If you’re at all curious what a canine chiropractic experience is like, check out the following video of Tripawd Roxy going to her chiropractor, Josée Gerard at Kiro 4 Pets in Airdrie, Alberta Canada.
Roxy was born in October, 2011. As a young dog she is already benefiting greatly from chiropractic care.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Qs7fEF1SSds[/youtube]
In this Tripawds Forum Discussion, her mom Teena, who works at the clinic, explains what’s happening in the video:
“You will hear a couple of trigger words in the video that are very important…”flinch” and “shake.” Flinches are when you touch a spot on their spine and it looks like their skin crawls…these are bad! This means that the vertebrae in that area are locked up.
Usually if there at flinches there is also heat…this can be the onset of inflammation. Most times the adjustment will fix this, however, we usually ask that you check later that evening to see if the heat is still there and if it is we recommend icing the area which is a natural anti-inflammatory treatment.
To feel for heat simply run the palm of your hand along your dogs spine starting at the top of their head and continuing down to the base of their tail. Often times the difference can be very subtle but what you are looking for is a temperature difference above and below the area that you think has heat.
At the end of the video you will see that we ask Roxy to shake it off. One of the things we like to see after an adjustment is a full body shake which is where your dog shakes their whole body…from their head straight through to the tip of their tail (which Roxy does beautifully)…this indicates that all their vertebrae are moving smoothly.
Between adjustments you want to watch for both of these things. If you see flinches or feel heat, you may need to get your dog in for an adjustment before their next appointment, however, if you are seeing full body shakes this usually indicates that things are still going well.”
Many thanks to Teena and Roxy for sharing their canine chiropractic care experience with us! If you have an experience about caring for a three-legged cat or dog that you’d like to share, contact us today.
Recommended Reading:
Tripawds News Blog: Canine Chiropractic Options for Newbies
Tripawds Library: Loving Life on Three Legs, a Guide to Canine Fitness and Conditioning
Very iformative…..thank you for taking the time to share.
Roxy is beautiful by the way!
Gonna try this !
Take care!
Sally and Happy Hannah
Great info. I have an IG with a tumor or something distended from his spine. Vet fix!d his teeth and it fixd lameness in front paw. So far what a miracle. I hope he stays well. ? There was a spot in his lung on his spine and lookd like more bone growing on his inside of his right lnee. Scary but he seems to be improving with nothing beimg done i am prayong as i was lsid off and used my savings to get xrsys and fix his teeth.