A new clinic geared towards helping animals has opened in Regina.
The Veterinary Mobility Center is the first of its kind in Saskatchewan. It’s a clinic that offers acupuncture, massage and other types of therapy for pets who have mobility issues.
The center used to be located in the basement of the Lakewood Animal Hospital, but the stairs posed a problem for many of the clinic’s patients.
On Sunday, the clinic had a grand opening for its new location on McAra Street, where the furry patients have more equipment, more space and no stairs.
“For us to carry the dogs and cats, the cats weren’t so bad, but the dogs up and down the stairs…” said Dr. Tara Hudye, a veterinarian at the clinic.
One of the patients is Sam, a large two-year-old pup. He lost his leg after getting caught in a coyote snare, but now he’s up and running with the help of a prosthetic leg.
“He’s almost three, and we plan to have him for a long time,” said Gillian Morrison, Sam’s owner.
“He comes here all the time for rehab and some massage kind of stuff, and some laser therapy, acupuncture, just to make sure all the rest of the muscles are kind of working properly,” she said.
This is the only clinic in Saskatchewan that specializes in helping animals with mobility issues, and is one of only a handful across western Canada.
“The number one goal is to decrease pain so they can live pain-free, and so then we just work with them in whatever way we can,” said Hudye.
