A Collaborative Approach to Rehabilitation

At VRSVA, our goal is to work collaboratively with each patient’s veterinarian to achieve the best possible outcomes—for the patient, the client, and the referring veterinarian. We see the most success when multiple experts come together to provide comprehensive care.

In human medicine, physical therapy is almost always prescribed following an injury or surgery. Physicians and surgeons recognize that targeted physical therapy reduces pain, shortens recovery time, promotes stronger healing, and improves overall client satisfaction. Veterinary medicine has been slower to adopt this model, but it is catching up. At VRSVA, we aim to be experts in veterinary physical therapy—not as a replacement for the primary veterinarian or surgeon, but as a valuable extension of their care.

The Referral

The first step in the collaboration between primary care veterinarians and rehabilitation specialists is the referral. In both human and veterinary medicine, a referral is required before starting physical therapy.  This process starts with an initial case discussion between the referring veterinarian and the rehab team, during which patient history and medical records are collected. These early steps help establish the team approach and ensure everyone is aligned from the beginning.

Ideally, a referral should happen as soon as an injury is diagnosed. The earlier rehabilitation begins, the better the animal's chances for a strong recovery. One often-overlooked aspect of rehab is its value before surgery. Known as prehabilitation, this pre-surgical therapy aims to reduce pain and inflammation, strengthen supportive structures, and improve conditioning to help prepare the patient for surgery and recovery. Patients who participate in prehab tend to be better surgical candidates and typically experience shorter recovery times afterward.

While early referral is best, it is important to remember that any rehabilitation is better than none. There is no point at which it’s “too late” for physical therapy.  Rehab can often help when other options have failed.

Note: VRSVA is a veterinarian-run rehabilitation center. While we prefer to collaborate with a patient’s regular veterinarian, our veterinarians can also evaluate an animal and provide a physical therapy referral if needed.

Developing the Rehab Plan

Once referred, the next step is to develop a preliminary rehabilitation program. We work in partnership with the primary veterinarian to tailor a plan and determine which treatment modalities are most appropriate for the individual animal.

Veterinarians vary in how involved they prefer to be in this process. Some choose to collaborate closely in designing the plan, others share general treatment preferences based on past experience, and some prefer to entrust the rehab entirely to our team. Regardless, we always perform a thorough initial evaluation and assessment, and we strive to collaborate as closely as the client and referring veterinarian prefer.

Rechecks

At the start of therapy, we coordinate with the primary veterinarian to establish a recheck schedule and help keep the patient on track. At each rehabilitation appointment, we also perform mini re-evaluations to assess the patient’s comfort and progress. This ensures that the therapy plan remains effective and allows us to make adjustments as needed.

We use the information from these ongoing evaluations to keep the primary veterinarian informed and to engage them when additional collaboration is needed.

Discharge

Once a patient has completed physical therapy, we communicate final outcomes with the primary veterinarian and share the at-home care plan with the owner. We also discuss any recommended follow-up care to support continued success.

Conclusions

Physical therapy enhances patient comfort, speeds and strengthens healing, and improves overall outcomes. When rehab is part of the recovery plan, owners report feeling more supported and more satisfied, surgeons experience higher success rates, and primary care veterinarians report better case outcomes and improved client compliance.

Rehabilitation also provides critical support for chronic and degenerative conditions that are difficult to manage in general practice alone. These cases often require more frequent attention than regular appointments allow. For example, rehab specialists can see degenerative myelopathy patients weekly to slow disease progression and support the owner, help fit and train patients to use wheelchairs, manage laminitis cases, and work closely with patients suffering from degenerative joint disease to maintain mobility and quality of life for as long as possible.

At VRSVA, we believe in a collaborative approach to rehabilitation—one that adapts to each patient and case. We understand that the level of collaboration will vary depending on the preferences of the referring veterinarian, the owner, and the specific needs of the patient.