Guest vahoundlover Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Wonderful news! Accupuncture and chinese herbs was a life saver for Boss (bulged disc resulting in no use of his backend). After only one treatment we couldn't believe the difference in his ability to walk. We continued to treat him for the last 2 yrs of his life every week to once a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Well, we just got back and it was the most amazing experience!!! Canyon went into the office totally stressed out and we left with him relaxed and moving well. During the procedure, he lay still, cuddled up to me and enjoyed the whole experience. I am shocked at how well it went!!!!! He seems very comfortable and has not cried out once! This is so good to hear Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ss556 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'm glad it went well! Good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Thinking about Canyon and wondering how his day is Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 (edited) Well, unfortunately he is crying out again. I think this will just take time... there won't be some magical quick fix. He is no worse than he was, possibly even a bit better... so we'll try to make him as comfortable as possible and see if things improve over the next few days. I am with him constantly during the day, so he's getting lots of loving and massages which he loves. He is getting fed up in the crate though! Who could blame him! I've got the crate open, and my chair is right in front of it, so I can talk to him and touch him while I'm on the computer. That helps. Edited March 20, 2009 by Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 How I wish he was doing better!! I know you want to avoid surgery, but if he's a good candidate, what is the success rate and the healing time? Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandimom Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Well, we just got back and it was the most amazing experience!!! Canyon went into the office totally stressed out and we left with him relaxed and moving well. During the procedure, he lay still, cuddled up to me and enjoyed the whole experience. I am shocked at how well it went!!!!! He seems very comfortable and has not cried out once! Fabulous news!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing. I really believe in the chinese herbs also. My holistic vet has sold me some herbs for my dog but I found www.naturalrearing.com and order from her on a monthly basis. Check out her website and she will also do a phone consultation with you at no charge. She is in OR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 How I wish he was doing better!! I know you want to avoid surgery, but if he's a good candidate, what is the success rate and the healing time? Dr. Sharp (the neurologist) said there's an 80 - 90% chance that Canyon would be painfree after the surgery. There's also a 50 - 70% chance that he'll heal on his own. Dr. Sharp would do the surgery now if I him asked to, but sees no harm in waiting to see how Canyon does after being crated/rested for a while. He also assured me that there's very little chance that he would injure himself further by waiting, because he is pretty much immobilized by being crated. Our thinking is that surgery of any kind is a risk, and spinal surgery is particularly serious. We are willing to do it, but with Dr. Sharp's support, we prefer to try non invasive methods first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 How I wish he was doing better!! I know you want to avoid surgery, but if he's a good candidate, what is the success rate and the healing time? Dr. Sharp (the neurologist) said there's an 80 - 90% chance that Canyon would be painfree after the surgery. There's also a 50 - 70% chance that he'll heal on his own. Dr. Sharp would do the surgery now if I him asked to, but sees no harm in waiting to see how Canyon does after being crated/rested for a while. He also assured me that there's very little chance that he would injure himself further by waiting, because he is pretty much immobilized by being crated. Our thinking is that surgery of any kind is a risk, and spinal surgery is particularly serious. We are willing to do it, but with Dr. Sharp's support, we prefer to try non invasive methods first. You know what's best for him and whatever you decide to do will be out of love for him, so ya can't go wrong! Canyon, you're job is to heal quickly so you can get out of that crate and feel good!! And we'll always be behind you praying for just that Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 It may seem like a small accomplishment, but in our house, right now, it's huge... Canyon hasn't cried out for HOURS and he grinned at Geoff a short while ago!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 It may seem like a small accomplishment, but in our house, right now, it's huge... Canyon hasn't cried out for HOURS and he grinned at Geoff a short while ago!!! Doesn't sound small to me Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greyscot Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Hope things keep going well for Canyon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfish Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Well, we just got back and it was the most amazing experience!!! Canyon went into the office totally stressed out and we left with him relaxed and moving well. During the procedure, he lay still, cuddled up to me and enjoyed the whole experience. I am shocked at how well it went!!!!! He seems very comfortable and has not cried out once! I'm late jumping in here because I haven't been on GT much lately. I'm glad you went ahead with it. We had the same experience with two of ours. Both were anxious or nervous dogs, neither had any problem with the acupuncture. Both of them did unexpectedly well having the needles put in and both laid down very quickly and spent the session looking very relaxed. I found it helped both with their pain levels. To answer your original questions: Did you find it to be helpful? How? It's excellent for pain relief. Speaking for my own experience, I've had it done recently after an extensive rotator cuff repair (when I say extensive, I mean, they had to open the shoulder (no keyhole for me, sadly) and put pins into the top of my humerus to stitch the tendon to, because the front part had come completely detached. They also had to do some grinding down on the undersurface of the scapula where it was impinging on the torn area. So major stuff. The acupuncture was just wonderful. In terms of how it feels .. you hardly feel the needles going in, and the effects feel to me like a nice therapeutic dose of morphine, but without the fuzzy head and disconnectedness. It feels great. The physio who did it said he calls it the 'gin and tonic' effect, but it's better than that. He also tested my range of movement before and after the treatment. This particular session was about ten weeks post surgery, and I could raise my arm laterally to just under 90 degrees (parallel to the ground) before pain stopped me. Immediately AFTER the acupuncture, he checked that again, and I got a good 15 extra degrees without pain. Was the procedure disturbing/frightening/painful for your pup? (Canyon is terribly sensitive). No, neither dog was in the slightest disturbed or upset by it. Once, Jim object to one of the needles and she said it was probably an extra sensitive spot and she just left it out till the next time, and he was okay with it then. What condition was it used for? I've told you about mine. Jim had horrible arthritis in all four limbs. Jack had generalised arthritis and a wobbly back end which was probably due to pain. Was it effective for pain management? Yes, I'd say it was at least as good as pain killers. Jim also seemed energised after his treatments. Does it reduce inflammation? I don't think it does. I think the main effects are really pain management and well-being. I hope Canyon continues to do well! You'll find that he will need more sessions to keep the effect going, usually they say weekly at first, but you can later stretch them out to longer intervals. Quote The plural of anecdote is not dataBrambleberry Greyhounds My Etsy Shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LynnM Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Yes to all. Joplin has received acupuncture for the last 7 years. First, he received it to keep his back loose as a lure coursing dog, and now he receives it to help with pain and mobility. It works for him. Our vet takes a "whatever works" approach, so we combine acupuncture, pain medication and some chiropractic. He has always responded to acupuncture better than chiro, but that's just him. He sleeps soundly once we arrive home from the vet's and is very spry and active the next day. How much we do depends on his mood. He's too old to sedate without *very* good reason, so we don't. When he was coursing, we would sedate him and use needles and electrotherapy, turned up quite a bit. We can't do that anymore. Occasionally, we can use a little bit of electrotherapy, but most of the time, it's just needles. For Joplin, we sedated him because he would fight being positioned (laid down, turned over, holding still on his side, etc), not because of any pain. To the contrary, he had the same relaxed response that most dogs do when they get acupuncture... a sigh and a huge, contented FART. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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