Why More Power Can Worsen Canine Laser Therapy

Multi-wavelength targeting, controlled thermal delivery, deeper tissue coverage.

A large older dog can look fine while walking slowly across the examination room, then struggle badly when asked to rise from the floor. The owner usually describes it in practical terms: the dog takes longer to stand, avoids stairs, stops jumping into the car, or shifts weight away from one hind limb.

The difficult part for a veterinary rehabilitation team is rarely recognizing that the dog hurts. The difficult part is delivering enough therapeutic energy to deeper tissue without turning a high-intensity treatment into an uncomfortable heating session.

É aqui que tratamento de terapia laser para cães becomes a treatment-design problem rather than a machine-power problem.

A Class IV veterinary laser can deliver substantially more energy than conventional low-level systems, but more energy is not automatically better. The wavelength determines how that energy is absorbed. Coat and skin characteristics change the amount of light reaching tissue. Treatment area changes the dose. Continuous emission creates a different thermal profile from pulsed delivery. A large Labrador with thick tissue over the hip cannot simply be treated using the same settings as a thin-coated terrier.

The practical question is therefore not whether a veterinary laser is powerful enough.

The practical question is whether the clinician can control where the energy is deposited, how quickly it accumulates, and how the dog responds during and after treatment.

When a Dog Needs More Than Surface Heating

Consider a typical rehabilitation appointment for an older dog with hip osteoarthritis.

The dog walks into the clinic without obvious distress. Palpation reveals reduced hip extension and discomfort around the greater trochanter. The owner reports stiffness after rest and declining willingness to climb stairs.

A superficial treatment may produce warmth and temporary comfort, but the clinician is dealing with a deeper anatomical target involving the joint, periarticular tissues and surrounding musculature.

This is why terapia laser veterinária has moved toward higher-output Class IV systems in many rehabilitation settings.

The objective is to deliver useful optical energy more efficiently to the treatment region.

A randomized double-blinded controlled trial published in the Revista Americana de Investigação Veterinária evaluated Class IV photobiomodulation in 20 dogs with bilateral hip osteoarthritis. The dogs had moderate or severe osteoarthritis, with a mean age of 8.3 years. The treatment group received Class IV laser therapy over three weeks, and clinical assessments continued through 90 days. The PBMT group showed better results at several follow-up points for pain severity, function, gait and overall orthopedic outcomes, with improvement in hip range of motion continuing through the later follow-up period.

That study is particularly useful because it demonstrates something that is easy to miss in equipment marketing.

The clinical effect was not created by a high wattage number alone.

It came from a defined treatment protocol, repeated exposure and careful clinical assessment.

Why Optical Energy Does Not Travel Through a Dog Like a Straight Beam

When near-infrared light enters biological tissue, the energy does not simply travel downward until it reaches the joint.

Photons are scattered by tissue structures and absorbed by chromophores. The amount of attenuation changes with wavelength and with the optical characteristics of the tissue.

Skin, subcutaneous fat, muscle, blood and water all contribute to the final distribution of absorbed energy.

This creates a familiar problem for veterinary rehabilitation.

A clinician may select a high-power setting because the treatment target is deep, but if the treatment is delivered too slowly or over too small an area, the surface can become uncomfortably warm before the intended deeper tissue receives the desired exposure.

Conversely, if the clinician moves too quickly and uses insufficient energy, the dog may tolerate the session perfectly well while the treatment becomes biologically under-dosed.

The treatment head therefore has to move, pause, pulse or remain continuous according to the intended protocol.

This is why the treatment parameters need to be considered as a group rather than individually.

980 nm and the Role of Hemoglobin and Water

The near-infrared range is particularly useful for high-intensity photobiomodulation because tissue absorption changes significantly across the spectrum.

At wavelengths around 980 nm, both water and blood-related chromophores contribute to absorption. Published optical research notes that near-infrared water absorption has important peaks around 980 nm, 1470 nm and 2000 nm, while the depth of effective optical penetration decreases as absorption becomes stronger.

This creates an important distinction between 980 nm and 1470 nm.

At 1470 nm, water absorption is much stronger than at 980 nm. That allows energy to be deposited efficiently in water-rich tissue, but it also means the optical energy is attenuated more rapidly.

Research comparing 1470 nm and 980 nm tissue interaction has demonstrated substantially shallower penetration with 1470 nm. One human venous-tissue study reported a penetration depth of approximately 0.22 mm for 1470 nm compared with approximately 1.26 mm for 980 nm under the experimental conditions. Those values should not be transferred directly to canine hip muscle because tissue composition, geometry and treatment conditions differ, but the physical principle is relevant. Stronger absorption means faster energy deposition and shallower penetration.

For external veterinary rehabilitation, this distinction matters.

A wavelength that is extremely efficient at producing localized water absorption is not automatically the best wavelength for reaching a deeper musculoskeletal target.

Why 1470 nm Should Not Automatically Be Used for Dog Rehabilitation

1470 nm has a legitimate place in medical laser technology, particularly when controlled photothermal tissue interaction is the intended objective.

FotonMedix’s SurgMedix-Max, for example, combines 1470 nm and 980 nm outputs and is positioned for surgical applications involving tissue incision, coagulation, evaporation and other minimally invasive procedures.

That is fundamentally different from external Class IV veterinary rehabilitation.

The clinician treating a dog’s hip osteoarthritis is not trying to ablate tissue.

The goal is controlled delivery of therapeutic energy across skin, subcutaneous tissue and deeper musculoskeletal structures.

For that reason, a veterinary system based around 650 nm, 810 nm, 915 nm, 940 nm and 980 nm provides a different treatment architecture from a surgical system centered around strong water absorption at 1470 nm.

The distinction is commercially important as well.

A veterinary hospital purchasing a venda máquina de terapia laser para tecidos profundos should not compare devices simply by asking which one has the highest maximum wattage.

The better questions are whether the wavelengths fit veterinary rehabilitation, whether output can be adjusted, whether pulsed operation is available, whether treatment temperature can be monitored and whether the system can support reproducible clinical protocols.

Coat Color Is Not a Cosmetic Detail

One of the most interesting issues in canine laser therapy is something that human clinics rarely have to consider to the same degree.

Dogs have coats.

Hair length, coat type, skin color and tissue thickness can influence how much energy reaches the skin and underlying tissue.

A published study investigating laser power, wavelength, coat length and coat color in healthy dogs found that these variables affected tissue penetration and thermal response. The study evaluated an 810/980 nm Class IV system at adjustable power levels and specifically examined differences associated with coat characteristics.

This has a very practical consequence.

A hairy Golden Retriever, a short-coated Greyhound and a dark-coated Labrador should not necessarily be treated using an identical protocol simply because they have the same diagnosis.

The diagnosis tells the veterinarian what is wrong.

The physical characteristics of the patient help determine how the treatment should be delivered.

For some anatomical regions, clipping or parting the hair may improve coupling and reduce unnecessary optical loss. In other situations, the clinician may compensate through treatment technique rather than clipping.

The point is that the machine setting should be interpreted in the context of the actual patient.

Why Class IV Therapy Needs Thermal Control

The biggest mistake with high-intensity treatment is assuming that heat is either completely desirable or completely undesirable.

Neither is correct.

A controlled temperature increase can be part of the therapeutic response. Excessive heating is a safety problem.

That makes thermal control one of the most important differences between a clinically useful Class IV platform and a machine that simply produces high output.

FotonMedix’s VetMedix-Max is specified at 650 nm, 810 nm, 915 nm, 940 nm and 980 nm with a stated peak power of 38 W. The platform includes super-pulse operation, pulse operation and continuous-wave operation, along with therapeutic temperature indication technology. The manufacturer describes super-pulse operation as providing deeper penetration with adjustable thermal sensation.

For veterinary rehabilitation, that flexibility has practical value.

A clinician can use a continuous mode when a larger treatment area and sustained energy delivery are appropriate.

A pulsed mode can be used when the objective is to deliver energy while giving tissue intermittent recovery time.

A super-pulse mode can provide high peak output while controlling average thermal exposure.

The exact clinical protocol still needs to be selected by a trained veterinarian according to the animal, condition and device instructions.

Duty Cycle Is Where High Power Becomes More Manageable

Duty cycle is often discussed as a technical specification, but its clinical meaning is straightforward.

If the laser emits continuously, tissue receives uninterrupted optical energy.

If the laser operates in a pulsed pattern, there are emission periods and non-emission periods.

Those off periods give heat time to spread away from the most strongly absorbing region.

That does not mean a lower duty cycle automatically produces a better result.

If the average delivered energy becomes too low, the treatment may no longer provide the intended dose.

The clinician is therefore balancing three variables at the same time:

Potência de pico

Peak power describes the instantaneous output during emission.

Average power

Average power reflects the actual energy delivery over the complete pulse cycle.

Duração do tratamento

Treatment duration determines how long the tissue is exposed to the overall energy-delivery pattern.

This is why simply advertising “38 W” tells a veterinarian very little about how the treatment will feel.

A 38 W peak-pulse system and a 38 W continuous system can create very different thermal experiences.

FotonMedix’s veterinary platform explicitly provides super-pulse, pulse and continuous modes, while its equine system describes pulsed operation as intermittent emission intended to reduce overheating and continuous operation for situations requiring high energy over a short period.

The same engineering principle is valuable when treating dogs, especially over superficial bony regions such as the hip, stifle, elbow or shoulder.

A Detailed Clinical Case Model for Canine Hip Osteoarthritis

The following case is a simulated veterinary rehabilitation case constructed from published Class IV canine osteoarthritis treatment parameters. It is not presented as a real FotonMedix patient record.

The purpose is to show what a properly documented veterinary treatment record could look like when a clinic adapts published evidence to a high-intensity multi-wavelength platform.

The underlying published Class IV trial used a blend consisting of 80% 980 nm and 20% 808 nm for dogs with dark coats, or an 980/808 blend for light-to-medium coats. Reported radiant power was 6.5–8 W, with an average fluence of 14.3–19.5 J/cm² and a continuously moving grid over the greater trochanter.

Because the FotonMedix VetMedix-Max uses 810 nm rather than 808 nm, the simulated protocol below uses an 80% 980 nm and 20% 810 nm configuration. The pulsed frequency and duty-cycle values are illustrative rather than values reported by the published trial.

Case Field	Simulated Clinical Record
Case number	VET-OA-2026-017
Case status	Simulated composite case based on published Class IV evidence
Doente	9-year-old Labrador Retriever
Sexo	Male, neutered
Body weight	31.4 kg
Primary condition	Bilateral canine hip osteoarthritis
Pathology grade	Moderate to severe radiographic OA
Main complaint	Difficulty rising, reduced stair tolerance, hind-limb stiffness after rest
Baseline pain assessment	CBPI pain interference 6/10; clinician pain score 6/10
Main treatment region	Greater trochanter, periarticular hip musculature and surrounding soft tissue
Primary wavelength	980 nm
Secondary wavelength	810 nm
Wavelength proportion	80% 980 nm + 20% 810 nm
Peak treatment power	8 W
Emission mode	Pulsed high-intensity treatment
Illustrative frequency	20 Hz
Illustrative duty cycle	25%
Average power during pulsed exposure	Approximately 2 W
Tempo de tratamento	10 minutos
Single-session total energy	Approximately 1,200 J
Técnica de tratamento	Moving contact grid over the treatment area
Frequência das sessões	3 sessions in week 1, 2 sessions in week 2, 1 session in week 3
Total initial sessions	6
Thermal monitoring	Patient thermal response and skin temperature monitored during treatment
Exercise component	Controlled leash walking and veterinary rehabilitation exercises
NSAID management	No automatic reduction; medication changes only under veterinary supervision
Primary outcome	Pain, gait, function and hip range of motion
Secondary outcome	Owner-reported willingness to stand, walk and climb stairs

The simulated protocol deliberately keeps the power close to the published Class IV canine study while adapting the secondary wavelength from 808 nm to 810 nm to reflect the FotonMedix multi-wavelength platform.

It should not be interpreted as a universal prescription.

A different dog may require lower output because of smaller body size, thinner tissue, coat characteristics or greater thermal sensitivity.

Simulated Treatment Progression

Treatment Point	Pontuação da dor	Functional Observation	Hip Movement	Owner Report
Day 0	6/10	Slow rise, avoids stairs	Restricted extension	Stiff after sleeping
Dia 3	5/10	Slightly easier rising	Mild improvement	Less hesitation before walking
Dia 7	4/10	More consistent weight bearing	Moderate improvement	First noticeable improvement
Dia 10	3.5/10	Walks longer before slowing	Improved extension	More willing to go outside
Dia 14	3/10	Stairs with supervision	Clear improvement	Less stiffness after rest
Dia 21	2.5/10	Normal household walking	Improved functional range	More active during the day
Dia 30	2–3/10	Longer walks tolerated	Maintained improvement	Owner reports better quality of life
Day 60	3/10	Mild limitation after heavy activity	Improvement retained	Occasional stiffness only
Day 90	3/10	Functional improvement maintained	Better than baseline	Maintenance plan considered

These outcome values are simulated and should not be confused with the numerical results of the published trial.

The published study used multiple validated outcome measures and found significant differences favoring PBMT at several follow-up points, including pain severity and function at day 8, pain and function measures at day 15, and pain, function and gait-related outcomes at day 30. Hip range of motion remained improved through later follow-up.

That distinction is important for credible veterinary marketing.

A manufacturer can demonstrate how a treatment platform may be used.

It should not turn an illustrative case into a fabricated patient success story.

What the Published Canine Trial Actually Tells Us

The 2022 randomized double-blinded study is particularly valuable because the control group did not simply receive no clinical care.

The control joints received a 21-day course of meloxicam and sham laser sessions, while the treatment group received Class IV PBMT and placebo medication. This created a more meaningful comparison than simply treating a group of dogs and asking owners whether they felt better.

The treatment protocol was also patient-sensitive.

For dogs with darker coats, the study used 980 nm. For light-to-medium coats, the system used a blend of 80% 980 nm and 20% 808 nm. Radiant power ranged from 6.5 to 8 W depending on patient size, with smaller and thinner patients receiving lower power. The treatment head was continuously moved over the greater trochanter at a controlled speed.

This is exactly the kind of information a veterinary buyer should look for.

The machine is only one part of the system.

The protocol considers patient size, coat characteristics, wavelength, output, treatment area and movement.

Another Study Shows Why Expectations Need to Stay Realistic

Evidence for veterinary laser therapy is encouraging but not uniform.

A 2020 retrospective investigation involving 17 client-owned dogs with osteoarthritis reported reductions in canine pain scores after laser treatment and noted that analgesic therapy was reduced by the treating clinician in 13 of the 17 dogs by week 2. However, the authors explicitly identified limitations, including the retrospective design, lack of objective measures such as dynamic gait analysis and the possibility of assessment bias.

A separate study involving 23 dogs with naturally occurring osteoarthritis used accelerometers to measure activity. After six weekly treatments, daily activity and step counts increased compared with baseline, and systemic analgesic therapy was reduced in 50% of the dogs during the study period.

These findings are useful because they move the discussion away from a simple “pain score improved” claim.

If a dog actually walks more, rises more easily, uses the affected limb more consistently and requires less rescue medication under veterinary supervision, the clinical value becomes easier to understand.

But those outcomes still need to be interpreted alongside the limitations of each study.

A responsible clinic should never promise that every dog will respond in the same way.

Why High-Intensity Laser Should Not Replace Veterinary Diagnosis

A laser can reduce pain and influence tissue response, but it cannot tell the veterinarian why the dog is limping.

A dog with hip pain may have osteoarthritis, soft-tissue injury, neurological disease, referred pain, fracture, neoplasia or another condition.

That is why a Class IV treatment session should begin with clinical assessment rather than immediately placing the handpiece on the painful area.

For chronic orthopedic patients, the useful workflow is usually:

Establish the diagnosis

Use history, orthopedic examination and imaging when clinically indicated.

Identify the treatment target

Determine whether the target is primarily joint, periarticular tissue, muscle, fascia or another structure.

Select the treatment parameters

Choose wavelength, output, emission mode, treatment area and duration according to the patient and device protocol.

Monitor the thermal response

The dog should not be expected to tolerate excessive heat simply because the machine is powerful.

Reassess function

Look for measurable changes in gait, range of motion, activity and pain-related behavior.

This turns laser therapy from a passive “heat treatment” into a controlled rehabilitation modality.

Why VetMedix-Max Is Designed Around This Problem

FotonMedix’s VetMedix-Max combines five wavelengths — 650 nm, 810 nm, 915 nm, 940 nm and 980 nm — with a stated 38 W peak output. The system is positioned for veterinary laser therapy and laser surgery, with applications including pain relief, inflammation management, swelling reduction and wound healing. It also provides super-pulse operation, depth-maintaining technology, dual hot-and-cold functionality and therapeutic temperature indication.

For veterinary rehabilitation, the five-wavelength configuration is useful because different tissues do not have identical optical behavior.

The shorter 650 nm wavelength is comparatively more superficial.

The 810 nm region has a long history of investigation in photobiomodulation.

The 915, 940 and 980 nm wavelengths provide additional near-infrared options as treatment depth and thermal interaction become more important.

The 980 nm component is particularly relevant to high-intensity treatment because water absorption becomes significant while interaction with blood-related chromophores remains relevant in the near-infrared region.

The clinician therefore has more options than simply increasing power on one wavelength.

Why a Multi-Wavelength Platform Can Be More Useful Than a Bigger Number

Suppose a veterinary hospital is comparing two systems.

System A has a very high maximum output but offers limited wavelength selection.

System B has a lower maximum peak output but provides several clinically relevant wavelengths, adjustable emission modes and thermal feedback.

For a rehabilitation department, System B may be more useful.

The reason is simple.

A dog is not a specification sheet.

The patient may be small, large, thin, muscular, dark-coated, light-coated, acutely painful or chronically stiff.

A flexible system allows the clinician to adjust the treatment architecture.

The same principle appears in FotonMedix’s equine platform, where the Theralux-Max uses 650 nm, 810 nm, 915 nm, 940 nm and 980 nm with 38 W peak output and three treatment modes. The manufacturer describes super-pulse, pulse and continuous modes for different treatment situations and specifically notes pulsed emission as a way to reduce overheating.

Although the equine product is designed for horses, the engineering concept is directly relevant to veterinary laser-system design.

What a Veterinary Buyer Should Look for in a Deep Tissue System

A clinic searching for a venda máquina de terapia laser para tecidos profundos should ask questions that go beyond maximum wattage.

Wavelength flexibility

Can the veterinarian select individual wavelengths or combinations according to the treatment objective?

Controlo de saída

Can the clinician reduce output for smaller animals or superficial targets?

Controlo de pulsações

Can the machine deliver pulsed energy rather than only continuous output?

Thermal feedback

Can the clinician monitor the treatment temperature and adjust the session before excessive heating occurs?

Reproducibility

Can the clinic document the exact treatment parameters and reproduce them between visits?

Veterinary-specific protocols

Does the system provide protocols designed around animal size, coat characteristics and common veterinary conditions?

Treatment versatility

Can the same platform be used for musculoskeletal rehabilitation, wound management and other appropriate veterinary applications?

VetMedix-Max is positioned around this broader veterinary workflow, including a stated library of more than 17,000 physiotherapy protocols and both therapy and surgical functions.

For a veterinary hospital, that versatility can matter more than simply having the highest possible output.

Laser Therapy Versus Conventional Pain Management

Traditional veterinary pain management remains extremely important.

NSAIDs, analgesics, rehabilitation exercise, weight management, surgical intervention and other therapies all have legitimate roles depending on the diagnosis.

The advantage of high-intensity laser therapy is not that it eliminates those treatments.

Its potential value is that it gives the veterinarian another non-invasive physical modality that can be integrated into a multimodal plan.

The 2025 evidence review on concurrent laser therapy and NSAIDs in canine osteoarthritis found only one randomized controlled trial meeting its criteria and rated the overall strength of evidence as weak. The review reported improvements in pain and lameness and reduced NSAID requirements in the available study, while emphasizing that more research is needed.

That is the position a serious veterinary equipment supplier should take.

Laser therapy can be useful.

It is not a substitute for diagnosis.

It is not a replacement for every medication.

It is not a guarantee that an arthritic dog will become pain-free.

Its value comes from fitting the treatment into the broader clinical picture.

The Real Efficiency Gain Happens During the Treatment Session

For a busy veterinary rehabilitation department, efficiency is not simply about shortening every session.

A treatment that takes five minutes but produces inconsistent results is not necessarily more efficient than a ten-minute treatment that can be repeated reliably.

High-intensity laser can improve workflow when the system allows the clinician to treat a relatively large anatomical region with controlled energy delivery.

A dog that previously required prolonged manual preparation may tolerate a structured laser session well.

The therapist can combine laser treatment with controlled exercise, gait assessment and rehabilitation rather than spending the entire appointment trying to create temporary warmth.

This is where Class IV technology becomes practically interesting.

The goal is not “more heat.”

The goal is controlled energy delivery with enough output to reach the intended tissue efficiently while maintaining patient comfort.

The Difference Between a Laser Machine and a Clinical Laser Platform

A machine can have impressive specifications and still be difficult to use clinically.

A clinical platform needs to help the veterinarian answer four questions:

Where am I treating?

How much energy am I delivering?

How quickly am I delivering it?

How is the patient responding?

The answers depend on wavelength, power, pulse structure, treatment duration, treatment area and thermal response.

FotonMedix’s veterinary platform addresses these requirements through multiple wavelengths, adjustable peak output, super-pulse and pulse operation, continuous-wave operation and therapeutic temperature indication.

For B2B buyers, this is a more meaningful purchasing framework than comparing a single maximum-wattage number.

What a Good Canine Laser Treatment Record Should Contain

Every treatment should leave a useful clinical record.

At minimum, the record should include:

Documentation Item	Example
Case number	VET-OA-2026-017
Diagnóstico	Bilateral hip osteoarthritis
Severity	Moderate to severe
Treatment target	Greater trochanter and periarticular tissue
Coat condition	Short dark coat
Comprimento de onda	980 nm + 810 nm
Wavelength ratio	80% + 20%
Peak output	8 W
Emission mode	Pulsado
Frequência	Recorded according to actual device protocol
Ciclo de trabalho	Recorded according to actual device protocol
Session energy	Recorded in Joules
Duração do tratamento	Recorded in minutes
Área de tratamento	Anatomically mapped
Patient response	Comfortable, warm, excessive heat or other observation
Pain score	Before and after treatment
Functional outcome	Gait, rising, stairs or walking tolerance
Medication	Current medication and veterinary changes
Acompanhamento	Scheduled reassessment

This documentation becomes particularly important when a clinic wants to evaluate whether its investment in a Class IV veterinary laser is actually producing clinical value.

The Bottom Line for Laser Therapy Treatment for Dogs

The most useful lesson from canine Class IV research is not that every arthritic dog should receive high-power laser treatment.

The more useful lesson is that laser therapy treatment for dogs works as a parameter-controlled clinical intervention, not as a simple heat application.

The wavelength determines how light interacts with tissue.

980 nm offers a different absorption profile from 1470 nm.

1470 nm is strongly absorbed by water and therefore deposits energy more superficially than 980 nm under comparable experimental conditions.

The treatment mode determines how quickly heat accumulates.

A continuous beam behaves differently from a pulsed protocol.

Duty cycle can be used to control average energy delivery and thermal accumulation, but it must be selected according to the treatment objective rather than treated as a universal safety setting.

Patient characteristics matter.

Coat color, coat length, tissue thickness and body size can change the delivered treatment response.

Clinical diagnosis matters.

The published Class IV canine hip osteoarthritis trial demonstrated improvements in pain, function and hip range of motion under a defined treatment protocol, but the findings should not be stretched into a claim that laser therapy works equally well for every canine orthopedic condition.

And finally, equipment selection matters.

A venda máquina de terapia laser para tecidos profundos should be evaluated according to wavelength flexibility, output control, pulse capability, thermal management, treatment reproducibility and veterinary workflow rather than maximum wattage alone.

For a clinic considering terapia laser veterinária, the real advantage of a high-intensity multi-wavelength platform is the ability to move away from a one-setting-fits-all approach.

The veterinarian can assess the dog, identify the target tissue, choose an appropriate wavelength strategy, control energy delivery, monitor thermal response and then measure whether the dog actually moves better.

That is a much more useful comparison with conventional pain management than claiming that laser simply “replaces medication.”

Medication can address pain and inflammation systemically.

Rehabilitation can restore strength and movement.

Surgery can correct structural problems when indicated.

High-intensity laser can become another controlled physical modality within that treatment plan.

For the older dog that struggles to stand after sleeping, the value is ultimately very simple.

If the treatment helps the dog move more comfortably, tolerate rehabilitation better and maintain useful function without creating unnecessary thermal stress, then the technology has earned its place in the clinic.

That is the real reason to evaluate Class IV veterinary laser therapy.

Not because the machine has a large wattage number, but because the clinician can control where the energy goes and use that control to build a treatment around the animal in front of them.