Steel City Canine Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine
Pittsburgh's ONLY standalone pet rehabilitation center
Steel City Canine Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine
Pittsburgh's ONLY standalone pet rehabilitation center
Meet Our Team
Meredith Wille LVT, CCRP, CCFT
Meredith is our Clinic Director and has been in the veterinary field since 1988. A lifelong learner, she has continued her education beyond a Licensed Veterinary Technician: in 2017 she earned her designation as a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner from the University of Tennessee. She is also a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer
Meredith is our Clinic Director and has been in the veterinary field since 1988. A lifelong learner, she has continued her education beyond a Licensed Veterinary Technician: in 2017 she earned her designation as a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner from the University of Tennessee. She is also a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer and is currently pursuing certification in pain management (CVPM).
Meredith has many years of experience training canine athletes, and she travels the country competing with her Pharaoh Hounds in dock diving, lure coursing, rally & agility competitions.
Why Canine Fitness?
A Solid Foundation
Physical fitness begins with a solid foundation: a foundation capable of enduring any number of surprising challenges. This provides a platform for your dog to overcome challenges faster and with less stress. When designed properly, an exercise program can be effective both mentally and physically in a short amount of time.
Lifelong Health
With more than 50% of our canine companions considered to be overweight, a good basic fitness program can help reduce body weight, increase muscle strength, improve organ function, and prolong their lives.
Canine Health Puzzle Program
Our fitness team teaches you and your dog how to exercise with proper form, allowing your dog to work targeted muscle groups and focus on specific needs for sport and for overall health. The Canine Health Puzzle Program is well-rounded to improve your dog’s mental fitness, balance, strength, flexibility, and cardio-respiratory health.
Ready to Start?
Our team will create a fitness program to meet your needs, whether it be for competitive sport, overall health and wellness, or to bring your pup up to speed as a running buddy!
Physiotherapy
Ultrasound Therapy
Physiotherapy
- Manual therapies: This includes massage, therapeutic stretching, range-of-motion exercises adapted from techniques used in human physical therapy. Our rehab technicians use manual therapy during sessions in the Rehabilitation Center, and will teach you how to correctly perform exercises with your pet at home for additional benefit.
- Strength, coordination, flexibility and balance therapies: These exercises help to improve coordination and balance, using specialized equipment that includes Cavaletti poles, physioballs, rocker & wobble boards, and therapy bands. By learning to balance on uneven or mobile surfaces, your pet will become more aware of where his feet are, increasing stability and strengthening nerve signals - this is especially helpful for pets with conditions that cause them to lean to one side or have frequent falls.
Hydrotherapy
Ultrasound Therapy
Physiotherapy
The Underwater Treadmill offers low-impact, high resistance therapy with the buoyancy of water to reduce pressure on your pet's joints, improve muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance, and range-of-motion.
The specialized tank is filled with warm water that helps relax muscles, allow deeper stretching, and increase range of motion. Our rehab technicians control the water level (to increase or decrease resistance) and treadmill speed to suit each patient's needs. It's especially useful for pets with injured or painful joints.
Ultrasound Therapy
Ultrasound Therapy
Electrostimulation Therapy
Therapeutic ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves that cause vibrations in soft tissue, generating heat and increasing blood flow. This helps to heal injuries by stimulating cells and oxygen to the affected area.
Ultrasound therapy is also used to reduce muscle spasms, decrease swelling and inflammation, and can help break down scar tissue.
Electrostimulation Therapy
tPEMF (targeted pulsed electromagnetic field)
Electrostimulation Therapy
E-stim is similar to NMES (NeuroMuscular Electrical Stimulation) therapy for humans, and is especially useful for pets with orthopedic or neurological conditions.
Conductive patches (electrodes) attached to strategic areas provide low-voltage current, stimulating motor nerves. Electrical impulses cause your pet's muscles to contract and relax.
This treatment helps to decrease pain, relieve muscle spasms, improve strength and prevent muscle atrophy by increasing muscle mass, and improve circulation joint mobility.
Class IV Laser Therapy
tPEMF (targeted pulsed electromagnetic field)
tPEMF (targeted pulsed electromagnetic field)
The Class IV Therapy Laser is a versatile, non-invasive therapy that works by enhancing your pet's natural healing properties. Using infrared light to activate the mitochondria in tissue cells, it stimulates growth of new, healthy cells and encourages vasodilation that increases the delivery of fresh, oxygenated blood to the affected area.
Laser treatments can improve nearly any condition that benefits from decreased inflammation, pain relief, and increased blood flow. This includes everything from acute problems like wounds, "hot spots," and skin/ear infections to chronic, long-term orthopedic disease. We use it immediately post-op for all of our surgical patients and after dental extractions.
tPEMF (targeted pulsed electromagnetic field)
tPEMF (targeted pulsed electromagnetic field)
tPEMF (targeted pulsed electromagnetic field)
The tPEMF Assisi Loop is a painless, non-invasive tool that helps to decrease pain, reduce inflammation, and speed healing for both soft and hard tissue injuries.
After injury, the body naturally releases nitric oxide to stimulate the healing process. The Assisi Loop uses electromagnetic technology to enhance this process, resulting in faster healing and less pain for your pet. The microcurrent electricity is able to penetrate bandages and casting material, making it an excellent therapy for pets with orthopedic injuries and post-surgical recovery.
tPEMF therapy is most effective when used several times per day for the first stage of treatment, followed by a tapering dose. It can be used for maintenance for pets with chronic or degenerative diseases. With a prescription, you can purchase a device for use in the comfort of your home, and our rehab staff will train you on how to use it properly for your pet's condition.