Valentine had a doctor's visit today

Many of you may not know that dogs, cats, and horses can have acupuncture and chiropractic work done to help them along with life's pains. My little dog Valentine had a back injury about 8 years ago. We don't know how it happened but I was fortunate enough that I worked with a veterinarian, Dr. Perkins, that had a special interest in chiropractic care in animals. As an Registered Veterinary Technician working with Dr. Perkins, I was able to witness time and again dogs that literally could not walk when they came in to see her but would leave walking! She really helped so many animals even in the beginning before she had the knowledge she has today. Dr. Perkins has since gone on to get all of her certifications and to open her own clinic where all she does is western medicine, chiropractic care and acupuncture. I think she is amazing!

About a year ago, Valentine had trouble with her right eye. She kept squinting it and I thought she had injured it somehow. I took her to my work and they couldn't find anything wrong. They just put her on some eye drops as a precaution. I had an appointment with Dr. P later in the week and found out that there is a nerve in the neck that will effect the eye. None of my doctors even had a clue about that and I work with some really great DVM's! She adjusted her neck and her eye problem was gone. Now whenever she holds her eye all funky I know her neck is bothering her and can take her in for an adjustment. She gets hindquarter weakness and isn't able to even get enough "umph" to get her back end up one single step and her lower back with be very hot to the touch. Dr. P will work her magic and Val will go back to playing and jumping and feeling great. Keep in mind, this little gal will be 17 years old in January 2010!! I know that one photo of her on the lower left makes her booty look big but NO she is in pretty great shape for her age with only a little chunky dunk. I have never had acupuncture but the needles never seem to bother Val. She will even lay down with them in and relaxes somewhat. Some dogs get very relaxed during their visits to the point of urinating while they are sleeping. Val has never done that but she does always sleeps well when we get back home (and never wets to bed!). Cats are more difficult but can be helped if they are not too aggressive. Dr. Perkins did equine for awhile but they are so much more physical that she eventually gave them up to only do dogs and cats.

I just thought I would let as many people as I could know that there are other options out there for your pets. You may think it is time for euthanasia when in reality it may not be time. If you can find a veterinarian that has special training in chiropractic care of animals then you may be able to open another door of treatment options. While not every disease can be cured through this process, if you have a good DVM then that doctor should be able to tell you if it's something they can try to fix or not. I am still an RVT in a small animal practice and we are asked almost weekly to euthanize an animal because it is not walking. If more people had a Dr. Perkins in their life then maybe they could buy their pets a few more years of quality life.