Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Dr. Noël McKnight works with Mattie, a 10-year-old Labrador retriever, in the hydrotherapy tank at Sound Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness in Birmingham.
On Tuesday mornings, an 80-pound Labrador retriever named Mattie McElroy waits by the door, wagging her tail. She can hardly wait to get to Sound Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness. Mattie has been a patient of Dr. Noël McKnight, the only certified canine and feline rehabilitation veterinarian in the Birmingham area, for three years.
Mattie arrived at her first appointment in a cart. A disc in her back had ruptured into her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed in the rear limbs. Despite the severity of the injury, her owners were determined to find Mattie the best possible care.
“Her parents are so dedicated,” said McKnight, a Trussville resident. “Mattie came to see us twice a week and still comes to this day.”
The Labrador went from barely using her back legs to walking on the underwater treadmill for 30 minutes twice a week. Now, she is completely independent.
As one of just four facilities of its kind in the state, Sounds Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness provides a wide variety of physical therapy and pain management treatments to help resolve mobility and strength issues caused by injury, neurologic conditions, age or excess weight.
Hydrotherapy, like the treatment program that helped Mattie recover, is an underwater treadmill therapy that uses a pet’s natural buoyancy to help strengthen muscles and joints without stressing them.
“As they get stronger, we decrease the water levels and ask them to bear more weight,” McKnight said.
Sound also offers therapeutic exercise, which is similar to human physical therapy. McKnight said the treatment plans are customized to each dog’s health needs and motivation. Activities like moving through a small-scale agility course are particularly effective for dogs who like to play and interact, and it targets specific muscles at the same time, she said.
The clinic also has a Class IV laser that uses a near-infrared beam to treat pain and inflammation while promoting tissue healing.
Other treatments include therapeutic massage, heat and cryotherapy, exercise programs and pain management through medication.
One of McKnight’s specialties is helping geriatric patients. Treating her own aging dachshunds’ partial paralysis fueled her passion to help other pets stay active in their senior years. McKnight saw a need for specialized care of neurological and orthopedic diseases, soft tissue injuries and mobility issues.
Sound Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness also offers stance analysis, for detecting early signs of injury, and mobility aids such as braces, orthotics and wheelchair fittings, as well as work sessions to help pets get used to moving around with a wheelchair. They will soon begin offering acupuncture.
McKnight is a certified practitioner through Fear Free Pets, a company that provides online education to veterinarians on ways to reduce pet stress levels during exams.
“Putting patients at ease is all about forming a bond with the animal,” she said. “It involves understanding what the dog is telling you and doing your job in a way that decreases stress and anxiety.”
A typical appointment lasts an hour or so, giving ample one-on-one time with each pet. McKnight said her team loves getting to know their patients and helping each one experience the best possible quality of life.
“I’ll see dogs waddle into the clinic, hardly able to bear weight because they are in so much pain. Then, a few weeks later, they’ll be running around the yard playing,” McKnight said.
Sound Rehabilitation and Fitness is located at 2114 10th Ave. S, Suite B, in downtown Birmingham. Visit soundanimalrehab-fitness.com to learn more.
