Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Pets
Did you know that Coastal Animal Referral Emergency has the only hyperbaric oxygen chamber for pets in the area? While that may sound impressive, chances are you don’t know much about hyperbaric oxygen therapy for pets and how we can help our patients with this treatment modality. Lucky for you, we are happy to explain!
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for Animals
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a treatment option for patients for many different conditions. During a treatment, the patient breathes pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. This increases the amount of oxygen in the blood (oxygen saturation) to promote healing in tissues that may be oxygen-deprived due to injury or illness.
A hyperbaric oxygen treatment session consists of:
- Entry into a pressurized chamber — The pet is placed in a sealed, pressurized chamber. Pressures inside are increased to levels about two to three times higher than normal atmospheric pressure.
- Breathing easy — While inside the chamber, the patient is breathing 100% pure oxygen. Normal room air is only 21% oxygen. In the high-pressure environment of the pressurized chamber, this oxygen dissolves more easily into the blood and is better able to be delivered to tissues that need it.
- Increased cell support — The increased oxygen delivery to tissues has lots of positive effects. Increased oxygen delivery can speed healing, reduce swelling, and support the immune response. It can also promote the growth of new blood vessels in areas that need better blood supply.
Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
So how does this translate to helping our pet patients? Hyperbaric oxygen treatment for pets can be used for a variety of things. Some of the more common reasons we might recommend this therapy include:
- Wounds that are not healing as expected
- Burns
- Severe infections
- Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
- Head trauma
- Swelling/edema
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injury
- Healing after surgery
- Adjunctive cancer treatment
Pet health and hyperbaric oxygen treatment tend to go together well. This exciting treatment option can serve as an additional option for many things that we treat, and risks are fairly minimal.
If you have questions about hyperbaric oxygen treatment for pets, or would like to know if your pet might benefit, don’t hesitate to contact us. After all, helping pets is one of our favorite things to do.