A Path With Paws

It’s sad to see our animal companions no longer be able to do the things they once could do as they age and grow older. All older animals have some amount of arthritis, although some have many more problems with it.

Unfortunately, Western medicine has very few options for treating arthritis and uses mostly drugs, to treat the pain. This is starting to change with some veterinarians doing stem cell and plasma rich platelet injections. However these treatments can still be expensive. Ask your vet about if these treatments are right for your dog. Some animals are not able to tolerate these drugs and many times animals are on three different drugs and it still isn’t enough.

In some animals arthritis manifests as weakness caused by the inflammation pushes on the nerves. Many dogs walk around like their feet are asleep, tripping over things, stumbling and no longer having the strength to jump into the car or onto the bed. Unfortunately because they can no longer walk as far or do as much as they used to, their muscles start to atrophy or waste away, causing a vicious cycle. As the weakness increased, they do less, which causes more atrophy from disuse, leading to more weakness and more atrophy and less activity. In the end many of these animals can no longer get up on their own or even take a short walk.

In other animals arthritis will manifest as pain, which can also prevent movement and cause the weakness/atrophy cycle. Many of these animals will become moody and withdrawn and may even snap and bite at their people out of fear of pain. It is so hard to see our friends have so much pain that they no longer want our affection.

In most animals there is a combination of pain and weakness.

Usually dogs suffer more than cats because they carry more weight and are used to daily activity. Also people often don’t notice that their cats are painful because they spend so much time sitting and sleeping

So what do we do for our friends to help them live out their old years happy and pain free?

• Acupuncture Being an acupuncturist, I always recommend acupuncture first. Of course, this is also because I have seen how well it works in the animals I treat. I often find that if I can work with animals when they first have problems, they do so well, I only need to treat them every one to three months. Unfortunately most of the animals I see have had problems for a while and their people only learned about acupuncture when they had tried everything that western medicine had to offer. In these animals, acupuncture can still work and work well but usually treatments need to be closer together.

  It is so nice to see these animals happy and able to enjoy life again!



• Hydrotherapy is a great option especially in dogs who have muscle atrophy. Unfortunately it cannot be done with cats, although Sheila Wells at Wellspings has told me they have worked with rabbits before. Hydrotherapy is done in a small swimming pool and involves massage and physical therapy in the water. I have seen excellent results with hydrotherapy especially combined with acupuncture. Hydrotherapy helps to rebuild muscles, increase range of motion and work out sore and sensitive areas of the body without the impact on the body of exercise on land. My favorite pool is Wellsprings in Seattle Washington. They have a great website with lots of information and photos that I love to refer people to. Click on the link to check it out!



• Herbs
  I have worked with Chinese herbs with many of these arthritic dogs and some cats. The combination of acupuncture and herbs usually helps with pain and movement and helps animals maintain between treatments. I rarely use Chinese herbs in cats because they are very sensitive to them and it is hard to medicate cats. I sell an senior dog herbal formula called Senior Dog Support, through my etsy shop, that helps with arthritis pain and improves blood circulation into the joints. Your holistic veterinarian may have something else they recommend.



• Fish oil/ Omega oils
  The Omega 3 Fatty Acids in fish and cod liver oil actually helps decrease arthritic inflammation in dogs (not true for cats although it helps with other things). Adding a little fish oil to the diet can help many animals.My favorite brand is Nordic Naturals – Pet Cod Liver Oil . Nordic Naturals is one of the best brands for quality and they test for heavy metals and contaminants.
• Glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin
  These supplements help to decrease inflammation and rebuild damaged cartilage. They are often sold in combination. The nice thing about these supplements is that they have few side effects and are very safe. Some animals have a wonderful response to them and some have almost no response. It usually takes a month to six weeks to see if your animal will have a positive response. Adequan, similar to glucosamine is also available in an injectable form and works better in some animals. It is also a lot easier to give to cats who are hard to medicate daily. After the initial series of injections it usually only needs to be given once a month. Adequan can only be purchased through your veterinarian. My favorite glucosamine product is Sea Mobility Beef Joint Rescue jerk treats, they work well and are very tasty. There are other good ones out there.

Infra-red light therapy – Infrared light helps ease the pain of arthritis in joints and increase blood circulation to the area. It is very cheap to do and can be done at home. See my article Infrared Light Therapy for kidney failure, incontinence and arthritis.
Chiropractics
Many animals have subluxations of their spine especially as they age. A good chiropractor can often help with mobility and pain. I have found that chiropractic adjustments work best in animals with a very tight back and more pain then weakness. For my own cat, chiropractic adjustments have worked better than anything else we have tried and have made his life much better. Make sure you find a chiropractor who is used to working with animals and knows animal anatomy.
• Massage/Acupressure
  Massage can help to loosen tight muscles and increase blood circulation. It also can help with pain.We know it works for us, why not for our animal friends. Once again make sure you find a massage practitioner who is certified to work with animals. I have two amazing massage therapists I work with in Seattle, Kim Rogers and Jen Streit. Kim also does humans!

  Acupressure works with the acupuncture points and helps decrease pain and relax muscles.

  There are many great books on acupressure and massage for animals. Here are a few
  The Well-Connected Dog: A Guide to Canine Acupressure
  Acu-Cat: A Guide to Feline Acupressure
  The Healing Touch for Dogs: The Proven Massage Program for Dogs, Revised Edition
  The Healing Touch for Cats: The Proven Massage Program for Cats, Revised Edition
  Four Paws Five Directions: A Guide to Chinese Medicine for Cats and Dogs



• Reiki/Bowen/Polarity/Craniosacral and other energy therapies These therapies help stimulate the body to heal and can decrease pain and improve quality of life. Since there is little regulation of these therapies it is important to get a referral before seeing someone. This is especially true of Reiki since there are so many people who practice it. A good practitioner can make a huge difference in an animal’s quality of life.

It is better to do one thing and stick with it than to jump around between therapies. Often times animals will began with me doing acupuncture and herbs and then we will add in other therapies as needed. If I can’t help an animal with acupuncture I will refer them to another practitioner to try something else. Don’t make too many changes all at once in an old animal’s life. Go slowly instead.

If your family includes cats or you know someone who lives with cats, please read this. I’m wandering back to the side of western medicine but this is a topic dear to my heart.

When I was working at the shelter I once got a voice mail from a client who had adopted a cat from us who came down with FIP and died. She was calling because she was angry that we had not tested for it and mentioned that her vet was recommending she euthanize her other two cats because they had been exposed and would most certainly come down with it and die. Of course I couldn’t get a hold of her and two of us spent the rest of the day frantically trying to reach her before she killed her two other cats. Luckily we did reach her in time.

FIP or Feline Infectious Peritonitis is one of the most misunderstood diseases in veterinary medicine. It is not contagious but it is a mutation of a contagious disease. It can not be diagnosed in a living cat yet there is a “FIP test”. There is a vaccine but it doesn’t work in most cats and there is some thought that it can actually help to induce FIP.

So let’s start at the beginning.

There is a virus in cats called Feline Coronavirus. This virus usually doesn’t cause illness or if it does just a little diarrhea or intestinal inflammation. It targets only gut cells. It is very common. Up to 80% of cats have been exposed to it and show an antibody titer. In multiple cat households and shelters and catteries up to 100% of cats have been exposed to it.

Sometimes for reasons that we do not know this virus mutates or changes into FIP, kind of like what happened to the Gremlins when they got wet. We think it is related to a weak immune system but we aren’t sure. FIP can attack any cells in the body by working through the white blood cells and it does, causing many symptoms such as a bloated and fluid filled abdomen, diarrhea, vomiting, a fever, lethargy, poor appetite, problems breathing and sometimes brain inflammation. Almost all cats with FIP die.

Occasionally two cats from the same household die of FIP. We used to think one had caught FIP from the other. However recently when researchers have studied where the mutation is in the virus they have found that the mutation will be different in each cat.

What does this mean?

It means that each mutation happened independently within that cat’s body. If they were passing the mutated FIP virus the mutation would be the same in each animal. This means that the FIP virus is not being passed once it mutates and is not contagious.

Why are cats is multiple cat households more likely to get FIP then?

Multiple cat households have a higher rate of coronavirus in them. The more coronavirus shed in a cat’s feces and picked up by other cats, the greater the chance there is for a mutation to FIP.

So how does a vet test for FIP?

There is a titer test called the FIP test. The only problem is that it tests for coronavirus not for FIP. Usually cats with FIP will have a high coronavirus titer but not always. And many cats without FIP will have a high titer. So a positive “FIP test” may point towards a diagnosis of FIP but also may not.

If a cat comes in with fluid in its abdomen which is common in FIP cats, the best test is a protein ratio run on the abdominal fluid. Most vets will also run bloodwork to test protein levels.

A high protein level in abdominal fluid with a low albumin/globulin (two proteins we look at) ratio with a high globulin level on bloodwork, and a high FIP/corona titer (positive FIP test) usually point towards FIP. That is the closest we can come. And many cats with FIP do not have all the above.

So why is there a vaccine if this is not a contagious disease?

The short answer is because we used to think it was. The FIP vaccine will work to prevent coronavirus in about 60-80% of the 20% of cats that have not been exposed to coronavirus ever. Or about 12-16% of cats. It will not work if cats have been exposed to coronavirus. In addition there is some thought that if the cat has coronavirus in its body the vaccine could induce that coronavirus to mutate to FIP. So the vaccine works in 12-16% of cats but may actually induce disease in the ones it doesn’t work for. Hmmm. Not very good odds if you ask me.

There is no good treatment for FIP beyond supportive care and most cats with it will die within a year or often times much less. In multiple cat households cleanliness, especially of litter boxes, can help cut down on the level of coronavirus, which helps prevent FIP.

Here’s some interesting resources on FIP
Wikipedia article on Feline Infectious Peritonitis
FAB on FIP
Cornell Feline Health Center FIP

Comments are closed on this article. There are only so many ways I can say that FIP is not contagious. It is not.

How do you decide where to turn when western medicine has run out of options? Almost everything available for humans is now available for animals but how do you decide between all the options. There are chiropractors, acupuncturists, reiki practitioners, homeopathic veterinarians, nutritional consultants, hydrotherapy specialists, massage practitioners, and many other options. If you read the internet there are hundreds of supplements made especially for animals and many sound like they work miracles.

Here are a few tips –

Because I practice acupuncture I often recommend it to start because I have seen how well it can work. Often times people start with a therapy for their animal that they have tried themselves and know to work. This is a good place to start. If something works for you, it probably will for your animal also.

A good practitioner of any sort will be able to tell you how long to try something and when to decide if it is working or not. Most practitioners don’t want to go on treating with a method which is not working. With acupuncture I usually recommend three treatments to see if there is any improvement before recommending animals continue. Some therapies such as hydrotherapy will take a little longer. Always get this information before starting a therapy. And just because you try one thing and it doesn’t work, don’t give up. There are many incredible options out there for helping our animal friends.

I just saw a dog with a similar cancer to Maggie’s this morning and wanted to add one more page to Maggie’s story. I hope this is helpful to the folks out there working with the many dogs who suffer from osteosarcoma. Here is the protocol we used to treat Maggie’s cancer. I use a similar protocol for most of the dogs I treat.

Maggie’s protocol

• • Three treatment of radiation and three treatments of chemotherapy towards the beginning of her illness.
  • Amputation of her affected leg
  • A high quality, grain free homemade diet
  • A supplement called SanSheDan ChuanBei Ye, which helps to keep cancer out of the lungs. In Seattle this can be purchased at Lucky An Dong in the International District. One of my favorite supplements, it is made from apricot seed, fritillary seed, and snake bile. Often called snake oil by my clients, this supplement is very helpful for any lung condition and for keeping cancer out of the lungs.
  • Missing Link supplement to support her body and immune system.
  • After she was done with radiation, Artemisinin a powerful anti-cancer herb. This is a herbal supplement in research right now for treating osteosarcoma in people. It is absorbed by cancer cells (which have a high iron uptake) and produces free radicals which kill the cancer cells. This herb can not be given during radiation therapy or for two months afterwards.
  • Pain medications as needed
  • lots of love!

Please remember that every dog is different and that you should find a veterinarian to work with before starting any supplements.

When I travel these days I always pack a four pack of incandescent light bulbs with me. Occasionally I will forget and then my first stop is always to the nearest Safeway or drug store to buy a pack. The more I hear about the possibility of a ban on these types of bulbs the more I worry. Should I start a stockpile of them in my basement now? Or have faith that LEDs will become more widespread before the ban or perhaps some new alternative will be developed.

So why does this worry me?

Yes there is the concern about the mercury in CFLs, a known toxic substance. But what concerns me the most is that CFLs or compact fluorescent lighting makes me sick. I can be under it for a short period of time, say an hour or two, but that’s it. If I spend a day under CFLs (or in my case also the classic tube fluorescence lights), it usually takes me a day to get back to normal. My head hurts, I feel dizzy, I can’t hold thoughts, I feel drained yet I can’t sleep that evening, and I feel irritated and depressed.

I know I’m not the only one. I’ve talked to others who have similar problems and there have been some reports about CFLs increasing migrants, depression, and worsening symptoms in diseases such as Lupus. Traditionally healers, such as Barbara Ann Brennan, have long advised to never do healing work under fluorescence lighting of any kind to avoid making yourself ill. These lights drain our energy and especially for us in a healing profession this can be very dangerous.

Studies have also show that children do much better under normal lighting. From Earthwatch – Compact Fluorescents vs. Full Spectrum Bulbs

Elementary school Principal William Titoff, in his Ph.D. dissertation, found that “there was a statistically significant difference between students who worked under old-style fluorescent lights and those who worked under full-spectrum, visually-efficient lighting.” His study also found that depression was reduced among those students who studied under full spectrum lights and that it increased among fourth graders who sat under fluorescents.

A similar study, conducted in Florida in 1973 by light pioneer Dr. John Ott, found that students under fluorescents were more likely to be irritable, hyperactive, fatigued and have trouble paying attention. The students under full spectrum lights were better behaved and performed better academically within one month of the lights’ installation.

Here is another interesting letter to the editor about CFLs from Dr. Magda Havas, B.Sc. Ph.D a researcher in electromagnetic pollution from Trent University which explains part of the problem.

As Dr. Havas states –
Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) produce radio wave frequencies. These frequencies radiate directly from the bulbs and go on the electrical wiring in the home or school causing poor power quality or dirty electricity. The closer you sit to the bulb the greater your exposure. Because the high frequencies travel along the wire you can be exposed in other rooms of your home as well as the room that contains the CFL.

So why do I bring this up on an animal site?

I worry as more and more people replace their traditional bulbs with CFLs that these new bulbs will affect the health of not just the people in the house, but also the animals. I am lucky enough to be able to tell that CFLs make me sick and do something about it, but how will you be able to tell if CFLs are making your animal sick? They cannot tell us if they are having headaches or just feeling bad.

Also new research has come to light that indicates that CFLs emit a high humming sound that is not in our range of hearing but is in the range of hearing of cats and dogs. Can you image hearing a high pitched humming sound all day long. It would be enough to drive you nuts! Many pet owners report that their cats or dogs do not want to be in rooms with CFL bulbs on and will become anxious if they are forced to be.

See the articles Don’t like CFLs? Ask your pet and CFL Bulbs: Save the Plant Make Your Pets Insane.

I ask you to consider alternatives to CFLs. In a few years the technology for LED lighting should be better and LEDs should be available for about the price of a normal bulb. LED bulbs last possibly forever (at least ten years or more) and use much less energy than CFLs. Most importantly they are safe! In the mean time keep your normal incandescent light bulbs. Even without taking the health effects of CFLs into consideration, we are going to have an environmental nightmare from the mercury in these light bulbs in a few years.

Also remember that if you break these light bulbs you need to be very cautious about how you go about cleaning up. You don’t need a full haz-mat team but some precautions are needed and make sure to get your animals and children out of the room immediately. Here’s the snopes.com article on what you do and don’t need to do.

1/30/12 I have now began replacing some of my bulbs with LEDs. The prices are starting to come down and the quality is getting better. The light quality is still not what it is with the incandescent light bulbs but much better than the CFLs in my opinion. Spending $80 on three light bulbs today I felt a little silly but they are supposed to last over twenty years and use about $1.00 of electricity a year, so overall I think it is a win. Plus since there are many places in our home that require ladders to reach I am excited that this may be the last time up on a ladder for a long time. Happy light bulb hunting!

11/16/13 LEDs have now come down in price and there are even better options like this $10 light bulb Lighting EVER 7W A19 LED Bulb. They even now make LEDs that can replace traditional fluorescent tubes like this one, LEDwholesalers Brightest LED Tube Fluorescent Tube Replacement. I hope that we reach a day when CFLs are no longer made.

We have all heard the saying , “you are what you eat”, but most people haven’t heard, “you are what you think.”

Intention has an amazing role in healing and medicine. Even in Western medicine the power of intention and the placebo effect has been scientifically proven to exist.

Because of the placebo effect drug trials in people have to be double blinded, meaning that both the patient and the doctor administering the drug are not told if they have the real drug or the placebo.

Did you know that drug trials in animals also have to be double blinded? Obviously the animal doesn’t know if they are being given the real drug or not but the doctor or researcher also needs to have no knowledge of this. They have found that if the person administering the drug knows if it is the real drug or the placebo, then the results will be influenced by this knowledge.

Yes there is a placebo effect in healing for animals but it is created through us! That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

So how can can we use this power of intention in helping our animal friends heal?

Primarily we can believe that they can heal. If we have confidence that our animal companion can heal they can sense this and it will help them also believe in their own healing. When we think positive thoughts we release certain chemicals in our body which affect our nervous system in a positive way. This enhances our immune system and helps direct our body back to homeostasis.

Because our animals are deeply connected to us they are also calmer when we are positive and get the same positive immune and nervous system response. While we can often share disease with our animal friends, we can also share health.

Many studies have been done on the power of intention. One of the most well know was a study done on reducing crime by meditation and positive thought in Washington DC in the summer of 1993. Though meditation alone the rate of crime was dropped by almost 25%. A National Demonstration Project of Transcendental Meditation. Other studies have also been performed with similar results.

Here’s some simple exercises you can do to help your animal if they are sick

It is amazing to see how the little things we do can help our animal companions!

Here are links to three very good books and audio tracks on meditation
A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
Meditation for Beginners
How to Meditate with Pema Chodron: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind

I found this amazing story today, Cat nips owner’s lung cancer, about a cat named Tiger who diagnosed lung cancer in his person. He would not stop pawing the left side of this man’s chest which he mentioned to his doctor. They found a lung tumor right under where Tiger had been pawing! Because of Tiger’s quick action they were able to remove the tumor and it sounds like his person has a good chance of full recovery.

It is amazing to me how acute animals’ sense of smell is and how they are willing to help us. There have been a number of accounts of dogs diagnosing cancer by smell although this is the first one I have seen involving a cat. Service dogs can detect when people are about to have seizures by smell making it so that people with epilepsy can live normal lives. We all know the tales of the search and rescue dogs who find people buried under buildings or in the snow. And of course there are also the drug and explosive sniffing dogs at the airports and ferry docks.

I have had clients mention that sometimes it is another animal in the house that detects illness in their animal companion long before that animal shows any signs we can see. I know if I wound myself, my dogs will usually find where and want to check it out.

Here is another interesting story about cancer sniffing dogs, Can Dogs Sniff Out Cancer?. Puts a whole new meaning to getting a cat scan (or in a dog scan)!

Incontinence may not be life threatening but it is sure hard to deal with. Dog diapers are expensive and messy and many dogs are just horrified when they accidentally pee in the house. As much as we love our animal friends it is difficult to always have to worry what they will leak on next.

The Chinese view of old dog incontinence is fascinating. They see the kidneys as a large black lake with a fiery blue sea serpent that raises out of the water. The fire of the serpent decreases as we age and when it gets low enough the kidneys can no longer hold the urine and it leaks out of the body.

Deficiency in the kidneys also cause many of the symptoms we view with old age, weaker bone, gray hair and poor hearing.

When I treat incontinence, I get to be the snake charmer, circling the burning moxa stick over the kidneys to raise the mighty fire serpent out of the lake water.

With this form of incontinence, the main herb I use is praying mantis egg casings (along with herbs which strengthen the kidneys). These little casings work wonders! I’ve often had clients ask, “can you please make up some more mantis for my dog? She’s been dry since she started them!” In addition I have found that clients like to tell their friends and family that their dog is on praying mantis.

How many of you have jobs where you get to work with praying mantises and mythical sea serpents?

So a little about incontinence: there are two main types of urinary incontinence, not related to disease or structural abnormalities, one in young female dogs and one in older dogs.

I’ve seen a great response with both these conditions to acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatments without the side effects of drugs.

Old dog incontinence occurs in older dogs of either sex and often develops when the muscles that keep the urine in start getting weaker with age or there is a lack of nerve function to these muscles.

Incontinence in young female dogs usually develops shortly after they are spayed. This is not a reason to avoid spaying a dog. Unspayed dogs have many more disease problems including mammary cancer and life threatening pyometra.

Chinese medicine views young dog incontinence as cold that has found its way into the body during the spay operation. Treatments are aimed at warming the kidneys and bladder and expelling the cold. I usually use a heated moxa stick over the kidneys, as with the sea serpent, to chase the cold away and warm this area.

Out, cold, out!

The moxa stick lets off infrared heat which penetrates down into the kidneys to warm and increase circulation to that area. In addition warming herbs are used. The goal with these dogs is to cure them so that they do not need long term treatments, herbs, or drugs.

I love when acupuncture can cure conditions that are not supposed to be curable!

Did you know that we often share the same diseases and health conditions with our animal companions?

I can not count the times that I have been in a treatment room with someone and declared that their cat or dog had say asthma to have them comment, “that’s odd I also am asthmatic.”

Many times it goes beyond just two creatures. I remember telling one woman that I thought her cat had inflammatory bowel disease.

“That’s so strange, “ she said, “because my husband is in the hospital with IBD and has been for the past week and the whole time he has been in there my stomach has been bothering me also.”

Many families may not share specific diseases but related ones. I have found that people with fibromyalgia and lupus tend to have animals with inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and muscle or tendon pain (especially in the back). In Chinese medicine IBD, asthma and back tendon pain are one condition called liver qi constant. This is a disease that gets worse with stress like fibromyalgia and lupus.

When I first see an animal, I often ask their person if they have sensitivities to certain drugs or herbs because it is often the case that if the person is sensitive to something that their animal will be also. People that have strong reactions to acupuncture will often have animals with strong reactions to acupuncture. When people cannot tolerate a certain drug it is often the same for their animal.

So what is going on here?

The first response I usually get is, “Oh no! Did I make my animal sick?”

I don’t think that is the case.

And let me just add that not all people and animals share illness. Just because you had a dog die of cancer doesn’t mean you will and just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean that your cat will become diabetic.

I have definitely given this some thought over the years and have a couple theories on this strange phenomenon. These are from my own experience and I would be interested to hear other people’s ideas.

I think that we tend to attract into our lives people and animals who are like us. Because of this we also attract in animals who share the qualities that make them more prone to specific illnesses.

“But I picked my animal out, “you may say.

Did you really?

How many times was there just something about that one who caught your eye?

“He was just reaching through the bars of his cage, I couldn’t leave him there.”

“There was this one puppy who just wouldn’t leave my side.”

I think they often do as much of the choosing as we do.

I also believe that some animals choose to come to this plane of existence to help us with our experience. What I mean is that they are like our guardian angels in animal form. They come to help us work with our own health and healing and to teach us about grace and love. When an animal shares a disease condition with us they are helping us work with our own illness. In seeing how they work with disease we are able to bear the burden of ours better.

I’ve gotten in arguments with people over this idea because I’ve had people think that I was implying that animals are our servants. I believe the opposite, that they are more enlightened creatures than us and have chosen to help us.

I want to add one more important thought. Sometimes there is an environmental reason why we share disease. By all means if everyone in the house has lung conditions please make sure there isn’t a mold or toxin problems. Everyone knows about using the parakeets in the coal mines. Don’t ignore warnings that there is something wrong with your home.

When we share disease often curing ourselves helps our animals and helping our animals helps ourselves. When I began to work with my own anxiety my dog Jake became less anxious. When I am not taking good care of myself my cat Rudy will stop eating. All I have to do is look at Rudy or Jake to see where my own health is.

Often times we need to work towards healing ourselves to help our animal companions. Healing is not a journey to undertake alone. How amazing that we have these teachers and guilds right in our own homes!

The response of stroke patients to acupuncture, both human and animal, is absolutely incredible. Most of the animals I have treated usually recover or at least significantly improve after one or two treatments. And there is almost always improvement in the half hour between when the needles go in and when they come out.

I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to see an animal recover before your eyes. And all because these little acupuncture needles are stimulating their body to heal itself!

Yet most people don’t know that there is a good option for treating strokes. Western medicine has almost no answers or treatments for improving stroke symptoms and MDs and DVMs don’t often think to suggest acupuncture. Often even if it is suggested it is not right away and with strokes the less time that has passed the better. If I can see a stroke patient within the first few days I have a much better chance of bringing them back.

Please pass on this information to anyone with an older dog or cat. And also to those older human family members. You could save a life!

Just an interesting side note. The Chinese consider stroke to be a sudden rush of wind to the head which then has a hard time escaping the body and bounces around. One of the main herbs I use for stroke is an herb called Bai Ji Li or caltrop fruit. This herb helps to open up the body so the wind can escape and the body can heal. Check out the shape of the fruit. They are pointed to open up holes for the wind to escape through. I love when you can look at an herb and see it’s function!