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3 Surprising Benefits of Massage for Pets
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Lindsay Butzer, DVM
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Most dogs and cats love being treated to a relaxing massage from their pet parent. While we already know massage is great for remedying aches and pains, it can also have surprising full-body benefits for your pet.
In honor of Animal Pain Awareness Month, learn about the unexpected health benefits your dog or cat can receive from your healing hands.
3 Surprising Benefits of Massage for Pets
1. Massage Can Boost Your Pet’s Immune System.
By simply giving your pet a massage, you can stimulate circulation throughout their body, helping to carry metabolic waste products through their blood as well as deliver nutrients and oxygen to the body’s cells. Massage can also stimulate the lymphatic system located throughout your pet’s body, which is responsible for filtering potentially harmful substances. With the power of massage, you can also help increase the production of white blood cells that protect your pet against disease. All of these factors can help reduce inflammation, stimulate the immune system, and build a stronger body that’s more resistant to illness and infection.
2. Supports Your Pet’s Mental Health.
There’s nothing that brings pets more joy than getting one-on-one attention from the humans they love. Beyond a way to spend time with you, massage also helps balance stress hormones in the blood, relaxes muscle tension, and promotes the production of positive hormones endorphins, serotonin and dopamine. These hormones not only put your pet in a relaxed state of mind, they also play major roles in your pet’s digestion, sleep, and immunity.
3. Can Reduce Future Risk of Injury.
Naturally, massage can help reduce pain and inflammation associated with injuries and osteoarthritis. But did you know that it can also help prevent pain in the first place? Massage can help increase your pet’s range of motion, release muscle tension, stimulate the myofascial system, and improve posture, all of which can contribute to greater resistance to injuries. For athletic and working dogs, working with an animal physiotherapist or other professional can be a key part of your pet’s routine maintenance. For typical pets, regular full-body massages at home can also be an opportunity to find any concerning tightness, lumps, bumps, or other abnormalities that may otherwise go unnoticed.
How To Massage Your Pet
If your pet has an existing health condition or injury, talk to a veterinarian about finding an animal massage therapist or physiologist. For healthy pets, you can try massages at home as you snuggle and bond with your pet.
Want to take it a step further? Combine massage with calming products like Feliway for cats or Adaptil for dogs. Read up on practices like Tellington Touch or animal reiki to discover techniques that may be uniquely beneficial to your pet.
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Every pet deserves to live a long, happy, healthy life.
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