Downloads

The one to pin to the fridge before you ever need it. The red flags that mean go now, how to check deep pain and lift a dog with a hurt back safely, what to say when you phone the vet, and the rule that never bends: no human painkillers. When a disc goes, minutes matter, so the thinking is done for you here.

A week-by-week guide for the first month after diagnosis. The conversations to have, the small changes to start, and the habits that compound across the years ahead.

What to do when arthritis suddenly worsens. A calm, step-by-step plan for the first few days of a flare: ease back, keep them comfortable, give prescribed medication exactly as directed, and watch for the red flags that mean call the vet today. Flares are common and usually pass.

What your dog's grade actually means, on one clear page. From a painful back with no weakness through to the loss of deep pain, each grade set out plainly alongside what it tends to mean for treatment and outlook. The grade, not a wobble or a bad day, is what drives every decision ahead, so it helps to know where your dog sits.

A calm way to weigh the hardest choice in IVDD while the clock is ticking. Grade, deep pain, time since the signs began, cost and your own circumstances, laid out side by side so the decision is structured rather than panicked. Take it into the consult and fill it in together with your vet.

Typical UK figures for the MRI, the surgery, the referral and the weeks of aftercare, with room to write in the quotes you are actually given. The insurance questions worth asking before you commit, and the practical ways to make it work. Money worries should never quietly make the medical decision for you.

Walking into a referral appointment is easier with the right questions already written down. What the MRI showed, what each option really offers your dog, the honest odds, the aftercare and the cost, grouped so you leave understanding the plan. Tick the ones that matter to you and add your own.

A room-by-room checklist for an arthritis-friendly home. The cheap wins, the bigger projects, and the small changes that matter most for an arthritic dog or cat.

A resource-by-resource home assessment for cats with arthritis. A cat's world is the home, and arthritis quietly removes the jumps and climbs between the litter tray, the food, the warm bed, and the favourite high shelf. Tick what's already easy; the rest becomes your plan, starting with the litter tray.

How to assess your dog's body condition at home, with side-on and top-down silhouettes for the 1-9 BCS scale. Weight management is the single most effective thing you control, and this is the tool that makes it measurable.

The eight weeks of crate rest mapped out so you always know what this week allows: the rest rules, the toilet trips, the first supported steps. A daily tick grid to keep you honest, and a column for the day's grade so progress is there in black and white. The single hardest part of conservative treatment, made survivable.

Caring for a dog that cannot yet walk is a lot to hold in your head, so here it is on one page. Bladder emptying, turning, skin and bedding checks, meals and meds, each with its own tick box through the day. Nothing important slips when the days start to blur together.

The steps for emptying your dog's bladder, stripped back to a card you can prop up while your hands are busy. How to find the bladder, how much pressure, how often, and what should make you call the vet, with a QR code to the full how-to video. Frightening on day one, second nature by the end of the week.

A simple daily record of the things your vet will want to know: deep pain, tail movement, leg position, toileting and how the back seems. The trend down the page is what tells you and your vet which way recovery is heading. Take it to every recheck so the conversation starts from facts, not memory.

Gentle, staged exercises to help your dog find their feet again, one card per movement with clear pictures and the point at which to progress. A companion to the home physio video, and strictly only ever started once your vet or physiotherapist has given the go-ahead. Done at the right time and the right way, this is how strength comes back.

A weekly record of how your pet is doing, one page per week. The small details that compound across months: stiffness on rising, willingness on walks, mood, appetite, and the moments your gut says something's shifted.

A printable guide to capturing video your vet, and you, can actually use. The five shots that show how your dog really moves, how to get them right, and the one detail that makes or breaks the footage: the surface. Film on a normal day and the camera catches what a clinic visit often hides.

The companion to the filming guide: how to actually read the clips you have captured. Line up an older video against a recent one, watch one thing at a time across four everyday views, and spot the gradual changes day-to-day life hides. With an honest note on the subtle shifts the eye misses, and where objective gait analysis picks up.

Prepare before, take notes during, capture what's next after. A single sheet that turns a ten-minute vet appointment into one you'll actually remember properly a week later.

Questions worth asking, organised by the kind of appointment you're having: diagnosis, treatment review, surgical consult, end-of-life conversation. Pick what fits and bring it with you.

Everyone involved in your pet's care, in one place: primary vet, specialists, physiotherapist, hydrotherapist, behaviourist, end-of-life services. Contact details, last-seen dates, and what they're treating.

Compare cover on what actually matters for a chronic condition: lifetime vs maximum-benefit vs annual vs accident-only, per-condition limits, excess structure, and the small print on continuing conditions.

A week-by-week record built around how cats really show pain. Not an obvious limp, but the things they quietly stop doing: jumping onto the windowsill, using the cat flap, grooming, settling on a favourite high shelf. A few seconds of noticing each day builds a picture your vet can act on.

How to read pain in your cat's face. The Feline Grimace Scale scores five features, from the ears and eyes to the muzzle and whiskers, each from 0 to 2. A visual reference for spotting discomfort when your cat is resting calmly, with photos to compare against.

Once you are through an IVDD episode, the work turns to preventing the next one. A room-by-room sweep for the jumps, stairs and slippery floors that put a back at risk, the harness-not-collar habit, the weight and exercise points that genuinely matter, and the early signs never to ignore again. Calm, practical, and worth coming back to.

A menu of low-impact ways to keep a pet's mind busy when arthritis limits the body. Scent work, puzzle feeders, gentle play, and a full feline section, mostly free and all at floor level. Tick what you'd like to try. Slow the body, not the life.

A day-by-day plan for moving your pet onto a renal diet at a pace that actually sticks. The transition ladder, tricks for winning round a fussy eater, and somewhere to record what worked. The renal diet is the change with the strongest evidence behind it, so it is worth getting right.

Your pet's whole kidney regime on one page: every medicine and supplement, what each is for, the dose you fill in from your vet, and a tick grid for the week. Keeps the day straight so nothing is missed or doubled.

A weekly record of the signs that matter in kidney disease: appetite, drinking, nausea, energy and weight, one page per week. The trend across the weeks tells you far more than any single day, and the red-flag list shows when to ring the vet.

Everything you need to give fluids under the skin at home with confidence: a kit list, the steps in order, what is normal and what is not, and a running log to bring to rechecks. Daunting at first, routine within a fortnight.

Your pet's kidney numbers side by side over time, with plain-English context for each marker: creatinine, SDMA, phosphate, potassium, urine protein and blood pressure. Kidney disease is about the direction of travel, not a single snapshot.

The right questions for where you are right now, from newly diagnosed to reviewing treatment and the longer view. Tick what fits, write the answers on the lines, and leave the consult understanding the plan rather than just nodding along.

Plan the year ahead with clear eyes. Typical UK cost ranges for diet, medicines, monitoring and fluids, room for your own quotes, and the practical ways to make it manageable, from insurance to written prescriptions. Money worries should never quietly steer the medical decisions.

A gentle way to take stock of how your pet is really doing, across the things that matter most in kidney disease. There is no score to be afraid of here. Something to return to over time, and to share honestly with the people who know your pet.