Dr. Jean Thompson adjusting Boh

My nine-year-old toy poodle, Boh, shot up in the middle of the night and was clearly in distress with labored breathing and overall restlessness that caused him to jump off the bed and start pacing the room. I noticed something did not seem right with him that Sunday afternoon during our regular walk around the neighborhood park. Boh seemed a step behind our other poodle, 11-year old Roxy and wanted constant breaks. I chalked up his lethargy to the first somewhat warm weather that we had experienced since last fall, even though the temperature stood at the 60 degrees mark on this late March afternoon.

“Looks like I’ll be taking Boh to the vet first thing in the morning,” I told my wife at 2 am. “He is acting very strangely.”

Over the past several weeks, Boh had been frequently coughing, like he had food stuck in his throat, I told the doctor. Maybe it recently became more frequent. “We just had our lawn sprayed and I noticed he also was eating grass over the weekend. My guess is that he is not feeling well because of that,” I explained.

“Oh, really,” the doctor replied. “Stay here while we take him back to perform an x-ray on his chest.”

A few minutes later, he was explaining the results on the backlit screen. “See that dark spot around the heart and lungs?” the vet asked. “We don’t like that. My initial diagnosis is that Boh has congestive heart failure which is why his heart appears enlarged. The coughing seems to be the result of fluid leaking into his lungs. I suggest you visit a specialist.”

The news hit our family like a ton of bricks. We immediately made the appointment with the dog cardiologist. Boh, who is considered the “foodie” of the family and wages daily battles with Roxy for treats, seemed to completely lose his appetite. Normally a fan of any food - no questions asked - he turned his nose up at anything and everything - including people food. This was concerning - he has to eat. Boh lacked interest in taking a walk and playing with toys. Bathroom time became a struggle as he never seemed to have any output.

We received similar news upon visiting the cardiologist, who prescribed a twice-daily regime of medicine, including Lasix. The goal was to help alleviate the fluid in his body, which resulted in regular bathroom trips. Boh perked up a bit but, he had now totally rejected his regular dog food which he has devoured for years, presenting an unwanted side effect.

After explaining the situation to our three sons, one of which is finishing acupuncture school and the other two who are attending chiropractic school, they suggested a visit to a doggie chiropractor. We never knew this type of doctor even existed, but we decided to give it a try.

My wife and I receive daily dispatches from our sons about the powerful impact of alternative, Eastern-based medical practices that are both eye-opening and thought-provoking, led by the harmful side effects of medicine. When I tell people what my kids are studying and explain their career aspirations, a common response is “oh, does that stuff really work?” or “I saw a chiropractor once because my back started hurting.”

I try to answer back, as best as I have been taught by my kids, but always wish one of my sons were with me to do the heavy-lifting explaining. “A chiropractor is a facilitator,” I begin. “The human body is designed to heal itself. For instance, when you suffer a cut on your finger, you don’t have to think about the healing process because the wound heals on its own accord. That’s because a healthy body has the innate ability to accomplish this quite simply and effectively.

“However, there are instances when the body is not able to heal itself and, in this world with processed food and sugar, to name a few, coupled with lack of exercise and stress, there are big and small traumas that create spinal bones to shift out of alignment. In turn, this applies pressure to nerves which control everything and act as the highway system that enables your brain to communicate with your body.

“A chiropractor acts a facilitator or middle-man to realign the spinal bones and relieve pressure from the nerves. This enables the brain to act without interference, communicate with the body and complete the healing process. By looking at where heat is being emitted from your body, a chiropractor can identify the exact points of the spine that need to be aligned. Heat translates to inflammation and represents nerve interference. Situations that cause this include thinking negative thoughts, suffering an injury or the intake of harmful negative substances into the body. These are known as the three Tsand are what a chiropractor typically works to overcome - thoughts, trauma and toxins.”

So off we were to see Dr. Jean Thompson, a Howard County-based chiropractor that helps dogs and cats at Paradise Animal Hospital in Catonsville office, which also offers acupuncture care and a swimming pool for water therapy. It took Dr. Thompson less than one minute to diagnose an immediate problem. “Feel that on Boh’s back,” she instructed us as we touched an area just below his collar. “This is the T-2 joint that leads directly to the heart.”

It felt exceedingly warm. Dr. Thompson then proceeded to adjust Boh’s entire spine, which he did not seem to mind too much. “OK, now touch that same spot again,” she said. It felt normal temperature - in less than a minute or so. Amazing. “I want to reexamine Boh in about two weeks and then we can discuss a regular treatment.” We decided to take Roxy with us the next time because she appears to have a bit of arthritis and also has been known to act a bit stressed out when around strangers.

After Boh’s first chiropractic visit, we started to witness immediate improvements. He regained the “hop in his step” and pranced around the backyard chasing a squirrel. In a display of happiness, he dug his nose into the basement carpeting while performing a circular breakdance of sorts, with his butt in the air. He chased his toys and started taking regular walks again (we are walking him for shorter distances now). Best of all, after eschewing his regular dog food for two weeks - forcing my wife to find alternatives - he showed renewed interest. Even his bathroom routine stabilized.

“What I do on each visit is check every bone in the spine, shoulders, hips,joints, ankles and ribs areas -- basically everywhere -- and look for misalignments that might be pressing on a nerve,” Dr. Thompson explained. “And that nerve interference can cause pain, numbness or tingling – or it can cause an organ to not function properly. Whatever that nerve is controlling, we are trying to free up so normal function can return.”

Boh has now visited Dr. Thompson four times and Roxy, twice.

“Most of the adjustments held,” Dr. Thompson was pleased to report at our last session, although she instructed us to minimize the amount of times Boh jumped off furniture to maintain this success.

“One of the best things you can do for a dog dealing with arthritis, to prevent it from becoming worse, is chiropractic care, because it takes pressure off the joint and the nerve, as well as helps the muscle relax and the blood flow better. Everything biomechanically starts to work,” she added.

Both dogs are eating and sleeping well and seem to be functioning at close to 100%. We plan to continue the treatment, with the goal of removingBoh from all medications down the line. At this point, we are extremely happy with the progress and hopeful to maintain a “status-quo” basis rather than looking for any further improvement.

Achieving that would be a significant step forward from where we started several months ago.

Larry Lichtenauercan be reached at Larry@lawrencehoward.com