MoveMore Veterinary Physiotherapy

31/07/2025

It's always good to have updates on how animals I have treated are getting on. This is the deerhound I saw last October when she was miserable and struggling to flex her neck. Isn't it lovely to see her out and about enjoying life? Her owner has carried on with the recommended exercises which don't take long but are good at engaging stabilising muscles which help animals remain comfortable.

14/07/2025

It was a pleasure to be part of the Cheshire Endurance Group inter regional team this weekend at the Cirencester. A huge team effort and lots of water kept the horses comfortable. They have to pass vettings and it was a credit to all team members that the vets were happy with all the horses metabolics throughout the day. The horse below ridden by her young rider won her class in fine style!

30/06/2025

Just look at these two enjoying life. I hope they lift your spirits like they do mine every time I see them. Physio has helped to make both dogs more comfortable and has reduced asymmetries in their movement. One had surgery following injuries caused by a car a year ago and the other was uncomfortable in 3 joints. They are just the cutest!

12/06/2025

The value of videos!

I always take before and after videos during my sessions and even though the editing and analysis takes time I believe it is worthwhile and enables me to provide the best overall results.

For me:
It provides an objective way that I can assess the results of my treatment. When I am doing the analysis I have the information of my hands on assessment, and how they responded to their treatment.

It provides an objective record of how the animal is progressing over a course of treatment.

Before I make a follow up visit I watch the videos of the previous session so I have a recent picture in my mind of how an animal was moving last time I saw them. It is well known that memories are easily distorted!

An animals movement is fast and it is easy to miss small deviations in gait so it enables me to slow down and watch as often as necessary.

There's a lot of information given to you in a session and I find videos a good way to remind you of the recommended exercises and the best way to carry them out.

For you:
They provide a record of how your pet is moving before and after physio so it is easy to see the changes.

It provides a reference on how to do the exercises, either with me demonstrating or you doing them under my instruction.

It is a good way for you to study your animals gait. It enables you to take your own videos to compare with the ones I have taken. This can help you decide if they would benefit from some more physio and we can get your them booked in!

08/06/2025

Here’s my soon to be 10 years old Golden Retriever. This terrain is fantastic for developing proprioception, flexibility and strength in dogs as long as they aren’t suffering from lameness or restrictions.

03/06/2025

This really was an excellent workshop and I too will use what I have learnt to help all of my clients get the very best from our sessions.

So some of the Beastly Thoughts Team partnered with Rachel Thurlow, of the wonderful MoveMore Veterinary Physiotherapy, to listen to Sue and Loren from the charity Samaritans give a talk on Active Listening.

Why were we there?

Because it’s not all about the dog!

Some of our owners, particularly those with reactive dogs, need a lot of help mentally and we want to be better at offering that help.

Sue, who is a Beastly Thoughts client through her beautiful Vizla Willow, and her bestie Loren have worked for the Samaritans for nearly twenty years.

They did a sterling job of making us think about how we approach people with their dog problems in terms of focus, language and support.

Thank you so much both for educating us a bit better and making us think about how to be active listeners.

And we all promise to try and be better with you the clients ❤️

13/05/2025

Here's a link to Mike Farrell and other researchers recently published paper on the adverse events of Librela.

They found "Ligament/tendon injury, polyarthritis, fracture, musculoskeletal neoplasia, and septic arthritis were reported ~9-times more frequently in Librela-treated dogs than the combined total of dogs treated with the comparator medications (Figure 2). Furthermore, accumulated MSAERs for Librela over 45 months exceeded those of the highest-ranking NSAID (Rimadyl) by ~20-fold and surpassed the combined accumulated MSAERs of all comparator drugs over 240 months by ~3-fold (Figure 3)."

In the discussion they summarise the concerns about rapidly progressing arthritis which was the reason a similar drug wasn't licensed for people.

"All parties agree that the use of aNGFmabs is effective, but they are associated with a unique, rapidly progressing form of OA…and we can only speculate as to its causes. In animals, just as in humans, the goal of effective pain management is paramount. However, we must also ensure that our therapeutic interventions do not inadvertently exacerbate the underlying condition. "

The image is of a 10 yr old dogs elbow joint.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1581490/full

12/05/2025

I saw this lovely dog in February after his owner contacted me concerned that he was unable to jump on the sofa or climb the stairs which he could usually do and was restricted to on lead exercise. The vet had assessed him and gave him pain relief which seemed to help but he was still tripping going downstairs. I found that he was finding it very difficult to turn his head both right and left but right was the most difficult. Following his physio he was much more comfortable. When I saw him a month later his owner had carried out the recommended exercises, which are easy to do and the dogs usually enjoy and it was a real pleasure to see howe much happier he was running, jumping and enjoying his previous levels of exercise.

11/05/2025

It is well known that behavioural issues can be caused by pain or restrictions in the body which make the animal associate moving with discomfort. Karen Boyce of Beastly Thoughts Professional Dog Services recommends physio for many of the reactive dogs she sees and I often find restrictive soft tissue which when released off makes the dog more comfortable. They often move more slowly and are less reactive too. They are frequently young dogs and owners are surprised that they have a physical issue as they are usually lively including jumping and standing on their hind legs.

Horses also show certain behaviours when they cannot move comfortably. This is a young horse who had just been backed and was bronking and spinning instead of going forwards. Her owner had noticed she wasn't tracking up with her right hind leg and thought physio might help. I found a very restricted muscle on the inside of her right hind, she was more comfortable once it had been released and it enabled her to do a lovely stretch forwards with that leg. Hopefully when it comes to riding her again she will be able to move easily and have no need to display the unwanted behaviours.

If your animal doesn't seem quite right or struggles to perform certain moves it really would be worth contacting me to arrange a physio session for them. My assessment includes watching them move, I take before and after treatment videos which I send to you, I then perform a hands on assessment. I only do what an animal is comfortable with and use electrotherapies to release off restricted soft tissue before massaging them. Often owners are surprised at the difference physio can make!

13/04/2025

John and Jam flew round the 80km CER at Kings Forest a week ago to take second place. Jam is always barefoot and enjoyed a physio session a week before the ride. Well done John and Jam a fantastic result!

Whatever your aim with your horse, dog or other pet I will endeavour to make them as comfortable as possible. Please do contact me if you think they would benefit from physio.

19/02/2025

This post highlights how poor foot balance is often overlooked to the horses detriment.

24/01/2025

It's always a privilege to be able to help elderly dogs have a new lease of life. This is Pogo who I saw for the first time in November. She had been in pain for several months and unable to flex her head and neck to the right, a CT scan revealed boney changes in her neck vertebrae and she was on pain medication. Using electrotherapies together with manual techniques combined with her dedicated owner continuing with the recommended exercises and buying a Pulsed Magnetic Field machine so she could be treated daily, she is now feeling so much better. Running, jumping and playing and no longer needing the prescribed pain medication. Her owner did say, which I hear quite frequently, that she wished she had tried physio sooner. So please do contact me if you think your dog might benefit from physio.

This video is when I saw Pogo last week after her second physio session, it was such a pleasure to see her moving well and happy again.