New rehabilitation and fitness center launched at UF Small Animal Hospital

Veterinarians at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center now have a new tool for helping Fido get back on his feet: an underwater treadmill.

A ribbon-cutting to celebrate the launching of this new rehabilitative treatment modality, part of the UF Veterinary Rehabilitation and Fitness Center, was held Sept. 15 and included a demonstration of the new treadmill, which is housed in the VMC between the small and large animal hospitals and adjacent to the equine treadmill room.

Several UF faculty and staff members, along with special guests Victoria Ford and Dr. Janine Tash, owner of Aalatash Veterinary Hospital and member of the UF CVM class of '83, attended the event. The treadmill was made possible through financial gifts from Ford, who is past treasurer of the Pals & Paws dog agility group in Jacksonville and a dog agility friend of Tash's.

"After competing in agility for 12 years, I observed all the injured dogs going to Aiken, S.C. for treatment and wondered why the UF veterinary school was not their choice," Ford said. "I learned that UF had no such program and the agility dogs needed special treatment."

Tash was meanwhile working on Ford's two competition dogs and mentioned the need for an underwater treadmill.

"I saw a need and was able to assist the veterinary school in acquiring it with a gift of $60,000," Ford said.

After a meeting with college administrators, Ford learned that not only did agility dogs have rehabilitation needs — so did other canine athletes as well as surgical and neurological patients.

She subsequently decided to support this goal by establishing the James Edmundson Ingraham Endowed Fund in Veterinary Medicine with an additional gift in memory of her great-grandfather, a businessman, entrepreneur, and railroad company executive whom Ford describes as "a moving force in the development of the state of Florida from the 1880s through the early 1900s."

"I am excited to be a part of the development of the small animal rehabilitation area in the veterinary hospital and look forward to its growth," said Ford. She also made an additional donation toward creating a small animal rehabilitation area in the soon-to-be-constructed new Veterinary Research and Education Center, which includes a new small animal hospital.

Directing the new rehabilitation program will be staff surgeon Kristin Kirkby, a 2003 graduate of the UF veterinary college who recently completed her residency in small animal surgery. Kirkby is now pursuing a doctoral degree.

Under Kirkby's direction, limited hydrotherapy services are now being offered to certain VMC clients, primarily animals suffering from joint problems or muscle loss, which often results from orthopedic or neurologic disease.

"There is a huge benefit for dogs with spinal cord injury that are unable to or have difficulty walking on land," Kirkby said.

Large animal patients are also benefiting from the new treadmill.

"The goal is to reduce pressure on the muscle groups and to allow for weightless movements as part of physical therapy to improve muscle strength," said equine resident Johanna Elfenbein, adding that the major problem with recumbence — the inability to stand — in large animals is that their large muscle groups have decreased blood flow, causing muscles to die over time.

"Certainly having the treadmill available to us for this purpose is great," Elfenbein said.

Kirkby would like to see the service expand in the near future and make use of other rehabilitation modalities such as low-level laser therapy, therapeutic ultrasound and shock-wave therapy.

"One of the big things we plan to push for is weight loss," she said. "Most overweight dogs have some form of arthritis; picture the overweight Lab with bad hips. We envision a wellness center that would provide exercise and nutrition therapy, along with pain management and rehabilitation."

Kirkby said the buoyancy of the water decreases the impact of an animal's weight on its joints, and the resistance provided by walking in water builds muscle.

"Depending on the height of the water, you can target different muscle areas and joints," she said.

Many other veterinary colleges and hospitals are now making use of aquatic therapy for small animals, but UF is the only one in South Georgia or North Florida.

"My vision is that we will become very much a leader in clinical services but also in research to validate why we're doing this," Kirkby said, adding that part of her doctoral work will involve evaluating objective outcome measures to be used with rehabilitation.

"For example, is the underwater treadmill at elbow height for 10 minutes better than for five minutes at carpal height? Certainly thus far, there are big gaps in evidence, and there has been very little objective data provided to prove this technique works."