Osteopathy

Osteopathy for Animals

What is Animal Osteopathy?

Animal Osteopathy (AO) is an integrated form of manual medicine for animals which is founded on a solid understanding of functional medicine and osteopathic principles that identify the impact of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors on an animal’s life.

Animal osteopaths in the UK are required by law to first speak to your animal’s vet, to ensure that animal osteopathy is deemed an appropriate course of action. Some vets may insist on an initial consultation (which legally they have a right to do). However, many are happy for the practitioner to report back to the surgery after the initial consultation, when further treatment options can be discussed.

Animal Osteopaths take into consideration the following factors when initially evaluating a case:

• Presenting picture – signs and symptoms;
• Mechanism of injury (what caused the problem in the first place);
• The animal’s medical history (past and present);
• The animal’s environment (what is usual and any reported changes). This also includes relationships, training styles, loss of a companion etc.
• Activities (how and when are they exercised. Any changes?);
• The animal’s size/weight ratio, their typical diet, any changes in eating habits and bowel and bladder movements;
• Overall status of the animal’s welfare (reviewing and addressing all areas of the five freedoms*).
• Any signs that the case is way outside the remit of osteopathy and requires an immediate referral to the vet.

NOTE: Animal Osteopaths in the UK are legally obliged to work under the referral of a vet.

It is a legal requirement of all Animal Osteopaths in the UK to work under the guidance of the Veterinary Surgeons act 1966 (Exemptions Order, 2015). As such, any professional animal osteopath will ask for your animal’s vet details in advance of any assessment or treatment. Failure to do this is breaking the law and is likely to void any insurance that the practitioner has in place.

Once an AO practitioner acquires a veterinary referral and has undertaken a full case history (as outlined above), they will typically undertake the following assessment process:

• Overall observations (how your animal behaves and interacts. What their skin, coat, eyes etc. look like);
• Active assessment – watching how your animal moves;
• Passive assessment – seeing how the body functions passively;
• Osteopathic testing – to evaluate the flexibility, stability, mobility of certain key areas.

If, after the assessment and evaluation process, osteopathic care is deemed appropriate, your practitioner will discuss the line of action they intend to take and the treatment that they consider to be most appropriate. Animal osteopathy includes a wide range of treatment modalities, which range from the very subtle (such as cranial osteopathy) through to direct mobilisations. However, we would remind readers that whilst cranial osteopathy may appear subtle and gentle, it can have powerful lasting effects. Such effects (and those associated with any other form of treatment that has been administered), should be discussed with you in advance, so that you can support your animal as required after treatment.

In addition to treatment, your AO practitioner will provide you with an outline of their treatment and management plan, so that you know what to expect, how long the process is likely to take and what costs could be involved. Furthermore, you should be given home advice as pertinent and, where appropriate, rehabilitation exercises. Sometimes this requires owners to purchase items such as a wobble board, balance pad or TheraBand exercise bands.

Typically, an AO practitioner would treat an animal two to three times under an initial treatment plan, before reconsidering their approach. This is to allow the animal’s body to adapt to any treatment that has been performed and recover from any minor side-effects that they may have experienced. However, if within this time, the animal’s picture worsens (or remains exactly the same), it would be typical for the practitioner to do one of two things. 1. Fully reassess the animal and adapt their treatment plan or 2. Refer back to the vet for further investigations and a second opinion. It would be unprofessional for any AO practitioner to continue treating an animal who is not making positive progress.

Once the above assessments and examinations have taken place, your AO practitioner may refer back to your vet for further investigations if it is deemed inappropriate to continue with osteopathic treatment before more information has been acquired. This isn’t commonplace in a typical remedial case, but a good practitioner should always seek to do what is best for the animal and should never work outside their scope of practice. (I’d put this below – seems weird having negatives first)

If you are looking for a practitioner or have any concerns relating to a practitioner, you can contact the Association of Animal Osteopaths (AAO). The AAO is a voluntary organisation that accepts qualified animal practitioners for membership. Members are asked to provide evidence of their qualifications and insurance and asked to comply by the AAO’s Code of Conduct. The Association of Animal Osteopaths is the UK’s only Association created specifically for animal osteopaths. The aim of the AAO is to support, unite, develop and promote the profession of animal osteopathy, for the betterment of animal welfare and healthcare worldwide.

In addition to the above, some animal osteopaths join other voluntary multi-disciplinary organisations, such as the Register of Animal Musculoskeletal Practitioners (RAMP), Animal Health Professions’ Register (AHPR) and International Association of Animal Therapists (IAAT), which are all are intended for a broader animal therapist background.

* The Five Freedoms are:

• Freedom from hunger and thirst: by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
• Freedom from discomfort: by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
• Freedom from pain, injury or disease: by prevention through rapid diagnosis and treatment.
• Freedom to express normal behaviour: by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.
• Freedom from fear and distress: by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.

Find out more here:

• Association of Animal Osteopaths’ website
• Register of Animal Musculoskeletal Practitioners’ website (RAMP)
• Animal Health Professions’ Registers website (AHPR)
• International Association of Animal Therapists’ website (IAAT)