Physio for your animal

OhAna physio, physio for all! OhAna physio provides physiotherapy services for small animals such as dogs and cats, treating a wide range of acute and chronic musculoskeletal and neurological conditions. Treatment is provided for horses and other smaller animals if appropriate, following a referral from your veterinarian in accordance with Veterinary Surgeons Act (1966).

How would I know if my animal needs physiotherapy?

OhAna physio offers treatment for:

Pre-operative and post-operative cases (such as surgery for intervertebral disc disease, following rupture of cranial cruciate ligament, arthroscopy, joint replacement)
Chronic conditions (such as osteoarthritis, dysplasia, degenerative myelopathy)
Acute injuries (such as muscle, tendon, ligament injuries)
Reduced mobility
Weight management

These are some of the most common cases that your animal would benefit from physiotherapy. Considering that pets cannot inform their owners if they are in pain or discomfort, the owners should look out for more subtle signs. If you notice:

Please contact your vet to discuss these, as they might be pain indications.

Following the diagnosis from your vet, they will refer for physiotherapy if it is appropriate.

What are the benefits of physiotherapy?

These are some of the benefits of physiotherapy regardless the reason for treatment, whether it is post-operative treatment, for chronic or acute conditions.

Location:

Anastasia works as ACPAT chartered physiotherapist offering treatments for animals at:

The Animal Rehab Clinic

3 Wapley Hill, Wapley, Bristol BS37 8RJ

Vets4Pets Filton

Shield Retail Centre, Gloucester Road, Bristol BS34 7BQ

Prices:

Initial Assessment (60 mins)

Initial assessment appointment for 60 minutes is £90*.

In the initial assessment appointment, the ACPAT physiotherapist will ask you questions about your animal’s problem, as well as questions about their behaviour, medication, and past medical history to gather all the appropriate information. Following this, an objective examination will take place, which will include (and not limited to):

Observation of your animal’s posture and behaviour
Gait assessment to check for any lameness or compensation at walk/trot and on tight circles
Full body palpation to check the muscles and joints (spinal and peripheral) for pain and stiffness, including special tests
Neurological assessment (if indicated)
Transfers from standing/sitting down/lying down

The ACPAT physiotherapist will explain the findings in simple terms and will offer treatment depending on the remaining time. Initial assessments demand more time for assessment than treatment, in order to collect more information and build up a rehabilitation plan based on the latest evidence-based practice. Also, your animal needs more time to feel comfortable around a new person and built good rapport and trust, which is highly important when treating animals. The ACPAT veterinary physiotherapist might refer your animal back to the vets (with your consent) in case that they have any concerns about their condition or if they have any new symptoms.

Follow-up Appointment (50 mins)

Follow-up appointment for 50 minutes is £60-75*.

In the follow-up appointment, the ACPAT physiotherapist will ask questions on any changes since the initial assessment and perform an objective examination to compare the findings to previous session. Then, they will continue with treatment which will include (and not limited to):

Hands-on treatment such as soft tissue release, myofascial release, trigger point therapy
Manual therapy such as joint mobilizations (peripheral or spinal)
Stretches (passive and/or active depending on needs
Exercises to improve mobility/strength/endurance/balance/proprioception with use of equipment
Electrotherapy such as use of NMES (neuromuscular electrical stimulation)
Re-assurance, advice, and education to you regarding your animal’s condition and progress

The ACPAT physiotherapist will re-assess on each follow up appointment to check your animal progress and will adapt the rehabilitation plan based on animal’s needs and your goals/expectations. Owners benefit from their animal having physio too, as ACPAT physiotherapists provide re-assurance and education on animal’s condition and advice for long term management, as it is important to understand the cause, timeframes, and ways to manage this. Also, the most important part of physiotherapy is the prescription of exercises specific to animal’s condition which will help to improve owner’s physical activity too! Following the session, you will be provided with a home exercise programme with instructions sent via email.

Terms & Conditions

*The prices vary depending on the location of the appointment. There is extra call out fee of £10-15 for 10-15 miles radius from BS16 for home visits. Please get in contact with us to discuss prices based on location of appointment and extra cost of mileage.

*Veterinary physiotherapy appointments will be booked only when we receive the referral/consent form from your vet (working in accordance with Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966).

*Bookings are welcomed via phone call, email and WhatsApp. If you try to phone us and there is no answer, please send us a WhatsApp message or email and we will get back to you as soon as possible, as phone calls will not be answered during treatment times. Bookings via social media are not accepted. If you require veterinary physiotherapy at the clinic (The Animal Rehab Clinic or Vets4Pets Filton) you are more than welcome to contact them for bookings directly.

*Cancellations are free of charge and accepted via phone call, email and WhatsApp 48 hours before your animal’s appointment. There is a cancellation charge fee of 50% of the appointment cost if you cancel less than 48 hours before the appointment. The 48-hour window applies for business hours. Please consider that we provide health services and someone else could use this appointment.

*Payments are accepted via POS or BACS transfer at the time of your appointment. A discount can be applied when you book five follow up sessions and payment will be taken in advance (applies only for veterinary physiotherapy services at Vets4Pets Filton). OhAna physio does not accept insurance direct payment but will provide the invoices to claim it back. Insurance reports provided at an extra cost of £10 per report due to extra administrative time needed to complete them.

*By contacting us you confirm that you have read and agreed to our T&Cs.

If you have any questions, you may refer to our FAQ’s page for quick answers.