Snow Day

The weather man just said we got 15.4 inches of snow with another 2-4 inches on the way.  How lovely! And I thought spring was on the way.  I was supposed to travel to Rhinelander and Merrill today for some animal appointments but I am not going anywhere.  Hopefully they can hold out for a few more weeks. This was Winston after Bohdi (our German Shorthair) made a little path for him :) Needless to say he was pooped when he got back in the house!

Acupuncture

At Best Friends Animal Care Center in Merrill, WI (one of the vet clinics I work at) Dr. Kate Alden is certified to treat animals with acupuncture.  It is quite amazing to see.  We work together on a lot of cases and those animals seem to get better faster.  I do my adjusting first to make sure everything is lined up properly, then Dr. Kate will do her acupuncture treatment and then follow up with laser therapy after that.  The dogs REALLY seem to love it!  I think its like going to the "spa" for them :)  Most of the time the dogs seem like they are falling asleep.  If you've never thought or heard about acupuncture for your pet, it's something to think about and there is a laundry list of conditions that it is helpful with.  It also works great in conjunction with other treatments such as chiropractic, laser therapy and your traditional veterinary medicine.  

fullissue.com

Sasha

I've been working with Sasha for almost a year now.  When she first came to me her owners brought her in for Degenerative Disc Disease (DJD).  She had jumped off the bed and then wouldn't move. I believe we adjusted her 4 times (her thoracic spine/middle back was the worst) and she was back to her good old self running around and jumping up and down like nothing had happened.  I hadn't seen Sasha for about 3 months or so when her owners brought her in with complaints that she was acting different.  She wasn't eating or drinking and was panting a lot.  She was in and out of the vets office a few times and had gotten fluids.  When I examined her, I found that her upper cervical spine was very tender and really out of alignment!  We did another short series of adjustments and had put her on a maintenance schedule every few months to make sure she stayed feeling well.  Last week Sasha's owners drove a total of 4 hours to bring her to me when she started limping for no reason (her owners are really great!).  Her lumbar spine (lower back) was out of alignment this time.  She hadn't done anything besides walk through some deep snow but that might have been just enough to throw her back out of alignment.  I checked in with her owners on Monday and she was doing a little better but still limping.  I will she her again this week and hopefully she has made some marked improvements.  Sasha is a older dog but responds great to her adjustments! Hopefully she will bounce back just as quickly from this last episode. 

Sasha's gait last week.