Australian veterinary surgeon, Dr Elaine Cebuliak, from Brisbane, Queensland, regularly conducts workshops for other vets and pet owners in remedial massage and acupressure techniques. She says these techniques are a normal progression for pet owners from patting and stroking, and for the vets, it’s another tool in diagnosing injuries or conditions like arthritis.
Small animals respond well to massage as a method of calming them before procedures or anaesthetising, as well as for assisting them to recover from orthopaedic surgery, she told Suite101.com.
"As well as calming the animal, massage provides an opportunity to assess the way it moves, looking for stiffness, decreased range of motion, behavioural postures and habits, and palpating its pressure points. You can find a pathology such as tight hips as you calm the animal down,” she said.
Animals that respond well to massage and acupressure are cats, dogs, rodents, birds, horses, and even cattle and sheep.
Pet Owners can Calm Their Animals with Massage
As well its function in the veterinary surgery, massage is a wonderful technique for pet owners to learn, Dr Cebuliak said. “Pet owners can use massage at home with their pets as a way of calming them if they are nervous, frightened or over-excited, or just as a way of spending a bit of quality time together.
Massage for Pets after Surgery
Therapeutic massage is an excellent means of rehabilitating an animal following any cruciate, spinal, abdominal or any orthopaedic surgical procedure, she said. It is soothing and relaxing and allows muscle tension after surgery or pain to be released.
“Massage is particularly are good for neck and back pain, and can be done as a simple treatment to alleviate a pet’s pain and improve their mobility.”
Demonstrating Massage Techniques on Greyhounds
When Dr Cebuliak and her colleagues run a massage workshop, they use greyhounds from a local dog charity, the Greyhound Adoption Protection Society, to demonstrate with. As the rescued dogs are to be given new homes, it’s important that they are thoroughly checked before adoption, so the workshop benefits the dogs and their prospective owners, as well as the pet owners who attend.
“Greyhounds are nice dogs to work with. You can calm them right down with massage, they go very quiet and some of them fall asleep,” she said. “As they’re racing dogs they don’t get bones to eat, so they have very poor teeth, and the massage is a good time for us to assess their gingival membranes and dental health.”
The dogs really enjoy their time being massaged, she said. “You can see by the smiles on their faces, and how relaxed they become.”
Acupressure Useful Diagnostic Tool
While Dr Cebuliak does teach pet owners acupressure if they are interested in practising it on their pets, she says it is more of a useful diagnostic tool for the vet examining the animal. “Acupressure uses many of the same meridians as acupuncture, and it can be incorporated into the initial examination,” she said.
“It’s rather more than palpating; as you are patting you’re scanning, becoming aware of restricted mobility, or areas of heat and sensitivity, muscle weakness. It can be subtle, but as you become more experienced it becomes really obvious.”
Pet owners who learn acupressure can use the technique to alleviate their animal’s arthritic pain.
You might also be interested in Acupuncture for Cats and Dogs
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