Hello, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to be taught extra about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.
Acupuncture is historically considered a pain-relieving remedy. 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 to your cat, what are you able to count on?
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 remedy, what makes use of it could have, and how you can discover a veterinary acupuncturist close to you.
Wholesome Skepticism?
I’ll be sincere, as a Western-trained vet, I’ve all the time been a bit skeptical when a consumer asks me about various therapies or naturopathic dietary supplements.
We had been all the time taught in vet college that the physique and thoughts are separate entities, separate medical disciplines, even. We had been taught to be thorough in questioning all the things, to search for the tangible information, the scientific research, the advantage, and search the kind of science that was supported solely by way of a clinically randomized, double-blinded examine.
It wasn’t till lately, that I started to surprise if we had additionally been blinded within the course of.
![Pancake is definitely showing some grumpy face emotion here, after being awoken from a nap.](https://www.catster.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pancake-is-definitely-showing-some-grumpy-face-emotion-here-after-being-awoken-from-a-nap._Dr-Lauren.jpg)
East vs West
Jap medication, because it has come to be identified, had been round for hundreds of years earlier than the arrival 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 had been examined, confirmed, and the artwork of Jap medication grew to become a follow of medication, taught via generations.
Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and the Shaolin Monks might spring to thoughts if you consider Jap practices. However till lately, I had no concept how profound these teachings may really be.
After attending a convention on the use of acupuncture in Western veterinary medication, I used to be floored. All of a sudden, the physique and the thoughts had been linked, by intricate pathways or channels, as they’re identified in acupuncture. Channels exist for main organ techniques, lots of which correspond to what Western medication would outline centuries later.
![Acupuncture needle in my foot- it helped!](https://www.catster.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Acupuncture-needle-in-my-foot-it-helped_Dr-Lauren-rotated.jpg)
Acupuncture in Veterinary Drugs
Sterile needles are positioned to stimulate numerous components of the channels and the medical points that the affected person is having, to assist in assuaging the difficulty. Many theories exist as to how, precisely, the remedy helps to enhance the affected person, with one broadly accepted idea 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 may be described because the assembly of neurological, psychological and physiological well being”.
Case histories equivalent to horses with intractable “behavioral points” that led to condemning ultimatums of their care (e.g., repair the difficulty or euthanasia) had been highlighted as acupuncture success tales. Movies of those sufferers earlier than and after remedy had been astounding: animals that presumably had been in so much pain, as to be untouchable, had been instantly reworked into utterly 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 discuss in regards to the circumstances I’ve seen and how cats handle the treatment. See you quickly!