Acupuncture/Aquapuncture

[QY10]

Angus has been doing acupuncture for 2 reasons; his ACL injury and his anxiety.

It's been going really well. I am actually surprised at how effective it's been.

We have been walking/jogging almost daily and he's normally very anxious with other dogs. When he sees or hears them, he starts whining, lunging, barking, pulling on his leash etc... This was something that we had been working on with hit and miss results. So, I mentioned this to his vet while at acupuncture and she started treating him for his anxiety to see how he would do.

Since his acupuncture treatments (every 2 weeks), all of those behaviours are gone. We walk by dogs/people calmly now and he get LOTS of praise when he's calm.

Yesterday, our vet injected B12 into his acupuncture points for anxiety and said that it will have a longer-lasting effect. So, we will see how that goes.

Who else has done acupuncture with their dogs and how effective did you find it?

 

[DDSK]

I have never heard of this.
Very interesting.

 

[sjdavenport]

We did several acupuncture sessions with Mazey for the arthritis in one of her elbows and her knee before we found out that the knee was her torn CCL. The acupuncture seemed to make a huge difference for her elbow. In fact, I haven't seen her favoring that front leg a single time since her second session. We didn't specifically target any anxiety points, except for one. The doctor did just one calming point because Mazey was a little nervous about the whole thing. I could actually tell the difference before and after the session. It takes us an hour to get to that clinic, and Mazey would pace around in the back of the car the whole time because she almost never goes anywhere without one of her brothers and she's more anxious without them. Then on the way home, she consistently would just lay down and go to sleep. She didn't get any B12 injected into any of the points, but when I later looked up the calming point we used, I saw several sources mentioning the use of B12. That's really awesome that it seems to be helping Angus so much!

 

[scorning]

I did acupuncture every 3 weeks with my Wobblers dane after surgery. It was a huge help with any residual compression in his neck, and he always fell asleep during his appointment. He was generally relaxed the rest of the day or more, especially once we upgraded to electro-acupuncture. I haven't thought about doing it for anxiety, I going to contact my old vet to see if she thinks this could help with my reactive Doberman.

 

[phoebegirl]

When all options were exhausted for Libby at age 4 for her spondalosis, HD, and arthritis, the regular vet told me it was time to think of the final option. I was not giving up so a friend suggested finding a holistic vet which I did. The very first appointment we did aquapuncture and she came bouncing out of the clinic like a puppy again. She lived another 4 years through regular appointments for this treatment.

I think it's a shame more places don't offer this because the results were immediate and changed her quality of life.

 

[QY10]

We did several acupuncture sessions with Mazey for the arthritis in one of her elbows and her knee before we found out that the knee was her torn CCL. The acupuncture seemed to make a huge difference for her elbow. In fact, I haven't seen her favoring that front leg a single time since her second session. We didn't specifically target any anxiety points, except for one. The doctor did just one calming point because Mazey was a little nervous about the whole thing. I could actually tell the difference before and after the session. It takes us an hour to get to that clinic, and Mazey would pace around in the back of the car the whole time because she almost never goes anywhere without one of her brothers and she's more anxious without them. Then on the way home, she consistently would just lay down and go to sleep. She didn't get any B12 injected into any of the points, but when I later looked up the calming point we used, I saw several sources mentioning the use of B12. That's really awesome that it seems to be helping Angus so much!

That is awesome that Mazey experienced some of the positive, calming effects from acupuncture. Angus always falls asleep right after his appointment, too. He actually fell asleep during his appointment last week haha.

 

[QY10]

I did acupuncture every 3 weeks with my Wobblers dane after surgery. It was a huge help with any residual compression in his neck, and he always fell asleep during his appointment. He was generally relaxed the rest of the day or more, especially once we upgraded to electro-acupuncture. I haven't thought about doing it for anxiety, I going to contact my old vet to see if she thinks this could help with my reactive Doberman.

Electro-acupuncture? I have never heard of that. What does it do?

We walked yesterday and encountered 4 dogs being walked together. Angus saw them and immediately got curious/a bit anxious. He whined once... I gave him a quick 'pop' on his prong collar, moved him to the other side of me and we walked by without any incidents or noise from him. Of course, he got lots of praise and love for being so good.

It's been hard because he's not food motivated and when he'd get into that zone with other dogs, he wouldn't hear me, wouldn't feel me trying to guide him away. He would pull, make all kinds of awful sounds like I was killing him, lunge, bark, growl, foam at the mouth etc... He wouldn't listen to any commands like 'sit', he wouldn't feel his prong collar as he's pulling, or I was trying to walk in another direction. It was awful and really embarrassing. The acupuncture has really gotten him to a point where I can start reinforcing the good stuff and he's able to respond to redirection/corrections.

 

[QY10]

When all options were exhausted for Libby at age 4 for her spondalosis, HD, and arthritis, the regular vet told me it was time to think of the final option. I was not giving up so a friend suggested finding a holistic vet which I did. The very first appointment we did aquapuncture and she came bouncing out of the clinic like a puppy again. She lived another 4 years through regular appointments for this treatment.

I think it's a shame more places don't offer this because the results were immediate and changed her quality of life.

It's fascinating how the effects are immediate. I find it amazing how his body releases the needles once they've done their job, but really holds onto them until then. The vet can tug on them quite hard to check on them and his body will not let go of them. Once they're done, they just fall out.

I am so impressed with my vet. She's supported me in conservative management with Angus' ACL tear and she's totally open to holistic medicine. It really speaks volumes to me that she's a Western veterinarian AND a veterinary acupuncturist (Chinese medicine). I really feel that no matter what I bring forth to her, or what treatment methods I want to try prior to jumping into surgery/western medications, I won't be judged and will be supported.

 

[phoebegirl]

It's fascinating how the effects are immediate. I find it amazing how his body releases the needles once they've done their job, but really holds onto them until then. The vet can tug on them quite hard to check on them and his body will not let go of them. Once they're done, they just fall out.

I am so impressed with my vet. She's supported me in conservative management with Angus' ACL tear and she's totally open to holistic medicine. It really speaks volumes to me that she's a Western veterinarian AND a veterinary acupuncturist (Chinese medicine). I really feel that no matter what I bring forth to her, or what treatment methods I want to try prior to jumping into surgery/western medications, I won't be judged and will be supported.

That's a good vet you have!

 

[scorning]

In the electo-acupuncture, also called e-stim, the needles are connected to a battery so a current flows through the needles. I always thought it looked like my dog was a car hooked up to a battery with jumper cables. Usually our sessions started with a slower current and then I think either became intermittent or faster, I can't remember, but the once the current change I immediately saw my dog get more relaxed. This wouldn't work well for dogs that want to move around, since they are connected with wires to the battery.

Per wikipedia: "Electroacupuncture is quite similar to traditional acupuncture in that the same points are stimulated during treatment. As with traditional acupuncture, needles are inserted on specific points along the body. The needles are then attached to a device that generates continuous electric pulses using small clips. These devices are used to adjust the frequency and intensity of the impulse being delivered, depending on the condition being treated. Electroacupuncture uses two needles at time so that the impulses can pass from one needle to the other. Several pairs of needles can be stimulated simultaneously, usually for no more than 30 minutes at a time."[SUP][2][/SUP]

 

[sjdavenport]

Mazey's vet used electro-acupuncture. Here's what the setup looks like:

 

[ruby55]

Our vet @ work uses acupuncture for a variety of maladies. He's been studying for quite a while now, & I've seen improvements in almost all of his patients.