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Healing & Alternative Health
Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care:
Acupuncture
for Animals
by Kathleen M. Carson, D.V.M |
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How does acupuncture work? No one knows the whole answer; we are still looking for explanations that fit our Western minds. There are many unanswered questions, but it *has* been demonstrated that during acupuncture there is an increase in the level of the body's natural pain-killing and immune-enhancing hormones, the endorphins and encephalins. We also know that acupuncture causes the levels of cortisol, an anti-inflammatory hormone, to be increased, and that it brings about a decrease in muscle spasm and an increase in blood flow.
The Chinese explanation of acupuncture is that it helps to stimulate the body's own natural life energy, which they call *qi* (pronounced “chee”). They believe that this energy normally circulates through the body along channels called meridians, just as blood flows along arteries and veins. When this energy flow is slowed down or blocked, disease or dysfunction or pain results in the areas or organs these channels serve and nourish.
Very fine, sterile needles are inserted into certain points along the meridians during the treatments. This insertion stimulates the *qi* and helps to relieve blockages. Most dogs and cats tolerate the needles very well. Some are apprehensive at first, not knowing what to expect, but the needles are so thin that they are hardly felt by most patients. After the needles are inserted the animal begins to feel more relaxed and peaceful, and pain decreases. With succeeding treatments the apprehension is less and less; in fact, after a while most animals look forward to their treatments!
Since acupuncture works to enhance the body's own efforts to heal it tendsto work somewhat slowly; its effects are cumulative. Clients used to the more quickly-acting Western drugs and surgery need to be re-trained to expect slower results. I like to use the comparison of a beaver dam. As the meridian becomes blocked, it's like beavers building a dam through a stream; eventually, the whole stream is blocked up. Each acupuncture treatment removes some of the dam, allowing more and more water to break through to resume its normal pathway.
After enough of the dam has been removed the stream can flow freely again. If there's too much time between treatments the beavers start to replace the parts of the dam which have been removed, so, especially at the beginning, it's important to have regular treatments. If the “dam”/blockage has been present a long time, permanent damage may have been done to the streambed so that only partial flow can be re-established. And, after the flow has been established, maintenance treatments sometimes have to be done to deal with the beavers' efforts to rebuild their dam!
The same thing is true with acupuncture. If a condition is acute, sometimes one treatment takes care of the problem. However, if a condition is chronic (as it is in the overwhelming majority of my patients), it usually takes anywhere between 4 to 6 initial treatments to begin to see noticable results. If treatments are skipped, ground is lost.
As improvement is seen, treatments are done further apart. In some cases the animal does so well that he/she doesn't need to be seen for months after the initial series of treatments. Others, with more severe/longterm conditions, need to stay on a maintenance program, coming in every 4 to 6 weeks indefinitely. Some conditions are so severe or long-standing that only partial improvement is possible.
The relative slowness of the improvement is offset by the low incidence of side effects - a distinct advantage over drugs and surgery, especially in older animals.
If an animal is on drugs when coming to see me, I don't feel it's a good idea in most cases to withdraw them suddenly. We start the acupuncture treatments while they're still on the drugs. As time goes by I'll see if we can slowly withdraw the medication. In some cases the animals are able to get off the drugs completely; in other cases this isn't possible, but the amount of the drugs can often be reduced.
Acupuncture is a wonderful treatment modality that is giving thousands of animals the chance to have less pain, greater function, and increased longevity! In future columns I’ll discuss conditions which can be helped by
acupuncture as well as other alternative treatments.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Schwartz, D.V.M., Cheryl, *Four Paws, Five Directions: A Guide to Chinese Medicine for Cats and Dogs*, Celestial Arts, Berkeley, CA., 1996
Beinfield, L.Ac., Harriet and Korngold, L.Ac., O.M.D., Efrem, *Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine*, Ballantine Books, NY, 1991.
Kaptchuk, O.M.D., Ted, *The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine*, Congdon & Weed, Chicago, Ill., 1983.
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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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