Usage

• According to "Organic Pet Digest," chiropractic care can positively affect your dog's entire body, helping to eliminate chronic pain, improving muscle health and encouraging the nervous system to run effectively. Skeletal alignment can take pressure off pinched nerves, which will help the body systems communicate properly. Your dog may be more comfortable or even pain-free after an adjustment, and its joints and muscles could move more fluidly.
  
  

Benefits

• A dog that may benefit from a visit to the chiropractor may exhibit a variety of symptoms. For example, your dog may have difficulty jumping, standing or lying down. Sudden movements may seem to cause it pain. Perhaps your dog has a hunched back or its back muscles are having spasms. Your dog may also have sore hips--without any arthritis symptoms--or may seem to be in pain when you pick it up. If your dog is experiencing any of these symptoms, it may benefit from chiropractic care. Make an appointment with your veterinarian to rule out other potential health problems and to see if chiropractic adjustments might benefit your dog.
  
  

Treatments

• During a chiropractic adjustment, the chiropractor will use his hands to physically manipulate your dog's spine. He may also use a hand-held alignment tool to put vertebrae back into alignment. The procedure should not hurt your dog and any discomfort should be mild or nonexistent. Chiropractic therapy is usually ongoing, so immediate relief is unlikely and multiple sessions probably will be required in order to see results.
  
  

Precautions

• Chiropractic therapy in animals is a controversial subject, and not all veterinarians will recommend its use. According to David W. Ramey, DVM, there is no scientific evidence to back up the effectiveness of chiropractic care and whether it actually helps animals. He claims there are no published studies that have shown how chiropractic problems in animals should be diagnosed or how to determine if the treatments are a success.
  
  Dr. Ramsey also says there are risks involved with chiropractic therapy. For example, damage to the spinal cord may occur if the chiropractor adjusts a dog with a degenerative disk. Any dramatic movements or stretches can also cause an animal harm.
  
  Talk to your veterinarian before making any decisions about chiropractic care for your dog. Your dog may have a condition that can be treated in other ways. If you decide to use chiropractic care for your dog, make sure the chiropractor is also a licensed veterinarian.