murray gets cracked

below is a video of one of murray’s chiropractic appointments with the great dr. triplett in nashville. it’s 7 minutes of a vet appointment so it might not be the most engaging video but i thought it would be interesting for people to see if they didn’t know what chiropractic on dogs looks like. if you can’t hang out for the full 7 minutes i strongly urge you to make it (or fast forward) to 2:39 where murray’s face first appears – i defy you not to smile at this stinking dog!

the most important thing to remember when viewing this video is this is the dog who historically has sprayed every vet’s office with unmentionables and bites me if i try to pick a string off of him. the night before this visit i was trying to cut a mat from his ear (that was so big i thought it might be blocking his hearing) and after him biting me and throwing a fit we finally had to resort to dave wrapping him in a towel while i deftly snipped the mat away. for some reason when he’s getting acupuncture and chiropractic he’s really relaxed, which i’m thrilled about as it has dramatically changed his quality of life.

murray update

for the last 8 months i’ve been taking murray for chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture and it has given him a quality of life that wasn’t predicted upon his original diagnosis. if you told me a year ago that murray would be receiving such care i would have guffawed right in your face. we’ve had murray since he was 4 weeks old and not once have we been able to take him to the vet without first slipping him a mickey. the sedation is not necessary to stop murray from being aggressive, if that were the case we’d employ a muzzle. in murray’s case he needs to be doped to stop large quantities of liquids from being rocketed from his orifices – creating a clearly messy and incredibly embarrassing scene. no rational person allows this to happen more than once before pharmaceuticals enter the picture – plus for murray’s sake it takes the edge off and allows him to relax (i use this word loosely).

when his back got to the point that the vet said he would probably soon be paralyzed i figured there was nothing to lose (other than mine and murray’s dignity) by trying the acupuncture – never in my wildest dreams did i think he’d tolerate it – and mickey-free no less. it tickles the crud out of me each and every time i look at him with the needles sticking out of him – seeing him with the chiropractor draped over him floors me. this is the guy who most of our friends and relatives have never gotten to touch – i’m pretty sure murray believes people are after his magic. i’m hoping to video his visit next month – if any of you have been considering acupuncture or chiropractic for your animals i highly recommend it and maybe seeing a video will help you make the choice. here are some shots of murray –the first two on the way to his appt and the last coming home.

sticking it to ya

last week we took murray to the vet for what we thought was a problem with his hips. x-rays quickly revealed that his hips are perfect but his back is a mess. i could give you all the medical jargon (which i love) or i can just say his back is f**ed up. our vet gave us a very bleak prognosis and i’ve been dealing with the news fairly poorly since then. after all i often say my heart is in the shape of murray and i absolutely refuse to lose him before his time (which i’ve scientifically calculated to be no earlier than 20 years of age).

today i took murray to a holistic vet for a consultation to see if acupuncture was a possibility. i am ecstatically writing this to say that the holistic vet had a much, much brighter prognosis and with some acupuncture and a combination of herbs and wheatgrass murray should be on course for a long, fruitful life. his back may be a mess but fortunately the rest of him is strong like bull. he’s pretty wiped out from his first acupuncture treatment but there should be sunny skies ahead.

now i just have to hope that acupuncture will solve the problem dave’s back will have after carrying the 54 lb cinder block that is murray up and down steps for the near future (hopefully we will have a ramp built by the weekend). my shoulder feels like it needs to be removed after hauling murray around all weekend while dave was out of town so dave, in true dave awesomeness, is picking up all the slack (in this case the slack being murray). unfortunately murray & dave have always had a rather cantankerous relationship so there is a lot of grumbling that goes on, although i do have to say most of it is from murray’s end. oh, my man murman – you crazy nut!!!