Norfolk Animal Physiotherapy

03/04/2025

Regulation of Animal Musculoskeletal Therapists in the UK 🐾

In the UK, there is currently no statutory regulation for animal musculoskeletal therapists, which means that anyone can offer treatments without being officially regulated or required to meet certain professional standards. This can lead to concerns about the quality of care provided to animals, as well as the safety of certain treatment techniques.

This makes it crucial to choose a qualified and trustworthy practitioner who is committed to maintaining high standards in animal musculoskeletal therapy and adheres to professional standards.

Why Choose a RAMP Registrant?

✅ Professional Standards – RAMP therapists must meet strict guidelines.
✅ CPD – They stay up-to-date with the latest techniques.
✅ Accountability – A formal complaints procedure is in place.
✅ Ethical Practice – Putting animal welfare first.
✅ Vets Trust RAMP – Often referred by vets for their expertise.

Choose a qualified therapist you can trust. Learn more at www.rampregister.org. 🐶

08/02/2025

Proud to be a member of RAMP

🌟Scope of practice🌟

✅All RAMP registrants work within their scope of practice but what does this mean for you?✅

Scope of practice describes the knowledge, skills and experience that someone has to practice safely and effectively within their professional role.

RAMP ensures that all registrants have evidenced appropriate professional training that equips them to assess, treat and advise within their area of expertise.

RAMP registrants are proud to work within the multidisciplinary team, referring any problems beyond their scope of practice onto the appropriate professional to ensure your animal always receives the very best care.

19/10/2024

Enjoying the annual ACPAT Seminar with Wynnie! Always learning!

12/09/2024

Chronic pain in humans is influenced not just by the disease but by biological, clinical, psychological and socio-demographic factors.

Translating this to companion animals - their own anatomy and physiology, their current and previous trauma as well as co-morbidities, where and how they live, their previous experiences and emotional resilience are likely to influence their perception of their pain.

We have so much to learn…but we are also finding ways to best manage it.

08/09/2024

08/09/2024

Today is World Physiotherapy day!

Check out the RAMP register to find a Veterinary Physiotherapist, Chiropractor or Osteopath near you ➡️ https://www.rampregister.org/the-register

08/09/2024

Go ACPAT - The Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy - I’m proud to be a member

Did you know we have an in-house team of experienced Chartered Physiotherapists at Fitzpatrick Referrals?

Our busy team of physiotherapists work closely with every patient’s clinician to provide gold-standard rehabilitation for their aftercare – from carrying out post-op assessments and physiotherapy treatments to providing an ongoing plan for patients at discharge.

All our physios are ACPAT (Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy) registered – ACPAT leads the field in the development of high-quality, innovative physiotherapeutic intervention in the treatment of animals and raising the standards of animal physiotherapy.

Today is World Physiotherapy Day so we wish to thank our fabulous team for their hard work and dedication to our animal friends and their profession! 💙 🐾

ACPAT - The Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy

12/06/2024

Aylsham Dog Training well said! Dogs and cats are masters at hiding pain and looking fine, and it’s easy for us as owners to get used to their idiosyncrasies and think it’s normal, it may well be chronic pain and is always better to check.

Step one in working through reactivity -

Ruling out pain and ill health.

Chronic and acute pain can be massive contributing factors to behaviour decline and reactivity struggles.

Imagine living for a prolonged, or even short period, with a migraine, ear ache, toothache, joint pains or health problems. Very few of these are visible struggles, and you’ll still be able to carry out your daily tasks, but it would undoubtedly affect your mood and perhaps even your ability to make appropriate choices.

One of the first things we will advise with clients is getting a full bill of health before we invest time and money into training. This would include, but not be limited to, muscular and skeletal checks, potentially a base line blood test to check biochemistry and haematology, and definitely gastrointestinal health (the gut is the second brain, so gastrointestinal issues can have a massive impact on behavioural changes).

If your trainer suggests these checks, please don’t take offence or dismiss them because your dog still enjoys walks, running, chasing balls, etc. Adrenaline does a fantastic job at masking pain, and your dog will have tonnes of it flowing around their body when it comes to “walkies”. Studies also suggest that upto 80% of dogs will not show signs of pain at a vet visit, again due to the adrenaline flowing. Be sure to book in for perhaps a double length appointment to allow your dog time to settle, or if it’s been suggested it’s muscular/skeletal issues - it might be better practice to see a specialist such as Norfolk Animal Physiotherapy, who knows exactly what they’re looking for.

Imagine being in a constant state of pain, then imagine how you’d feel about someone coming into your personal space without invite or warning. Then imagine how apprehensive you’d become if this kept happening and it resulted in pain in time. The anticipation would start to lead to pain as you tensed everytime you saw someone just incase they invaded your space. Now imagine your dog in pain, on a lead, when it sees other dogs… imagine how quickly a perception of a situation can change!

Pain can also cause a reduction in appetite, understandably, as well as decrease the amount of sleep your dog will be getting. So if you notice your dog is more restless and/or losing weight, these could be indicators that something isn’t quite right with Fido. I know for sure that if I was hungry, tired and in pain, my mood would take a significant and abrupt nose dive!!

So, in conclusion, really for any behavioural struggle, not just reactivity, getting that clean bill of health is coming in at step one. This is not optional; I’ve known dogs with behavioural issues that have had chronic pain missed until it was too late, and unfortunately the dog then needed to be put to sleep. Make sure your dog is fit, healthy, pain free and not over weight before moving to step two!

A big thanks to Zoe over at Sintonsand Canine Services for the nitty gritty veterinary facts!

04/06/2024

Referencing has led to an epidemic of simply listing small print to support product or intervention sales. This practice tricks the reader into believing their marketing as scientifically factual - wrong!

Even if the references correspond to actual clinical trials, “The criteria for ranking evidence is based on the design, methodology, validity and applicability of the different types of studies. The outcome is called “levels of evidence” and that particular trial could be poor.

Yep it is minefield and I have no easy answer!

01/05/2024

Meet Missi! Looking very chilled out for her Physiotherapy today! I’m So lucky to have such a lovely job!