Physical rehabilitation therapies became a mainstream medical recommendation for strength and recovery over 40 years ago and the benefits have finally been observed and applied to veterinary patients. We are proud to be the first facility dedicated to veterinary rehabilitation in our region and look forward to serving your furry family members.
Physical Therapy has been proven to
- Decrease pain
- Decrease inflammation
- Improve mobility and restore joint motion
- Prevent muscle wasting / atrophy
- Improve strength and endurance
- Improve agility
- Speed recovery from surgery
- Increase flexibility
Success Stories
Sydney – 6 year old Golden Retriever
Originally, Sydney started limping after moving back to Charlotte and becoming more active playing with my parents dog. Sydney did physical therapy to control her pain and swelling and continued to do maintenance therapy until we moved to Elon. January 2019 Sydney became lame on her left hind leg after running in the natural area around our house. The Vet REC Team quickly got us in for an appointment and unfortunately shared with us that Sydney had torn her CCL and meniscus. The team went above and beyond and scheduled surgery to be done onsite so that I could be with Sydney during her anesthesia recovery. Sydney had two surgeries before this with other facilities and was left traumatized. The Vet REC Team took such good care of her, and I’m grateful that I was able to be there as much as was allowed. Sydney completed her hydrotherapy and laser treatments with Heather, who also did an awesome job. Heather picked up on small (and large) compensations Sydney was making and helped make the corrections. Now Sydney is doing great! She has been doing maintenance therapy back at Elon and is back in doggie daycare. Sydney is back to her normal self thanks to all the hard work of the Vet-Rec staff.
-Tracy, Sydney’s Mom
Mac – 8 year old Pit Bull
Mac tore his CCL and had surgery to repair it. His primary veterinarian did not offer options for physical therapy. The surgery to fix his CCL had to be postponed and Mac lost quite a bit of muscle in the meantime. As Mac’s owners we knew we wanted to give him as many chances as possible to improve and get stronger. With the help of physical therapy and the Vet REC Team Mac is now doing great. He is not chasing squirrels but he has built back muscle, stamina, and is a happy and healthy boy! Everyone acted like Mac was a part of their own family and I really appreciate how special everyone always made us feel – the attentiveness and personalization was incredible. The peanut butter for Mac was definitely an added bonus! Lol!
-Mac’s Parents.
Kaylee – 10 year old Beagle Mix
Kaylee had a disk burst in her back three years ago (2016), resulting in total paralysis of her hind quarters. She slowly started to regain strength and feeling in her legs and hips after surgery but she recovered with literal leaps and bounds after a few weeks of work and rehab at Vet REC! Spending time in the underwater treadmill, learning to walk over obstacles, up ramps, and relearning balance combined with laser therapy allowed Kaylee to go from dragging her back half behind her to running again. We recently brought Kaylee back to Vet REC for a “tune up” this year which included hydrotherapy and chiropractic adjustments. We did this to help correct the ways she was “cheating” when she walked which were both the product and cause of stiffness in her back and legs. The tune up sessions helped her regain muscle mass on her legs and she’s back to being able to do her full distance walks through the neighborhood. While Kaylee still has days where one of her rear legs drags a bit and she has to bound on her back legs when she runs, she can get around almost as well as she did before the injury. She is so happy to be able to make it down and up the large hill in our neighborhood again and go for the long walks we did so routinely before the injury.
Kaylee absolutely loved coming to see everyone at Vet REC. They all made her feel comfortable and it didn’t take long to trust everyone with the weird things (to her) they were having her do. Kaylee came in very scared since she was still relearning her body so having a team that she came to trust quickly helped tremendously with her success.
– Kaylee’s Parents
Maggie Mae – 1.5 year old Labradoodle
Out of all of our patient success stories, my favorite has to be Maggie Mae’s. Maggie came to us in January 2019 after being hit by a car. Her injuries were severe and her primary veterinarian recommended humane euthanasia. Once Maggie was stabilized and released home, her owners wanted to give her a fighting chance before making a very tough decision, so they called us. There were many upcoming challenges for Maggie and her family that would take time, finances and a lot of energy. We agreed with Maggie Mae’s parents that we too wanted to try physical therapy and do everything possible to help Maggie regain her mobility and lead a pain-free life. Over the course of the next eleven months Maggie did various modalities of physical therapy including hydrotherapy, laser therapy, acupuncture, massage, chiropractics, and therapeutic exercises. Her therapies were first twice weekly, then once weekly, then every other week until December 2019 when Maggie graduated her physical therapy program!! This crazy puppy who was originally given a low chance at leading a normal pain-free life was now walking, playing, and no longer needed our medical intervention. Tears were shed by team members and her owners as we took Maggie’s graduation picture. Maggie still comes to see us for the occasional chiropractic adjustment but now leads a normal, crazy puppy life.
– Melissa, Office Manager
Office Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 9:00am to 6:00pm
Wednesday: 9:00am to 6:00pm
Thursday: 10:00am to 7:00pm
Friday: 9:00am to 6:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am to 2:00pm
Sunday: Closed
*Lunch is from 1-2pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 2-3pm on Thursday
Forms
To make the best use of your initial consultation time, please complete the applicable form at least 24 hours prior to your appointment. If you prefer to wait until you arrive at Vet REC, please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled appointment time.
