Archive: Around Town

When you take your pet to the veterinarian you're usually thinking about vaccinations, or the more common treatments.  Ultrasound, hydrotherapy, and physical therapy may not be the first things that come to mind.  But animals are like people in that physical therapy helps them recover from surgery, and may help them lead better, healthier lives. 

On Saturday Colonial Veterinary Hospital held an open house at their new Wellness Center located in the green strip mall in front of the Pyramid Mall.  "It's a natural added service to maximize the benefit to those patients of the surgery we are doing," says Veterinarian Catherine Hegarty, who owns Colonial Veterinary Hospital with her husband Tom Ross.


Hegarty says that in the past five or ten years physical therapy has been used to improve the outcome of animal surgery.  She says that the therapy is a natural extension of the treatment, and not a luxury item.  If the cost to repair a dog's torn cruciate ligament is $2,000, the extra $90 for the physical therapy is a reasonable added cost to maximize the benefit of the surgery.

"In addition, there are some problems that are not surgically fixable and it is a totally different subject," Hegarty continues.  "It's not like a pet spa.  It's based on science for treating certain conditions versus before when we didn't have anything to offer those patients."


Colonial is undergoing a major expansion to its hospital building and to the business.  Hegarty says about 40% of their business comes from about 210 referring hospitals in a 150 mile radius.  The referrals are mostly for orthopedic surgery.  The hospital performs 1300 surgeries per year, so it's no wonder they are developing services to aid recovery.  The Wellness Center is an outpatient facility that specializes in physical therapy and hydrotherapy and treatments that don't require an overnight stay.

When you walk into the center you are greeted in a bright, roomy reception area.  Inside are examination and treatment areas that include trampolines, physical therapy rooms, and an underwater treadmill.  An examining room is fully equipped, and the atmosphere is friendly and informative.  The facility also offers acupuncture as an option.


Colonial employees 45 people including 10 veterinarians, 2 of whom are board certified surgeons.  Lin McGonagall is a licensed human physical therapist with a veterinarian technician degree with over 20 years of physical therapy experience.  "She's an asset," says Hegarty.  "That is a very unique combination.  There are people who are practicing physical therapy in Ithaca on animals that have had two weeks of training."


The hospital has been planning a major expansion for some time, but it has gone more slowly than originally hoped.  Last fall they began an emergency service, and the separate Wellness Center is a temporary solution to offering expanded services sooner.  Work will begin on the parking lot in a couple of weeks, and when the main facility is completed it will include the Wellness Center.  In fact the expansion will triple the hospital's space.  "When we complete our new facility, then we will have all of the services combined again," says Hegarty.

The hospital is performing a lot of physical therapy now.  Every orthopedic and neurological surgery patient automatically gets the treatment as part of their recovery.  Saturday's open house was the perfect way to learn about the new services the hospital is offering, and to see for yourself what treatments are available.

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