PetAbility Podcast

About PetAbility Podcast

This is a must-hear podcast for pet owners wanting access to the latest in pet quality of life and longevity. Whether your pet has fur, feathers, scales or shells, Cathy and Chris believe in treating your pet as a whole, both mind and body. Continuing a collaboration that began in 2003, Cathy and Chris share the gift of gab as well as their network in the pet rehab community. Using their vast expertise as Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioners (CCRPs), Cathy Symons CVT, CCRP, and Chris Cranston MPT, CCRP, offer relevant information and provocative interviews on their podcast, PetAbility. With an emphasis on mobility and independence, their show is about improving function, restoring confidence, alleviating fear, providing mental stimulation, and easing pain to help your pets live their best lives. Read on for more information about Cathy and Chris… Cathy Symons is the author of Blind Devotion: Enhancing the Lives of Blind and Visually Impaired Dogs. She was inspired to write this book after her first pug, Booda, lost his sight at the age of seven. Several years later, Cathy adopted a blind pug named Digger and wrote a children’s book, Watching Out for Digger, which she uses as a teaching tool for young children to learn about living with a disabled dog. After fifteen years of practice as a veterinary technician, Cathy went on to study canine rehabilitation at the University of Tennessee. In 2003, Cathy was one of the first thirty-six people in the world to become a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner. Shortly thereafter, Cathy was instrumental in establishing one of the foremost veterinary rehabilitation centers in the United States, the Sterling Impression Animal Rehabilitation Center of New England. She continues to follow the latest options in pet rehabilitation, including digital thermal imaging and laser therapy, and is currently working on her third book, Senior Dogs: Maintaining Mobility and Independence. Cathy resides in the New England area with her husband and their pug, Mac. Mac is a very confident little nugget who enjoys doing nose work with his mom. Chris Cranston has 20 years of experience in pet rehabilitation. She is excited to share her knowledge and reach a wide pet-loving audience through the PetAbility podcast. Chris loves seeing that light bulb go off when educating pet owners, so a podcast seemed like a natural fit. Chris started her career as a physical therapist (PT) – with people. When she moved to the Boston area in 2002, she saw it as an opportunity to do something different, so she combined her existing PT skills with her passion for animals. Chris became a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner through the University of Tennessee in 2004, one of the first 100 persons in the world to receive this certification. In addition to her CCRP designation, she has a Masters of Physical Therapy (1989) and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology (1987) from the University of Iowa. Chris had a successful mobile practice, consulted with a myriad of general practices and specialty clinics, and started the physical rehabilitation service for a large multi-specialty and emergency organization in the Greater Boston region. All this was before founding FlowDog, a stand-alone, full-service small animal physical rehabilitation facility in Waltham, MA. In 2017, Chris sold her business to the esteemed Angell Animal Medical Center of Boston, and is now podcasting, consulting for a tech company in the veterinary space, providing concierge mobile pet rehab, and working getting a product to market that will help our pets. Of course, Chris prioritizes enriching the lives of her twin Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Julep & Baxter, while indulging in all the snuggles they are willing to share with her!

Publisher

PetAbility

Category

education · kids & family · science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Mar 2020

Latest episode

25 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

46 of 165 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   25 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Reiki for Animals: Exploring Energy for Healing with Samantha Hankey, CVT, CSAMP, RM

   Host [Host Name] interviews Samantha Hankey, CVT, CSAMP, RM, exploring how Reiki energy promotes animal relaxation, healing, and connection.

2. 

   4 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   To Brace or Not to Brace: Orthoses in Veterinary Rehabilitation – Part 2: The Pelvic Limb with Dr. Caroline Adrian

   Canine physical therapist Dr. Caroline Adrian discusses the benefits and applications of pelvic limb orthoses in veterinary rehabilitation, exploring their role in treating hind limb injuries and conditions.

3. 

   14 Jul 2026

   To Brace or Not to Brace: Orthoses in Veterinary Rehabilitation – Part 1: The Thoracic Limb with Dr. Caroline Adrian

   Dr. Caroline Adrian, BS, MSPT, PhD, tCPT, guides listeners through the principles and clinical decision-making for thoracic limb orthoses in veterinary rehabilitation.

Inside a recent episode

Reiki for Animals: Exploring Energy for Healing with Samantha Hankey, CVT, CSAMP, RM

Published 25 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Reiki is the ability to harness some of that energy or healing energy and give it to a recipient for their highest good and well-being. Would you say that you're more like the conduit for this universal energy to go through you? Yes. So when you go through your Reiki training, you go through what they call attunements, where they attune you to the Reiki energy so that it can easily find you and flow through you as a conduit or practitioner. And you said Reiki training, Sam. Can anybody be trained to do Reiki or is it... something that's a little bit more innate in certain individuals? Because I know you have a very interesting background ever since you were a very, very young child. […]

Who has been a guest on PetAbility Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Samantha Hankey
• Caroline Adrian
• Carrie Adrian
• David Dycus
• Dr Don Shields

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

161,479

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

20 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 64 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

75

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

51

Contact PetAbility Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about PetAbility Podcast