Chiropractic is health care discipline that does not use drugs or surgery. Chiropractic deals with the nervous system that is housed inside the spinal column. The spinal cord carries all the nerves that go to every organ in the body. These nerves exit the spinal column through areas behind the vertebra, which are the individual spinal bones. Chiropractic maintains that adequate nerve supply is vital to the proper functioning of the entire body. When these joints are misaligned or "subluxated," they affect the nerves and the flow of nervous energy.

The causes of subluxations are from trauma such as slips, falls, and forcefull blows. Drugs, abnormal forces at birth, and other stresses can also cause subluxations. Performance and show animals have the greatest risk of subluxations.

A chiropractic adjustment corrects the subluxation and restores proper functioning of the nervous system. Chiropractic care is used successfully on human patients all the time. Animals have individual vertebral bone that subluxate and cause nerve pressure and pain. Animals respond to chiropractic adjustments just as well as humans. Animals definitely can benefit from chiropractic care.

How do you know if your animal needs chiropractic care? Some of the signs are:

• Pain when you push on the animal's back, especially near the spine
• Numerous unnecessary trips and slips, not corrected by horse shoeing
• Resistance to turning their head one direction or problems with bit or reining
• Changes in behavior that cannot be explained
• Difficulties with jumping or cantering
• Not typically lame, but just plain off
• Stiffness that a vet cannot find a definitive cause
• Neck and/or back pain
• Unable to perform activities that were once normal
• Lick granulomas, if they appear after a cervical injury
• Not tracking in hoof prints evenly
• After fractures have healed from an acute trauma
• Dogs that get whiplash from being chained up

Chiropractic care takes time, since we are allowing the body to heal itself after proper nerve functioning has been restored. Animals recover quickly as a rule, but older animals and more serious problems take more time. The speed of recovery often depends on these factors:

1. Time. The length of time that the problem has been present. The more time that has elapsed since the onset means the recovery will take longer.
2. Age and physical condition. Older animals are slower to heal.
3. Damage. How much damage has been done? Sometimes there is simply no repair for damaged tissuses.
4. Cooperation. The speed of recovery often depends on how well the owner will cooperate with the animal chiropractor that is treating their pet. If the animal is removed from treatment too soon, the best possible results may not be achieved.

Just as it is important to maintain the vaccination and worming schedule that your veterinarian recommends, it is important to make sure that the spine is kept in optimum condition. Most animals should have yearly examinations and adjustments. Older, performance and show animals may need to be seen more frequently. Ask your veterinarian if your animal could benefit from chiropractic today.

Dr. Debbie O'Reilly is certified as an animal chiropractor by the AVCA. She specializes in horses, dogs, and cats. She is currently practicing at the Vibrant Energy Healing Center. She can be reached at
303-979-5736.