huge amounts of money on all kinds of things - hobbies, cars, golf - but if it's animals, it's kind of denigrated as silly because they're 'just animals'."

In fact, Irvine adds, research shows people who spend money on their pets are happier buying their furry friends a gift than treating themselves or other humans.

Judging by the way Ruffian melted into Walking Paws' fur pillow, he was pretty happy with the gift of massage.

A few years ago, the Maine Coon cat was diagnosed with medial humeral epicondylitis, a condition in cats in which mineral deposits develop around the elbow joints and can cause pain. Ruffian's owner, Carly Forest, joked he had kitty golfer's elbow.

Ruffian had surgery to treat his condition and went to Walking Paws Rehab for recovery. The cat got muscle strength back through underwater treadmill exercises that allowed him to walk without as much pressure on his recovering elbow.

While Ruffian got his rubdown in the massage room, Juno the dog was outside in the main room licking peanut butter off a spatula while walking along a treadmill submerged in water.

Juno had the dog equivalent of an anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tear. To aid in Juno's surgery recovery, her owner, Lexie Van Buskirk, was referred by her primary care vet to Walking Paws.

"It's completely changed the game for her," Van Buskirk said. "It's made a huge difference. She's playing like a puppy again. I don't think we'll ever stop coming."

The veterinarians at Walking Paws went through traditional veterinary education and then additional schooling to become rehabilitation certified. Some of the doctors went on to get specialist certifications in massage therapy and acupuncture, as well, Wynn said.

More unconventional practices like dog and cat hot stone massages came from Wynn's own experiences.

"Like getting massages myself and being like, 'This feels great. Why aren't we doing this to our pets?' " Wynn says.

Researcher Irvine says the evolution of regarding pets as members of the family as opposed to the working animals they primarily used to be has resulted in people treating their animals more akin to children or siblings.

Walking Paws' speciality veterinary services are an up-and-coming sector of the industry, Wynn says.

Some veterinarians do not even know a practice like theirs exists - yet.

"It's successful because we take our time with a patient," Wynn says. "The whole concept of starting the practice was focused on practising our best medicine, giving that person in front of you the time to hear what they're going through, what their pet needs and work together with them and collaborate to come up with a plan that will lead to good results."

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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2025-01-12T08:26:50Z