How to Add Custom Dog Orthotics to Your Veterinary Practice

Custom dog orthotics can be added to a veterinary or rehabilitation practice as a structured clinical service without manufacturing devices in-house. The clinic remains responsible for assessment, prescription, data capture, fitting, owner education, and follow-up, while WIMBA manages digital design and production. Building the service responsibly requires more than registering an account: the team needs a defined workflow, realistic pricing, documented clinical goals, and a plan for complications.

This guide explains how to introduce a veterinary orthotics service, choose between WIMBA Go and Pro, organise responsibilities, calculate the full professional workload, and communicate value without overpromising results. It complements our practical guide to dog orthotic fittings by focusing on service design and implementation.

How Custom Dog Orthotics Fit into Veterinary Practice

An orthosis is an external medical device used to support, protect, align, guide, or limit motion in an existing limb or body region. It is different from a prosthesis, which replaces part of a missing limb. Current clinical references emphasise patient-specific biomechanics, precise design, professional fitting, training, and maintenance.^[1][2]

For the practice, offering custom dog orthotics means managing the clinical pathway while using an external manufacturer. It does not mean keeping finished braces in stock or learning to fabricate shells. It also does not remove the clinic’s responsibility for diagnosis, informed consent, correct application, monitoring, and decisions about surgery, rehabilitation, medication, or another intervention.

A dog orthotic service should therefore be priced and staffed as professional care rather than treated as a product resale. The device is only one part of the work delivered to the owner and patient.

Why Clinical Governance Matters

Published evidence supports possible benefits in selected cases but does not justify presenting an orthosis as a universally low-risk solution. A retrospective series of 14 athletic dogs treated for carpal ligament instability reported reduced lameness and return to normal function in 11 dogs; however, there was no untreated control group.^[3]

Stifle research includes retrospective gait analysis, biomechanical modelling, kinematic evaluation, owner-reported comparison with TPLO, and a recent two-dog clinical report.^{[4][5][6][7][10]} The findings are encouraging for selected patients, but they do not demonstrate that bracing is equivalent to surgical stabilisation or appropriate for every dog with cranial cruciate ligament disease.

Complications must be built into the workflow. In a prospective 12-month study, 39 of 43 dogs using an orthosis or prosthesis experienced at least one complication. Skin problems, mechanical issues, and device non-acceptance were the main categories. During the first three months, at least one skin complication occurred in 58% of stifle, 90% of carpal, and 60% of tarsal orthosis cases.^[9]

These data do not mean that custom veterinary orthotics should be avoided. They mean the practice needs informed consent, gradual introduction, owner training, rapid access to advice, and scheduled review. A service model that charges only for the device but leaves no time for these tasks is clinically and commercially fragile.

Step 1: Define Scope, Roles, and Responsibility

Before promoting a veterinary orthotics service, map the complete patient journey. Decide who conducts the orthopaedic or neurological examination, who confirms the prescription, who captures data, who fits the device, and who answers owner questions. Name a clinical lead even when several team members participate.

Professional scope differs between countries and professions. Registration with WIMBA does not replace a veterinary licence, rehabilitation credential, local prescribing rules, or competence in the task being performed. The practice should confirm which professionals may assess, prescribe, fit, and modify medical devices in its jurisdiction.

Governance for custom dog orthotics should cover consent, incident reporting, staff competency, and periodic review led by the named WIMBA Provider.

Step 2: Separate WIMBA Go from WIMBA Pro

This distinction changes the launch cost of the service. A practice may begin with eligible Go cases without investing in Pro scanning tools, while a clinic that intends to manage more complex Pro cases must account for equipment, onboarding, scan time, staff training, and the additional data-capture workflow. Review the current comparison on the WIMBA devices page before setting prices or publishing service claims.

WimbaAPP is intended for veterinary professionals and is used to place and track orders. Pet owners should not independently create the clinical order or capture a Pro scan. The treating practice remains responsible for the clinical information and fitting even when the owner participates actively in daily management.

Step 3: Build the Clinical Case Workflow

A repeatable dog orthotic service starts with diagnosis and a measurable functional goal, not a product choice. The case record should describe the affected structure, planes of instability, pain, range of motion, skin, neurological status, body weight, activity, behaviour, previous treatment, and relevant imaging. State precisely what the device is expected to support, limit, or guide.

Do not reuse one photo or measurement checklist for every product. Current Go limb guidance uses a small number of measurements and two weight-bearing photographs, while Pro devices require WimbaSCAN and device-specific supporting data. The WimbaAPP sequence and current measurement card should determine what is captured.

When candidacy or device selection is uncertain, submit a WIMBA Case Consult. Include diagnosis, history, relevant media, previous surgery or rehabilitation, skin concerns, behavioural factors, and the intended outcome. The Device Report can flag concerns and suggest the appropriate pathway, but it does not transfer clinical responsibility away from the treating team.

Create internal quality checks before submission: correct side, units, complete forms, visible landmarks, adequate lighting, stable positioning, and consistency between diagnosis, goal, and device. Missing or contradictory data create delay and may compromise the plan for custom dog orthotics.

Step 4: Design the Fitting and Follow-Up Pathway

Delivery to the clinic is not the end of the service. Book a dedicated fitting with enough time to verify the patient, side, orientation, alignment, contact areas, suspension, component configuration, and intended motion. Record baseline skin and gait, observe controlled movement, remove the device, and inspect the interface again.

The owner should demonstrate correct application and removal before discharge. Provide the current device manual, patient-specific wearing schedule, cleaning instructions, supervision requirements, and clear stop criteria. Current WIMBA fitting guidance advises against continuous wear, leaving the dog unattended, using a device on wounded skin, harsh cleaning, uncontrolled heat, and structural modification.

A fixed recheck schedule cannot suit every patient. Plan early review according to device type, skin risk, diagnosis, behaviour, owner confidence, and progression, then reassess as clinically indicated. Prospective complication data support maintaining easy access to earlier review when redness, swelling, abrasion, pain, rotation, damage, non-acceptance, or worsening gait appears.^[9]

Use the first months to evaluate whether the intended goal is being met. Depending on the condition, this may include joint position, weight acceptance, gait, activity tolerance, skin health, or an owner-reported pain and function score. A systematic review found sufficient content validity for CBPI, COI, and LOAD in dogs with osteoarthritis or other joint disease, but the measure must match the patient and question.^[11]

Step 5: Calculate the Real Cost of the Service

The business case for custom dog orthotics should be calculated from the clinic’s own costs, capacity, and market. There is no evidence that simply adding orthotics guarantees revenue, retention, referrals, or improved outcomes. A sustainable model prices the complete professional pathway and leaves capacity for follow-up and troubleshooting.

Decide what the quoted package includes. Owners should know whether assessment, the device, fitting, components, one or more reviews, and rehabilitation sessions are included or charged separately. Pricing must comply with local tax, professional, consumer, and advertising rules.

A WIMBA Provider should also define its policy for deposits, order approval, cancellations, anatomical change after data capture, and manufacturer-supported adjustments. Clear terms reduce conflict without shifting inappropriate clinical or legal risk to the owner.

Review the cost model for custom veterinary orthotics whenever supplier terms, staffing, or follow-up demand changes.

Step 6: Measure Whether the Service Is Viable

Start with a defined review period rather than assuming demand. Track enquiries, suitable cases, consultations, orders, cancellations, fitting time, unplanned contacts, rechecks, complications, contribution margin, and clinical outcomes. Separate Go and Pro because their acquisition, equipment, and staff-time profiles differ.

Monitor conversion responsibly. A declined device is not automatically a sales failure; the patient may be unsuitable, surgery may be preferable, or the owner may be unable to manage daily care. The purpose of a veterinary orthotics service is to identify and support appropriate cases, not maximise device volume.

Review outcomes alongside operational data. Owner satisfaction is relevant because the owner performs daily management. In a survey of 56 owners, perceived patient quality of life was associated with the owner’s own reported quality of life and willingness to recommend the experience.^[8] This supports clear expectation-setting, but it does not prove that a dog orthotic service will improve clinic retention.

After the review period, decide whether to continue, modify, or expand the service. Expansion may involve team training, protected appointment slots, relationships with referring clinics, rehabilitation capacity, or progression from Go to Pro. Use observed demand and workload rather than optimistic assumptions.

Before expanding the veterinary orthotics service, confirm that the dog orthotic service remains clinically manageable.

Step 7: Communicate the Service Responsibly

Marketing should describe the pathway accurately. Explain that custom veterinary orthotics are patient-specific devices available after professional assessment, not universally suitable braces sold directly to owners. State which species, joints, and cases the clinic currently manages and whether Pro scanning is available.

Use case stories only with appropriate permission and context. Include the diagnosis, treatment pathway, duration of follow-up, concurrent interventions, and limitations. A successful individual case does not establish expected results for all patients receiving custom dog orthotics.

Provide a clear next step: an assessment or case consultation rather than an immediate purchase. This keeps patient selection at the centre of the dog orthotic service and reflects WIMBA’s veterinary-professional ordering model.

Educational material for custom veterinary orthotics should match the clinical consent process.

A Practical Launch Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions About Adding Custom Dog Orthotics

Medical and Business Disclaimer: This material is intended for veterinary professional education and general service planning. It does not replace patient-specific assessment, diagnosis, prescribing, informed consent, legal, tax, financial, or regulatory advice. Device selection, fitting, wearing schedules, rehabilitation, and follow-up should be directed by appropriately qualified professionals. WIMBA products, indications, commercial terms, availability, processes, and timelines may change. No clinical or commercial result is guaranteed.