Acupuncture - worth a try?

[CrazyCharlie]

My Charlie who will be 4 this year (eek!) has had arthritis since he was about 2. We have been doing everything we can to avoid him having to take actual medication. So far Joint strong has been doing him wonders and he is great. The past 2 weeks or so nothing is working for him other than the rymadil (sp) he has for his REALLY bad days, like can hardly walk days which are very rare thankfully.

So I asked my vet about acupuncture and she said it is a great alternative and worth trying for him, especially since he is so young and he is developing the arthritis in his left knee in addtion to his shoulders.

Has anyone ever done acupuncture for their fur babies? Did it help? I am all for it if it will help him, but I as a person (who is supposed to get it for my migraines) am warey of it. I want to do what is best for him without him having to take pain meds and/or get shots like he is a 10 year old gimpy dog.

Any advice is welcome. Thank you all!

 

[srennie]

There are many different alternative options. Find a good holistic vet and ask them what they think would be most beneficial. Our GSD had acuscope therapy done on her bad hips and it really helped her.

 

[rena]

I had some success with acupuncture for my older dog - 11 when we started. She had five treatments and gained some mobility for awhile. She enjoyed the treatments and would just lay on floor while the vet inserted needles. She would usually sleep the remainder of afternoon after treatment. As my vet said - it is worth a try because your dog has no "expectation" of treatment helping so if you see results then you know it helped.

 

[Gatorblu]

There is a new, and a bit costly (approx $1800), procedure out now, stem cell therapy. They take the stem cells from fat on your dog. (To me, this is the biggest issue for boxers because they are lean dogs.) They make a fairly small incision and take the fat out. The fat is then processed to get the stem cells out. (Most vets send the fat out for this, some have the machine in their office.) They then give the dog their own stem cells back. The stem cells help rebuild what is deteriorating and causing the arthirits. I can't be positive but I think the treatment is suppose to last around 3 years before doing having to do it again.

When I asked about it I was thinking ahead for Arabella, but my vet thought I was asking about it for Thor. Thor is not a candidate because he has a tumor and they don't know the effects it would have on that. I believe there is about a 3 day turn around from surgery to injection, and that may vary by the lab doing the processing of the fat. My vet got the machine and does it in his office so it can all be done in one day. He does the surgery in the am, processes the fat during the day and gives the injections before sending the dog home at the end of the day.

Our local news did a story on an 11 yr retriver. They showed the dog before surgery and a few days after the injection. The did another follow story 3 months later and it was amazing! The dog was running and playing like a pup! I know it is not what your were asking about but thought I would throw it out there.

 

[buddhasmum]

acupuncture worth a try?

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can actually HEAL Charlie's arthritis!
He may need dietary changes also. Find a good, traditional acupuncurist who works with dogs. Even after 20 years as an acupuncurist, I am still amazed by the power of this medicine. Good luck to you and Charlie!

 

[MomtoMaggie]

Acupuncture

From what I understand it either works for a dog or doesn't. You need to do at least 3 treatments before you will know if it is working. My Maggie went into kidney failure so I had to take her off her NSAID's. I knew nothing about holistic veterinary care and thought I was taking such good care of her. Knowing what I do now, I will never do NSAID's (rimadyl is one) for a long period of time.

Maggie could be the poster child for doggie acupuncture. Originally I started because she was falling down. She had this horrendous grand mal seizure Jan 2nd and just fell off a cliff at that point. I was spending our lives at the vets and with specialists and no one could make much in the way of diagnosis. I got so desperate that I sought out eastern and holistic and I am sooo glad I did. Maggie, who is probably 11 years old, is trotting the whole way on her walks now and even breaks into a full run. I didn't think I would ever see her run again. Some days she can even give me a boxer hug. We go to acupuncture weekly (today is acu day) and her holistic vet also injects her kidney and pancreas points with B12.

In addition to the acupuncture she takes a homeopath called Traumeel and again, she responded so well to it. Holistic vet said it either works or doesn't and was so happy to see it work for Maggie. t just seems the natural things do wonders for her.

Sadly, she does have kidney disease and chronic pancreatitis, but you would never know she was sick. I don't know how much time we have with her, but I'm so happy to have her back. We thought we were days away from losing her the 3rd week in Feb. She wakes up doing the butt dance and just feels so good that it makes my heart sing.

Boxer hugs and kisses,

Heather, mom to Maggie Moo and baby Gabby girl.