Hey folks,
I was wondering if anybody had any experience of a dog having had chiropractic treatment to correct a long term problem? Did it work? How did the dog perform after the treatment? Was there any side affect?
Cheers
Cam

Hi Cammie

As you are aware we had a problem with Nanouskas rear leg/ pelvis and following x-rays, a vet had stated that surgery would not solve the problem and recommended and that she should be retired from racing (at 24months) and live out her life generally housebound

Distraught at this news I sought further guidance: -

I used a McTimoney Chiropractioner called Kay McCarrol to try and help rectify an injury to Nanouska's rear leg.
She is based in London but visits the highlands for a few weeks every 3 months.  If my memory serves me right I think she is up at the start of October.  I was quite sceptical about the treatment however I was impressed with the work that she undertook.
Although her treatment did not entirely rectify the problem it certainly helped. She corrected the alignment of  her spine and manipuated her pelvic joint and the improvement was immediately apparent from her posture.

In addition I also had acupuncture undertaken on her from a therapist from the Inverness Alternative Medical Centre.

I also undertook a course of massage on her leg following a particularly relevant artical that was in Mushing Magazine about leg injuries approx. 9months ago. (if you want I can look this out and send to you)

Finally I supplemented her diet with Seraquin (glucosamine and chondroitin) and rested her for a few months and she now appears to be fine although time will tell as the training progresses.

To cut along story short, I can not fully pinpoint exactly what treatment was most effective and it may have been a combination of all and rest, however  I would certainly recommend Kay as a chiropractioner.

I will pm you with her contact details if you wish.  From memory I think she has also done some work on Helen Feildens dogs.

Regards

Graham

And Helen herself too I think.
Thanks Graham. That's really good news about Nanouska.
We have used a McTimony chirpopracter and she has definately helped Mo move more freely. The trouble is, when he gets in harness, he is excited to go but just doesn't seem to have that spark he had before the treatment (and before the injury). Did it take a wee while for Nanouska to build up to it again or was she straight into it if you know what I mean? Lisa and I wondered if it was because he felt off balance having to use the correct muscles now and the tone wasn't there in them? We are back to basics with him. Lisa is taking him on the scooter and monitoring any change. He has stopped pacing whilst running which is a great sign as far as his movement goes. Just need to fix his head now possibly.
Cam

Yep we use a McTimoney Chiropracter regularly with our crew.  All stemmed from one of our girls being lame on and off as a youngster and being told by the Dick Vet that only solution was to fuse her knee joint.  We said that we did not want to do that so ended up with a lady called Sasha based on the outskirts of Edinburgh who has worked wonders and kept the girl mobile - she is now 7 and as sound as a bell.  We use her on all of our dogs beginning and end of season and in between if necessary.  However, we use in combination with a massage therapist a lady called Jennie who specialises in equine massage but does dogs too.  Never visited the vets for lameness since (well once when we couldn't figure out the problem, several £100 later and some x rays - jennie looked over the boy and found a torn shoulder muscle that the vets could not find!  ).  For us this combination works a treat.  Also helps the oldies no end as well.

Regards

Liz and the Whitespirit crew

But did your dog experience a re-learning to move properly after the treatment? Was there a period where the dog looked less confident / full of attitude than normal?
Thanks
Cam

For those of you that offered help and advice and for those of youthat watched this thread with interest I am writing to let you know that we have got to the bottom of the problem.
We might not have got there so quickly had we not introduced two entire bitches to the kennel. Their season triggered an enlargement of his prostate which caused some anaemia which we tested for. We had him "tardaced" and retested for blood in his urine a few weeks later. No blood but still anaemic. This time we also got his haematocrits (??spelling) and full thyroid test carried out. This indicated that he was indeed hypothyroid and we got him on soloxine straight away. Over the last 2 months his thyroid levels have come up gradually and we have seen a transformation in his general wellbeing. He is now running three miles (on occassion) with the other dogs and seems to be well on the mend. Fingers crossed that the next test shows him well into the normal range as working dogs tend to represent at the higher end of the scale.
In speaking to other people for advice we found that thyroid problems were a lot more common than we realised. It got us to thinking that it was even more common than that with dogs probably sitting on the cusp of a thyroid problem and never really showing any of the symptoms long term.
Things to look out for are:

• loss of condition of the coat, especially the tail
• lethargy
• intolerance to cold
• weight loss
• darkening of the skins pigment
• possible sores around the nose

I believe that in the states a thyroid test is one of the advised health checks to be carried out before matings take place.
Is this something we should be doing here? Is it that big a problem?
A dog with a thyroid problem can be medicated cheaply and effectively for the rest of it's life with little or no effect to the quality or duration of the dogs life during the medicated period. Or is it another box that needs ticked and will limit the gene pool of this special breed even further?
Cam

Cam, Glad to here he is on the mend now you have sussed what the problem is.

Seren also showed moodiness, eating sometimes and not others, working sometimes and not others, she went thin which fooled all the vets, she had a head tilt which was mistaken for ear infection and had intermittent tenderness in the same front leg as side head tilt was, later on when worse affected she got difficulty with lower jaw.  We didn't notice the coat thinning as she had the problem from adolescence and so we didn't know her coat should have been even thicker than it was.

It is my belief now that the reason the vets lost her and had to revive her when they put her out to investigate the ear problem was a reaction caused by being low thyroid, and that they brain damaged her at that point, and but for that she would be normal now she is on a steady dose of Soloxine, but I dont have any way to proove it.

It would be one of the first tests I would do on an intermittently ill dog now.