Acupuncture for dogs? It works.

[Neecy]

Last fall, my mother's 12 year old Dalmation experienced a bulging disk in her spine and it resulted in almost complete paralysis of her back legs. The dog's vet said he'd try medication, but basically wrote the dog off and said they'd probably have to put it to sleep.

The medication had no effect, and when it ran out it looked like she'd run out of options. Still, the dog was alert, didn't appear to be in pain, and had a good appetite. My mother thought that before putting a relatively healthy dog to sleep that she'd get a second opinion, so she searched around until she found a local vet who also performs acupuncture. I thought it was utterly crazy and a waste of money. The dog literally had to drag itself around, and in order to take it outside you had to support her with a towel under her hips. My mother was determined, though, and made the appointment.

The new vet thought the dog was a good candidate for acupuncture and recommended two immediate treatments, in very close order, to relieve the pressure on the dog's spine. The first treatment showed pretty significant improvement - the dog was able to manueuver her legs a bit, and after the second treatment, she was able to stand on all four legs. Within a few weeks the dog was walking, although still a bit wobbly.

The dog now has her acupuncture every six weeks, and chases rabbits in my mother's back yard. I never would have believed it six months ago. I take the dog to her appointments on occasion and it's a pretty fascinating process to watch, and the Dalmation just sits there and lets the vet insert the needles (but then, she has a very gentle disposition).

If your dog has severe mobility problems and you're at a last resort stage, you might want to consider this treatment. I'd recommend a licensed vet who's qualified in acupuncture rather than an acupuncturist who also treats animals, since the underlying problem is usually medical. I thought I'd pass this along in case it might help someone else (the vet said she treats cats, but they tend to be much less cooperative than dogs and generally the cats she treats are older and less fussy).

[auburngrad82]

1. We haven't used acupuncture yet but we have done chiropractic

Doggie chiropractic really works. We have a nine year old cattle dog and he's starting to show signs of aging. Can't chase the frisbee with the same gusto he could as a pup, that kind of thing. We took him to the doggie chiropractor and you could literally see his whole body relax as she adjusted him. And he HATES vets. It used to take three of us to give him the bordatello vaccine, two to hold him down and one to squirt the vaccine in his nose. Thank God they came up with injectible bordatello vaccine.

But back to the chiropractor. He acted like a puppy for a couple weeks after his adjustment and now he's back to his old creaky-boned ill-tempered self. I think it's time to take him back. And this time our intention is to combine acupuncture with chiropractic. We've had it done to our horse and it seems to work wonders.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I have heard only good things about acupuncture for dogs and horses.

Water therapy (slow swimming, phyical therapy in water) is also something worth trying if you have a facility nearby.

Chiropractic is also an excellent alternative therapy.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. Acupressure is good, too.

Acupuncture without those creepy needles. :) And you can do it yourself, at home, for minor conditions. I've used it with my dogs several times to good effect. I'm by no means an expert in the matter, but I've got a couple of books where I can look up the relevant "points" when my kids are feeling off.

And, I can actually feel a tingling in my fingertip, when I find the acupressure point. It may very well just be in my head, and the healing benefit may just be the added attention that the animal gets, which stimulates the immune system - but whatever the mechanism, it works.