Little neon fish, a dog’s life & “Dr. Dolittle”
My husband jokes that I’m “Dr. Dolittle” because of my love for animals. We have one dog, two cats and two fish tanks in our house (plus another fish tank at the office), and if it were totally easy, I’d probably have a pet monkey, more dogs, horses and some goats!
In my son’s bedroom is a small 5-gallon tank with a lone little neon fish inside. A few weeks ago, it was time to clean the filters & do a water change in each tank. I buy water from the fish store (which has been key in keeping the fish healthy), and store it in my garage. So not really thinking much about that it was January and cold outside (& in the garage), I syphoned out a bunch of water from the tiny tank, and replaced it the water that had been in my garage, which was REALLY cold. Within seconds, that poor neon fish was flat on the bottom of the tank and I realized I probably killed the thing with the shock of ice-cold water.
A bunch of thoughts went through my mind, the first being that I told my kid we could get a gerbil or hamster as soon as that fish died, and I really wasn’t ready for that! I had to act quickly to save that fish’s life, and scooped him out of the tank and back into the water I had just taken out. I spent the next 30 minutes or so slowly changing the water so it was back to normal temperature, so my poor little fish could survive. YES, I did that, for a tiny neon fish that costs about $1 at Petsmart …. just because I didn’t want a hamster and I didn’t want to be the cause of that little neon’s death. Here we are, a couple weeks later, and little neon is happily swimming alone in that tank.
I’m the person who will pick up the turtle from the street and move him to the side before he gets run over, and the person who sits awkwardly on the couch so the dog can have enough room; and the person who makes sure the bird feeder is always full (oh yea, there are a few bird feeders in the backyard too), and the person who lets cats sleep on my body while I’m sleeping, and the person who gave up meat for many years because I hated the thought of eating them, and the list goes on. So getting certified in animal chiropractic only made sense, it just took a few years to get it done. I’m now at the one-year point of my completing the animal chiropractic program and I’m so thankful that I took on the challenge. I love it when I get to work on dogs, cats & horses, I just wish I could do it more often! Sometimes there are not enough hours in the day to do what we want, though the time I have with animals is fun & rewarding. We work with a few local veterinarians in providing the best quality care to these animals.
Just like humans, animals have a spine & nervous system and can benefit from chiropractic care. Many of the dogs I adjust are very old and I’m practically their last hope to fix a situation that has been there a long time. An adjustment at that point provides some relief though it isn’t permanent. The best is when owners bring their dogs in when they are younger. Just like humans, addressing spinal problems earlier in life can prevent problems, and can help improve their function & overall performance. Are you following us on Instagram and Facebook? That’s where we post some of our stories. If you want to learn more, start by reading here or ask us about it – Animal Chiropractic — it works!
Dr. Pam
