Hello, I’m Dr. Lauren! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.
Acupuncture is historically considered a pain-relieving therapy. However is that this its solely use? And what about cats and acupuncture? How do cats tolerate the method? And in case you are trying to discover an acupuncturist on your cat, what are you able to anticipate?
Let’s discover this extra, on this sequence of articles on acupuncture and cats. I’ll talk about circumstances I’ve seen, how cats tolerate the therapy, what makes use of it might have, and the way to discover a veterinary acupuncturist close to you.
Wholesome Skepticism?
I’ll be trustworthy, as a Western-trained vet, I’ve at all times been a bit skeptical when a shopper asks me about various therapies or naturopathic dietary supplements.
We have been at all times taught in vet college that the physique and thoughts are separate entities, separate medical disciplines, even. We have been taught to be thorough in questioning all the things, to search for the tangible details, the scientific research, the benefit, and search the kind of science that was supported solely through a clinically randomized, double-blinded examine.
It wasn’t till just lately, that I started to surprise if we had additionally been blinded within the course of.
East vs West
Japanese medication, because it has come to be recognized, had been round for hundreds of years earlier than the appearance of Western medication. Far earlier than double-blinded, placebo-controlled analysis existed, the idea of a holistic being, one with thoughts and physique intimately related, was taught, practiced, and lived. Theories have been examined, confirmed, and the artwork of Japanese medication turned a follow of drugs, taught via generations.
Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and the Shaolin Monks might spring to thoughts if you consider Japanese practices. However till just lately, I had no thought how profound these teachings might truly be.
After attending a convention on using acupuncture in Western veterinary medication, I used to be floored. All of the sudden, the physique and the thoughts have been linked, by intricate pathways or channels, as they’re recognized in acupuncture. Channels exist for main organ techniques, lots of which correspond to what Western medication would outline centuries later.
Acupuncture in Veterinary Drugs
Sterile needles are positioned to stimulate varied components of the channels and the scientific points that the affected person is having, to assist in assuaging the difficulty. Many theories exist as to how, precisely, the therapy helps to enhance the affected person, with one extensively accepted concept being the involvement of the fascia, a largely underrecognized organ system in Western medication. Regardless, as one among our lecturers put it this previous weekend, “Acupuncture could be described because the assembly of neurological, psychological and physiological well being”.
Case histories akin to horses with intractable “behavioral points” that led to condemning ultimatums of their care (e.g., repair the difficulty or euthanasia) have been highlighted as acupuncture success tales. Movies of those sufferers earlier than and after therapy have been astounding: animals that presumably have been in a lot ache, as to be untouchable, have been abruptly remodeled into fully totally different beings.
Myself, having had excruciating ache in my leg for about six months, I too, know what a burden it may be. It actually could make you…grumpy…even on the perfect day, to say the least. Limping round, day after day…it will get a bit tiring.
Subsequent week, we’ll speak concerning the circumstances I’ve seen and how cats deal with the therapy. See you quickly!
