How to tell if an Animal Chiropractic examination is needed

• Does My Pet Need Animal Chiropractic Care?
• Does My Horse Need Chiropractic Care?

Frequent Questions?

Below are some common questions asked about Chiropractic, and its use with animals. If you would like to see other questions addressed, use the 'Contact Us' link and email us your questions.

• How does chiropractic work?
• Do horses and other animals find chiropractic scary/ painful?
• Do horses have to be rested after chiropractic?
• Do you need to hear a crack/pop for chiropractic to be effective?
• How do you pick that an animal has a chiropractic problem? - how does the chiropractor do it and how does the owner recognise it?
• Do you need to see an animal often for them to benefit from chiropractic?

Frequent Questions

Q. How does chiropractic work?

Chiropractic gets results by ensuring the joint biomechanics of an animal are as close to normal as possible. Why is this important? ......When the joints of the spine and limbs cease to function properly (either individually, or as a group) a cascade of events is created, which can be broken down into two main groups: Local, and Global.

Local events (restricted to the area around the injury) include;

• inflammation around the affected joint
• accelerated wear and tear of the joint
• ligament strain and inflammation
• associated pain and discomfort
• irritation to nerve endings around the joint

Global events (includes more widespread effects) include;

• muscle spasm in muscles that move the affected joint
• referred pain
• abnormal sensation, numbness, tingling
• trigger points within muscles acting on the affected joint
• abnormal movement (gait) of the animal in an attempt to compensate for the problem (which generates its own complications)
• other joints become painful due to them compensating for the abnormal joints
• spinal joint problems that affect local nerve fibres (as in the spine) can often be seen to affect visceral function such as the gut, bladder and bowel through effects on the 'Autonomic' nervous system

By 'normalising' the mechanics of dysfunctional joints, this cascade of events is halted, since the stimulus, or cause, has been removed. A good example is where muscle spasm and trigger points will abate once the nerve supply to those muscles is no longer being affected (irritated) by a joint problem.

Q. Do horses and other animals find chiropractic scary/ painful?

As anyone who regularly interacts with animals knows, it is often the 'nature' of the practitioner that scares/frightens the animals more than the procedure itself. Hence, knowing how to establish rapport before, and whilst, working with the animal is of utmost importance, making the task at hand much easier and safer.

Properly trained and qualified Veterinarians, C hiropractors and Osteopaths with Animal Chiropractic qualifications can achieve this rapport with the animal quickly, and easily perform their work.

Chiropractic procedures may be uncomfortable for the animal if the area requiring attention is already sore and inflamed, or if the animal has a tendency to resist handling. However, common sense will ensure these sore areas are taken into account.

Chiropractic procedures which mostly involve spinal, and other limb 'adjustments', are not inherently painful at all. Other procedures such as trigger point work can be uncomfortable for the animal, however most animals actually 'enjoy' having these sore areas attended to this way.

Q. Do horses have to be rested after chiropractic?

When spinal joints undergo abnormal mechanical changes, referred to by chiropractors as "Subluxations", the nervous system changes the way it does things, to compensate for the problem such as a change in gait.

The longer a subluxation is present, the more ingrained the compensation pattern is, and hence will offer more resistance to getting back to normal.

When an animal is adjusted, the brain, through the nervous system, must re-learn how to operate the affected joints properly again. This often takes a little time.

For this reason, any animal, particularly high-performance animals such as race horses, greyhounds & sled dogs, should not be worked at full pace for a few days after their adjustment visit. It is often best to slowly build up their workload gradually, so the new changes can be integrated into their new 'action'.

Q. Do you need to hear a crack/pop for chiropractic to be effective?

Definately not!


A qualified Animal Chiropractic pr ofessional looks for joints that show restricted movement, particularly in one or more given directions. The detection of these "subluxations" can appear simple, however, it is not, and requires a great deal of experience, and understanding of joint biomechanics, thus should not be treated lightly.


When that joint is adjusted, by applying a specific, short sharp thrust in the direction of the restriction, a small amount of separation between the joint surfaces occurs, as does a small degree of movement in the direction of restriction. (Note that most spinal joints individually have only small amounts of movement, yet collectively, allows the large rages of movement we can see in regions like the neck).


During the fraction of a second when the joint surfaces are separated, occasionally, the pressure can decrease inside the joint just enough for dissolved gasses (presumably nitrogen) to form bubbles (like opening a soft drink bottle) and can produce a popping sound.


Producing this sound IS NOT the object of the adjustment, nor should it be used as an indicator of the effectiveness of an adjustment. The emphasis is on regaining movement in the direction of restriction by the thrust. In fact, many 'lay' animal therapists would have you believe that a joint has "gone back into place" if you hear a crack or noise. The truth is that joints cannot get "out of place" as such, unless they are actually dislocated.


As it happens, joints that are already too mobile, will generate noises more easily, hence the unqualified practitioner is more likely causing greater harm by creating that “popping” noise

Q. How do you pick that an animal has a chiropractic problem? - how does the chiropractor do it and how does the owner recognise it?

More obvious examples of symptoms relating to subluxations, or joint problems, can include lameness, head throwing in horses, loss of performance & girthiness in horses. These signs are often observable to even the untrained eye. Much more subtle changes also take place that only experienced professional animal practitioners would observe.

Spinal (or other) joint problems may not be the only cause of these signs, however only a professional qualified in Animal Chiropractic will be able to determine if these signs are in fact related to a subluxation, and hence correct the problem.

Most conditions relating to the musculoskeletal system of animals can be helped by chiropractic to varying degrees. Many of these conditions can also be treated by classic veterinary approaches such as medication or injections. Some conditions may also require dentistry, hoof care by a farrier, saddle assessment and exercises.

The advantage of the chiropractic approach is that it is drug free, gets results very quickly, and is addressing the cause of these problems, instead of treating the effects, or symptoms of the problem.

Q. Do you need to see an animal often for them to benefit from chiropractic?

Animal Chiropractic involves 'teaching' dysfunctional joints how to move properly again. The longer a joint problem has been allowed to exist, the more the animal will have adapted and compensated over time. Furthermore, tissue changes such as muscle spasm and wasting, scar tissue formation and inflammation will have developed.

Treating an animal for the first time often involves dealing with the most recent damage first. This is because recent damage is more likely to be reversible. Following this, the longer term problems and consequent damage can then be addressed.

How fast an animal responds depends on several factors including how quickly the problem is detected, how severe and extensive the problem is, the age of the animal and how diligent the owner/handler is in following instructions/advice from the veterinary chiropractor.

Animals benefit enormously from chiropractic care for recent and long-term injuries, often termed 'acute care'. They also benefit greatly from a more 'supportive' or preventative approach to their spinal health, where professionals qualified in Animal C hiropractic can identify and correct joint problems (subluxations) early, before they have a chance to develop complications, and result in more serious harm to the animal. This can be particularly important when there is a lot of pre-existing damage.

Q. Does My Pet Need Animal Chiropractic Care?

• Does your pet look stiff at all?
• Does your pet have trouble getting up or lying down?
• Does your pet tire more quickly than it used to?
• Does your pet play less than it used to?
• Does your pet yelp or whimper sometimes?
• Has  your  pet  stopped  grooming some areas of its body?
• Does your pet put off going to the toilet for as long as possible?
• Has your pet stopped stretching front and back when it gets up?
• Does your pet avoid you grooming some parts of its body?
• Does  your  pet  have  trouble  getting comfortable to rest?
• Has your pet  become  bad tempered  or aggressive?
• Does your pet have trouble sitting "square"?  
• Does your pet tend to sit with legs to one side?
• Does your pet limp?
• Does your pet have a skin problem in a confined area of its body?
• Does your pet lick or chew at an area of its body?
• Has your pet’s posture changed?

If you  answered Yes  to any of these questions, it would be worth having your pet checked over.

Q. Does My Horse Need Chiropractic Care?

• Does your horse resent you grooming some parts of its body?
• Does your horse lick or chew at an area of its body?
• Is your horse girthy?
• Has your horse  become  bad tempered, sour or aggressive?
• Does your horse have areas of abnormal sweating?
• Does your horse have trouble standing square?  
• Is your horse stepping short?
• Is your horse bridle lame?
• Is your horse stiff on one side?
• Is your horse head shy?
• Does your horse head shake?
• Does your horse buck/pigroot?
• Does your horse stumble?
• Does your horse drag its hind feet?
• Does your horse struggle to round up?
• Does your horse have a weaker canter lead?
• Does your horse prefer one diagonal?
• Does your horse avoid trot or canter?
• Has your horse’s posture/conformation changed?

If you  answered Yes  to any of these questions, it would be worth having your horse checked over. In the case of lameness, it is advisable to have the horse assessed by your normal Veterinarian first.  If a ridden horse, please bring the saddle(s).

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