If you've never seen an ozone therapy session and your imagination is filling in some unsettling blanks, this article is for you. Here's exactly what happens during a typical in-home ozone visit for a dog or cat — equipment, positioning, what your pet experiences, and what the rest of the appointment looks like.
When most pet owners first hear "ozone therapy," they picture something dramatic — a chamber, a mask, an IV drip, a long procedure. The reality, especially when delivered at home, is much quieter. A typical ozone session for a dog or cat takes about 5 to 10 minutes of actual treatment time, requires no sedation, and looks more like a calm physical exam than anything you'd see on a medical TV show.
This article walks you through exactly what happens in a session — start to finish — so you know what to expect before you ever book one. If you'd like the bigger picture on the therapy itself, see our complete guide to ozone therapy for pets and our ozone therapy service page.
A house-call ozone visit involves a surprisingly small amount of equipment. Most of it fits in a single medical case:
The whole setup takes about five minutes to prepare on a kitchen counter or a coffee table.
Every ozone visit begins with a real veterinary exam — not a quick once-over. Dr. Diaz checks weight, body and muscle condition, hydration, mucous membranes, lymph nodes, abdomen, joints, mobility, ears, eyes, mouth, heart, and lungs. For ongoing patients, we also review the trend in their objective scores: pain scale, quality-of-life rating, lameness, appetite, owner-reported energy.
This is the part most owners don't expect to be as thorough as it is. The exam is not optional or perfunctory — it's what allows us to titrate the dose, decide if ozone is still appropriate this visit, and flag anything new that needs attention. If your pet has a fever, a new injury, an active infection that needs a different intervention first, or any other concern, we address that before any ozone is administered.
This is the part owners are most often surprised by: your pet stays exactly where they're comfortable. We do not move them to a clinical table. Most of our sessions happen with:
For cats, we usually let them choose the spot. Many cats stay tucked up on a chair, in a sunbeam, or on their cat tree. For dogs, we position them in lateral recumbency (lying on their side) for the brief moment of administration; immediately after, they go right back to whatever they were doing.
We never restrain a pet who is clearly stressed. If a pet is too anxious for the session that day, we pause, reassess, and either try a different position, take a break, or reschedule. This happens more often with first-visit cats than with any other situation.
The specific procedure depends on the route. The two most common in our practice are:
This is one of the most widely used systemic ozone administration routes in integrative veterinary practice. Here is what typically happens:
1. Dr. Diaz draws a precisely calculated volume of oxygen-ozone mixture into an ozone-resistant syringe directly from the generator. The dose is based on your pet's weight and protocol stage.
2. A soft, well-lubricated, small-bore catheter is gently inserted a short distance into the rectum.
3. The mixture is slowly delivered over about 30–60 seconds.
4. The catheter is removed. Done.
Most pets show essentially no reaction. Some cats give a brief tail flick. Some dogs look around as if to ask "wait, that's it?" The procedure is not expected to be painful — pets occasionally show brief mild discomfort from the catheter, similar to taking a rectal temperature, but most do not react. The destructor unit captures released ozone so the room itself does not develop an ozone smell (a faint hint may be noticeable briefly during setup). There is no waste product to clean up. We dispose of the single-use catheter in our portable sharps and waste container.
For some protocols, a small volume of ozone gas is injected just under the skin between the shoulder blades — the same area used for routine vaccines. The injection itself takes 2–3 seconds and feels like a vaccine. A small, soft pocket of gas may be palpable for an hour or two; it absorbs without intervention.
If we're treating an ear infection, hot spot, or chronic wound, ozonated oil or ozonated water is applied directly to the area, the same way you'd apply any topical medication. No special procedure required; you can be taught to do this part at home between visits.
This more advanced route involves drawing a small volume of the pet's own blood, mixing it with ozone in a closed-system bottle, and returning it through the same IV line. It's the most powerful systemic application and is reserved for select cases — typically immune-mediated or oncologic conditions. It is not part of a routine session and we discuss it specifically with you before recommending it.
This is where ozone therapy tends to stand apart from many veterinary interventions. There is no anesthesia to recover from and no waiting period required. Within a short time of the catheter or syringe coming out, most pets:
A subset of pets — most often after their first one or two sessions — show what some practitioners describe as a mild "Herxheimer-like" reaction: a few hours of mild tiredness, slightly reduced appetite that evening, occasionally looser stool. This is generally interpreted as the body's antioxidant systems ramping up in response to the oxidative stimulus, though the mechanism in pets has not been formally characterized. When it occurs, it typically resolves on its own and tends not to recur in subsequent sessions.
We always let you know what to watch for, and we follow up by text the next day on first sessions.
The ozone administration is the shortest part of the appointment. The rest of the typical 45–60 minute house call includes:
Most owners describe the overall experience as more like having an integrative consultant in their home than a medical procedure.
Almost nothing. Most of our owners:
You do not need to physically restrain your pet. You do not need any special preparation. We do not require fasting before a session. Normal medications can be given as usual on session days unless we've discussed an exception.
Three of the most common owner questions:
A few things we control carefully:
We're working on a short demonstration video (filmed with Dr. Diaz and a consenting patient) that will be embedded here once produced. In the meantime, this written walkthrough covers everything you'd see on screen.
After your first session, the typical schedule looks like this:
If your pet is being treated for a specific condition (osteoarthritis, CKD, IBD, chronic skin or ear disease), see the dedicated articles in this series for what realistic improvement looks like for each.
If your pet is a candidate for ozone therapy and you'd like to see what a session looks like firsthand, we offer in-home consultations throughout Miami-Dade County. The first visit always begins with a complete integrative consultation and exam before any ozone is administered — so even if we decide together that ozone isn't the right fit, you walk away with a thorough integrative assessment.
Book a home visit or call (786) 516-4731 (Monday–Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM).
1. Sciorsci RL, Lillo E, Ferrante M, et al. "Ozone therapy by rectal insufflation in dogs: safety and oxidative stress — a randomized cross-over study." <em>Veterinary Research Communications</em>, 2024. PubMed
2. Teixeira LR, Luna SPL, Pantoja JCF, et al. "Ozone and its derivatives in veterinary medicine: A careful appraisal." <em>Research in Veterinary Science</em>, 2021. PMC
3. Smith NL, Wilson AL, Gandhi J, et al. "Ozone therapy: an overview of pharmacodynamics, current research, and clinical utility." <em>Medical Gas Research</em>, 2017. PMC
4. International Scientific Committee of Ozone Therapy (ISCO3). "Madrid Declaration on Ozone Therapy" (2nd ed.). isco3.org
5. Bocci V. "Ozone: A New Medical Drug." 2nd ed., Springer, 2011.
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VestaSoul My Vet At Home® provides mobile veterinary services across Miami-Dade County. Dr. Susset Diaz Castillo, DVM, PhD, holds advanced training in integrative and biologic optimization medicine and is a member of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association certified in ozone therapy.
Phone: (786) 516-4731 | Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM
Educational content. Not a substitute for individualized veterinary evaluation. Ozone therapy is offered as an adjunct to — not a replacement for — conventional veterinary medicine.
VestaSoul — My Vet At Home®, also known as My Vet At Home, is a mobile veterinary house-call practice serving dogs and cats in Miami-Dade County. Led by our Chief Veterinarian, the practice provides in-home veterinary visits, wellness exams, vaccines, diagnostics, pet travel health certificates, senior pet care, and integrative veterinary medicine.