Since graduating from Veterinary School almost 30 years ago, I have sought routine chiropractic care for many different aliments for myself. The very first opportunity was when I was plagued with headaches often and in need of medication to be able to function. It was discovered that with all the years of book studies I had lost the curvature of my cervical neck vertebrae. This presented issues for myself and with routine care over the years I have been able to remain medication free for neck and back pain. In those early years in Minnesota, my good friend and chiropracter occasionally would treat an animal and tell me of the success he was having with his routine adjustments. These pets were of course his own since legally he was licensed to only treat 2 legged species. Over the years I started to recognize the need for routine chiropractic care in the 4 legged species and how much they could benefit from adjustments. My only treatment option when chiropractic was not available was offering pain medications that would not correct anything. The medications would reduce the symptoms noted by the client but once off the drugs the symptoms returned.

About 7 years ago, when my daughter was showing in the POA circuit, we requested the help of a Chiropracter to adjust her pony. I remember thinking how interesting it was to watch the process and see the pony respond to the different manipulations. The POA’s gait definitely improved after the adjustment. It was amazing to see the change so soon after the first treatment.

Then about 5 years ago, I discovered Dr. Lisa King. I cannot tell you how many clients I have referred to her as she travels around Central Iowa to many different locations to make adjustments and do acupuncture as needed to improve the lives of her patients. What I can report is all the positive feed back that I get once a client has taken their pet to see her. Their pets are jumping, running, barking, tail wagging, etc., after just a few treatments. Many have been able to come off their medications and have normal daily activity with no reoccurrence. I have had some unbelievers become believers. I have clients that schedule routine maintenance adjustments just because they have seen the importance of preventive maintenance in their pets.

Mobility is such an important part of our lives and that of our pets, so please enjoy the photos that were captured recently when Dr. Lisa King visited a barn in Madison County.

Max is a 6 month old Labrador Retriever that was surrendered to me in October for aggressive unpredictable behavior with its owners. They had been taking him to puppy classes and had enlisted the help of a pet behavioralist to determine the cause of his aggression. After countless hours of working with Max and the family of 4, to see if these issues could be resolved, it was determined removing him from the home was the safest solution for everyone involved. I was contacted and offered to take him in and work with him and determine if something could be done. He had 4 puppy sessions left and I used the Gentle Leader in class and when out for walks with him to make certain he had no opportunity to react aggressively without having a way to control him. On the first evening of class I was working with him on heeling and as I stopped I wanted him to sit. He did not, so I elevated his nose with the Gentle Leader and with my left hand put pressure on his hips to encourage him to sit. In that short moment he broke into a screech and I immediately tightened the Gentle Leader around his muzzle and told him no as I knelt down beside him. Within seconds he quieted and nuzzled up against me in the most submissive and remorseful way. My immediate reaction, “He is in pain.” He needs to see Dr. Lisa King.

Below is his first report showing the areas that were adjusted. Interesting side note, after I returned to puppy class with him 3 days later, 3 different people came up to me and said he looks and acts like a totally different puppy tonight. I had not even told them that he had seen a chiropracter. Dr. King’s comment after completing his treatments was, “He must have had one massive headache.”  I did contact the previous owners to inform them of our discovery and as we discussed the situation, I was reminded that he had fallen down some stairs around 8 weeks of age. Possibly some or all of his issues may have been related to that one incident.

This is only one story that I have written about today, but want you to know that this is just one of many.  Dr. Lisa King sees many horses in her daily life and has had just as many success stories with them as well.  Many feel there is no way a person could adjust a 1000# animal and make a difference. Yet when watching her treat the horses it is not about brute strength but rather the different angles and positions she uses to move the joints back into their proper location. It is about watching the horse become more alert and responsive after she has finished her work. The whole body shake that they do to thank her for her kindness. The owners returning at a later date for yet another treatment since they see remarkable improvements with just one treatment and hope for even more success if they see Dr. King again.

Our animals are not able to tell us when they hurt or why or where. If your 4 legged critter starts or stops doing a behavior, don’t assume that they are being “bad.” It could easily be pain or some other illness. We need to watch for the subtle signs like not jumping up and down anymore, not doing stairs or hesitating before going up or down, lying around and not playing with their humans or the other housemates, aggression that has suddenly appeared, hiding or laying away from everyone as signs that they are not feeling well or in need of some chiropractic care.   If you just observe your pet’s daily activities, you will be surprised how many times they run into objects or other pets, how many times they slip or fall when attempting to chase something, drop to the floor with little grace in a big thud, get pulled on their leash or collar while being contained, etc. All of these activities cause wear and tear on their bodies and in the end can lead to pain responses that vary from shaking, to crying, to not eating, limping, panting, acting out with strange behaviors, etc. These symptoms can mimic many other health conditions so it is not wise to assume all panting dogs need to see a chiropracter. Yet it is important to be aware of what a chiropractic treatment can do for your pet. Ask your veterinarian if they feel chiropractic might help your pet and then ask around who in your area may be available to help.

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Often I am invited to schools to talk at Career Day about Veterinary Medicine. I enjoy the history and stories of the past before I launch into modern day medicine. I love to tell that the first veterinary school in the USA was Iowa State University, founded in 1878. It was a two year curriculum and was FREE. Now there are 29 vet schools, and a degree takes three to four years of undergrad, four years of grad school, and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I present an old leather doctor’s bag that holds glass syringes and books from the 1800’s that only contain 30 pages of all known diseases and treatments, like “sprain or cough or spavin”. The treatments or remedies (germ killer or tonics) include turpentine, belladonna, sassafras, Cayenne pepper, alcohol (liberal amounts), cocaine, and opium. How times have changed! Remember that aspirin was invented in the 1920’s, and sulfa — the first antibiotic — in 1932, and penicillin in 1943. The first four “girls” graduated as veterinarians in 1915 in Chicago. Now, female veterinarians outnumber men since 2009.

Curiously, a company called Scarless Gall Remedy Products Co. of Winterset, Iowa, produced and sold a salve that reportedly healed saddle or collar galls without any scar on horses in the first years of the 1900’s. It gained notoriety as the first class action lawsuit of false claims ever tried in Iowa courts. They never payed out any claims, instead closed down and re-opened as “Starless” Gall Salve Co.

Human research — tried on animals — has yielded breakthrough protocols for human medicine, and then have been easily adapted back into vet medicine. Now, modern veterinary medicine has a huge list of vaccines, antibiotics, and chemotherapies.

Serum chemistry to analyze blood is done in-house. Digital radiology, ultrasound, EKG, endoscopy, acupuncture, laser therapy, and chiropractic are tools that veterinarians use. Board certified specialists are nearly as common as general practitioners.

My favorite invention was the cell phone. No longer was I stuck at home to take emergency calls. I actually could have a life and sit in the bleachers at my kids’ school events, or go to a friend’s house. Now the cell phone instantly tells me directions to the farm, accesses records and all internet formulas, shares pictures of cases, etc. I also really appreciate the RFID pet microchip. Its national database reunites scores of lost pets with their owners.

Winterset Veterinary Center was started in 1983 by Dr. Ken Henrichsen, who retired in 2007. I joined him in 1988, almost 30 years ago! Dr. Lonna joined me ten years ago. Time flies!!

The future will hold even more inventions—sometimes hard to keep up with changing technology. I tell students on career day to study classes in STEM, reading comprehension, and computer ed. But the biggest asset for being a good or great veterinarian is the ability to listen and care. Can’t teach that, but it leads to a very satisfying career!

Patricia Lounsbury Bliss in her book Christian Petersen Remembered wrote,

“The Gentle Doctor…reflects concern, affection, love, and the significance of life for all of God’s creatures—-great and small. The memory of Christian Petersen will live forever in the minds of the veterinary profession.”

In 1988, when I graduated from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, I decided to purchase a Gentle Doctor Statue for myself. We were poor college students but as a young teen, my parents made a pack with each of their children that if they did not smoke by the time they were 25 years of age, they would give us each $250. Today that would not seem like much money, but as a teenager and a poor married college student, it was a BIG gift. Imagine how much money I have saved by not smoking, and I do have a treasured statue to commemorate my DVM degree and that pack with my parents.

When I decided to use the money for a statue, I did not want a bronze one. I had collected pewter pieces for years and wondered how difficult it would be to get one made out of pewter. I contacted the company that made the molds and was told to get permission from Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine for a mold to be made for a pewter cast. I would pay for the mold to be made and it would then belong to me and I would be able to make additional statues with permission from the College of Veterinary Medicine in the future.   I followed through on all of these steps and did obtain a statue made from pewter with my name engraved on the base.

A few years after graduation my father called and asked if another statue could be made from pewter for a long time veterinarian named Dr. Forland. He had practiced in the area where my parents lived and when told about my statue, he was interested in having one made with his name engraved in the base as well.   I again requested permission from ISU College of Veterinary Medicine and with the help of my parents had it delivered to Dr. Forland. I never spoke face to face with him and do not know if as a young girl I ever met him but felt glad I could help him get a statue that he could have his name engraved on the base.

Fast forward a few years and I was sorting through items and ran across a letter I had been sent from Dr. Forland after he received his statue. This letter was written 4 months before his death I was later told and obviously I had felt it worthy of saving since it was a hand-written letter and these are treasures to behold. The words he wrote shared a side of himself that he indicated he had never spoken of. I had decided I would hang on to the letter and if ever I could find one of his children, I felt they should have the letter.   And to my dismay, GUESS WHAT……18 years after the letter was written my parents happened to meet Dr. Forland’s daughter in a random place. After talking with her for a few minutes, and telling her the story of the statue that I had cast for him out of pewter, she went to her car and came back with 2 books titled “Christian Petersen Remembered”, the man who is responsible for the Gentle Doctor statue. Her father had purchased a large quantity of these books and she had decided to pass them out to people she met that had a connection with her father. One book was for my parents and the other book for me.

My parents called me to tell me about their encounter and I immediately asked if they got her phone number or address. My mother said yes, since his daughter was hoping that someday she could meet me. I requested the information and then sent her the original letter so she could read the written words for the first time, 18 years after her father’s death.

So why is all of this worthy of a blog……well let me share with you the letter contents and then you can see how important is was for me to return this letter to the family.

Dear Dr. Lonna Nielsen

Vallie met your dad at Fallgatters the other day so she obtained your married name and address. Please accept my apology for not getting in touch with you before for your kind consideration in allowing us to have the use of your mold for the Gentle Doctor Statue. Thank you!!! It is especially nice that an inscription can be permanently etched at the base. We will have one for each of our children.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think when I was modeling that it would become such an icon for ISU and world wide.

It was ironic that it was crafted in the Home Economics building (McKay Hall) at a time when there were no women students taking Vet Med! The college couldn’t find any other place for Petersen to work and teach. Of course he wasn’t too welcome because of the mess and smell of wet plaster, clay, etc. (It was my job to keep things clean)

One day I asked him if the pile of clay he was working on would have any redeeming value in the future. His answer was,” Young man, if you live another 50 years you may be glad you have given me some of your time.”

Jan 11, 1986, I had a massive heart attack with a lot of damage. Had bypass at Mayo. In June I had recovered enough so I got a release from my cardiologist to attend 45th class reunion. I had lost 50 lbs and was allergic to almost all medications.

Our class took a bus tour of campus, with special point of interest “the old vet quadrangle” (it has been remodeled for classrooms). The Prof that was hosting the group was telling the story of the old building and where Bas Relief & Statue location was before it was moved to the new location. One of my classmates knew of my involvement and posed the question, “Does anyone know who Christian Petersen’s model was for it?” When it was known it was me, the Prof came with his microphone for the story.

I just fell apart emotionally and could not speak! (Embarassing) In my mind, I must have seen and heard Petersen telling me what I could expect if I lived another 50 years. It was within a month of 50 years.

God spared me some more time so that I could be around to see what it has meant for ISU and the world!! I was honored this last Homecoming in the unveiling at Rededication Ceremony.

Excuse all this talk about the above experience. I haven’t told anyone about this before.

Most sincerely,

L M Forland

You see in 1936-37, Dr. Forland, as a poor undergraduate student cleaning up the messes of Christian Petersen had modeled for him holding only a small pillow on his forearm in a position similar to a puppy. He later applied and was accepted to the Veterinary College and graduated in 1941. This humble man realized years later what his small contribution means to the world of Veterinary Medicine. This statue is held in high esteem within the heart and mind of every veterinarian that graduates because it represents the bond each of us shares with our patients.

This month I got to meet Dr. Forland’s daughter and she again thanked me for the hand written letter. One of her siblings has the pewter Gentle Doctor Statue with Dr. Forland’s name engraved on the base. Never did I realize that a mold made to commemorate my DVM graduation would also touch the heart of a man who was a model for the Gentle Doctor Statue back in 1936. I find it interesting how small gestures of kindness can come back and bless your life in ways you would never imagine. Dr. Forland never was paid for his time as a model and yet he found great joy and gratitude 50 years later when he was recognized for his small part in this world wide icon the “Gentle Doctor Statue.” And as they say…. the rest is history.