As a compliment to traditional veterinary care, animal chiropractic offers a hands-on, non-surgical and drug-free approach to your animals health and well-being. Animal chiropractic is an effective alternative therapy aimed at detecting and correcting many bone/joint, disc and soft tissue disorders related to subtle vertebral misalignments (also referred to as, “subluxations”) and the improper spinal biomechanics they cause.

After conducting a thorough health history and physical examination of your animal, animal chiropractors use their hands to carefully palpate and identify areas of the spine and extremities that are not moving as well as others. Restricted movement between two adjacent vertebrae can interrupt the nerves impulses that exit between the affected vertebrae, leading to pain and impaired function of the muscles and tissues they innervate. These subluxations can cause interference on the nervous system and affect its communication with the rest of the body.

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To correct these restricted areas of the spine or extremities, animal chiropractors use their hands to deliver high velocity, low amplitude adjustments at precise angles specific to the joint angles in order to restore proper movement of the joints. Maintaining proper structural alignment permits optimal functioning of the nerves, muscles and soft tissues surrounding the joints, resulting in pain relief, and improved movement, stance and flexibility.  Animal chiropractors will recommend a course of care and will work closely with your veterinarian to provide the best quality of care for your animal.

Animal chiropractors are licensed Doctors of Chiropractic and/or Doctors of Veterinary Medicine who have attended and graduated from an accredited animal chiropractic school.

How are Animal Chiropractic adjustments done?

Dogs are adjusted on the floor, or on a styrofoam bales/platform.  The dog can stand or lie down for the adjustment, as long as they are comfortable. A horse will stand on the ground for all of it’s adjustments. The doctor will stand on the styrofoam bales, and use only their body weight for many of the adjustments. All adjustments are made with hands only.  Each adjustment is a high frequency (fast), low amplitude (not deep) thrust across a joint along the spinal column or extremity. Each joint needs to be adjusted at a specific angle. I work with each animal to accommodate its individual needs to be sure it is comfortable.

Common Questions:

Will my animal make “popping” noises like a human does?

Most chiropractic adjustments on animals do not cause a “popping” noise. The popping noise is just a release of gas in a joint and does not signify that a subluxation has been corrected. The goal of the chiropractic adjustment is to correct subluxations and to increase movement in the joints.

How often will my animal need care?

This is dependent on the animal. Depending on the animal’s previous medical history, they could use more or less than another animal. For an average healthy animal, we like to see the animal once a month to maintain mobility and flexibility of the spine and extremities. At Quality Life Animal Chiropractic, we customize our care to the needs of your animal.