Spotlight Practice
Want to Be Featured as the Next Spotlight Practice?
Contact AARV's social media coordinator at socialmedia@rehabvets.org.
September 2020 Spotlight Practice
A Well Adjusted Pet
Pacifica, California
AARV Members:
Ilana Strubel, DVM, CVSMT, CCRT, CVAT
Laurie Pearlstein, DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVAT
A Well Adjusted Pet is an exclusively integrative rehabilitation and pain management veterinary practice located in Pacifica, California, just 10 minutes south of San Francisco. Our practice philosophy is one of treating our patients' entire well-being: body, mind, and quality of life — simultaneously addressing pain management, mobility issues, and behavior concerns — to maximize quality of life for both our animal patients and the people who love them. The physical home for A Well Adjusted Pet was established in October 2014 and is co-located within The Rex Center, an aquatic fitness center which opened in 2009.
Continue reading below ...
Each new patient is currently assessed initially by telemedicine using a video conference call platform, and then again during an initial evaluation and treatment session by one of our rehabilitation-certified veterinarians, both AARV members, Ilana Strubel, DVM, CVSMT, CCRT, CVAT, or Laurie Pearlstein, DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVAT. An individualized rehabilitation therapy plan is designed for each patient based upon their unique needs. Our team delivers patient care in a very comfortable and welcoming stand-alone rehabilitation center complete with rubber gym floors throughout the center — not your regular veterinary hospital setting! Our facility is more similar to a doggie gym and aquatic fitness center as we do not offer general wellness care, advanced imaging, or surgical procedures. We offer therapeutic modalities such as photobiomodulation (Laser both class III and class IV), neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES and TENS), Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) therapy, and Piezowave, Shockwave (ESWT), also known in the human medical field as Myofascial Acoustic Compression Therapy (MYACT). In addition to therapeutic exercise which we provide in our open air gym, we also utilize an underwater treadmill and a warm water swimming pool. Many of our patients also benefit from additional treatment options while in our care such as acupuncture, veterinary spinal manipulation therapy (VSMT), manual therapy, myofascial trigger point release, and massage. Currently, due to COVID-19 safety protocols, we do not allow clients inside the facility; however, we do offer an outdoor seating area where they can observe their animals' treatments from outside the gate!
A Well Adjusted Pet is proud to offer advanced services in the subspecialty of veterinary orthotics and prosthetic (V-OP) options for animals with unique circumstances. Over the past 6 years, we have worked with Colorado-based OrthoPets in partnership with Colorado State University and collaborated extensively with OrthoPets in providing custom V-OP options to more than 300 dogs. We are the only practice in Northern California with this level of expertise, and we see cases from all over the state and surrounding areas as a result. Many of these patients come seeking an orthosis as an alternative or as an adjunct to surgery. We are proud to be able to work with our local surgeons providing "arthrodesis on-demand" to improve the outcome for achilles tendon repair surgeries, as well as offering joint stabilizing, custom, stifle, elbow, tarsal, and carpal orthotics when surgery is not the best option for the patient. We have also improved mobility and quality of life for many patients who come to us with congenital abnormalities or developmental problems, as amputees due to cancer, injuries, or degenerative conditions. We are able to offer the possibility of a viable veterinary orthotic/prosthetic option which significantly improves their overall quality of life. It is so rewarding to watch these animals regain their independence and to watch their owners' eyes fill up with tears as they can again return to doing the things they love!
Additionally, we greatly enjoy supporting and providing care to animals who are in the "foster care system" for a number of San Francisco Bay-area animal welfare organizations including: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, NorCal Family Dog Rescue, the SF/SPCA, Veterinary Street Outreach Services, Paw FUND, Charlie's Acres Farm Sanctuary, and Homeless Cat Network — to name a few!
A Well Adjusted Pet is happy to continue offering the best possible rehabilitation care to our patients by adapting to and modifying how we see and treat patients during this time of the global pandemic requiring safe social-distancing protocols — even as the demand for services in the field of animal physical rehabilitation and advanced pain management continues to grow and grow!
Information written by AARV Member Ilana Strubel, DVM, CVSMT, CCRT, CVAT
Preferred Contact:
Dr. Ilana Strubel, AARV Member, Practice Owner, and Lead Rehab Veterinarian
drilana@awelladjustedpet.com
Follow Us on YouTube at A Well Adjusted Pet YouTube Channel
Follow Us on Instagram @AWellAdjustedPet
Follow Us on Facebook at A Well Adjusted Pet Facebook Page
1040 Palmetto Avenue
Pacifica CA 94044
415-967-3861
https://www.awelladjustedpet.com/