Canine hydrotherapy is known to support the physical well-being of dogs in many ways, allowing them to restore their mobility, flexibility, and confidence. But what kind of conditions can dog hydrotherapy help with, and how?
How Does Canine Hydrotherapy Help?
Canine hydrotherapy uses water’s unique properties to support your dog’s healing and recovery. Warm water (between 27 and 34°C) helps improve dogs’ blood circulation and relaxes their joints and muscles, giving them pain relief while improving their recovery rate. Meanwhile, water buoyancy reduces the weight and pressure of your dog’s body on its limbs, allowing them to move freely without straining the muscles and joints.
Hydrostatic pressure also applies a compressive force to your dog’s body, limbs, and joints to gradually relieve pain, reduce swelling and improve circulation. Water’s viscosity provides resistance that helps build your dog’s strength and fitness.
Conditions That Can Benefit From Canine Hydrotherapy
Hip Dysplasia
Canine hip dysplasia occurs due to a poorly developed hip joint and socket that causes friction and grinding, which wears down the cartilage. It is widely known as a hereditary condition that various factors, including poor nutrition, can exacerbate. Hip dysplasia can lead to reduced mobility, range of motion, and flexibility, causing significant discomfort.
For mild to moderate cases of hip dysplasia, canine hydrotherapy can be valuable as it minimises the weight-bearing load on its hip joints, reducing pressure while facilitating smoother movements in water. Your dog can enjoy low-impact exercises that help strengthen its muscles with minimal discomfort while promoting joint lubrication and preventing stiffness. Water’s properties also relieve your dog’s pain as its muscles relax in warm water, ensuring smooth blood circulation and reduced swelling as water gently exerts pressure on the affected hip.
Obesity
A poor diet and lifestyle can cause various weight issues in your dog, including obesity, which can lead to potential health issues. Chief among these issues is the strain that the extra weight can put on your dog’s body, which can be detrimental in the long term. Moreover, obesity also increases your dog’s risk of other complications, such as diabetes and heart disease.
With canine hydrotherapy, you can provide your dog with low-impact exercises that are gentle on its body and do not strain its joints, allowing it to stay active while being monitored by a professional hydrotherapist to support them. An underwater treadmill can offer a comfortable alternative to many land-based exercises that your dog can do with little difficulty, ensuring that your dog’s fitness can gradually improve over time and increase their stamina. Water resistance can make these exercises more effective at burning calories than performing them on land, ensuring your dog can gradually return to a healthy state.
Luxating Patella
A luxating patella (or a dislocated kneecap) occurs when your dog’s kneecap “pops out” of its normal position, causing pain and discomfort. Symptoms may include difficulty moving or jumping, limping, a reluctance to participate in activities, and cracking or popping noises when moving the knee.
Hydrotherapy offers a safe, pain-free activity for your dog that is gentle on its joints. It allows your dog to minimise stress on the affected limb, slowly strengthen its muscles to improve support to the patella, and even gradually restore range of motion. The warm water also helps relax muscles, alleviate pain, and promote better circulation to further improve your dog’s mobility and flexibility while reducing the risk of lingering discomfort and other issues. Over time, your dog’s mobility can be gradually restored.
Arthritis
Arthritis is a degenerative condition that causes joint inflammation due to various factors, including age, joint wear and tear, and genetics. Your dog may have difficulty moving around or refuse to play with you.
Because of the inflammation of the joints, hydrotherapy offers a pain-free way to allow your dog to exercise with low-impact activities that minimise discomfort and maximise comfort by being in warm water. They will steadily be able to restore their range of motion and mobility as the hydrotherapist prioritises specific areas to help strengthen muscles and other structures to support the affected joints. The gentle pressure of water also helps improve circulation, which enhances your dog’s recovery and reduces inflammation and pain over time. The gradual improvement can also have a positive effect on your dog’s mood.
ACL/CCL Injuries
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) injuries can cause significant pain in your dog due to a sprain or partial/complete tear of the CCL. It can occur when your dog runs, moves, or twists its limbs during any activity.
The good news is that these injuries can improve with hydrotherapy. Hydrotherapy relies on controlled movements, especially when using an underwater treadmill, and reduced weight-bearing while in water to promote your dog’s movement with minimal discomfort while slowly promoting improved joint stability and healing without straining the CCL. Hydrotherapy also helps to restore your dog’s gait and stability, ensuring it can stand and move with less difficulty and improving its coordination.
It is important to note that hydrotherapy is not suitable during the acute phase of a CCL rupture, as excessive movement can worsen the injury. A rehabilitation practitioner or veterinarian will first assess your dog to determine the appropriate rehabilitation programme.
Postsurgical Recovery
Dogs that have undergone musculoskeletal or spinal surgery can benefit significantly from regular canine hydrotherapy sessions. The recovery process can take time, and hydrotherapy has the potential to improve recovery outcomes by providing a low-impact environment that helps speed up a dog’s recovery without physically straining themselves.
Hydrotherapy can help your dog gradually restore muscle strength and joint flexibility, allowing them to regain stability and mobility. Meanwhile, gentle hydrostatic pressure helps increase blood flow to the affected areas to boost their recovery, while water buoyancy encourages gentle muscle relaxation and alleviates any discomfort or inflammation post-surgery to ensure your dog has a pleasant recovery period.
It should be noted that surgical wounds need to be closed before hydrotherapy can commence. Typically, this takes 10 to 14 days.
Seek Professional Dog Hydrotherapy in Singapore
If you need further support or have other questions, the Bluewater Vet Acupuncture & Rehabilitation team is here to help! Contact us via our website or WhatsApp anytime for more information on canine hydrotherapy or our professional services tailored to maintain your dog’s well-being!