Laser pet therapy

Well, once again the woo-woos have set their sights on your pets.  Last month we had holographic quantum-mechanical-frequency-infused tags that were supposed to repel ticks and fleas (see my post here); this month we have a doctor in Seattle who is treating everything from eczema to broken legs by shining lasers on your pet's skin.

I wish I was making this up, but here's the website for Healing Arts Mobile Laser Therapy, run by Dr. Kathryn Okawa.  Her "About Laser Therapy" page explains:

Low level laser therapy (cold laser therapy) can be used by veterinarians to help animals heal more quickly from surgery, after a traumatic injury or speed healing of chronic conditions. While this procedure was developed decades ago  it has gained popularity and acceptance in the field of veterinary medicine during the last several years.

Low level laser therapy is very different than lasers used in surgery. Laser therapy involves using light to stimulate the body's own metabolism to speed up healing.  The light interacts with mitochondria (the cell's engine) to increase production of ATP; this is the substance that the body uses for energy.  Laser therapy speeds up the metabolism, and increases the blood flow and drainage of lymphatic fluid in the area that is swollen or needs to heal.

Laser therapy is a non-invasive method that can be used be itself or added to other treatment options. There are generally no side effects and it is a good way to stimulate the body to heal rather than administering additional medications. This will allow the pet's body to hear easier and enable your pet a quicker return to a normal lifestyle.

Low level laser therapy is very different than lasers used in surgery. Laser therapy involves using light to stimulate the body's own metabolism to speed up healing. The light interacts with mitochondria (the cell's engine) to increase production of ATP; this is the substance that the body uses for energy. Laser therapy speeds up the metabolism, and increases the blood flow and drainage of lymphatic fluid in the area that is swollen or needs to heal.

She then goes on to explain that her laser treatments "do not require the hair to be clipped" and "generally do not cause side effects."

Well, sorry, Dr. Okawa, I'm calling bullshit on this.

There is no mechanism by which light of any kind, even "low level laser" light, could influence your mitochondria.  There is a biochemical pathway by which certain organisms have evolved to store light as chemical energy; it's called photosynthesis, and last I checked my dogs were incapable of it, although they do seem to enjoy lying in the sun.  (So do I, for that matter, but it has nothing to do with any desire to "increase production of ATP.")  So I suspect that your problem is that you got confused when you were in college and thought you were in a zoology class when you were actually in a botany class.  And I'm thinking that "laser therapy" falls into that vast swamp of "alternative health therapies" that cause no side effects because they have no effects at all.

But once again, we have something that will be appealing to people who (1) have questionable background in science, (2) don't like the idea of dosing their pets with nasty medicines or seeing them undergo surgery, and (3) have more money than common sense.  The tragedy, of course, is that the pets can't speak for themselves, and are relying on their owners to make smart decisions regarding their health care -- and as with homeopathy and other ridiculous "alternative modalities," the people who agree to have their pets treated with "laser therapy" may fail to seek out treatments that could actually work.

So, sorry, but all of the photographs of cute puppies and kittens on your website aren't convincing me.  And should a "laser therapy for pets" clinic ever open up near me, I'm still going to opt for going to my veterinarian, who favors traditional medicine.  My dogs may not like shots and pills, but in my experience, they have one thing going for them.

They actually work.