Chiropractors for Cats

An article appeared in the Globe & Mail this weekend about chiropractors for cats. There is no link, because the whole article is only available in their "insider edition". Here is a snippit:

Chiropractors for Cats? Natalie was worth it
By KIMBERLEY NOBLE
Saturday, November 20, 2004, Page F6

Until last week, I thought that my experiences with animal health care were as extensive as they get for the average urban homeowner.

In the past 15 years, my husband and I have paid the vet bills for animals that have had hips rebuilt, spent days hooked up to every sort of catheter, come down with an amazing array of ear, eye and really unattractive mouth infections, required artificial insemination and delivered a puppy by cesarean section while being attended by a team of specialists larger than the one present at my elder daughter's birth. But I would never have imagined that I'd ever be taking one of my cats to the chiropractor.
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Me either Kimberley. Mrs. Anchovy and I have six cats. We didn't intend to have that many. I had two, William and Delia. My father had Spud, and when he could no longer care for her, Spud joined our troup. When Mrs. Anchovy and I married, Twiggy, Supreme Commander of the Universe, Goddess of War, joined the family. Then, the winter before last, a starving, skin and bones cross-eyed tom showed up at the door, pan-handling. Our neighbourhood is full of strays and we had resolved not to start feeding them, but this little guy was asking for help and was so pathetic (he was losing big chunks of fur and he had open sores, and he was making odd gutteral sounds), we started to feed him, earn his confidence, then got him some medical treatment. We called him Jerry, after Jerry Lewis in the Nutty Professor. He is the best cat you'll ever meet. Finally, Shadow showed up this summer, scrawny, all beat up, hopping - two of his legs, one front and one back, were not working - and he had a puncture wound in his neck. Off to the emergency vet - and he's doing fine now, likely lounging on the sofa as I write.

With this many cats, my perspective on 'wellness' vet visits for cats really changed. At one point, we were making regular and not inexpensive trips to the vet (Jerry is a bit of a medical miracle still), when we received a computer generated form letter from the vet's office urging us to come in for some wellness work. We give our pets the best care and treatment we can, but we draw the line at wellness visits.

I'm not entirely convinced at this point that chiropractors are a proven benefit to people (I'm suspicious of some doctors in other disciplines too), much less our four legged friends. We have found an excellent vet, and I think for now, we're sticking with her.