When Heick, who can only treat animals that are under the care of a veterinarian, launched the animal practice, she did demonstrations for other chiropractors, and sent letters to veterinarians, pet grooming businesses, pet stores and tack shops. But she is not sure whether the information is reaching their customers. It depends how receptive to chiropractic the store owners are. While Heick has the strong support of other chiropractors, she isn't sure about veterinarians. Leslie Collins, course administrator at Options for Animals, says the tension that exists between medical doctors and chiropractors also exists between veterinarians and chiropractors.
Some veterinarians come because they want to disprove it.
They, of course, are our biggest fans now. Heick, who has been a practising chiropractor for five years, is confident word of mouth will eventually solve her marketing problem. She notes that when she treats one horse in a barn, she can count on calls from the owners of other horses in the barn. Most of her animal patients are owned by people who visit a chiropractor themselves. But that's not always the case.