Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Chiropractic Show

2 more days left to get a chance to win an EIS shirt by answering CPEAP trivia.
Photo Credit: Bonnie Foster

5 years ago Griffyn was neutered and had to be on a leash. Unfortunately, said leash got caught up in Winston's legs and Griffyn became a puppy kite. One of the worst calls I ever got was hearing he was hurt. Turned out he had broken both back legs and required surgery. Since he has short corgi legs, he needed pins. With all the trauma, he did not pull out his stitches though.
He had a cast on the leg with a lower break, but none on the one with a high break. Amazing what science can do. As he hobbled along, we knew he would have issues long term. He has been on Corta flex or another type of joint medicine since that time. Griffyn has been very protective of his body and growls if he is bumped or jostled. Recently he has been very touchy about his ribs.
We have long promised him a chiropractic session, but other emergencies have kept us from keeping that promise...until today. Peggy made him an appointment with Comrade's chiropracter, Nikki. She is a vet who now focuses on chiropractic sessions. As sore as Griffyn is, I did not think she would get to do too much. Surprisingly Griffyn did really well. Nikki worked his neck area first to get him comfortable. All of us, including Winston, settled in to watch the show.
Nikki was great about being careful in is ouchy areas. We could see the progress by watching Griffyn's face. If she was in a problem area, he got bug eyed and had his mouth closed. As she worked, he relaxed and started panting. Many of the leg stretches we use on the horses, she used on him. She found that his spine is crooked from the years of compensating for his weak legs and his left rib cage is the problem area. She said there are nerves that cause sensitivity. Griffyn only protested when she had worked on him for 30 minutes or so. He said he was done.
Good timing too, because Comrade was trying to open the stall guard so he could get his turn. We asked Nikki if we should put him on some pain meds. She said at this time, no. If he was on pain meds he might actually do more than he should. So for now we will watch him and set up another appointment. Mom and Peggy both thought he stood straighter and seemed less tense the rest of the day.
Comrade got a thumbs up and only had a stiff butt. Maybe from getting rammed by a certain little boy ;)

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