Why consult an animal osteopath?

Does your animal have difficulty moving about? Have you considered consulting an animal osteopath? Just like us, animals can have joint pain. In order to ease their pain, whether linked to age or not, an animal osteopath is the most qualified to help your pet.

Our pets deserve our attention

We regularly consult professionals on our own behalf for many reasons, and we all want to feel well and full of beans. Our pets feel exactly the same way! They can suffer as much as us an sometimes for, because without words, only their behaviour can indicate a problem that needs to be treated by someone adapted to the illness. The reasons for which an animal osteopath might be consulted are multiple and depend on the case itself.

Why not consult the vet who knows my pet?

Even if our first reaction as pet-owners is to take our pets to the vet for vaccinations, operations or medical treatment, our vets can't always take on the specific needs of certain patients. A specialist needs to be consulted, often recommended by the vets themselves. Many recognise the work of animal osteopaths and direct their patients in their direction. An animal osteopath can understand the symptoms as a whole and not just treat one symptom.

As such, veterinary medicine cannot always succeed in treating certain problems, while the holistic approach of osteopathy can sometimes discover the true cause of the symptom and therefore prescribe a more specific solution, very often with the agreement of the veterinary. In addition, if possible in the case of the illness, the osteopath avoids medicines that would help competition animals (certain medicines would make them test positive for drugs).

Good to know:

So that there is no ambiguity in the matter, it is necessary to delineate the respective medical fields of the veterinary and the animal osteopath. Judicially, osteopath practices are accepted so long as they do not encroach on veterinary prerogatives. For example, if you consult a veterinary osteopath, they are not authorised to vaccinate, prescribe medication or operate on an animal. They must direct you to the adapted practitioner. And vice-versa; a veterinary would not be trained in osteopathic practices despite their education in anatomy and physiology and should direct you to an osteopath in order to ease your pet's pain.

When to consult an animal osteopath

Your pet can be brought to an animal osteopath if they suffer from certain problems but also, in the same way that it is recommended to humans, they can be consulted in a preventative manner to anticipate and avoid the risk of future problems. As discussed above, you can chose to go to an animal osteopath if traditional medicine is not easing the symptoms or if your veterinary indicated that an osteopathic treatment would help. As your pet's parent, you are best placed to know your pet's behaviour, and to notice if there is a change in their behaviour such as a difficulty walking. Your pet doesn't know how to talk but knows how to communicate! Note that it is not rare that your four-legged friend gets used to being touched and manipulated by the osteopath and even if they can't tell you that they enjoyed it, they will be very grateful. Finally, just like human athletes, animals who do demanding sport regularly are often taken to osteopaths.

An osteopath can also treat when intensive medication is for some reason to be avoided.

Which symptoms can be treated by an animal osteopath?

It is impossible to here create an exhaustive list of all the symptoms that an osteopath could treat, but here are some that are easily identifiable that would be cured or eased by osteopathic treatment.

• A limp or stiffness 
• Arthritis 
• Digestive trouble 
• Respiratory trouble
• Pain linked to growth
• Rebalancing the pelvis after birth
• Irregular gait 
• Drop in activity, difficult recovery 
• Dermatological problems: redness, itching
• After an operation in order to better recover, faster
• Refusal to jump, difficult getting down (from a sofa, stairs, car) 

To sum up

Without ever questioning their visits to the vet, pet parents can now go to an animal osteopath. The overview of the body envisioned by this alternative medicine can offer a different kind of treatment. Medicine must be prescribed only by a veterinary and medication should not be stopped without their opinion. The best way to find out the benefits of osteopathy for your pets is to try it out for yourselves!