E-Vet Clinic - Dog Health Care

I received a question that I am asked on occasion concerning once you start chiropractic treatment do you have to keep going all the time?

Here is the exact question…

Dr. Dan, I was just wondering if once a dog has started some type of chiropractic treatment if that is something that will be needed for the rest of the dog’s life or will it depend on the activity the dog does? Thanks for a response.

I usually answer this question in front of a client in a smart alecky way of course with a grin on my face saying, “Well are you going to change the underlying problem that caused this dog to have a chiropractic problem? If not, then yes the dog will need to have adjustments for the rest of its life.”

Of course here in internet-land you lose out on my body language and facial expressions to see that I am saying this tongue in cheek. I do then go on to explain what I will explain here.

Chiropractic treatment is a different philosophy. The typical client that asks me that question is still coming from a western medicine or allopathic medicine mindset. There is something causing this to my dog and treatment is going to cure it. Chiropractic does not take that approach, it is more of philosophy of balancing and correcting the problems before they arise it is a lifestyle change.

Can chiropractic be used as a treatment to “fix” something? Sure I do it all the time for clients, but my smart aleck answer applies, if the lifestyle is not changed then I am going to be treating the dog for the same thing over and over again. Let me give some examples to make it easier to understand.

If a dog breaks a leg and has surgery and the leg is weak and needs some physical therapy to recover, the dog will need chiropractic treatment to correct the spine while he recovers from the injury. This would be a temporary treatment protocol to help the dog recover more comfortably. Treatment could end in this instance if the owners so choose. Chiropractic is being used to ‘fix’ something. However this is not what the main intent of chiropractic is.

The main philosophy of chiropractic is a more wholistic approach and is a tool used to maintain homeostasis or balance in the body while the lifestyle is being changed. Or if the lifestyle can not change, for example, in an agility dog, chiropractic is used to maintain balance even though the dog is physically stressing itself on a regular basis. People and animals go to the chiropractor on a regular basis because they are better off for it while they continue to live the lifestyle they desire including their physical, emotional and toxic stresses. A chiropractor’s job is to not only perform chiropractic adjustments but also to consult with the client on the best way to live a lifestyle which will help the client/dog remain symptom free by improving on ways to avoid stressing the body. This would mean consultation on nutrition, exercise, rest and how often chiropractic treatments will be required to maintain balance in the body while the dog continues to do stressful activities or has a daily physical stressor such as arthritis.

So in answer to the question it really depends on the stresses in the dog and specifically what are you looking for with chiropractic treatment. Do you just want to fix something and then you are going to follow the advice of the doctor and change the lifestyle to avoid the problem in the future; OR is it impossible for the lifestyle to change - the dog has arthritis, does a physical activity such as agility, continues to eat crappy dog food or continues to have annual vaccinations? These are all reasons for a dog to continue to see a chiropractor even though the last two I hope will be changed while seeing the chiropractor…LOL.

It came to my attention this past week that some of you do not read the comments about my posts…LOL. In the post What’s My Dog? I had received a comment and a good discussion about DNA testing your mixed dog to see what breed it is made up of, from a representative of The Canine Heritage Breed Test. In all fairness to both companies offering this type of test I will post Theresa’s comment here so those of you that do not take the time to read or post in the comments section can read about it.

There is another do-it-youself test already on the market called The Canine Heritage Breed Test. The pet owner can order the kit on-line. It comes with a little soft brush that is used to take a cheek swab of the dog which then is mailed to the lab. In about 4-6 weeks, the mystery is revealed in the form of a certificate. Right now the test can identify 38 breeds but the company will expanding that to over 100 this fall. The test is only $65 plus shipping and handling! Go to www.canineheritage.com

I had questioned the accuracy of this test, which uses cheek cells instead of blood; however after further research done by me it seems that UC-Davis concluded that DNA testing is accurate with either type of sample.

One of the advantages that the Canine Heritage Test has would be cost since you do it yourself. In Theresa’s support of the Canine Heritage Test another advantage she mentions is that it is less invasive than a blood draw and that they do not believe that an invasive and possibly painful method such as drawing blood is necessary for this non-medical purpose. However, this can be overcome by having the Wisdom Panel Breed Test done at the same time you are having the annual blood tests for a wellness exam or heartworm check.

In either case I think it is an interesting test that could solve some dog owners curiosity.

Thanks to Matt from The Pet Haven for this article - Walk Your Dog To Stay Healthy

It refutes the previous study in Finnland that stated that dog owners are less healthy than non-dog owners - Pet Owners May Be Less Healthy

Personally I think there is almost no difference, in whether you own a dog or not as to whether you are more healthy or not. It depends on the person’s own personality and what they do with their dog. Also exercise is only one part of the equation what you put in your mouth is the other. If you eat in excess of the exercise you obtain from walking your dog you are still going to be heavy regardless.

The one thing that is true about pet ownership is the unmeasurable benefit of an adoring pet with unconditional love has a tremendous effect on the emotional well being of the people that love the pets back.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to be involved with many, many different patients and occasionally some of them pass on and are no longer with us. It is a sad time for the owners of these family members, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the owners for bringing and sharing such wonderful dogs into my life.

In the past few months I have had the opportunity to share my care and treatment to two dogs that I will always remember and they have both passed -

(owners names withheld for privacy)

Filly - you will be missed for your enthusiastic, hyper-energetic greetings and visits. It is amazing what shape you were in for an old(er) Labrador. No one ever guessed you were that old. Unfortunately your big heart (in more ways than one) got the better of you and you will be sorely missed.

Huey - you will be missed for your unsure of what I am doing to you look. To your owners amazement you would let me do what I had to even though it seemed like you were not quite sure. It was a shame that you had to contract the horrible degenerative myelopathy that German Shephards are prone to contracting. It was great to see the smile on your owners face when she talked about you “walking, actually walking” on the underwater treadmill.

If I missed any others I am sorry. Please inform me and I will put up a memorial to your dog.

I have a future post coming up on another one of my clients dogs, a success story about degenerative myelopathy - wait till you hear the story about Bear!