Acupuncture for animals is becoming more popular everyday. I don’t needle animals but I do try a little bit of acupressure on my cats and they seem to appreciate it. This story comes from England and I am happy to hear that Kai the dog has had so much benefit from acupuncture.

From The UK News source The Dailymail online
By Sarah Stacey

“I’m a firm believer in the healing power of acupuncture”

When I took Kai to the park one day,’ Anthony told me, ‘I noticed a little wobble in his back legs. It got worse as the week went on. One day, he just collapsed, with his back legs doing the splits. He was only eight months old.’

Anthony took Kai to the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals near Potters Bar where, after two MRI scans (costing about £2,000), Kai was diagnosed with wobbler disease (aka wobbler syndrome), a progressive condition affecting the cervical (neck) vertebrae in the spinal column. The vertebrae pinch the spinal cord, causing weakness and a wobbly gait in dogs (usually large breeds, especially great danes and dobermans) and horses.

The MRI scan revealed that Kai had two vertebrae compressing nerves. Anthony was told that surgery was the only option (costing about £5,500 for the first operation) but that there was ‘a high chance Kai wouldn’t make it through the anaesthetic and, if he did, he wouldn’t be able to walk for three months. They all said it was better to put him down.’By that point, Kai couldn’t even stand up to pee, but Anthony was determined to investigate alternatives.

‘Someone at the hospital told me that, rather than giving him steroids for the pain, acupuncture might help – without side effects. Last July, I took him to Richard Allport at the Natural Medicine Centre in Potters Bar [naturalmedicinecentre.co.uk].’

After just two sessions, ‘the transformation was incredible. Kai went from being almost totally disabled to running around in the park. Now he will jump two or three feet in the air for a ball. Touch wood, he has just got better and better. He still has a tiny arch in his back and a little hop in his back legs when he runs – but before, he couldn’t run.’

‘The transformation was incredible. Kai went from being almost totally disabled to running around in the park. Now he will jump two or three feet in the air for a ball.’

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