Have you ever had all of your stress melted away with the help of a simple massage? If so, you know how relaxing and soothing a massage can be. The same is true for your pet! In fact, may people are deciding to give their pets massages in order to help them heal more quickly from illness or injury as well as to provide them with an overall better sense of wellness.

The Benefits of Massage

Just as with humans, there are many benefits associated with giving a pet a massage. Some of the benefits of massaging your pet include:

• Calming your pet

• Decreasing your pet’s recovery time after experiencing trauma or undergoing surgery

• Increasing your pets blood circulation or the circulation of its nervous system or lymphatic system

• Increasing your pet’s movement and flexibility

• Reducing your pet’s pain

• Reducing your pet’s stress

• Removing toxins from your pet’s organs and body

It should be noted that massage is not meant to replace veterinary care. Rather, it is meant to work along with veterinary care to increase the effectiveness of treatment.

Types of Massage

Surprisingly, there are actually many different types of massage that may be used on a pet. These include:

• Efflurage

• Kneading

• Passive Joint Movement

• Passive Touch

• Stroking

• Tapotement

With Efflurage, the entire body of the pet is rubbed, including rubbing down the outside and the inside of the limbs. A circular, hand-over-hand technique is used in order to stimulate the movement of blood. Kneading, on the other hand, is used to either stimulate the skin and hair coat or to stimulate the muscle fibers. This is accomplished by rolling and pinching the skin and applying the pressure directly to the muscle rather than to the bone.

Passive joint movement is different in that it involves stretching and moving the joints, making it similar to physical therapy. Proper positioning is crucial with this form of massage, as improper placement can actually cause trauma to the tissue and the joint. Passive touch is also different because it does not involve any type of movement or pressure. Rather, the hand is simply held in place for 30 seconds to 90 seconds in order to warm the tissue and calm the animal.

Stroking is similar to what many pet owners do when petting their animal friend, though it is also included as a part of the massage and is meant to be applied slowly and lightly at the end of the massage session. Tapotement, on the other hand, is intended to stimulate the pet and may involve tapping and brushing various muscle areas. Since this technique is so stimulating, however, it should never be used on a pet with a history of abuse.

There are numerous techniques that can be used when massaging a pet. Just as with humans, however, it is best to consult with a professional in order to obtain the best results from this form of therapy.

CS Swarens is the CEO of Find a Pet Online. 800 998-7065

For additional information on dogs, cats, birds, horses, and exotic pets visit the internet’s resource for pets for sale.

Research pet information with detailed profiles of over 430 pet breeds.

Getting Your Dog’s Life Back With A Wheel Chair

People that lose the mobility of one leg usually make use of crutches or a walking stick to get past their disability. If they lose mobility in both legs, using crutches would be next to impossible – so to get past that disability, they’d have to resort to using a wheel chair. For those not familiar with this mechanical device (I hope your not one of them), it’s something that looks like a chair but on wheels. Like the chair people usually use in offices, but built with harder metal and with better support for the back, arms, and legs. With this contraption, the user can move around flat and inclined surfaces freely.

What happens if your dog loses mobility in one leg or loses the entire limb? Well according to statistics they’ll get along just fine. They can run around and even jump as if they had all four legs intact. Not as good as before, but still more or less 80% likeness to normal. But what happens if your pet can’t move a pair of legs? Say the ones at the rear – it’ll be dragging itself around with a heartbreaking look in its eyes. You as the owner will feel responsible for the accident that it got itself into. It won’t be able to run around and carry on with other physical activities that it should be doing.

Not to worry, there’s somebody or a group of somebodies that designed a wheel chair specially for dogs. With this miraculous invention, it will be able to lift the immovable portion of the pooches’ body off the ground, allowing it to use the still movable portion of the body to propel itself. This sounds funny, imagining your pet looking like a cyborg that’s half car and half dog, but it’s effective in helping your beloved dog regain a lot of its mobility. With this machine, it will actually be able to run at pretty fast speeds. Not as fast as before, but still relatively fast.

Whether your pet has lost the movements in the rear or front, there are still wheel chairs out their that can accommodate the disability it’s in. There are cases where a pooch loses mobility in all four legs, but there’s a solution for that too. A wheel chair that can support its entire body weight while providing comfort. You could push it around or have a leash tied to the contraption if you’d like to take it out for a “stroll”. Now how’s that for high tech? Be wary of
1000
letting your pet stroll around the road or downhill though.

Knowing that there are devices out there that can help your dog get back on its feet somewhat puts are minds at ease. But that isn’t an excuse for us to become irresponsible. We hold their lives in the very palms of our hands. It’s our duty and job to keep them from harm, and provide them with everything they need to avoid such life-crippling scenarios. Preventing this from happening to your pet is the smartest move you can make – training the dog properly to become obedient can save its life. But if it does happen anyway, then you should consider getting a wheel chair for your dog.

Don’t give up on it and I urge you to not let the veterinarian “put it to sleep”. With this contraption, it’ll be able to live a life that is comfortable and close to what it was before the accident.

By: Alex de la Cruz

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

The author of this article, Alex De La Cruz, is a Dog Expert who has been successful for many years. Because most people think that Arthritis is a humans-only disease Alex now informs dog owners with his www.dog-arthritis-guide.com Ebook on how to discover this disease and let their dogs live as pain-free as possible.

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Pets Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From – Home | Home & Family | Pets

Fat Cats and Getting them Healthy
All about French Bulldog puppies
Fostering a Puppy Or Dog
Tips about Cat Allergies
Ferret Rescue Info
Do Dogs See in Black and White?
Answers To Caring For Puppies
 Mail this post

Popularity: 7% [?]

Technorati Tags: Pet Pain