Squibnocket Animal Center

515 Federal Road

 Brookfield, CT. 06804

203-775-6440

  www.squibnocketanimalcenter.com

(Located next to Marta's Vineyard Canine Resort!)

     Squibnocket Animal Center is our sister animal hospital, located in Brookfield.  Our clients can  choose which location to make an appointment for their pet. 

     Squibnocket Animal Center is named after a point on Marthas Vineyard in Massachusettes.  The center is named in conjuction with our upscale boarding center, Marta's Vineyard Canine Resort, conveniently located next to Squibnocket Animal Center!  Visit their website for additional information at:   www.martasvineyard.com.  

     Squibnocket Animal Center offers traditional and alternative small animal medicine as well as canine rehabilitation.  Canine Rehabilitation works much like human rehabilitation. Using various methods and equipment rehabilitation restores mobility, strengthen muscles and joints, helps dogs heal faster post-operatively while focusing on reducing pain.

     We offer a complete range of small animal services for your pet! In addition to preventative health care, internal medicine, dermatology, ophthalmology as well as a complete laboratory center we offer the following specialty services :

Acupuncture

Animal Chiropractic

This therapy is used for pain relief, it reduces swelling, controls inflammation, and increases the speed of healing.  It's non-invasive, energetic medicine. Pulsed Electro Magnetic Fields influence cell behavior by inducing electrical changes around and within the cell. Improved blood supply increases the oxygen pressure, activating and regenerating cells. Improved calcium transport increases absorption of calcium in bones and improves the quality of cartilage in joints, decreasing pain dramatically. Acute and even chronic pain -also caused by osteoporosis- may reduce or disappear completely. There are many scientific studies on the degree of effectiveness of Pulsed Magnetic Field therapy. It was found that disturbances in blood circulation and in metabolism play a key role in the development of diseases. Application of pulsed electro magnetic energy is based on more than 30 years of worldwide research carried out by renowned scientists.

Canine AquaticTreadmill

The Aquatic Treadmill is the 1st in upper Fairfield County!  Great For Pain Management!  Located at Squibnocket Animal Center, our aquatic treadmill system is created for dogs for conditioning and rehabilition.    Visit  our site for more information at www.squibnocketanimalcenter.com.  Designed specifically for canine rehabilitation, the underwater treadmill allows dogs to begin the rehabilitation process earlier than normal.  Using the natural properties of water, the underwater treadmill creates a low impact workout that helps pets increase muscle strength and endurance.  It also allows easier range of motion.  Treatments can be customized through variable water heights, accommodating different sized dogs, and can be adjusted for various weight bearing exercises.  Water buoyancy reduces gravity during exercise.  Warm water is used to assist in pain reduction.

Canine Land Treadmill

Canine land treadmill is used to increase strength, balance and coordination. This form of therapy, while used less often than our hydro-treadmill therapy, has advantages in some situations such as stimulation of bone growth and strengthening, ability to vary rate of incline and decline to concentrate the effort to specific muscle groups, and it is more beneficial at certain stages of post-joint surgery rehabilitation (ie cruciates, hips, elbows).  One of the limitations of the land treadmill is that there is no ability to reduce pressure on the joints as there is with the hydro-treadmill therapy. Therefore, hydro-treadmill therapy is used primarily for patients with joint pain, whereas land treadmill therapy is used primarily for strengthening in the absence of pain, or reeducation of balance.   

Laser Therapy

 Laser Light Therapy is the most researched and published modality in physical rehabilitation and has demonstrated a multitude of clinical benefits that include relieving pain from minor muscular and joint aches, pain and stiffness associated with arthritis, relaxing muscle spasms and increasing local blood circulation.  A laser is a device that emits a special form of light.  Treatment is simple and painless.  The laser light energy becomes absorbed by the tissue stimulating the healing process.   

Therapeutic Whirlpool

Therapeutic Ultrasound

Thermal energy is made used of in ultrasonic therapy. When sound is propagated through tissues, the degree that any medium is exposed to heat depends on the tissue thickness.  Muscle and bone have been found to absorb more energy at interfaces with other heterogeneous tissues, because at these surfaces, the longitudinal waves of ultrasound are reflected and transformed into transverse waves, creating a heating effect. This happens commonly in the areas in between the muscle and bone or between the muscle and tendon. By applying ultrasonic waves to these areas it can reduce inflammation and increase mobility in the joints. Ultrasound is a deep heating modality that is most effective in heating tissues of deep joints. It has been found to be helpful in improving the distensibility of connective tissue, which facilitates stretching. It is not indicated in acute inflammatory conditions where it may serve to exacerbate the inflammatory response and typically provides only short-term benefit when used in isolation. It is perhaps best used to improve limitations in segmental spinal range of motion following recurrent or chronic low back pain as an adjunct in facilitating soft tissue mobilization and prolonged stretching.

 

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation

Superficial Heat: Superficial heat can produce heating effects at a depth limited to 1-2cm. Deeper tissues are generally not heated due to the thermal insulation of subcutaneous fat and the increased cutaneous blood flow which dissipates heat. It has been found to be helpful in diminishing pain and decreasing local muscle spasm. Superficial heat, such as the hydrocolater pack, should be used as an adjunct to facilitate an active exercise program. It is most often used during the acute phases of treatment when the reduction of pain and inflammation are the primary goals.

Cryotherapy: Ice packs or cryotherapy are generally more effective in terms of depth of penetration than other superficial thermal modalities. Intramuscular temperatures can actually be reduced by 3-7 degrees C. This is helpful in reducing local metabolism, inflammation, and pain. The analgesic effects of ice result from a decreased nerve conduction velocity along pain fibers and a reduction of the muscle spindle activity responsible for mediating local muscle tone. It is usually most effective in the acute phase of treatment, though the client can use it for their pet  it after physical therapy or the home exercise program to reduce pain and the inflammatory response. It is applied over an area for 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times per day initially and then on an as needed basis.