As it is accupuncture awareness week I thought it would be nice to share how acupuncture has been helping pets at Pennard Vets.
I have been taking acupuncture consultations at Pennards for about 5 years now and have treated about 120 animals. Approximately 90% of these are dogs, 9% cats and 1% rabbits!
They are all animals suffering with pain usually resulting from arthritis where the usual analgesics (pain killers) aren’t working as well as they used to or if an underlying medical condition precludes their use.
The response I have seen in some cases is remarkable. An old arthritic dog comes hobbling into the consult room on week one turns into a bright bouncy dog bounding in by week four.
About 80% of cases respond to acupuncture and this response can range from very mild improvement to spectacular success. In fact, in some cases, owners have been so impressed with their animals’ response that they have gone for acupuncture themselves for their aches and pains. Not by me I should add!
While there are numerous scientific studies that prove the effect and benefits of acupuncture there is still a lot we don’t know about how it actually works. It stimulates certain nerves in the body which causes endorphin release (the bodies’ natural pain killers) and seems to block pain pathways to the brain.
It has been around for thousands of years and while most people are familiar with it being an integral part of tradition Chinese medicine it has also been used in most other civilizations such as Australian aborigines, Native American Indians, and even Inuit Eskimos where they use sharpened slivers of seal and whale bone.
I usually see cases referred to me by my colleagues here at Pennards but have also accepted cases from other practices in the area as well.
Acupuncture cases
‘Benson’ an 8 year old Labrador
Benson was referred to me by his vet with a history of walking stiffly and a reluctance and difficulty of rising from a lying position. X-rays had revealed multiple areas of severe spondylosis (bridging arthritis between vertebrae) to the spine.
Benson was much better even after just the first session. He was much more comfortable. The stiffness went and he was able to jump up from lying down.
This improvement lasted for 9 months and a one off ‘top-up’ session was given when he deteriorated again, which bounced him back to full fitness.
‘Sasha’ a 12 year old Doberman
She had 4 sessions of acupuncture which worked well. The owner reported she was much happier and didn’t seem lame and was more willing to go for walks.
This lasted for about 5-6 weeks at which point she seemed to slow down and become painful again. We gave her a one off session and within hours she was better again. This pattern continued with a one off top up acupuncture session every 5-6 weeks.
‘Delphi’ a 10year old Golden retriever
Delphi had severe arthritis and pain to the right knee. She had been on pain relief for some time which seemed to keep her comfortable.
One day she presented extremely lame and wasn’t able to use this leg at all. The knee joint was severely swollen and very painful. We initially thought that she had sustained a fracture near this joint but on x-ray this was found just to be an acute flare up of the arthritis. The pain killers she was on didn’t seem to help at all and the owner was seriously considering having to put her to sleep due to the pain she was in.
We tried some acupuncture and the effect was miraculous. The owner phoned the next day to report that Delphi was up running around and seemed like a new dog. She went on to have regular acupuncture sessions and continued to respond well.
‘Bubu’ an 11 year old cat
Bubu was a stray cat that couldn’t find a home. Eventually she was adopted by one of the Vets at the Sevenoaks branch.
She had arthritis to her back possibly caused by a previous injury and found it difficult to jump or groom herself properly. She started having acupuncture and was markedly better after her first session and now continues to have acupuncture sessions when she becomes sore again.
No comments:
Post a Comment