Thread: Acupuncture
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Old June 12th, 2008, 07:36 PM
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Tommysmom Tommysmom is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Burlington, Ontario
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Thanks, Pitgrrl... I'm going to look for those books tomorrow. I'm the kind of person who needs cookbooks that say 'now cut this into this type of pieces... put on dish beside this... LOL.

Isn't it weird when you start looking at the entire picture the way chinese medicine does? Things I had never considered - like him being snarly when picked up, sleeping late in the mornings, hating the cold weather, being scared of almost the entire world, startling easily - are possibly part of his condition. It's an interesting view of things, and when I was googling the herbs it was neat to see what a wide range of conditions they cover.

She gave me the doses of the fish oil and kelp, I just wasn't sure what to do with it - I mean, right now if we make a food that he can eat we save him a bit of meat, cut it up for him (he has chewing issues because his jaw is very undershot), and then put his plate down. So would I just take the meat pieces, mix it with the fish oil and kelp and other supplements like some kind of marinade and then give it to him that way?

I must admit, I was pretty doubtful after our first visit... Tommy vomited every single day for a week after his acupuncture. The vet says that's normal though, that sometimes they can get worse before they get better. He's shown some other signs of improvement, though. He's had a bit more energy this week, sleeps a bit less than usual in the evenings, he's a bit more playful. He's a bit more alert in the mornings too, although he's still a pain to wake up and get out of bed for the morning business! The biggest change though is his drinking habits. He used to drink almost nothing all day, then pull a camel act in the evenings drinking for a good 20 minutes at a time. Ever since the first acupuncture treatment he's been drinking little sips of water all day long - that may not mean a lot to anybody else, but it makes ME feel better, since usually the only thing he gets treated for is dehydration.

Another thing I really liked was that she offered to show me how to give him sub-q fluids if he gets really bad again, rather then having to keep him at the vet's office on an iv for a couple of days. Not only does that save a ton of money, but stress seems to make him worse and what's more stressful than being stuck in a cage at the vet's! She's a mobile vet, so she can come to our house for stuff too.

I love our regular vet, and I'm not thinking of leaving him at all... he's just a fabulous doctor whose love for animals just radiates from every fibre of his being. If I can keep the traditional Chinese medicine working in combination with our regular vet, I'm hoping we might find a balance that works best for Tommy.
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