Well Adjusted Andy
By Cindy Powell

My cat Andy has permanent damage to the cerebellum, the part of the brain used for coordination and balance. After several years of successfully being treated by a chiropractor for soft tissue injuries to my upper back and neck, I noticed the book, "Chicken Soup for the Chiropractic Soul" in my chiropractor‘s office. I borrowed the book, and was drawn to the stories about how chiropractic helps animals.

On my next visit, my chiropractor graciously agreed to treat Andy. Andy’s ambulating posture has become significantly more upright, and Andy sits for longer periods of time without leaning into the wall for support following each adjustment. The substantial improvement in Andy’s mobility is immediately noticed by visitors to my home.

I am extremely grateful (and I’m certain Andy is too) for Andy’s increased quality of life as a result of chiropractic adjustments. I am also delighted that I found the book about feline chiropractic, "The Well Adjusted Cat"*, by Illinois chiropractor, Dr. Daniel Kamen. Below, with Dr. Kamen’s permission, I share with you some of what I have learned from his book.

The Chiropractic Approach

Chiropractors treat vertebral subluxations, adjacent vertebrae pinching a spinal nerve. Tightened muscles or ligaments can squeeze the spine. By the time someone suffers pain, a subluxation exists in their body.

The spine is often where disease begins. If any body system is malfunctioning, it strains the rest of the body, creating more subluxations.

Subluxations are easy to locate, as inflammation of a pinched spinal nerve produces heat. By reducing spinal nerve pressure, normal joint function can be restored. Patients may then enjoy reductions in restricted motion, joint stiffness, muscle spasms and abnormal gait. With regular chiropractic checkups, subluxations can be found and treated before disease results.

Physiology of a Cat

Cats, like people and dogs, have one moveable joint on their head: the jaw. However, a feline’s jaw moves only up and down, whereas, humans and canines can move their jaw laterally (side to side).

Cats have 30 teeth, in comparison to a dog’s 42. This results in a feline’s short snout. Though a canine’s long snout can be grasped (like a handle) during chiropractic adjustments, a cat’s entire face must be grasped (like a doorknob).

All mammals, including felines, have seven neck bones. The atlas is the first neck bone, located directly beneath the base of the skull. The atlas can be easily felt, as it is ring shaped, with two large wings, like no other vertebra. By feeling a cat’s atlas, it can be determined whether there are subluxations, and what type of adjustment is required.

Because felines do not need collar bones, theirs are extremely small and buried in muscle tissue. This allows cats to squeeze through tight places. A feline’s narrow chest contains 13 pair of ribs, attached to the spine.

As natural runners, jumpers, climbers and pouncers, cats are prone to shoulder pain. Felines walk and run on their toes, unlike a human using their heels while walking. A domestic cat can run 31 miles per hour.

Felines have only one spinal curvature, at the middle to lower half of the neck. Humans and canines also have a second curve, the lumbar, in the small of their back. Therefore, lower back disorders occur far less frequently in cats than in people and dogs.

The lower back does not exhibit signs of injury whenever felines experience pain, due to their amazing flexibility. Also because of their flexibility, cats do not suffer from musculoskeletal conditions as frequently as dogs.

Felines’ lower back and leg muscles propel them up trees. However, their claws point in the wrong direction in order to climb down trees.

Cats have 13 mid-back bones, which can be felt at the top of the back. Felines have seven lower back bones, and an average of 20 separate bones in its tail. The hips can be felt directly above a cat’s thighs. Felines, unlike canines, do not develop hip dysplasia, where the thigh bone does not securely fit into the hip socket.

Dogs have 319 bones, whereas cats have 244. A feline breathes 30-50 breaths per minute, when a canine breathes only 10-30 times. A cat’s heart beats 110-180 beats per minute, in comparison to a dog’s 70-130.

Unlike most humans, felines lie down, allowing muscles to heal, following a muscle cramp. Frequent stretching assures that cats remain limber.

People carry all of their body weight on their hips while walking. However, cats carry more than half of their body weight on the front half of their bodies (shoulder joints). Felines have a righting reflex, the ability to turn around in midair and land on their feet when falling.

Why Chiropractic Helps Cats

Spinal subluxations occur in epidemic proportions in people and animals. Cats, dogs, horses and humans have similar spines and nervous systems. In some cases, after a single adjustment, subluxations resolve and seldom return.

In felines like Andy, with damage to the central nervous system, cats might respond more slowly to chiropractic treatment, as brain and spinal cord cells do not regenerate. Neurological damage in the feline is rare, occurring less than one percent of the cat population.

Manual adjustment techniques are more adaptable to felines than other domestic animals because of the ease of mobility of a cat’s joints. Instrument adjustment, the fastest growing method of feline chiropractic adjustment in the U.S., tends to quickly and easily reduce subluxations in domestic animals, particularly cats, even if the cat strongly resists the hand held Activator. Of the 130 recognized breeds of domestic felines, breeds that tend to dislike handling are Sphynx, Himalayans, Siamese, Abyssinian, Somali and Oriental Shorthairs.

A standard test taught in all chiropractic colleges is the short leg analysis. This test successfully locates subluxations in the neck, lower back and hip. A vertebral or hip misalignment results in a muscle imbalance, producing the appearance of a shorter leg. When a chiropractor extends a cat’s legs, and the neck is gently turned toward the shorter leg side, the leg will lengthen if there is a neck subluxation on that side.

Though medical doctors, with little or no knowledge of chiropractic, invalidate its practice, many progressive veterinarians support chiropractic as the treatment of choice in animals. Veterinarians typically own their clinics, and are not usually required to report to health insurance companies.

Because Andy and I have experienced notably increased function as a result of chiropractic adjustments, I strongly recommend that our four legged friends and their owners seek routine chiropractic treatment!