Having never been exposed to chiropractics (prior to last year), I really had no information on which to base an opinion, except knowing that some are believers in chiropractics and some are not...
For me, the pivotal moment came when my sweet and mild rescued (retired racer) greyound, Cassie woke up one Sunday at 4AM, screaming in agony. Usually a dog of very few canine verbalizations... Cassie was making noise and it was clear she was in extreme pain. She stood, trembling and crying... the most pitiful and heart rending sound... After exhausting herself from standing, she tried to lie down, only to find it impossible and let out another screech of agony. A visit to the emergency weekend animal hospital resulted in heavy medications that didn't even touch the pain until I quadrupled the dose. 14 hours went by before finally, poor Cassie was able to lie down for a couple of hours. First thing Mon AM, I took her to the regular vet and they confirmed with x-rays... apparent disc herniation for which there is no cure. Only continuous heavy pain medications and muscle relaxers (with long term negative impact on the kidneys) or possibly, a $5000 surgery that may or may not take some pressure off the nerves could potentially make her life livable for a little longer. Bottom line was, they recommended thinking about euthanasia. Not the kind of choices any of use would want to make for ourselves or anyone in our family, canine or otherwise!
Throughout that day, I talked to several people, trying to find other options/ideas. My mom had one idea... she had recently been seeing a chiropractor for help with carpal tunnel (which was news to me) and she thought she recalled someone bringin in their dog. She gave me the name of chiropractor and in desperation I immediately stopped by to see if I could meet Dr. Ball and ask if he sees dogs. Indeed the answer was, Absolutely, bring her in now! Wow, I was shocked...! Not only does he think he can help but he was making this an immediate priority! I hesitated breifly, thinking this must cost a fortune and timing was particularly bad given that I had exhausted my ready cash by the emergency vet visit, a minor car accident that had just required a big deductable and the follow up vet visit and meds. I asked how much this would cost and could I potentially pay some now and the rest in the following weeks. Imagine my further shock when the Dr said, don't worry... we see dogs for free and just ask that you submit a $10 donation to PAWS through us on each visit. What?!!! Unbelievable!
As I brought Cassie in, she was moving very stiffly, back arched in an unnatural and tense position and little whimpers along the way, all in spite of being heavily sedated by the drugs given her earlier by the vet. Dr. Ball knew exactly how to connect with and treat a dog and she was immediately at ease with him. After a few short minutes, he confirmed the critical area and was able to adjust Cassie's spine. (Fractionally moving the disks so that they were no longer clamped down on a nerve bundle.) It was immediately apparent that this was exactly what was needed. The tension and arch went out of Cassie's spine, she looked up at him and I swear she smiled! We walked out of the clinic with a perky gait to her step that I thought I'd never see again.
Over the next 2 weeks, I brought her in several more times. Cassie regained all of her original range of motion and activities and though the disc's themselves are still degraded and prone to the possibility of again pinching the nerve, she is living a very normal life! If and when it happens again, I will know exactly what to do.
Thank you Dr. Ball for saving sweet Cassie from a life of pain and drugs or worse!!
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