ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER
510 E. 62nd St.
212-838-8100; amcny.org
Let’s start with the story of Dublin, a 7-year-old boxer who suddenly showed signs of favoring her right hind leg. Examinations followed; it turned out that Dublin had been suffering from a congenital knee problem for most of her life. Surgery helped, but six months later she was still losing muscle tone, to the point where vets were saying she might lose the leg. That’s when her owners brought her to the Animal Medical Center and its rehab mini-department, spearheaded by Lynn Crain, a canine-rehabilitation practitioner. There are few such centers in the country, because this field is barely five years old, but the treatments at the AMC sound mighty similar to those used on people: neuromuscular electrical stimulation, ultrasound, massage, passive range-of-motion exercises. Just this week, the AMC installed a state-of-the-art hydrotherapy tub that delivers heat and bioelectrical stimulation. Therapy treatments range from $100 to $200 per session. So what happened to Dublin? After twice-a-week sessions, she was bearing weight on that leg after a month, and is regularly back at the dog run.