About Emma

My name is Emma Ruggles CertVNECC APVN (Wildlife and Zoo Animals) RVN L3CertSAHydro, I have worked in the veterinary industry for 9 years and qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2016, I have always had a passion for small animal emergency and critical care and wildlife conservation. After 1 year of working as an RVN in practice I started my CertVNECC qualification, I became a Locum RVN as of June 2018.

I was interested in diversifying my nursing career and so undertook my 6 months training and then qualified as a Canine Hydrotherapist in March 2022, since then I’ve grown and developed my passion for animal rehabilitation. I love the consistency of investing in your patients and seeing them back for regular therapy sessions, not only do you form a connection with the animal but the client as well. It is so rewarding to see your patient make positive progress with a rehab plan that you put in place.

Diversifying Into Rehabilitation as an RVN

Veterinary Nursing as a career gives us so many opportunities to grow and develop with additional qualifications/certificates and specialist sectors, whether you have a passion for emergency and critical care, feline nursing, exotics, or surgical nursing there is something for everyone.

However, I had never thought about diversifying into animal rehabilitation until I took my own dog for hydrotherapy at ‘Blue Bear Animal Rehabilitation’ (BBAR) to help manage her arthritis. After seeing how much she had improved, I decided I wanted to understand more in depth about hydrotherapy and rehabilitation so I did some reading at home and then asked some of the staff questions about how they had trained and what qualifications I would need to potentially become a canine hydrotherapist. I was then lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to complete my level 3 certificate in small animal hydrotherapy (L3CertSAHydro) training at BBAR. Over the course of 6 months, I completed theory lectures as well as practical training, hands on in the pool/underwater treadmill and writing up of case studies to meet all the criteria needed to achieve the qualification whilst continuing to locum part time as an RVN.

Since qualifying, my passion for animal rehabilitation has only grown. I have seen real positive results with some of the patients I’ve managed and knowing that your rehabilitation plan has helped them achieve that, is so rewarding. I love having the opportunity to build relationships with the patients and clients by seeing them regularly. I’m also always learning, there are new techniques and different adjustments you can make to the rehabilitation plan as the animal progresses and becomes stronger or in some cases regresses there are a range of techniques you can implement according to what the patient needs. This also allows the client to physically see any changes in their pet after they have made that investment in them, commitment of exercises and home management comes just as much from the owner as the hard work of the therapist in the hydrotherapy sessions, it is a form of teamwork to ensure that animal progresses as it should.

I am still fulfilling my love of veterinary nursing in practice specifically emergency and critical care work by locumming as an RVN although the shifts are long, and the work is intense, I have found a great balance of working as a small animal hydrotherapist part time, alongside nursing in practice. Afterall it is a profession we train long and hard for and that I am proud to be a part of.

There is no reason that any RVN cannot diversify in their career path you just have to be brave enough to take that leap whether that be into a new sector of nursing, part time work to pursue another passion or locum life, you may find like me it was one of the most rewarding decisions you could have made.

Veterinary Nursing and Hydrotherapy – Transferable Skills!

There are plenty of new skills and knowledge you need to learn to become a canine hydrotherapist, but it is important to remember as an RVN you’ll also have a lot of transferable skills that you can utilise in the rehabilitation sector.

I was fortunate when training to complete my L3CertSAHydro that I did not need to complete every module as I would have essentially been covering topics again, as long as adequate evidence was provided so those transferable skills were beneficial from the very beginning. My knowledge and skills with animal handling and behaviour were essential and gave me a head start when managing larger or more nervous patients.

Obviously when working as a hydrotherapist you are responsible for that patient’s rehabilitation/therapy plan so the ability to communicate professionally and effectively with clients is key, many clients are anxious about their pet’s rehab especially at the beginning e.g if the animal is recovering from an accident or something that wasn’t planned, they may find the whole process a bit overwhelming. It is also essential to manage client expectations, rehabilitation can be an expensive and time-consuming process so it is important that the client understands the goals set out at the beginning of treatment as well as the fact that a lot of rehab work is subjective and plans/goals may need to be changed along the way e.g. if the animal is responding better than expected to treatment we may be able to progress faster than we originally thought or conversely if the animal is declining faster than expected or not responding well to the hydrotherapy, we may need to slow down our plan for progression and alter some of the techniques/sessions to accommodate the patient’s needs, there is never going to be a definitive timeline because as much of it is up to the patient themselves.

The future of Hydrotherapy working alongside the Veterinary Profession

I feel it is a very exciting time for hydrotherapy and the animal rehabilitation sector, as it is becoming more widely known and understood.

Clients are seeking surgical alternatives and/or they invest in surgery and want to achieve the best possible recovery for their pet and so will seek a programme of aftercare and rehabilitation. I also feel that conditions such as osteoarthritis and management of the geriatric patient are being more widely discussed amongst clients and with that conversation then happening more in veterinary practice, in turn the rehab sector can work with the vet and owner to provide the best possible care plan for management of these patients.

I think the most important factor is communication and support between both the rehabilitation teams and veterinary teams with a mutual understanding of our goal, a happy, pain free, good quality of life being achieved for our patients.