Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Acupuncture for Dogs

Amusing article on Slate.com about acupuncture for dogs.

Acupuncture for My Border Collie
Does "holistic" veterinary care really work?
By Jon Katz

excerpt...

..."Look," she told me. "There's nothing conventional veterinary medicine can do for this dog. He's physically healthy. But he does have problems. I'd like you to take him to a holistic vet in Vermont who has helped with problems I can't fix."

This was not a suggestion I particularly relished. I had read enough "holistic" veterinary advice on the Web to make me leery of it. I don't doubt there are many useful alternative approaches to almost any form of medicine, human or animal, and Eastern veterinary approaches are in vogue among dog lovers now. But it's almost impossible—at least for me—to gauge the effectiveness of these alternatives, which many people first encounter online....[read more]

I haven't tried acupuncture on my dogs, especially
not for behavior-related problems, but Chewie
did have some aquapressure treatments for a sore
shoulder/leg. The vet injected an inert fluid
under the skin at certain pressure points.
After maybe two treatments, Chewie had stopped
limping after being in pain for months. So,
who knows?

Have you brought your dog in for acupuncture
treatments? Tell us all about it!