Hydrotherapy can be used to treat a range of concerns, including:
Pre and post operative rehabilitation, e.g TTA, TPLO
Neurological and spinal conditions, e.g FCE, IVDD, CDRM, spondylosis
Ongoing conservative management of orthopaedic conditions, e.g patella luxation, hip and elbow dysplasia, cranial cruciate disease
Treatment for acute musculoskeletal injuries
Elderly dogs with osteoarthritis and related mobility and balance issues
Improvement in mental wellbeing, in particular following traumatic events such as injury or surgery.
Your dog does not have to be suffering from an orthopaedic condition to be able to benefit from hydrotherapy; it can also be an effective therapy for:
Obesity and weight management
Puppies - ideal non weight bearing exercise for growing dogs, particularly large breeds
Sporting and working dogs - providing bespoke conditioning programmes
These are by no means exhaustive lists. If you are unsure whether your dog would benefit from hydrotherapy, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss how we may be able to help.
Hydrotherapy can help to:
Aid the healing process following injury or disease
Reduce pain during exercise
Improve mobility and limb range of motion
Improve muscle strength
Improve proprioception
Improve cardiovascular fitness
Improve circulation
Aid weight loss
Our experienced rehabilitation specialists provide a range of services to help your dog achieve physical and emotional wellbeing. Before starting a treatment programme our therapists will discuss with you the key objectives of the treatment (both yours and your dog's) and formulate a bespoke strategy to achieve these goals. Aspects that we may discuss with you can include effective pain management, improving the ability to carry out the activities of daily living and maintaining effective function.
treatments we offer
Some of the specialised techniques we may include as part of a treatment program are:
Pool based hydrotherapy and aquatic massage therapy
Hydrotherapy treadmill treatment
Manual therapies including soft tissue manipulation and joint mobilisation techniques
Therapeutic handling and movement shaping techniques
Proprioceptive rehabilitation techniques
We use a range of outcome measures throughout the course of your dog's treatment to record and monitor their progress, to ensure that the techniques we use are effective and that we are achieving the agreed goals. The treatment plan is re-assessed at each session and adjusted as necessary.
Some aspects of the therapy sessions will follow a set pattern so that you and your dog will know what to expect:
Showering: An essential element to each hydrotherapy session is showering both before and after treatment; the use of the warm shower jet can be a valuable tool in the provision of therapy as it can be used to stimulate particular muscles and to provide heat treatment to specific problem areas.
Drying: Your dog will always be gently towel dried following their session to ensure that they are as dry as possible. We do not use grooming dryers in the majority of cases, as these can cause reflexive muscle contractions which can be detrimental to the success of the therapy that your dog has received. We ask that you bring with you to each session a towel, and a warm coat for your dog to wear post treatment.
Toys: We offer a range of toys for your dog to choose from to help motivate them! The ingestion of excessive volumes of water can, however, be very harmful. Due to this we like to avoid having dogs retrieve toys directly out of the water, and always ensure that we only utilise toys which have been assessed as safe for the pool environment.
