Ice and heat for dogs

Cold first. Cryotherapy is used during the initial phase of an injury, roughly the first 72 hours, to minimize tissue damage, pain and swelling. That early window is when the most can be prevented.

Heat comes in once that initial phase has resolved. Used too early, it increases blood flow to an area that is already swelling, which is the opposite of what you want.

Cold also stays useful well past those first days. Through a course of rehabilitation it is often used after a session, to settle the secondary inflammation that follows working a sore area.

Ice is not just for the day it happened. It has a job through the whole recovery.

Not an electric one left unattended, and not on a fresh injury. Dogs can and do get burns this way, particularly older dogs, dogs who cannot easily get up and move off, and dogs whose sensation is reduced by a neurological condition.

A rice, gel or clay pack, or a damp warm washcloth, is safer because it cools down on its own rather than holding a constant temperature. Warm, not hot, if it is too warm for the inside of your wrist, it is too warm for your dog.

The pet most likely to be burned is the one least able to get up and walk away from it.

• Swelling and inflammation. In the days right after an injury or a surgery, and after a session that has worked a sore area. See recovery after surgery.
• Pain. Both do this, at different stages. Which one depends entirely on where your pet is in their recovery.
• Muscle spasm. The guarding that builds up around a painful spot, which often hurts as much as the original problem does.
• Flexibility and joint range of motion. Warmth before stretching or exercise usually makes that work more comfortable and more productive, useful in arthritis.