Why we use hydrotherapy for rehabilitation

Canine hydrotherapy is an extremely useful tool in rehabilitation; however, it is important to understand its benefits, in particular how the hydrotherapy pool and the underwater treadmill work, what they achieve, how they can help the canine patient both independently and in conjunction with one another.

Hydrotherapy, as a whole, works to help a variety of conditions including orthopaedic, neurological, and soft tissue injuries. Walking and moving around on land can sometimes be quite painful or strenuous for your dog during their rehabilitation, due to the concussive forces placed through the joints. Hydrotherapy uses water at a therapeutic temperature of approximately 30-32 degrees C. The warmth of the water alongside the weightlessness properties that it offers, allows exercise to be performed comfortably and safely to achieve muscle building, strengthening, and overall improvement in comfort levels.

We also use both the underwater treadmill and hydrotherapy pool for cats that will tolerate water. This can help our feline friends that may be suffering from musculoskeletal injuries or other conditions to exercise in a comfortable, non-weight bearing environment to increase soft tissue flexibility and strength as well as reducing pain.

Freckles recovers from lameness

One case that has proven how effective a multimodal approach to rehabilitation is Freckles the German short-haired pointer.

Freckles was originally referred to Clent Hills Pet Fitness and Rehabilitation Centre with a persistent right forelimb lameness – suspected to be a soft tissue injury as x-ray imaging highlighted no current orthopaedic conditions to be causing the lameness.

Freckles presented as 4/10 lame in walk meaning she had an obvious limp on her right forelimb during movement, observed through a head nod and not placing full weight through this limb. She also showed pain during manipulation of the right shoulder joint.

She was struggling to exercise for long periods of time, and had significantly lost muscle mass in her right forelimb. Following her physiotherapy initial assessment and some laser therapy, she began hydrotherapy.

This started with the underwater treadmill mainly to promote muscle building and gait re-education due to compensatory walking for a few months. Following a few weeks of 2 x weekly underwater treadmill exercise, she then began to alternate between the underwater treadmill and hydrotherapy pool.

The pool was introduced to promote a more active range of motion in a weightless environment once her strength had improved. Following physiotherapy reviews throughout her process, Freckles now comes to the centre every other week for hydrotherapy. She is no longer lame, can exercise for at least an hour a day, and now has even muscle measurements in both of her forelimbs. Freckles’ recovery really highlights the benefits of hydrotherapy as a multimodal approach.

Read what Freckles’ owners had to say in our case study:

Freckles the dog uses hydrotherapy pool and treadmill to beat lameness