{"id":9651,"date":"2016-11-01T01:34:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T05:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=9651"},"modified":"2016-11-01T01:34:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T05:34:00","slug":"brick-veterinarians-new-book-helps-guide-reassure-owners-of-disabled-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2016\/11\/brick-veterinarians-new-book-helps-guide-reassure-owners-of-disabled-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Brick Veterinarian’s New Book Helps Guide, Reassure Owners of Disabled Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Adam Christman (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Cosmo was a two-year-old dachshund when he unexpectedly became severely injured while chasing a squirrel in his owner\u2019s yard. To his owners\u2019 surprise, they were told when they visited Brick Town Veterinary Hospital that Cosmo would likely be paralyzed for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ruptured a disc\u201d said Dr. Adam Christman, a veterinarian at the practice, who would go on to adopt Cosmo after his owners decided they could not take care of him.<\/p>\n

The dog suffered from IVDD \u2013\u00a0Intervertebral Disk Disease \u2013 which can manifest itself in varying injuries to a canine\u2019s\u00a0intervertebral discs. It is most commonly seen in long-bodied breeds large and small, from English mastiffs and German shepherds, to Bassett hounds, dachshunds and corgis.<\/p>\n

Christman and a partner,\u00a0Kristin Leydig Bryant, wrote their new book, \u201cHoney, Have You Squeezed the Dachshund,\u201d<\/a> to fuse together important information about IVDD with lighthearted stories of dogs (and owners) who enjoy a happy life despite what can be a debilitating injury. The book takes its name from a ritual Christman undertakes every night with Cosmo \u2013 squeezing the dog\u2019s bladder because he is unable to urinate on his own.<\/p>\n

A lifelong Brick resident who worked part-time as a technician at Brick Town Veterinary Hospital while he was attending Brick Township\u00a0High School, Christman returned to Brick after attending veterinary school and became a self-confessed \u201cdachsy-holic.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many dog owners whose pets face serious health issues, worries run deep, he said, from making sure a pet isn\u2019t in pain, to financial burdens, to facing the fact that they may have to give up their best friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest concern is quality of life,\u201d Christman said, explaining that dog owners act similarly regardless of the diagnosis or condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey ask, \u2018is this something my dog can survive from,\u2019 or manage?\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a big diagnosis to hear as an owner, that your dog might be permanently paralyzed, or could be blind permanently.\u00a0It\u2019s scary to hear that, and as a veterianrian, it\u2019s my job to kind of coach them along.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoney, Have You Squeezed the Dachshund\u201d was inspired by Christman\u2019s concern that dog owners might not be able to learn enough about a serious condition through a half-hour long visit to the office. And he also wanted to find a way to reassure pet owners that, with effort, a disabled dog can still be happy. Though he\u2019s paralyzed, Cosmo still goes for daily walks with Christman\u2019s other dogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a resistance band with a little bit of wrapping material around it and I put it under his belly,\u201d Christman said. \u201cHe goes for his walk every day. I help hold him up, and he comes along with he whole crew. At home, he shimmies along the floor to walk around, but he would not know that he\u2019s paralyzed. His spirit is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book mixes fun stories from owners of disabled pets nationwide with technical knowledge from Christman\u2019s veterinary training. It also include\u2019s many techniques presented in laymen\u2019s terms by\u00a0Bryant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked around the country and got some nice little stories to show everyone just how great these guys are living their lives,\u201d Christman said. \u201cIt puts a nice spin on something that can be so devastating or scary to hear. That\u2019s what this book really does.\u201d<\/p>\n[box type=\u201dshadow\u201d align=\u201d\u201d class=\u201d\u201d width=\u201d\u201d]More Information<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buy the Book:<\/strong> \u201cHoney, Have You Squeezed the Dachshund\u201d on Amazon.com, $14.95<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meet the Author:<\/strong> Christman will appear Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Brick Town Veterinary Hospital, 251 Chambers Bridge Road, for a meet-and-greet and book signing. The event will take place from 12 noon to 3 p.m.\u00a0[\/box]\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cosmo was a two-year-old dachshund when he unexpectedly became severely injured while chasing a squirrel in his owner\u2019s yard. To his owners\u2019 surprise, they were told when they visited Brick Town Veterinary Hospital that Cosmo would likely be paralyzed for the rest of his life. \u201cHe ruptured a disc\u201d said Dr. Adam Christman, a veterinarian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2555,24,2557,2558,2560,2559,2556,1391],"class_list":["post-9651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-brick","tag-adam-christman","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-brick-town-veterinary-hospital","tag-honey-have-you-squeezed-the-dachshund","tag-intervertebral-disk-disease","tag-ivdd","tag-veterinarian","tag-veterinary-medicine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/adam_christman_veterinarian.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-2vF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}