Animal Massage Guide » Acupuncture

Animal Acupuncture

cattie — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:18:03 +0000

Today’s alternative healing modality is acupuncture. As I mentioned in my post about NAET, I’ve been getting acupuncture for allergies for over a year, and it’s helping! And even though I always think the needles hurt going in, the feeling afterwards is totally worth the pain. I feel awake and alert and incredibly calm at the same time.

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a part of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and has been practiced for thousands of years. In TCM, the body (and the entire universe) is considered to consist of two opposing forces – yin and yang.

Yin represents femaleness, the moon, cold, slow, darkness, passive, etc. and Yang represents maleness, the sun, heat, active, light, active, etc.

Yin and yang are in a constant cycle, and when they are in perfect balance, you are healthy. When they are not, the energy flow (qi) in the body gets blocked and you experience illness or pain.

A TCM practitioner (such as an acupuncturist) will take many things into consideration when figuring out the cause of the imbalance, and which points to treat.

To decide how to best treat the patient in order to restore balance, the practitioner will ask questions, observe the patient (both appearance and demeanor), listen and smell, and palpate (touching and taking the pulse).

Once a diagnosis has been made, the treatment can begin. The practitioner inserts very fine needles into specific points along the meridians (energy paths that run throughout the body – explained more in depth in the acupressure post) to remove the blockages.

It may take many or only a few visits to achieve results, but once the blockages are gone, the yin/yang balance (and consequently health) is restored.

Meet Becca Seitz

The acupuncture case studies (two today) comes to us from Becca Seitz, MAcOM, LAc, founder and owner of Thrive Acupuncture in Portland, OR.

Becca discovered acupuncture by chance. While in college, with plans to become a vet, she all of a sudden started experiencing incredibly dry eyes. She stopped wearing contacts, but even so, it eventually got so bad it became unbearable.

Becca describes it as “similar to the feeling you have when you have slept with your contacts in. They’re dry, they’re sticking to your eyeballs and you can’t WAIT to get those suckers out!”

Her ophthalmologist eventually discovered that her eyeballs were covered in little bumps, caused by allergies. Becca tried every eye drop on the market without getting any relief. She says “I couldn’t stand to keep my eyes open because they would feel like they were drying out, and I couldn’t stand to keep them closed because it felt like there was sand in my eyes. I was left squinting and rubbing my eyes constantly.”

Her Dr. suggested taking Benadryl every day, which wasn’t an ideal solution – if you’ve tried it, you know it makes you sleepy or just weird (in my case, I can’t stop shaking if I take it) and not staying awake all day was not an option for Becca, with full time school and part time work.

As luck would have it, her chiropractor shared an office with an acupuncturist, and Becca, feeling she had nothing to lose, gave it a shot. Within 2 weeks, her eyes had improved dramatically, and after a month, she was back to her old self again.

This was a life-changing experience on several levels for Becca. Before experiencing acupuncture for herself, she had always considered the results from acupuncture a placebo effect, but she knew now that was not the case. She not only became a believer in acupuncture, she also changed her plans and decided that instead of becoming a vet, she would become an acupuncturist. She now practices reflexology, Chinese herbs and acupuncture for animals (and humans) at her clinic in Portland.

We have two case studies today, where Becca treats a dog and a cat with combinations of acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

Tilly – A Dog With Severe Allergies

Tilly, a 5-year old Boston Terrier/English Bulldog mix, came into the office with a history of skin allergies.

She was allergic to many things, including several food ingredients as well as grass. Her skin was bright red, swollen and abraded from her constant scratching. Her vet had been giving her cortisone injections since she was only 2 months old to help ease the itching, but it had little effect. She was given Benadryl daily in another attempt to calm her itching skin. Nothing worked, and neither Tilly nor her owner had been sleeping well due to all of her scratching.

On the first visit, Tilly was diagnosed as having an excess of dampness and heat in her body (she was so damp and hot that her skin even felt moist to the touch!). Acupuncture was performed to address the underlying cause as well as relieve her symptoms. She was also sent home with an appropriate Chinese herbal formula.

The following week, Tilly came in and the redness and swelling were almost completely resolved! The rash was no longer covering her entire body, but was limited to her abdomen and hind legs, and her skin felt dry and much cooler. Her owner even reported that Tilly had been sleeping through the night for the first time!

After a few more appointments, the rash and itching were gone.

Grendel – A Paralyzed Cat

Grendel the black and white male kitty came in to me with his hind legs paralyzed. He had been diagnosed as having had an embolism that went to his legs.

We did electroacupuncture on his low back to stimulate energy flow to his hind legs, but our main focus of treatment was through Chinese herbs and a formula used frequently to treat strokes.

Within a week Grendel was able to jerk his legs away when we pinched his toes. After 3 or 4 weeks he was able to get around the house to get to his food and litterbox. While he never did regain normal function, he at least seemed happy that he was mobile and could get to his owner for pets!

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Additions & Updates To The School Lists

cattie — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:09:32 +0000

I’ve been doing a little bit of holiday cleaning here at AMG, and have updated and added a bunch of new schools to the different lists. The UK list in particular has been totally revamped with lots of new additions, and I have also divided all the schools there into England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

I have also updated the Visiting Courses & Workshops section at the end of each country’s list with some new additions and upcoming classes in 2010.

Below is an overview of the additions to each list. For more info about the schools, go to the list for each country (just click on the link at the end of each list).

USA

The Rocky Mountain School of Animal Acupressure and Massage, Jupiter, FL
Companion Animal Touch Therapies, Beach Park, IL
International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS), Portland, OR
International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS), San Antonio, TX
Horsetail Herbs, Milton, VT
La Paw Spa, Sequim, WA

Go to US school list

CANADA

Alex Debolt Consulting Dogs, Ottawa, ON
Equine Rehab, Essex, ON

Go to Canadian school list

AUSTRALIA

H.E.C. (Human, Equine, Canine) Remedial, Tamworth NSW
Healthy Happy Horses, Naturally, Randwick, NSW
Sydney College of Homeopathic Medicine, Crows Nest, NSW

Go to Australian school list

NEW ZEALAND

Shirley Calder Equine, Ohaupo

Go to New Zealand school list

ENGLAND

Downs House Equine, Exmoor, Somerset
Equine Design Therapy, North Devon
EquineEnergy & CanineEnergy, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
Equi-Therapy UK, Countersthorpe, Leicestershire
European School of Animal Osteopathy (ESAO), Brighton, East Sussex
The European School of Reiki, Crediton, Devon
Ginny Patterson, The Equine & Small Animal Holistic Healing Training Centre, Desborough, Northamptonshire
Hands on Horses School of Equine Shiatsu, Stanford, Bedfordshire
Jo Rose Holistic Therapies & Training
Oxford College of Equine Physical Therapy, Longtown, Cumbria
Pat Ki Equine Therapies, Harrogate North Yorkshire
Pauhla Whitaker, Cranham, Gloucestershire
Rose Farm College of Equine Therapies, Catcott, Somerset
Rosewell Equine Shiatsu Centre, Castle Bytham, Grantham

SCOTLAND

Equestrian Shiatsu, Dumfriesshire
The Scottish School of Shiatsu for Horses, Perth, Scotland

WALES

Brynglas Equine, Lampeter, Ceredigion

Go to UK school list

EUROPE

Belgische School voor Paardenshiatsu/Ecole Belge de Shiatsu Equin, Durbury, Belgium
Bare Hands Equine Shiatsu, Finland
International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS), Madrid, Spain
CC’s Hund & Hästmassage, Sweden
EquiCare, Läckeby, Sweden
European School of Animal Osteopathy (ESAO SUISSE SA), Clarens – Montreux, Switzerland

Go to European school list

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Animal Massage Guide Guest Post Series: Linda Jackson

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:10:11 +0000

I am very excited to present our first in a series of guest posts here at Animal Massage Guide. I thought reading about how others came to work with animals, and about their practices, would be a great inspiration to those of you who are running, or thinking about starting, your own animal massage business.

And for those of you looking for alternative health options for your pet, hopefully you will hear of a new way to help your pet live his or her life to the fullest.

First out is acupuncturist and massage therapist Linda Jackson, who is the founder and director of The Centre for Acupuncture, Herbs & Massage in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. She was a founding member of the Kripalu Center in the 1970s (she is still on the faculty), and her impressive resume also includes a Master’s Degree in both Education and Oriental Medicine.

Her most recent endeavor was co-authoring “A Dog Lover’s Guide to Canine Massage” with Jody Chiquoine (Jody will tell us about her canine rehab and hydrotherapy business in our next guest post). Take it away, Linda!

Canine Massage at The Centre for Acupuncture, Herbs & Massage
By Linda Jackson, Lic.Ac., MacOM

My work with animals began with my own dogs over 17 years ago. Massaging my dogs was natural since I’ve done massage professionally for over 30 years. Whether people, dogs, cats or horses: the massage strokes are the same. We all have muscles, experience stress, benefit from relaxation, need healing at times and are happier when we are living a full and healthy quality of life.

I am the owner/operator of The Centre for Acupuncture, Herbs & Massage in Great Barrington, Massachusetts – a healthcare clinic that offers services to both people and their canine companions. Much of my work involves educating people to change the way they think about health and wellness. I was drawn to Oriental medicine, massage and herbal medicine because it is based on a paradigm of health instead of illness. Historically, doctors of Oriental medicine were not paid if their clients got sick. They were only paid as long as their clients remained healthy.

Even though most people and/or their dogs initially come in with a chief complaint because that is what we’ve been taught to do, once they feel better I educate them to think differently about their health. I encourage my clients to practice healthy living at home with lifestyle practices they enjoy, and schedule regular appointments throughout the year so that they support their immune systems, relieve stress and stay well.

My professional work with animals was an organic process, actually. I had just moved back to Massachusetts from Oregon and my puppy, Romeo, was faced with numerous health challenges after accidentally eating rat poison. Western medications were palliative at best. I began a course of study for certification in Holistic Animal Care at the New England School of Acupuncture so I could learn to apply Oriental medical principles to my own dog’s lives as I have in my own. Romeo responded so well to changes in diet, massage, acupuncture and exercise that it wasn’t long before others were asking my advice.

During my studies, I met Jody Chiquoine. She, too, had a dog with health challenges. Teaching her to massage Remy was how our canine massage course began. We quickly saw how massage could be of benefit for anyone caring for dogs. If guardians and care givers were the ones regularly massaging their dogs, not only would their dogs also enjoy the benefits of massage, their care givers would be the first to notice changes, pain or injury and needed veterinary care could be pursued earlier.

Being healthy and staying well through regular massage, acupuncture and lifestyle choices certainly improves our quality of life. Our dogs deserve the same.

Jody and I developed our course by joining our love of dogs and our combined experience to offer massage and stretching to dog lovers and guardians. For the last five years we have offered our course three times a year with full classes every time. Our participants include veterinarians, trainers and owners. A Dog Lover’s Guide to Canine Massage grew out of our classes and is used as our text and now to everyone wanting to learn these techniques at home. The feedback has been awesome. We hope you will enjoy learning to massage your dog as much as we do!.

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