Accupuncture

[AlwaysTango]

Hi All,
I know that some of you on the board have tried accupuncture on your Chows, and I was wondering if you could give me your thoughts on it. I would like to know what to expect, and if you think it helped. We are debating it for Zilla with his Pemphigus and Rheumatoid arthritis. He has good days and he has bad days, and we thought this might help. Any advice is appreciated!

[jacqui]

hi Tracey,
I will tell you my experiance with accupunture.
I had a 10 year old male Tiko that got it for the last 8 months of his life and it worked great.he had arthritis and many orthopedic problems.
now,Chyna was getting accupunture for 2 years and it didn't help at all.
I guess it depends on the condition.
hugs to you and Zilla and keep us posted

[Dogdad]

I Had a pomeranian that had accuputure, He had a slipped disk and became paralized from the waist down, I was desperate and tried it. It didn't work. He was a severe case. Try it, it may help, if not then at least you know you tried everything


David

[AlwaysTango]

Thank you both for your experiences and input. Zilla has an appointment tomorrow, and for anyone else who might be thinking about accupuncture for their Chow, I will let you know what I think about it.

[CoraP.]

Yes, I'll be interested to hear what you think of it!

[AlwaysTango]

We ended up waiting on the accupuncture because we started adequan shots on Tuesday at the regular vet appointment. We didn't want to start two new treatments right together, as we wouldn't know which one was working if we saw a miraculous improvement. We still plan to start the accupuncture in a couple of weeks, so I'll report back then. The adequan has resulted in an already noticeable improvement though...I must say I am impressed and so happy my little Chow boy is feeling better!

[jacqui]

all that matters is that Zilla is feeling better
keep us posted

[CoraP.]

Hey, that IS good news!

[Dogdad]

I am glad Zilla is feeling better

David

[Sirchow]

I am considering accupuncture for Bramble and wondered if you ever got around to trying it with Zilla and what the outcome is? Has anyone else tried it on their chowdren?

[AlwaysTango]

Update:
I don't feel like the adequan did much for Zilla. We started the acupunture after a month of treatment of adequan, with little results after the first shot. We go for our third acupuncture session today however, and I feel like the acupuncture is doing more for Zilla than any medicine or therapy we have ever tried. He acts like he is so happy and excited when they put the needles in, and when we went back the second time he started wagging his tail and acting excited when he saw the acupuncture doc-he never does that with anyone! I see more energy, freedom of movement, less pain and just an overall better attitude after starting the shots. I will keep you updated, but I think we are going to be sticking with the acupuncture. I would encourage anyone thinking about it to at least try it.

[jacqui]

I agree its worth a try.
like I said,I saw a huge improvement with Tiko but no improvement with Chyna
I'm glad Zilla is feeling better

[CoraP.]

I'm so glad to hear the acupuncture is helping! I get a publication called The Whole Dog Journal, and they suggest trying it, too!

[kiwani]

Link: Acupuncture Is Grounded In Science, Not Myth And Magic - British Medical Journal


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/142119.php

[AlwaysTango]

I haven't been on here lately due to work and school, but I wanted to thank you Kiwana for the link.

We started massage this week in addition to the acupuncture. I know they told me to expect him to possibly get worse due to soreness, but he is acting really shaky and in pain since we did it. I gave him a nice long soak in the tub last night, as he seems to like that. I think we are just going to stick to the acupuncture, as it's the only thing I see that does anything for him. There are good days and bad...we're just trying to enjoy the good ones and make it through the bad ones. I would definitely try acupuncture if you are even thinking about it. It might not work for your Chow, but it might be a godsend.

[SWANCIN]

I haven't been on here lately due to work and school, but I wanted to thank you Kiwana for the link.

We started massage this week in addition to the acupuncture. I know they told me to expect him to possibly get worse due to soreness, but he is acting really shaky and in pain since we did it. I gave him a nice long soak in the tub last night, as he seems to like that. I think we are just going to stick to the acupuncture, as it's the only thing I see that does anything for him. There are good days and bad...we're just trying to enjoy the good ones and make it through the bad ones. I would definitely try acupuncture if you are even thinking about it. It might not work for your Chow, but it might be a godsend.

Thank you for your updates! We've had Kodi on Adequan shots for the past 1.5 months and it helped alittle for 3 of her legs, but the worst one; rigth elbow (all have osteoarthritis) is still pretty bad. Our next step is accupuncture too. Thanks for the good words on it. I'll post to this thread when we do it.

[Boo Daddy]

Hi!

I'm so glad you tried the accupuncture and stopped the adequan. My Boo was adequan and it caused him to have several severe strokes and these weird spasms.The last stroke (before we realized it was the adequan doing it) was so bad, we almost put him down...but he started coming around and a year and a half later he is still here. He's just not doing well. Accupuncture didn't work for Boo. But adequan was bad news. Good luck with Zilla.

[AlwaysTango]

Hi Shawn,
I feel your pain-we've tried one thing after another with Zilla and nothing really seems to work well. Acupuncture is the only thing that remotely helps these days. We give him metacam, but I'm not really sure it does anything. When we take walks (which the vet wants us to do) it takes him 30 minutes to walk 4 houses and back. Like your Boo, Zilla is the sweetest and most wonderful Chow I have ever met. It just breaks my heart to see him unable to do the things that he could do even last year. He does get around, but is unsteady and shaky at best. He will still play with chewies and toys, and the look on his face is pure joy, but watching him walk is so sad.
I wish you luck with Boo-if you find something that works please let me know!
Tracey

[SoonLee]

Hi:
I took my Chow to have Accupuncture and Chiropractic treatments every week for almost 2 years. He had very bad arthritis and for the last year his hind legs did not work at all. I firmly believe in alternative therapies. I believe his life was extended and his quality of life was improved by these treatments (I also used herbs). He looked forward to these weekly visits so he obviously felt better after going. The most important thing is to find a good reliable and trustworthy Vet.

[AlwaysTango]

I can honestly say that Acupuncture (along with so much love and a fabulous vet) is all that kept my Zilla going in the last few months of his life. Nothing else provided the pain relief or relaxation that it did.