Veterinary Physiotherapy & Animal Behaviour – Lecture Review

A comprehensive set of Q&A flashcards covering core definitions, rehabilitation principles, anatomy, massage, hydrotherapy, learning theory, and species-specific behaviour from Days 1–9 of the lecture series.

What is physiotherapy in a veterinary context?

The therapeutic use of physical agents or means such as massage or exercises.

Define rehabilitation.

The process of helping an individual achieve the highest possible level of function, independence, and quality of life following injury or illness.

What does kinematics describe?

Motion (without regard to the forces producing it).

What does kinetics study?

The forces that cause motion.

Immediately post-injury, what are two key physiotherapy goals?

Reduce pain and swelling; restrict excessive movement.

During short-term rehabilitation, what two objectives guide treatment?

Encourage early weight bearing and correct posture; encourage healing.

What is the ultimate aim of long-term rehabilitation?

Full return to function.

List the three core principles of physiotherapy.

1) Reduce pain 2) Positively influence tissue healing 3) Restore function.

Name the three stages of tissue repair.

Acute, sub-acute, and chronic.

Give three benefits of veterinary physiotherapy.

Professionally guided accelerated recovery; decreased pain/inflammation/oedema; maintains or increases muscle strength and joint flexibility (others include limiting disuse effects and restoring normal movement patterns).

Give three common physiotherapy tools or techniques.

Massage, passive range of motion (PROM), stretching, electrotherapies, remedial exercises (any three).

Name the four primary tissue types in animals.

Epithelium, connective tissue, muscular tissue, nervous tissue.

Which tissue type is tightly packed with little extracellular material and continuously regenerating?

Epithelium.

Which muscle type is voluntary and attached to bone?

Skeletal muscle.

Define palpation.

The act of feeling with the hand using light pressure to assess underlying tissues during physical diagnosis.

List four structures commonly palpated during an equine assessment.

Bony landmarks, muscle, soft tissue, fascia and skin.

What are dermatomes?

Areas of skin supplied by a single spinal nerve, useful for assessing sensory deficits and localising spinal issues.

How many cervical vertebrae do horses and dogs have?

Both have 7 cervical vertebrae.

State the meaning of ‘proximal’ in anatomical direction.

Toward the heart or the body’s centre (closer to point of attachment).

What apparatus prevents hyper-extension of the equine fetlock?

Suspensory apparatus.

Which ligamentous structure links the hock and stifle joints in the horse?

The reciprocal apparatus (peroneus tertius).

Name the three parts of a remedial exercise programme.

Active, targeted, tailored.

List two immediate effects of exercise on the body.

Muscle contraction with increased blood flow and a rise in muscle temperature.

Give two long-term adaptations to regular exercise.

Increased bone density; stronger muscles, tendons and ligaments (others: joint stability, hypertrophy, improved proprioception, higher fatigue threshold).

Define proprioception.

The sense of the relative position of one’s own body parts and the effort used in movement.

What are the three steps in active rehabilitation planning?

Dynamic assessment, choosing appropriate exercises, deciding frequency and repetitions.

Summarise the Bow and String theory.

Muscle wall contraction (the bow) tenses to create flexion or rounding of the back (the string).

What is viscoelasticity?

A material property showing both viscous and elastic behavior during deformation.

Why do tendons have crimp and twist in their structure?

To provide energy-absorption and elastic energy storage capabilities.

Give two observable signs of pain in dogs.

Lip licking; vocalisations (others: squinting, moving away, yawning, holding breath, guarding).

Give two observable signs of pain in horses.

Tail swish; ears back (others: teeth grinding, head tossing, grimace, tremors).

Which tissues are easiest to palpate?

Skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bony landmarks.

Name two common causes of tissue tension found on palpation.

Shortening of soft tissues; altered joint mechanics (others: pain-induced spasms, conformation issues).

What is effleurage in massage?

Gliding strokes used to start and finish a session, warming muscles and promoting circulation.

Describe petrissage.

Lifting, rolling, and squeezing soft tissue to increase lymph flow, reduce tension, and mobilise scar tissue.

What is friction massage used for?

Creating a local inflammatory response to break down scar tissue and adhesions.

Explain the self-perpetuating muscle-spasm cycle.

Pain → muscle spasm → reduced circulation/toxin build-up → oedema → adhesions → muscle shortening, which feeds back into pain.

Define passive range of motion (PROM).

Joint movement induced by someone other than the patient without muscle contraction to maintain function.

How long should static stretches generally be held?

15–30 seconds (physiological effects seen after ~7 seconds).

Name two contraindications for stretching in animals.

Hypermobility; non-ossified joints in puppies (others: total joint replacements, pregnancy).

What water property is explained by Archimedes’ principle?

Buoyancy—the apparent loss of weight equal to the fluid displaced when submerged.

State Pascal’s Law.

Pressure exerted anywhere in a confined liquid is transmitted equally in all directions.

How does hydrostatic pressure change with water depth?

It increases—the deeper the water, the greater the pressure on the body.

List three therapeutic benefits of hydrotherapy.

Reduced limb load, strengthening with reduced impact, increased range of motion (others: limit atrophy, cardiovascular fitness, pain relief).

Give one advantage of a hydrotherapy pool over an underwater treadmill.

Full buoyancy allowing impact-free exercise and higher cardiovascular demand.

What defines animal behaviour?

Visible activity involving coordinated sensory, motor, and neural processes responding to internal or external changes.

Differentiate non-associative and associative learning.

Non-associative: response changes without pairing to reward/punishment; Associative: new response linked to a specific stimulus via conditioning.

In classical conditioning, what is a conditioned stimulus?

A stimulus that initially fails to elicit a response but does so after association with an unconditioned stimulus.

State Thorndike’s Law of Effect.

Behaviours followed by favourable consequences are more likely to recur, while those followed by unfavourable consequences are less likely.

What quadrant represents ‘negative punishment’ in operant conditioning?

Removing a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour.

Name two key equine senses used in perception.

Hearing (350° panorama) and smell (vomeronasal organ) (others: vision, touch).

How has domestication affected equine group behaviour?

Greater group instability and increased aggressive acts per hour due to confined spaces and frequent management changes.

Give one example of an instinctive equine behaviour.

Suckling (others: standing, running, neighing).

Why should rewards or punishments be immediate when training horses?

Because horses form rapid associations between behaviour and consequence; delay reduces learning effectiveness.

What is a stereotypy?

A repetitive, seemingly functionless behaviour that can become habitual, often arising in sub-optimal environments.

List three generic traits commonly seen in domesticated animals.

Smaller body size/brain, juvenile behaviours (neoteny), piebald coat patterns (others: floppy ears, curly tails).

Describe the basic social structure of wild pigs.

Groups of related females with their offspring; males are solitary or in bachelor groups except during breeding.

Why are domestic pigs prone to aggression when mixed?

Unstable dominance relationships become challenged, especially when food is limited or unfamiliar individuals are added.

What is one cognitive strength of pigs?

Episodic memory—remembering what, where, and when an event occurred (e.g., food caching observations).

Name two factors that can induce negative affective states in pigs.

Pain and hunger (others: sickness, anxiety, frustration).

How do frequent regroupings affect dairy cows?

Disrupt social bonds, reducing milk yield, feed intake, and increasing aggression.

What feeding pattern is natural for cows on pasture?

Diurnal rhythm—more feeding during the day, more lying at night, with 6–8 hours daily ruminating.

Why can cannibalism occur in commercial poultry flocks?

Large flocks and limited space disrupt social order, triggering aggression like pecking and cannibalism.

Define ‘normal behaviour’ in farm animals.

Behaviours expected of physically and psychologically healthy animals of a given species and age.

What management restriction often prevents domestic sows from natural farrowing behaviour?

Confinement in a farrowing crate, which stops nest building and nose-to-nose contact with piglets.

Give one reason captive animals may show abnormal behaviours.

Lack of key environmental stimuli, leading to frustration and development of stereotypies.

How many thoracic vertebrae do horses have?

18

How many thoracic vertebrae do dogs have?

13 (or 17 if from slides)

How many lumbar vertebrae do horses have?

6

How many lumbar vertebrae do dogs have?

7 (or 6 if from slides)

How many sacral vertebrae do horses have?

5

How many sacral vertebrae do dogs have?

3

How many caudal vertebrae do horses have?

15-21

How many caudal vertebrae do dogs have?

20-23

What is the order of vertebrae in the spine?

Cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, caudal

What is the order of ligaments/tendons in the horse front leg? (outside to inside)

Superficial digital flexor tendon, deep digital flexor tendon, check ligament, suspensory ligament