Preventing Pirate's Surgery

One morning this winter Pirate went out as usual for his morning business and when he came back in the house he was not moving very well. He had sort of seized up and wasn’t putting weight on his hind leg or really moving his head/neck around. We thought he was just cold because of the negative temperatures so we gave him a good rub down, he seemed fine and ran off. Soon after he ate his breakfast and walked away from his food bowl. It was clear then, that he was having trouble moving his head/neck. Later in the day he started exhibiting signs of pain and crying when he moved. He was really hunched when he did stand and all activity was very stained and painful.

Not exactly sure what had happened, we took him to the vet first thing the next day. They did full x-rays, under sedation, examined him and didn’t see immediate signs of a slipped disk. They said other causes could be a pinched nerve or thoracolumbar IVDD (intervertebral disc disease). They sent us home with pain medication and anti-inflammatory medicine hoping that would solve the issue. After a week of medication and bed rest it only seemed to get worse. We went back to the vet and they suggested we try three days of steroids and if that was not affective we would need to see a neurologist for the next course of action, most likely surgery.

My husband had been researching many things that could be causing Pirate’s pain and in his research he came upon animal chiropractic treatments. He found Dr. McLeod and after talking with her we felt it was worth making an appointment to see if this would help prior to exploring more invasive procedures. Within minutes of meeting Dr. McLeod we knew we made the right decision. She examined Pirate, made her assessment and presented a course of treatment. She did an adjustment on him during that visit and we saw and immediate improvement. Over the course of a few more treatments, Pirate was back to his normal self.

We cannot say enough about the miracle Dr. McLeod worked on Pirate. She has such a kind demeanor and approach; it put us at ease knowing he was in such good hands. She really knows her stuff. We feel Dr. McLeod saved Pirate from an invasive surgery and gave him his life back and for that we are truly grateful!!

Monica and Mike