Dr. Debby Burnett

In the fifth grade, after reading All Creatures Great and Small by Dr. James Herriot, I knew with all of my heart and soul I wanted to be a veterinarian. I wanted to do what he did—from that very first paragraph of the first chapter of the first book. I wanted to be him, laying on a cold, stone floor in the middle of a winter night, struggling to deliver a stubborn calf. He succeeded in tending to cow and calf, and I wanted that feeling. After a very long and squiggly road, I was able to pursue that childhood dream.
Veterinary school was everything I’d hoped it would be. Veterinary practice was not. I had successes, like Dr. Herriot. But I had frustrations too. I felt no matter what I did, I wasn’t helping animals heal and live their best lives.

Deep down I knew there had to be a better way—there had to be a path in veterinary medicine that would allow me to use my hands in such a way to bring health and happiness to my patients—and their humans. I enrolled in the veterinary acupuncture course at Colorado State University and became a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. That course opened a door for me to begin to walk the path I desperately wanted to be on. In the background I kept encountering the subject of chiropractic. I had my young daughter at the chiropractor early on in her life. We loved our Dr. Cathy and Dr. Brian as
they worked magic for both my daughter and myself.

After a wholehearted attempt at general veterinary practice, I realized I hadn’t quite completed my education on the path to providing the best possible care for my animal patients. Many factors finally coalesced into one shining moment that propelled me to begin my journey into animal chiropractic care. I am grateful to the Universe and to the Innate Intelligence through which I have arrived at this juncture. I am thrilled to now be able to add animal chiropractic to my toolbox of veterinary
acupuncture and animal physical therapy so that I may help the animals to live their best lives—happy, joyous and free.

I believe my ability to add animal chiropractic to my toolkit is benefitting both the animals and their humans in the Gunnison Valley as it opens up another avenue of healing. My biggest wins are Marrakesh the Maine Coon cat who hates being touched and who allowed me to adjust his atlas, took a few steps, looked at me and then shook tip to tail. Now every time I go to his house, he greets me at the door. Another win is an 8 year old mixed breed dog named Gus who has a history of Addison’s disease,
managed very carefully by his humans and who then tore his right CCL. Surgery was off the table due to the Addison’s—his humans hopefully reached out to me. Gus was 3-legged lame the first time I met him. I adjusted his atlas. I stepped away. He looked at me quizzically—his mom was trying to give him a treat—he looked back at me, cocked his head, put the right hindlimb down on the ground and shook tip to tail.

Another win was a horse named Rico. After convincing the owner to let me try three chiropractic adjustments for his uneven pelvis—I added the intertransverse joint at the third adjustment. He walked away and the owner said in disbelief “it’s level!”

I love adjusting cats! They’re cats, man. I have to be fast and sly and not them know what I’m doing until it’s done. So satisfying!

Everyone should know that animal chiropractic is the best version of myself using my hands to help the animal be the best version of themselves. It has been a careerchanging endeavor for me and my only wish is that I had done it years ago.