Acupuncture in treating FD?

[Anne & Zener GA]

Zener has a great vet, not terribly knowledgeable about Lantus, but very open to learning. She also uses acupuncture and chinese herbs regularly in her practice to treat a wide variety of conditions. She has mixed results with acupuncture with FD, but good results with Cushing's and thyroid problems. We are going to give the acupuncture a try next week and I wondered if anyone on the message board has used this in treating FD and what, if any, results you had?
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[Lana & Yoyo]

I can't quite answer your question with certainty.

My cat Yoyo is severly flea-allergic. I believe that the flea allergy tipped him out of remission (and again, that is what I believe but I don't know that for a fact). After months of battling this problem, I decided to take him to an acupuncturist. She recommended giving him Capstar every other day. She also said he was in dire need of dental work. She did acupuncture for allergies and diabetes. He started taking Wind Toxin for the allergies immediately and later, she gave him Jiang Tang Cha for diabetes.

Yoyo has dramatically improved. Is getting rid of the fleas responsible? Is acupuncture responsible? Is the dental work he had with 3 extractions responsible? Is it the herbs? Is it all of those? I don't know the answer. Too many variables. But I can tell you that his hair has grown back, his pot belly is gone, I've dropped his insulin from 1.5 units to just under 1 unit. His BG has gone from being unpredictable, bouncing all over the place, to being much more stable and explainable.

My only concern has been about the Jiang Tang Cha. I have seen a drop in his BG after starting to give him this. I was very concerning that it was making his pancreas excrete more insulin, much like the human diabetic pills do. I did not want to give him anything like that --- I wanted his pancreas to get an opportunity to begin healing -- not being put under even more stress. After a computer search, I found that it was being given to diabetic dogs and they experience a drop in the insulin requirements. If I understand correctly, dogs are always Type I diabetics whose pancreas has ceased to function at all. So, that made me a little more at ease using it.

So, by all means, add acupuncture to your arsenal of diabetes treatments and let us know your experience.

Lana

 

[Anne & Zener GA]

Thanks Lana, it is so hard to rule things out isn't it, there are so many variables! I'll keep the board posted on what happens as were try the acupuncture treatments. We go for his first time on Friday.

 

[tuckers mom]

My CH kitty can't stay still when in a strage environment, she shakes terribly. Is Zener going to be able sit for the acupuncture?

I've heard great things about acupuncture and pain relief but never heard it used for FD. It's been my experience that reduced stress helps lower BGs so if the acupuncture has any sort of calming effect maybe that would help lower BG. It will be interesting to see if this does make a difference.

 

[Anne & Zener GA]

Thanks for the info about stress reduction. I hadn't thought about that at all. Zener's CH is quite mild and he can be very still. He has very small tremors and not all the time. He can walk with a swagger, run short distances and launch himself up onto things, as he did this morning to try to reach our other cat's MC food! He sits very still for the vet already to get examined, blood taken and so on, so I think he will do okay. Thanks again!