Suzanne Walski, DVM, has been serving the community since 1987 and is certified with the American and Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Associations, the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, the American Association of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and the American Holistic Veterinary Medicine Association. She owns and practices at Meadowbrook Animal Healing and is co-founder of The Room at Meadowbrook, both in Ottsville.

What complementary modalities are you trained in?

I am a conventionally schooled veterinarian with additional education in other forms of healing principles. In veterinarian school, I was not taught anything about keeping the spine mobile. It was when I took an intensive animal certification program alongside human chiropractors that I gained my expansive view on how the body can “heal thyself into a healthy self”.

How do you use these treatment options in your practice?

Most of the time, clients seek out my services when their pet is limping or when their dog has been diagnosed with a back issue that causes pain and mobility issues, or has chronic issues that have not responded to medications.

I look at holistic care as everything involved with the pet, especially food, environment and stress level, along with the physical ailment. I believe in medications because you must put out a fire before the house can be rebuilt, and yes, surgery may be necessary to correct a condition.

When an animal is on medications, my goal is to slowly wean it off the drugs, if possible. If the owner decides to have surgery, I use chiropractic treatments to prepare the animal’s body by making sure the spine/nervous system is working to its best potential.

What misconceptions do people have about animal chiropractic?

When people learn that I perform spinal manipulation on animals, the response is often, “I didn’t know you could do chiropractic on animals.” The funny part is that I, too, did not know this until I started the chiropractic journey for my personal health 20 years ago. Any animal with a spine can be adjusted if it allows you to touch it. So, yes, chiropractic care is for animals, too, and is especially great for horses!

Meadowbrook Animal Healing is located at 4089 Durham Rd., Rte. 412, Ottsville. For more information, call 610-847-2776 or visit SuzanneWalskiDvm.com. October 2017