GG Vet Physio - Gill Griffiths NAVP

01/08/2025

Over the last 2 weeks Treacle and I dedicated 2 mornings to visiting a children's holiday club hosted by Protecting Animals With Schools.

It's been a pleasure to meet the children at the club and see them all engaging. Treacle was in her element, even enjoying playing on the playground and reading your playground rules! 🤭

Thank you for welcoming us to your school

30/07/2025

📲 Why Titles Matter in Animal Therapy: it’s easy to get in knots as to who is who!

🐕💡**“My dog had physio last week!”** Or was it massage? 🤔 🖐️

It’s easy to blur the lines, but when it comes to your animal’s care, words matter. Here’s why 👇

👩‍⚕️ Veterinary Physiotherapy is an evidence-based profession that requires:
✅ 3–5 years of university-level education
✅ Extensive clinical training
✅ Ongoing CPD and insurance
✅ Working under veterinary referral
✅ Professional body registration (NAVP, ACPAT, RAMP, etc.)
✅ the title of qualification must carry Veterinary Physiotherapy within it either at BSc or MSc

👐 On the other hand, Animal Sports Massage Therapists:
✅ Use soft tissue techniques to aid muscle comfort
✅ Some practitioners will be educated to degree level BSc and therefore have a comprehensive and applied understanding of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics etc
✅ Can train via shorter courses (weeks to months)
✅ Generally use manual therapies
✅ Provide supportive, maintenance care and valuable complimentary care
✅ work as part of a wider team, especially when injury or performance issues arise
✅ Some practitioners join professional bodies & will commit to CDP

⚠️ Here’s the issue: The term “physio” is protected by law in human medicine, and increasingly being challenged in veterinary contexts too. One day the industry will get there and this will help alleviate this problem. Some massage therapists still use “physio” in their title which may unintentionally mislead owners or infringe boundaries.

🙏 We say this respectfully: every qualified professional has a place. Massage therapy is a fantastic tool when used appropriately. However, if someone is calling themselves a “Vet Physio” or “Animal Physiotherapist”, they should be qualified to that level.

🎯 Check credentials. Ask questions. Protect your pet.
Not sure who’s who? Do your homework, check qualifications, ask questions.

25/07/2025

Really interesting to see this has been proven. How tight is your noseband?

A new scientific study co-authored by Animalweb’s own Dr David Marlin in conjuction with Anglia Ruskin University students Emily Hopkins and Stacie Whitrod and ARU Writtle Associate Professor of Animal Biomechanics and Sports Medicine and School Research Lead Dr Roberta Blake, has found that tight...

19/07/2025

Life is so busy at the moment thanks to you beautiful lot! All your recommendations and belief in my treatments has paid off!

Here is a wonderful testimonial from a recent client. I have been so happy to be part of this family's journey. Thank you for letting me help Chocolate and trusting the process

"My daughters pony, Chocolate had an injury to her oblique sesamoidean ligament in the field last August. She was extremely lame and struggling to weight bare on it. We got the vets involved who told us due to where the damage was there was no available treatments to fix her leg and all we could do is give Bute, box rest and start to rehabilitate her very slowly. It was a long winter of box rest and in hand walking, my daughter being unable to ride her beloved pony, we were all getting increasingly worried she may never recover. By summer turnout time she was doing a lot better than she originally was but still noticeably lame, the vets had said my daughter could start doing very very minimal trot work with her and agreed to try letting her go out in the field at the risk of going back to square one. After the first week of turnout Chocolate was more lame than ever, the vets saw her and put her back on box rest but said the reality was that it may never get better, at this point we were questioning whether it was fair for her to live a life stuck in her stable and then I met Gill, for the first time since her injury in August 2024 Gill gave me hope. She said it was absolutely not unreasonable to expect for her to be a ridden pony again. Gill arranged promptly to come out and begin laser treatment on the ligament and said we should hopefully start to see an improvement after 3 sessions but I honestly felt I could see an improvement after the first session! Now after the 6 session course Chocolate is completely sound for the first time in almost a year. My daughter is back to riding her, happily trotting around the school and Chocolate is back out enjoying being a pony in the field. I truly believed we would never get back to this point with her. I am so incredibly grateful to Gill for giving her this second chance. Gill was so friendly and professional throughout the time she was working with Chocolate and I could tell she truly cared about our pony. I wish we’d known about laser therapy from the beginning and we could have had our pony better a lot sooner"

Recommendations are my key to success, so if anyone has a few minutes to spare to write a testimonial or a review on Facebook or Google, I'd be very grateful 🙏

29/04/2025

😅

25/04/2025

11/04/2025

Very informative and couldn't have said nit better myself!

Lets talk about QUALIFICATIONS

Did you know that the Veterinary Physiotherapy industry is unregulated and the title is unprotected. This means that anyone (yes, anyone) can legally call themselves a veterinary physiotherapist (or an animal massage therapist, equine therapist, etc... etc....) even if they have ZERO qualifications. It's down to YOU to check the credentials of anyone who you allow to treat your animals. Don't ever be afraid to ask someone what qualifications they have. If they are truly qualified, they will have no problem telling you what they are, where they studied, how long for. And don't be swayed by fancy gadgets and machines, often these too can be sold to anyone with little to no training, and can cause serious harm in the wrong hands (more on gadgets in another post!)

This is me at my graduation, one of the proudest days of my life. (Yes it's really me, yes it was a while ago now, I realise I look much younger, that's what having kids does for ya 😂). I graduated from Harper Adams University in 2015 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Veterinary Physiotherapy (a level 7 qualification), following on from a BSc (hons) undergraduate degree in Zoology at Liverpool John Moores University. In addition to this, I'm a member of the National Association of Veterinary Physiotherapists (NAVP), which means I am a voluntary member of a governing body which ensures I work to a strict code of conduct, have appropriate qualifications, have adequate insurance, and continue to maintain and enhance my skills year on year by carrying out CPD.

So, long story short, its BUYER BEWARE. Check your therapist's credentials. Don't let just anyone treat your horses. They could be doing more harm than good.

18/03/2025

Please give Bodhi a helping hand, there's lots of prices to be won!

The FULL list of prizes as of 18/03 .

Alphabetical order for the original list of businesses then prize donations after that are in order of when they were donated. This is the order the prizes will be drawn in on the 29th 🎟️ all done by Facebook Live and we will video it too. 📸

A.P Beswick : A 6 book series titled ‘Levanthria’, signed with extra merchandise too!

Amber’s Doggy Combover : A doggy groom / pamper

Celine Sports Massage : Voucher

Chewing with River: A nutrition phone call appointment

Colette Smith Pet Portraits : A pet portrait

Dining with Donnelly : Private dining experience for 2 people worth £200

Duckworth Hall : A meal for 2 (£50 limit)

Fairfield Boxing Club and SITHI : 1 hour personal training session for boxing/fitness

GG Vet Physio - Gill Griffiths NAVP : A Canine or Equine physio session

Glencoe Kennels & Cattery : 4 days of doggy daycare (T&C’s apply)

Goldy & Spot Wilpshire Dog Walkers : A 6 piece brownie box inc. postage from ‘Baked in Cumbria’

Hair And Beauty At Glamourpuss : £30 voucher towards any beauty treatment

Happy pet supplies : A 100% natural treat box

Harley's Place : £25 voucher for their online natural treat shop

Hikes with Hector : £10 Marks and Spencer Voucher

Holly’s happy hounds, dog walking and grooming : A service of the winner’s choice (Walk, Pop in, Groom)

Jenna’s Woofly Bakes : A box of 6 ‘pup’ cakes

Jetts Accrington : 3 month gym membership

Joseph James : Gift set for hair supplies

KL Equine Sports Massage & Rehabilitation : An equine sports massage

KPH Well-being Therapies : 30 min Hot Stones Massage

L.Palmer Tree Services : 1x ton sack of seasoned wood & 2 bags of kindling

Lancashire Canine Academy Community : A 1-2-1 training session

Leia's Birthday Boxes : 4x birthday goodie bags

Little Dog Barn - 1 hour slot at the indoor doggy playroom for up to six dogs

Mandys Mutts : A photoshoot with 5 free digital images

Mantrailing Lancashire : ManTrailing intro session

Nala's Trails : A dog walk or 1-2-1 training session

Nat's Pet Company : A service of the winner’s choice (Walk, Pop In)

Nutter Dogs Ltd : ManTrailing session intro/standard

Oh My Dogz : A weekend slot to rent the daycare facilities (no max no. of dogs) either for a private play or a group play!

Oswaldtwistle Dog Park & Doggy Daycare : 2 doggy daycare days (T&C’s apply)

Paw Perfection : A free groom of any kind

Paws Patrol : Winner can choose a dog walk / pet pop-in service

Rishton Arms : Sunday lunch for 2 people (or the £ equivalent on another day of the week)

Round Our Way - Dog walking & Pet care services : £50 voucher for Jollyes

Sarah Jane Waddicor : One month of online PT sessions or One week of classes (Dance / Circuit) launching in April/May

StableSkin : A ‘Rural’ jacket in tan/brown Size L

Tailored To You - Pet Services : ‘Pet & Owner Hamper’ worth £25

Taylored Pet Therapies : A canine massage

Tasty - Sandwich shop : 2x Full Breakfasts

The Groomers : Doggy Hamper

The Lancashire Dog Company : £25 voucher for the shop

The Natural Dog Treats Co. : A ‘Monthly Chew Bag’ (for one month)

The Pup Shed : A natural treat mix box

The Sweetest Thing Cakery : Voucher

Tracy Pickard : £20 Tesco gift voucher

Vicki Hoole : X4 meals and X4 soups

Wags,Walks&Washes : A doggy enrichment hamper

Willow Tree Acre : £20 Voucher

Ye Olde Sausage Shop : Voucher

Added after the raffle officially launched :

Traditional Turkish Barbers Brownhill
2x haircut vouchers

Loving Paws
2 days of doggy daycare in a home environment (T&Cs apply)

(Unfortunately at this point I’ve reached the limit of tags!!)

Moose & Me natural pet shop
A treat selection box posted to the winner

Tag You’re It
A tag from their pre-made selection posted to the winner

Aniforte UK
3 packs of coconut sticks posted to the winner

My hound and I
2x £10 vouchers to use on their online shop

Alpha Canine Gear
£30 voucher to use on their online shop

Chewtopia
Gift hamper posted to the winner

Douglas & Dexter
An accessory of the winners choice posted to them

Axels Elixir
A pack of 5 bone broths posted to the winner

Dogavenue
Their famous 3-in-1 dog walking water bottle

Bubbas dog training
A zoom consultation / training session

Morning mist art
Peek a boo fun pet portrait

11/03/2025

Please come along to our talk tonight. Everyone's welcome, it would be great to see you there 🙂

🌟 Please Share 🌟

Come along to a relaxed and informative evening and learn all about physio and laser treatment and how they can keep your pet healthier and fitter for longer!

We look forward to seeing you there... all details on the flier

08/03/2025

Coming up soon, we would love to see you all there 😊

🌟 Please Share 🌟

Come along to a relaxed and informative evening and learn all about physio and laser treatment and how they can keep your pet healthier and fitter for longer!

We look forward to seeing you there... all details on the flier

06/03/2025

An informative guide to keeping your horse healthy and hydrated with clean rain water 💧 😀

Horses drink a lot of water! Horses are around 7 times heavier than us, so we know they are going to drink more water than us. Whilst the typical water intake for a 70kg adult is 1-3 litres per day. This can increase with physical activity, in hot weather and with high salt and or