So by now, you've heard a ton about how great acupuncture is for humans.  Here's a story of how well it has worked in man's best friend!

I've treated several pets with various types and stages of paralysis and in every case the pet has experienced at least some amount of relief from their symptoms.

Acupuncture is often used to treat chronic, long-standing conditions, but there are many cases where it can be used to treat emergency-type conditions with great success!

Incontinence is a very common condition in older dogs, particularly females.  It’s often called “spay incontinence” with the assumption that it’s due to the lack of hormones caused by the removal of the ovaries and uterus in female dogs.

Common biomedical treatment is with a drug called Proin, and while some owners have found that it works for their dogs, other see little difference in the “leaking” experienced by their dogs.  This can be a very frustrating condition, as the dog has no control over her bladder, but the owner has been used to a potty-trained dog up until this point!  

I’ve found that an integrative approach has been best for the dogs that I’ve worked with who have this condition.  Proin, with the addition of acupuncture and Chinese herbs works beautifully for helping a dog regain control of her bladder!

In Chinese medicine, the Kidneys are responsible for many bodily functions, including bladder control, hormone regulation and aging, just to list those that factor into incontinence.  As we age, our Kidney energy declines, giving rise to a propensity to incontinence.  Treatment consists of increasing Kidney Qi through acupuncture and herbal formulas.

Herbal formulas, specific to each dog’s exact health situation, are key to the treatment of incontinence.  While acupuncture can increase Kidney energy, it tends to be slow, while herbs are much quicker at achieving appropriate levels of Kidney Qi.

What I have noticed is that with acupuncture and herbal treatment, many dogs’ doses of Proin are able to be severely reduced in order to control their incontinence; some are able to come off of the medication completely!  

It’s such a relief when a solution is found to help your dog stop leaking urine! No longer do they have to be embarrassed by their lack of control, and no longer do you have to clean up the endless drips of urine!

Arthritis in dogs is one of the main health concerns that I see.  As pet owners, we’ve all been there.  We’ve had a long, lovely life with our dog, and they’re getting a bit older.  They’re starting to have difficulties getting up from lying down, especially in the morning after lying there for a while.  They have trouble getting in the car to go to the park.  They don’t run like they used to at the park, and then that evening they’re super stiff.

I see this scene play out on a regular basis, and very often, the owner/friend/treat-hander-outer has brought them to me as a last resort.  Is there anything that can be done to keep our beloved dog comfortable just a bit longer?  I always get excited at this point, because yes!  Almost without fail (there have been a few cases where we just couldn’t make enough of a difference in the pup’s pain levels) we can get that old dog moving more smoothly again.

In Chinese medicine, our Kidneys play a huge role in the aging process.  I’m not talking about the biomedical kidneys here, so if I say your dog has weak kidneys, there’s no need to panic.  I’m talking about the Chinese medical Kidneys.  These are the jobs that are attributed to the Kidneys in Chinese Medicine:  bone health, aging, some aspects of the urinary tract, menstruation in women – just to name a few.

When our dogs (and us, for that matter!) get older, their Kidney’s ability to manage all of the jobs mentioned above starts to decline.  This is when we start seeing arthritis, graying of hair, and incontinence (and in human women – menopause).  The process for treating arthritis in dogs involves strengthening the Kidneys, and making sure that their Qi flows smoothly throughout their bodies.

It’s always exciting to see that dog who previously hobbled into my office come bounding up the stairs to give me a kiss hello before their next treatment.  Yep, there’s no better reward than that!

My dog suffers from hip dysplasia -- will acupuncture help her?

In acupuncture, the body is like a freeway system, with Qi flowing through energy pathways called Meridians.  In this analogy, the cars are the Qi and the freeways themselves are the Meridians.  Pain is kind of like a car accident on the freeway.  When there is an accident on the freeway, the rest of the cars trying to travel through aren’t able to, which makes drivers cranky.  In your body, when there is a blockage to the natural flow of Qi, energy can’t travel through the Meridians properly, and the result is a cranky body - pain.

While acupuncture can’t fix the fact that a dog with hip dysplasia has a malformed hip socket, it can reduce the amount of pain associated with this disorder by removing the blockages to the flow of Qi.  Acupuncture relaxes muscle tension that has accumulated through chronic compensation for this loose joint, easing a lot of the aches and pains that a dog will experience.

I often find that after seeing a dog for 3-10 visits (depending on the severity of their condition and how their bodies respond to acupuncture) that they are pain-free and only require “tune-ups” every couple of months to maintain their pain-free status!

Is acupuncture ever used to treat canine cancer?

In the US, Chinese medicine is mostly used with the intention of aiding a pet through treatment.  Often symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, dry-mouth and more can be severe enough to require treatments to be discontinued.  Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are very effective at easing these symptoms, allowing a pet to finish their course of treatments.  On the other hand, in Chinese medicine, every patient is treated as a whole.  Cancer cannot be ignored, as it is part of the pet’s health picture, and so it will always be addressed.  

As far as Chinese medicine being used exclusively to treat cancer in pets- this is a gray area.

In China, Chinese medicine is often used as the sole treatment for cancer (as well as many other diseases) with reportedly very positive results.  However, as far as research goes, there have been no reputable studies done to observe the outcomes of Chinese-medicine-only cancer treatments.

In the US, Chinese medicine is usually seen as an adjunctive therapy; one to be used in conjunction with biomedical treatments, so the research that exists comes from the viewpoint of “how can Chinese medicine assist with or ease the side effects of biomedical treatments?”  We just haven’t looked at the ability of Chinese medicine to treat cancer directly.

In reality, cancer, in pets, is often not discovered until it is advanced because they are masters at hiding discomfort, and thus, disease.  At this point, there usually isn’t enough time to let Chinese medicine work.  If the pet’s owner decides to go through with biomedical treatments, Chinese medicine can ease the side effects associated with chemo and radiation.  If the pet’s owner decides not to go through with biomedical treatments, Chinese medicine can help make the pet comfortable and perhaps slow the progression of the disease, giving them more symptom-free time.

My dog has skin allergies – what can acupuncture do for him?

A LOT!  Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are very effective at treating all sorts of allergies!  I’ve treated many patients (both 2- and 4-legged) with allergies to all sorts of substances: grasses, pollens, pets, foods, etc.

In Chinese medicine, the allergic reaction itself (the stuffy nose, runny eyes or itchy skin) is due to Wind combining with either heat or cold.  Now, I know this sounds funny to our Western ear, but hear me out!  The term wind simply refers to a condition that comes and goes quickly, moves around, or causes itching.  The heat and cold refers to what the symptoms look like. Are your pet’s eyes red and itchy?  Is the skin where they itch red and hot?  These would be symptoms of heat.  Do their eyes just look like they’re crying clear tears?  Is the skin where they itch normal colored? These would be signs of cold.

Treatment of allergies has two phases.  In the first phase, we are treating the wind-heat or wind-cold directly.  We are getting your pet to be symptom-free and comfortable.  But treatment can’t stop here.  After symptom relief occurs, we move on to the second phase.

In the second phase we are treating the reason WHY your pet has allergies.  And this is the key to Chinese medicine.  We don’t just treat the symptoms every time you or your pet has them.  We get to the bottom of the problem and remind the body how NOT to have the symptoms in the first place!

In Chinese medical theory, some people and pets are what we call Qi deficient – meaning they don’t have enough energy to have a nice, strong immune system that responds properly to allergens.  In the second phase of treatment we must strengthen the body so that it can respond properly to whatever challenges it may face.  

When the body has enough Qi, and the body is reminded of its functions, we have true health!

Benny is a LOVELY guy. A giant, big-hearted teddy bear of a pup. Benny came to see me after rupturing his cruxiate ligament. Poor guy hurt his knee and was hobbling around like an old man! (Benny's only 7 years-old, by the way, he's got a LONG time left of playing with his pet and human family!) You see, Benny had done what MANY other dogs do during this time of year. It's FINALLY nice outside and when you get the chance to run after a long, shut-in winter, you RUN. Benny was going to have to wait with hurting knee for a month for his surgery because of all the other dogs ahead of him in line!

The vet gave him pain meds to help get him through the pain until surgery day, but his treat-hander-outer was hoping to keep him on lower doses of the medications. So we started doing acupuncture twice a week to keep his pain under control and to prepare him for his upcoming surgery. Benny also went home with an herbal formula that would do the same.

During the time prior to surgery, Benny's treat-hander-outer noticed that he was in good spirits! He was also in very little pain, which required lower doses of pain meds, just like they were hoping.

Benny's surgery day finally came and went and when I saw him for the first time after (a week after his surgery) I couldn't believe my eyes! Not only was he walking on his knee, he wasn't limping very much, either. On his second visit post-surgery, Benny waltzed right in with barely a hitch in his giddyup! The surgery that Benny had is pretty extensive, including reshaping of the bone in his knee. I've seen many pets who've had this surgery (while working at a vet clinic that performed such surgeries), and I've NEVER seen a dog with such a speedy recovery before!

I think this is a great case where biomedicine and natural medicine have worked together. While there was nothing that acupuncture could do to repair the torn ligament, acupuncture and Chinese herbs significantly reduced the amount of pain that was experienced, as well as prepared Benny's body for the surgery. His energy was already flowing smoothly pre-surgery, so it took very little to get back to that point.

Now, if only acupuncture could help keep this rearing-to-go pup calmer while his knee completely heals!

Yesterday, I offered some ways to make it easier to take herbs yourself. Today I'm going to talk about the tricks I have up my sleeve for getting herbs into your pet.

Some pets are pickier than others. We all know the cat who will give you scars you'll remember for the rest of your life, or the dog who will very carefully extract even the smallest pill from a big glob of peanut butter. Here are a few tricks for making sure they get the herbs that will keep them happier and healthier for longer:

• If your pet is taking teapills and your pet isn't too picky, hide the teapills in something delectable. Typically, peanut butter or a slice of hot dog will do the trick. There is also a product called Pill Pockets that are special treats for hiding pills in. They come in several different flavors and sizes, and work for both cats and dogs. Many pets LOVE the taste of these!
• If your pet still won't take their teapills, you can crush them and sprinkle them on canned food. This works for many pets who then can't "pick out" a pill.
• If you pet STILL won't take their teapills, they can be dissolved in warm water (no more than a tablespoon) and fed to your pet using a syringe. Most vet clinics can give you a special syringe for doing just this.
• If your pet is taking a granule formula, try sprinkling, or mixing it in with some tasty (read: stinky) canned food. For many pets, this will suffice.
  
• If your pet isn't a fan of the granules contaminating their food, you can encapsulate the granule formula and give the herbs as you would any other pill. (see the first 2 bullets for tips)
• If your pet still won't take their granule formula, dissolve it in just enough water to be able to suck it up with a syringe, and feed it to your pet via the syringe, just like you would with the dissolved teapill.

Pets can be a little tricky to get herbs into, but what I have often found is that once a pet learns that the herbs make them feel better and don't have any side effects, they are MUCH more cooperative about taking them. I've had several pet patients who would come running to their owners when they said, "Okay, it's time for Becca's pills!" and then gobble them right down!

Hopefully one or more of these tricks will help you get herbs down your pet in a more relaxed, less-stressful way!

Growing up we had this cat. We called him Sargie. Why "Sargie," you may ask? Sargie was born to a stray momma who decided to birth her kittens under my aunt's back deck. Momma was a manx (no tail) as well as most of the kittens. Because having no tail is a deformity of the spine, there can often be other problems located anywhere else on the spine.

As a kitten, Sargie was very slow in developing. While his brothers and sisters were walking around, romping and playing, Sargie wasn't. We wondered if he would ever walk, be able to get to his food, water and litter box. He was about a month behind the others in getting going, but when he finally did, he did what looked like an army crawl. You've seen the movies with the guys at boot camp crawling under the barbed wire... that's how Sargie got around as a kitten. Because he was now able to get to his food and litter box, we decided we didn't care how "normal" he was, he could have a great life in our family. Soon enough Sargie was walking normally. It seems that it just took him some time to gain the strength to walk correctly.

Sargie was a GREAT cat. He was extremely loving (even to the dogs, whom he LOVED to rub up against). He was so laid-back that he even allowed momma-less Humane Society foster kittens to suckle on him! This earned him the nickname "Unkie Sarge."

When Sargie was about 8 years old we started noticing that he seemed stiff and was cranky with the other pets in the house. We took him to our vet to see what was going on. It turns out he had pretty advanced arthritis because of his deformed spine. Upon x-rays, we found that he had missing vertebrae, some that were fused and some that were just deformed. All of these abnormal changes were causing Sargie a lot of pain. It was suggested that we get him started onglucosamine and chondroitin to slow the advance of the arthritis.

The vet also suggested that we let him do acupuncture on Sargie.

This was after our family had had some significant life changes because of acupuncture (see my story here) so this sounded reasonable. However, we never expected the results that we saw!

After going home from Sargie's vet appointment where he received his first-ever acupuncture treatment, he was a new cat! He was once again playing with the other cats rather than growling at them! He was rubbing up on the dogs once more! He was back to normal!

We took Sargie back for acupuncture treatment every week for about a month, then every other week for about 4 more visits, and then as needed for his pain. On average, after his pain was under control, we took him in about every 3-6 months for what we called "Sargie's Tune-Up."

After seeing these results, and my path came clear that I was going to become an acupuncturist, there was no way I was going to miss out on treating pets as well! They respond so much quicker than their human counterparts. Is it because they're more sensitive? Do they have less stress? Do they not internalize the stress? I'm not sure exactly why they respond so well to treatment, it's probably some combination of the above ideas. I do know that I love having the opportunity to help pets be their happiest and healthiest!