No matter how well you take care of your dog, some ailments will still come with age. I have been lucky with Mosby – at 14 he has had very few medical issues. But in the past two years, his arthritis has gotten slowly, but undeniably, worse. In the last few months I have seen the greatest change in his balance and control of his hind legs. Fearing that he could really hurt himself when he falls or slips, I took him to an orthopedic specialist so we could rule out anything more serious than arthritis and discuss treatments so we can reduce the chances of a serious injury. The doctor’s recommendation for treatment surprised me: acupuncture.
I had never before considered something like acupuncture as a treatment for an animal, and kind of wanted to laugh at the suggestion. But something about it intrigued me. If it works so well for people, why can’t it work for an animal? The doctor offered me a list of acupuncturists who specialize in treating animals, and gave me a prescription for pain medication in case I would rather treat my dog in a more traditional manner, acknowledging that not everyone believes in alternative medicine. I got back home and started researching alternative treatments for dogs, and posted questions on a few pet-message boards to see if anyone had any experiences (good or bad) with something like acupuncture. I got back an overwhelmingly positive response.
The doctor I decided to go with explained that acupuncture is a treatment, not a cure, and will not help all dogs. (always good to manage expectations) I figure it’s worth a shot. It’s not the cheapest method of treatment but if your dog responds well and only needs a few treatments a year, I think it is much cheaper than giving him medication every day.
Mosby’s first appointment is next week, and I am eager to see how it goes and share the results. If you have any experiences with alternative treatments for pets, please share them with us here!
2 responses so far ↓
1 RTPblogger // Jul 23, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Good luck with the accupuncture! My German Shepard was diagnosed with Degenerative Mylopathy and his accupuncture treatments DEFINATLEY helped him live longer and stay more comfortable. I could actually see a difference in the days after he would get his treatment. However, he was so old when we started (15.5 Y.O.!) that he never got to a point where they would maintain w=for any length of time, so we did them weekly or bi-weekly for the rest of his life.
Don’t fret for you though, most dogs need about 6 weekly sessions before they can start weaning back.
2 Animals Have the Good Life // Aug 21, 2008 at 4:57 pm
[…] keep her passion after the state of MD denied her the right to perform massages on horses. And as Claudia mentioned in another blog post, dogs are now receiving acupuncture for their pain. Both of these are […]
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