ACHIEVING PEAK PERFORMANCE

Experts At Cassleton Veterinary Service Offer Comprehensive Treatment Plans

BY ALICIA UNDERLEE NELSON >> OCKHARDT PHOTOGRAPHY

When the patients at Casselton Veterinary Service see the doctor at the comfortable facility in Casselton, North Dakota, they receive comprehensive and integrated care, much like their human parents do when they go to the clinic. That’s because clinic owner Dr. Laurie Huckle and her staff took systems that worked for human patients and applied them to animal medicine.

The clinic has expanded since Huckle became an owner in 2008, and boasts an in-house team of doctors that concentrate on everything from dental care to orthopedics. This approach is convenient for pet owners and allows the doctors to collaborate and work together to treat the whole animal.

“We see animals that are making it into their teens,” said Dr. Laurie Huckle. “They’re more active and as a result, you see wear and tear just like in the human world.”

The traditional method focuses on the bones and joints, but an integrated approach considers how the animal’s whole body works together.

“The whole body is tied into it,” said Huckle. “It’s just like you or me. If you have a sore hip, you start walking goofy and then your knee or ankle hurts. They can’t tell you what’s wrong, so you have to go by how they react. And then you just eliminate as many problems as possible and get them feeling better faster.”

Huckle often consults with co-owners Dr. Brad Bartholomay and Dr. Darin Peterson, who are the only two animal chiropractors in the state (Bartholomay is also certified in veterinary acupuncture) or suggests pet owners learn massage techniques they can do at home from certified rehab technician and certified massage therapist LaRessa Mattson.

It was Mattson who encouraged Huckle to acquire a canine rehabilitation certificate, making her the only doctor in North Dakota to have this particular level of expertise. The canine rehabilitation program is adapted from human treatment models and was first implemented in veterinary science in the highly competitive world of horse racing. Dogs may be treated for a variety of reasons.

“We do a lot of post-operative rehab recovery after surgery, just like in the human world where you have surgery and two weeks later you see a physical therapist,” said Huckle. “We also work with geriatric patients if they’re losing their ability to walk, we do some conditioning for agility or hunting dogs – especially in the fall – and then there’s sports injuries, for agility dogs or field trial dogs who aren’t up to their peak performance. That’s kind of like going to sports medicine – you try to figure out what’s going on and how to get them back to a high performance level.”

Dr. Huckle uses a variety of medical devices to get dogs back in top form including an underwater treadmill for conditioning and building up muscle mass, an e-stim machine to conduct electrical impulses to atrophied muscles and non-thermal laser therapy to increase blood flow to muscles and decrease inflammation.

The hard work is all worth it. “It’s fascinating when you see positive results,” said Huckle. “When you see these animals who came in and they’re not using their leg and then three months later they’re flying around the arena, it’s pretty amazing.”

Casselton Veterinary Service

910 Governor’s Drive, Casselton 701.347.5496 cassvetservice.com

Find them on Facebook as Casselton Veterinary Service, Inc. [AWM]