Could Chiropractic Help a Rescue Dog With Fecal Incontinence From Nerve Damage?

Reader Question

Recently I trapped and recovered a stray Cattle Dog from the streets, living on her own for 6plus months, when I first saw here she was a skeleton. A couple months of feeding her she was just a ghost dog, never saw her never knew if she was eating the food or something else was. She whelped a singleton pup which nursery workers took in so it wouldn't perish. First thing I noticed when I recovered her was her incontinence of fecal and urinary functions and some older wounds still healing. I took an interpreter to Nursery to talk to workers and they advised she had also been hit by car. The wounds suggested such an occurrence but there was no sign of limping or poor gait. After further exam I realized that both of her hind legs were atrophied equally and suspected nerve damage from the trauma of being hit by a car could be causing the incontinence. Veterinary exam confirmed probable nerve damage as the anal entrance was weak and had no muscle reactions at all to palpations. Vet suggested an appropriate diet etc, but due to this injury being older and not knowing how long she had been like this, my question is this...

If I were to get an xray of her spine and tail and it showed misalignments or pinching of nerves, would a chiropractic approach give us any hope of her living a quality life where perhaps incontinence of fecal matter could be improved?

I get the diet approach, and understand that due to the length of time she went untreated after this injury that chances of rehabilitation have diminished, but I'm not willing to give up on her after all she has been thru, my experiences with acupuncture and chiropractic services started in equines which has improved their performance immensely during their competitive show careers.

I am not so quick to apply that to canines and since this is probably a nerve damage issue regardless of alignment of spine, would it do more harm than good to start adjusting a spine with nerve damage already present?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and hopefully it is intriguing enough of a malady to get a response.

Answer from Our Team