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Kirsten Smith Veterinary Physiotherapy

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Kirsten Smith Veterinary Physiotherapy

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Veterinary Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation

🏡 Home clinic: Rosudgeon, Penzance
🐶 Bodmin clinics: Vets4Pets Bodmin

Vet approved techniques to support healing, comfort & long term wellbeing in small animals

30/07/2026

Daily pain meds to no meds! 💊When Bilbo first came to me at Vets for Pets Bodmin he had been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. He was lame and on daily pain relief.

Before starting physiotherapy, Bilbo's owner had a consult with Christian, the orthopaedic vet at Penmellyn Veterinary Group. Although Bilbo has hip dysplasia, his femoral heads still sit well within the hip sockets, there was very little arthritic change, and he felt Bilbo should improve with physiotherapy by strengthening the muscles around the hips to provide better support and stability.

Fast forward a few months...

✨ Bilbo is no longer lame.
✨ He's been off all of his pain medication for several months.

Physiotherapy and home exercises is all about improving strength, stability and movement, helping to support the joints and reduce pain naturally wherever possible.

26/07/2026

Common compensatory patterns post spinal injury/surgery.

One of my favourite areas of Veterinary Physiotherapy is spinal rehabilitation.

Every spinal patient is completely different, which is one of the reasons I love treating them.

At the moment, I'm fortunate to be helping a variety of spinal surgery patients, including 3 Dachshunds, a Corgi cross, a Brussels Griffon, and an English Setter. They are all at different stages of their recovery journey. Watching these dogs progress from the early stages after surgery back towards enjoying life again is incredibly rewarding.

One of the biggest things I commonly see after spinal surgery is compensatory posture.

The image below highlights some of the postural changes that can develop following spinal injury or surgery. Whilst these compensations are the body's way of protecting itself, if they're left unaddressed they can lead to secondary problems such as muscle imbalances, joint overload, reduced mobility, and ongoing spinal discomfort.

Rather than simply waiting for strength to return, a large part of rehabilitation is helping dogs relearn how to use their bodies correctly once the nervous system has been affected. These are through owners completing targeted daily exercises at home.

That's why every owner I work with is given a personalised home exercise programme. These daily exercises are designed to improve posture, restore normal movement patterns, rebuild strength, and encourage the nervous system to reconnect with the body as recovery progresses.

Spinal rehabilitation isn't always a smooth process and I'm always welcoming more clients who wish to register with me for their physiotherapy.

https://kirstenvetphysio.co.uk/canine-physiotherapy

03/07/2026

Building muscle strength and focusing on correct posture is the foundation of my work 🐾

Exercised based therapy is one of the most evidence based modality we have.

Correct exercise is proven and highly effective and safe if done correctly. Progressive overload will only work with the correct neuromuscular transmission and postural control.

I have had a burst of spinal patients recently who will all be starting the foundations of rehabbing with correct posture and control!

www.kirstenvetphysio.co.uk

12/06/2026

Rehabilitation without touch!

Buster came to see me for TPLO Rehab. His owner mentioned he doesn't really like fuss and touch so we have nearly completed his whole physio though exercise alone. Buster is also someone who won't do his exercise much at home but will happily do them in clinic! He also had a very slow recovery compared to other dogs but we are slowly getting there

Here is a little snippet of his most recent session. Getting him to use his legs on different surfaces and different actions to build up his joint stability!

05/06/2026

I’ve had a lovely two days at the Royal Cornwall Show alongside the team from Vets for Pets Bodmin. Sarah and the team have been incredibly supportive, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be there promoting both my own services and the great work being done at the practice.

It was fantastic to meet so many people and chat mostly about senior dog health, and meet the teams from the other Vets for Pets practices in Cornwall.

As an independent service, I’m fortunate to work with lovely vets and accept referrals from a number of veterinary practices, and I’m always keen to build relationships with more colleagues in the profession. Events like this are a great way to share knowledge and collaborate for the benefit of our patients.

Tomorrow, the stand 277 will have Tamsin from Vets for Pets St Austell, who offers acupuncture, and Wiktoria from Vets4Pets Bodmin, who specialises in small animal dentistry and oral surgery, so do pop by and have a chat!

10/05/2026

Referring clients back to the vets (which some owners don’t want to hear)

One thing I take very seriously in rehabilitation and physiotherapy is knowing my professional boundaries

There are times when a dog comes in for a session, but I feel they need veterinary attention before any rehabilitation can safely continue. Even if those dogs already have veterinary consent obtained. In those situations, I will stop the planned session after an assessment and advise the owner to contact their vet as soon as possible. I will also communicate directly with the veterinary team.

A few examples have really reinforced why this is so important:

• A dog presented with ataxia and significant neck pain (dog tried to bite me) I stopped the session immediately and advised urgent veterinary assessment, he had a disk issue in the neck

• A dog came for neurological rehabilitation, but during assessment I found excessive movement in both elbows and inability to walk - I wanted to cry in consult . With the support of the wonderful team at Vets4Pets (not this dogs vets) the dog was referred straight to a specialist practice where it was discovered both elbows were massively broken and was PTS there and then. This dog had hydrotherapy the day before.

• A lovely young pup came in with severe hindlimb gait lameness in both back legs, and significant muscle atrophy. Again, my advice was immediate veterinary investigation before rehabilitation could begin.

• A dog who remained chronically lame following elbow surgery. I recommended the owner return to their vet so we could fully understand what was happening before rehabilitation continued. Further investigations later showed the surgical plate itself was contributing to the lameness and additional surgery was needed before physio- no amount of physio would have stopped this lameness.

As rehabilitation professionals, we are part of a wider team. Sometimes the best and most responsible thing we can do is pause and refer back to the vet for further investigation.

Of course, the decision always remains with the owner, but I will always give my honest professional opinion based on what I see in front of me. 🐾

13/04/2026

Laser therapy can look a little… underwhelming. Just a quiet beam of light and dogs are pretty happy with it!

But underneath...

⭐️Increased cellular activity
⭐️Improved circulation
⭐️Reduced inflammation
⭐️Pain modulation

At Kirsten Vet Physio & Rehabilitation, I combine laser therapy with movement based rehab and manual therapy to get the best results.

Because recovery isn’t about one approach it’s about using the right tools at the right time.

To enquire head to www.kirstenvetphysio.co.uk
or pop me a message! Covering Cornwall base in Rosudgeon and Bodmin
-

11/04/2026

✨ Little snippet of the past few weeks✨

Featuring Esme’s lovely face (Newfoundland x poodle)🐾 She came to me for prehab before her hip replacement, and this is her happy face after 💛

• Referrals from Vets4Pets Bodmin for TPLO rehab cases
• Conservative management for elbow dysplasia – from lame to sound 🙌
• JackChi post TPLO surgery, working on regaining use of his legs (currently on 3 legs)
• 11 month handsome Cocker Spaniel pup, rehab for a torn gracilis/semimembranosus muscle
• Follow up on a TPLO case previously signed off but returned due to a flare up
• Mysterious hindlimb lameness in a Rottweiler x English Bull Terrier
• Patella luxation – conservative management

Lots of different cases and every patient is different 💙🐶

www.kirstenvetphysio.co.uk

12/03/2026

Before and after! ✨ Rhonda is a 5 year old British Bulldog who had bilateral TPLO surgery back in February 2023. Her owners noticed she was intermittently lame and she was relying on pain medication to manage her discomfort.

Rhonda was thoroughly checked over with her vets at Vets4Pets St Austell Even after X-rays and a specialist consult, nothing obvious was found! In August 2025, Rhonda came to see me at Vets4Pets Bodmin and you can see from the photos just how uneven her posture was.

✨ Fast forward to today: Rhonda is standing so much more evenly, her walking is so much more together and stable and she’s off pain meds. Of course there is still some asymmetry there but she has come a very long way!

This was achieved by targeted exercises at home!

💪🐶

www.kirstenvetphysio.co.uk

05/02/2026

From non walking to walking!
My most favourite time is helping dogs post surgery, and Rosie’s IVDD journey impresses me each time I see her!

Rosie had a 2nd surgery for IVDD, a severe L3/L4 intervertebral disc extrusion in September 2025, losing all movement and feeling in her back legs. She also had IVDD spinal surgery in 2023!

Physiotherapy was recommended by her Vet at Luxstowe Vets and that’s where we began working together. Rosie comes to see me for her sessions at Vets4Pets Bodmin

At the start, Rosie had a very hunched posture following her surgeries and struggled to take weight through her hind limbs (video below). We worked slowly and carefully on correcting her body dysfunction, improving her awareness and ability to feel her back legs, and rebuilding strength and coordination.

With incredible commitment from her owners doing her exercises at home, we are now at a place where Rosie can be a dog again. Whilst she isn’t perfect, Rosie can now move unaided, which is a huge achievement considering the uncertainty of where she started.

Rosie also attends hydrotherapy at Duchy Canine Hydrotherapy using the support of buoyancy

Rosie has come such a long way since the beginning, and you can really see that progress in this video 💪

Recovery after spinal surgery is rarely linear, but Rosie is doing brilliantly, and her owners have been amazing with her home exercises and ongoing care.

Address

Kirsten Smith Veterinary Physiotherapy, Packet Lane
Penzance
TR209PU

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm

Telephone

+447510271832

Website

http://www.kirstenvetphysio.co.uk/

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