What does a visit look like?
The Assessment
Step one is always listening — to the people who know the pet best, and to the pet themselves. Mobility and pain changes can be subtle, and trusting the instincts of an attentive caregiver is essential. Your gut often knows when something isn’t right. At the same time, animals can be masters at hiding discomfort, so listening to them means peeling back the layers, observing small shifts, and taking the time to understand what they’re trying to tell us. Truly identifying the source of pain or mobility changes requires trust and relationship building, not just a quick exam.
Every visit includes a thorough, hands-on assessment: watching how your animal moves, performing a thoughtful pain evaluation, conducting detailed myofascial palpation, and completing orthopedic and neurologic exams. Our goal is to identify the root causes of discomfort so we can design treatment plans that are both effective and genuinely individualized. Just as importantly, we listen—carefully and compassionately—to your needs, concerns, and goals. Our patient-centered approach blends skilled clinical evaluation with wholehearted attention, creating care that truly supports comfort, mobility, and quality of life.
The first visit is just the beginning. Long-term success and a safe return to activity require ongoing reassessment and adaptability. We adjust the plan as your pet progresses—or if setbacks occur—to ensure that care remains effective and appropriate. A close, long-term relationship allows us to detect early signs of recurrent or new injury, helping your animal stay active, comfortable, and thriving for years to come.
Acupuncture: A Foundational Therapy for Comfort, Mobility, and Whole-Body Wellness
Acupuncture is one of the most powerful and versatile tools we use to support our patients. Rooted in a deep understanding of neuroanatomy, connective tissue pathways, and the body’s natural healing processes, acupuncture helps reduce pain, improve mobility, and restore balance throughout the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. For many animals, it is a foundational treatment—one that creates meaningful change not only in comfort, but in overall well-being.
Acupuncture plays a significant role in pain management by influencing both the nervous system and local tissues. It helps modulate pain pathways, reduces central and peripheral sensitization, and stimulates the release of the body’s natural pain relief. At the same time, it controls local inflammation, changes blood flow, and supports healing in injured or overused tissues. This makes it especially valuable for chronic pain, arthritis, spinal issues, and conditions that affect everyday mobility.
Beyond pain control, acupuncture impacts neuroplasticity—the nervous system’s ability to adapt and reorganize itself. By activating specific nerve fibers and central pathways, acupuncture can help “reset” dysfunctional patterns, improve communication between the brain and body, and support recovery from neurologic injuries. For pets with chronic pain, compensatory movement patterns, or mobility decline, this neuroplastic influence is an essential part of restoring function.
Acupuncture also enhances muscular mobility and overall movement quality by reducing muscle tension, improving flexibility, and addressing the myofascial restrictions that often develop around painful areas. These changes support more fluid, confident movement and help prevent secondary injuries caused by compensation.
Finally, acupuncture contributes to general wellness. Many pets become calmer, more relaxed, and more engaged after treatment. Improved sleep, better activity levels, enhanced quality of life, and reduced stress responses are all commonly observed benefits. We tailor every acupuncture session to the individual, blending gentle techniques with a thoughtful understanding of your pet’s needs, comfort level, and goals.
Because of its broad and meaningful impact—from pain relief and neurologic balance to mobility and emotional well-being—acupuncture is a cornerstone of care in our practice. It allows us to support healing from multiple angles and to create truly comprehensive treatment plans that help pets feel better, move better, and live more comfortably.
Integrative Support: Supplements, Medication, and Nutrition
Pain and mobility challenges are complex, which is why we use a multimodal approach to support comfort from every angle. We thoughtfully combine high-quality supplements, targeted pharmacologic interventions when needed, and individualized nutritional guidance to build a comprehensive plan for each pet.
Evidence-based supplements play an important role in supporting joint health, reducing inflammation, and optimizing tissue function, and potentially reducing the need for medications. When medications are appropriate, we choose the safest and most effective options—balancing pain relief with overall wellness. Nutrition is equally critical: diet, body condition, and targeted nutrients directly influence comfort, mobility, and long-term health outcomes.
We’re always happy to review your pet’s current supplements and diet, ensuring quality, appropriate sourcing, and effective dosing. Safety matters, and our training in integrative therapeutics allows us to identify safe combinations, avoid interactions, and choose products that truly make a difference.
By blending supplements, medications, and nutrition—and adjusting the plan over time—we can enhance comfort, protect joint function, and support healing. This personalized, evolving approach helps pets feel better, move better, and thrive at every stage of life.
Rehabilitation Modalities: Helping Pets Move Better, Feel Better
Our rehabilitation services blend skilled hands-on care with targeted therapeutic techniques to restore comfort and improve mobility. We use acupuncture, myofascial and kinetic-chain assessment, manual therapy, massage, and other evidence-based modalities to address pain, release tension, and support healthy movement.
Acupuncture helps regulate pain pathways and improve neurologic function, while focused myofascial work and manual therapy restore mobility in soft tissues and joints. Massage enhances relaxation, comfort, and recovery. When appropriate, we integrate additional tools—such as therapeutic exercise, shockwave, laser, or customized home programs—to support strength, coordination, and long-term mobility.
By combining these modalities thoughtfully and tailoring each plan to the individual pet, we help patients move with greater ease, confidence, and comfort.
More Energy, Less Pain: Focused Shockwave Therapy
Focused shockwave therapy is an advanced, noninvasive treatment that supports healing, improves mobility, and reduces pain in pets with a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions. This therapy delivers concentrated sound waves into targeted tissues, triggering a natural cascade of increased blood flow, cellular repair, and tissue regeneration. Research in both veterinary and human medicine has shown that focused shockwave can meaningfully improve function and comfort — especially when combined with a tailored rehabilitation plan.
Osteoarthritis (OA) Care & Joint Health
Focused shockwave is particularly effective for osteoarthritic joints. Studies have shown improvements in cartilage metabolism, joint mechanics, and overall mobility. By stimulating a healing response inside the joint, shockwave can help slow degenerative changes, decrease inflammation, and improve range of motion. Many pets with chronic OA experience steadier mobility and less stiffness after a series of treatments.
Tendon & Ligament Healing
For tendon and ligament injuries — such as partial cruciate ligament tears, iliopsoas strains, Achilles tendinopathy, and supraspinatus disease — focused shockwave helps stimulate collagen production, improve fiber alignment, and speed healing. Clinical research demonstrates better functional outcomes and reduced reinjury rates when shockwave is paired with a structured rehabilitation program. Pets often show improved limb use and greater stability as these tissues repair.
Fascial Release & Mobility Restoration
The fascial system plays a major role in comfort and motion. Shockwave therapy can help release tight or dysfunctional fascia, improve glide between tissue layers, and reduce compensatory strain patterns. By addressing these restrictions, pets often move more freely and show a noticeable improvement in gait and posture.
Advanced Pain Relief
Shockwave also provides powerful analgesia. It influences nerve signaling and reduces the sensitivity of pain receptors, leading to both immediate and long-lasting pain relief. This makes it an excellent option for chronic pain states, enthesopathies, old injuries, and refractory musculoskeletal discomfort.
A Simple, Well-Tolerated Treatment With Big Impact
One of the greatest advantages of focused shockwave therapy is how easy it is for pets to receive. Treatments are quick, noninvasive, and performed without sedation in most cases. Sessions typically last only a few minutes, and most pets relax comfortably throughout. There is no downtime afterward, and improvements often unfold over the following days to weeks as the body’s healing response activates. When integrated into a personalized rehabilitation plan, focused shockwave therapy becomes a powerful, evidence-supported tool for improving mobility, restoring tissue health, and helping pets return to the activities they love.
Joint and soft tissue injections: Intra-Articular & Regenerative Therapies
For pets with osteoarthritis or soft-tissue injuries, targeted injection therapies can provide meaningful, long-lasting relief. At Fryday Veterinary Mobility, we offer a range of evidence-based intra-articular and regenerative options designed to reduce pain, improve joint health, and support natural healing.
Joint Therapies
We tailor each treatment to the specific joint and stage of disease, using advanced options such as:
Arthramid® (PAAG): A long-acting, disease-modifying therapy that strengthens and stabilizes the synovial lining to reduce inflammation and improve comfort.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP): Concentrated platelets from your pet’s own blood that deliver growth factors to promote tissue repair and reduce inflammation.
Stem Cell Therapy: Regenerative cells that support healing of cartilage, soft tissues, and chronic inflammation in select patients.
Hyaluronic Acid (HA): Lubricates and nourishes arthritic joints, improving mobility and reducing pain.
Soft Tissue & Tendon/Ligament Injections
Many mobility problems arise not only from joints but from soft-tissue injuries. We offer targeted treatments for:
Shoulder tendinopathies
Iliopsoas muscle strain or injury
Other chronic tendon or ligament issues
These therapies help reduce pain, promote healthy collagen remodeling, and speed return to comfortable, functional movement.
Whether supporting aging joints or helping an active dog recover from injury, regenerative and intra-articular treatments play a powerful role in comprehensive mobility care—especially when combined with rehabilitation, exercise therapy, and pain management tailored to each patient.
Advanced Pain Management Techniques
For pets with complex, chronic, or treatment-resistant pain, we offer advanced therapies designed to address pain at its source and support meaningful, lasting relief. These techniques go beyond standard medication strategies to target the deeper physiologic and neurologic contributors to pain.
Myofascial Release & Fascial Therapies
Chronic pain often involves tight, restricted, or inflamed fascia and muscle. Through skilled hands-on myofascial release, trigger point therapy, and targeted manual techniques, we reduce tension, improve tissue mobility, and restore normal movement patterns. These therapies are especially helpful for compensatory pain, chronic stiffness, and mobility loss.
Ketamine Infusions & Injections
Ketamine, used at low analgesic doses, can help “reset” pain pathways in patients experiencing central sensitization or complex chronic pain. Infusions and localized ketamine injections can:
Reduce neuropathic pain
Improve comfort in patients with chronic or refractory conditions
Diminish wind-up and maladaptive pain responses
Support improved mobility and quality of life
These treatments are carefully selected and monitored to ensure safety and maximize benefit.
Neural Therapy
Neural therapy uses small injections of local anesthetic into areas of nerve irritation, autonomic dysfunction, or chronic pain “interference fields.” This helps restore normal communication within the nervous system, reduce abnormal pain signaling, and improve overall mobility and comfort. It can be especially effective for chronic pain patterns, old injuries, or unexplained persistent discomfort.
Together, these advanced tools allow us to support pets who need more than conventional pain management—providing relief, restoring mobility, and improving comfort even in the most challenging cases.
Moving Forward Together
The assessment is just the beginning of our journey with you and your pet. As they recover—and as their needs shift over time—we stay closely connected with steady communication, thoughtful planning, and genuine care. Healing rarely follows a straight line, and every animal expresses progress in their own way, which is why we check in often, re-evaluate regularly, and make gentle adjustments whenever your pet needs something different.
With a wide, flexible toolbox of rehabilitation techniques, we’re able to support your pet’s comfort, mobility, and confidence at every stage. Just as important is the trusting relationship we build over time—getting to know your pet, understanding what matters most to you, and making sure your pet feels safe and seen. Together, we create an evolving care plan that grows with your pet, helping them move, feel, and enjoy life as fully as possible.
