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Healing & Alternative Health
Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care:
Conditions in Dogs and Cats
Which Can Be Helped by An Holistic Approach
by Kathleen M. Carson, D.V.M
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In last month’s column I gave an overview of how an holistic approach can greatly enhance veterinarians’ ability to diagnose and treat their patients’conditions. In this month’s column I will discuss specific problems for whichI have found an holistic approach to be helpful.
Because they believe acupuncture can help pain, the majority of peoplecoming to me requesting acupuncture for their companion animals do sobecause these animals are painful, stiff, and/or lame from the effects of hip dysplasia, arthritis, intervertebral disc disease, and/or other orthopedicproblems. Happily, most of these patients respond to the acupuncture: 85% or more of my orthopedic patients show noticable signs of improvement with this treatment. These patients are further helped by a group of nutraceuticals called glycoaminoglycosides or GAGs. Glucosamine and chondroitin are probably the best known of these GAGs, though I have found others to be equally or more effective. These products not only help reduce the pain and stiffness of many arthritic patients, but they help the diseased joints to heal. Other nutraceuticals and supplements help injured or diseased soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
This is really good news, but are orthopedic problems the only conditionshelped by an holistic approach? By no means....... many, many other conditions can respond as well. Among them are gastrointestinaldisorders, respiratory diseases, and seizures. I’ll discuss a few examples below.
One of the most dramatic responses I’ve personally experienced with acupuncture was a young cat with chronic sinusitis. She had been born with a large cleft palate (hole in the roof of her mouth). Every time she ate she got food up into her nasal cavities and sinuses. To make matters worse, as a young kitten she had contracted a nasty upper respiratory viral infection, further damaging these areas.
Eventually, she underwent a series of surgeries which closed the hole in her palate. This wasn’t the answer to all her problems, however. Because of the previous chronic insult of food and infection to her nasal cavities/sinuses, she had developed a chronic, purulent nasal discharge and severe upper respiratory congestion. These signs would temporarily respond to topical and oral antibiotics and decongestants , but the symptoms would recur at shorter and shorter intervals after the medications were stopped. By the time she came to see me at about two years of age, she had to be on almost continuous antibiotics, and even then, there was still some degree of congestion and discharge.
After a few acupuncture treatments we began to notice improvements -she was breathing easier, and the discharge was less. In fact, my clients informed me that they’d learned to wear old clothes when they brought her in for treatments, for, on the way home, it seemed that her sinuses just opened up and drained, and, since she couldn’t blow her nose into a hanky, their clothes served that purpose! As the weeks went by, we slowly weaned her off the medications. When I last heard from these clients, she’d been off antibiotics altogether for months!
Constipation can be a very frustrating condition to treat. Cats seem to be more often affected by this condition, though dogs can have it, too. It is not just an uncomfortable condition to have; in its later stages it can kill the appetite, cause vomiting, and lead to serious debility. While some patients respond quickly to just dietary changes/increased dietary fiber, others also require subcutaneous fluids, lubricants, stool softeners, and/or drugs to stimulate bowel motility. Even with all these medical treatments, some patients still require periodic cleaning out under anesthesia. If all else fails, surgery to remove much of the large intestine may be necessary.
Now these patients can also be helped by acupuncture, herbs, and other alternative/complementary treatments. As with so many other conditions, response depends on the severity/chronicity of the problem. If there is only mild constipation, the alternative treatments alone may be sufficient to get the bowels moving again. However, since most animals aren’t presented until their condition is pretty far along, this gentler approach often needs to be combined with one or more conventional treatments. In these latter cases, combining acupuncture and other complementary care with a more conventional approach often allows us to use lower dosages/fewer drugs and to avoid surgery.
At the other end of the gastro-intestinal (G.I.) spectrum, alternative treatments also can be very helpful in controlling nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. One of the most common G.I. conditions we veterinarians see is Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or I.B.D. For some reason, we see it more frequently in cats. I.B.D. is a form of autoimmune disease, in which the body attacks its own tissues as if they were foreign. Chronic vomiting is the most common symptom, though some patients have chronic diarrhea. Apart from the discomfort of the illness, the patient can suffer from serious weight loss, dehydration, and weakness. Some I.B.D. patients go on to develop cancers of the bowels.
Conventional treatment consists of anti-inflammatory drugs which suppress the immune response. These drugs can bring about dramatic improvement in the symptoms. Unfortunately, they also interfere with the body’s ability to fight off infection and kill cancer cells, as well as placing a strain on the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and other organs.
If a cat is brought to me in the early stages of I.B.D., I have found that I can often help them with just a change in diet and an herbal product called Slippery Elm Bark (SEB). SEB is what’s called a demulcent, or soothing agent. Cats with more advanced I.B.D. may also need acupuncture and/or other supplements in addition to the above. If they don’t respond adequately to any of these I’ll also add in a drug while keeping them on the complementary treatments. As with other conditions, this holistic approach usually allows me to avoid high doses of the drugs.
Dogs and, less frequently, cats, can have seizure disorders. In some patients the seizures are so mild or infrequent that they don’t even require any treatment. Other animals’ seizures are severe/frequent enough that they need anti-seizure medication(s). Unfortunately, in some patients these drugs cause sedation of varying degrees. Adding acupuncture and other complementary treatments can sometimes be helpful in seizure control, unless the condition is very severe. When I start doing acupuncture on a patient already on anti-seizure drugs I make no immediate changes in their drug therapy. Withdrawing an anti-seizure drug, especially if it’s done precipitously, can trigger a return of seizures. If I make an attempt toreduce a drug dose or even take my patient entirely off an anti-seizure drug I do so cautiously and slowly, starting only after I feel the alternative
treatments have had a chance to stabilize things.
In future columns I’ll discuss other conditions which can respond to an holistic approach as well as going into more detail on the treatment of some of the above conditions.
Note: if your animal companion has one of the above or any other medical condition, do not change your animal’s treatment without consulting your veterinarian.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Schwartz, Cheryl, Four Paws, Five Directions, Celestial Arts Publishing,
Berkeley, CA. 1996.
Pitcairn, D.V.M.., Richard, and Pitcairn, Susan Hubble, Natural Health for
Dogs and Cats, Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 1995.
Hamilton, D.V.M., Don, Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs: Small Doses
for Small Animals, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA, 1999.
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Dr. Kathleen Carson, DVM
Veterinarian & Author
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Dr. Carson received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California at Davis in 1968. She's been a small animal practitioner (dogs and cats ) for all the years since, except for a short stint at the San Diego Zoo when she first graduated.
She belongs to the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.
Since 1974 she's lived and practiced in the South Bay Area near Los Angeles. She started the area's first house call practice in 1976 and the first pet crisis/loss group in 1989. The human-animal bond is of special interest to her.
She started exploring complementary veterinary medicine in 1987. Her practice became 100% holistic in 1996. She utilizes acupuncture, herbs, supplements, Bach Flower Remedies, homeopathic remedies, nutrition and medications for her patients in her practice.
She's currently taking a leave of absence from her house call practice due to health reasons but continues to do phone consultations and to write.
E-mail:
Critterhlr@aol.com
website:
http://www.holistic
vetconsult.com
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