Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) for cats is an alternative medicine. Some veterinarians claim wondrous things from this treatment. The truth is that there is little evidence supporting the effectiveness of this treatment. It reminds me a bit of the cure-all elixir sold in the days of the wild west.
In the photograph on this page you will see a lady veterinarian, Janet Gordon Palm, treating a cat with low-level laser therapy in order to calm an aggressive cat. This cat had been declawed and was in pain and the pain was making him aggressive. The veterinarian uses a Erchonia frequency specific low power laser. She says that she is performing a…
‘Sympathetic/Parasympathetic Balance attempting to decrease his high cortisol fright/flight response, and bring up his parasympathetic rest and digest responses’.
A lot of long words and I’m not sure whether this is veterinary mumbo-jumbo but I don’t want to be too cynical. I want to be optimistic.
Another veterinary practitioner working at the Mid-Isle Veterinary Hospital claims that level laser treatments can cure a lot of diseases such as immune and allergic conditions. If it could cure allergic conditions it would be magical as they are hard to cure.
It seems that you simply shine the low-level laser onto the cat. It is quite safe and you do not need to wear goggles or take protective measures. They say that the cats and dogs like the treatment and fall asleep during it. It is not clear to me how it works. Some of the language used is rather vague. Wikipedia says that veterinary clinics use it to treat a wide variety of ailments from arthritis to wounds. They stress that little research has taken place on this treatment. But it is aggressively marketed as a powerful therapeutic tool. It is perhaps more importantly a revenue generator for veterinarians.
Ethically questionable
Some studies do however show promising results but overall there is not enough evidence to support the claims made by some veterinarians. Obviously veterinarians have an obligation to be frank and clear to clients about the benefits and risks of this treatment. Otherwise the client cannot give informed consent. The aggressive marketing is ethically questionable.
It would be nice if a visitor to this website has had first-hand experience of the benefits of this treatment with either a dog or cat. It would be helpful to hear from you in a comment.
Thank you for the heads up on this. I’ve seen laser therapy advertised at our vets but haven’t had cause to investigate it thankfully.
I had no idea that some claims for it weren’t properly evidenced. I thought it was used to speed up internal tissue healing after surgery, to areas with less blood supply?
It looks over-hyped to me.