Arthritis & Acupuncture

[arozeboom]

I'm looking for opinions on arthritis and acupuncture for treating it. Got any?
Pros and cons?

Ruby has some mild arthritis (she clicks when she walks - limps occasionally), mostly in her elbows. We've bee doing the Dasauquin 6 months or so and it doesn't seem to have much of an effect. I don't want to pump her full of pain meds, if I can avoid it. Steroids would be a last resort. She's OTJ and I'd like to keep her that way.

Which brings me to acupuncture. There is a vet here who does home visits but I know nothing about her. I would only want to use her for the acupuncture and keep our regular vet for everything else. Ru gets super stressed being in the car. I don't know if taking her someplace our vet recommends would outweigh the benefits of the treatment.

Thanks
Amy

 

[BJM]

You might find this an interesting read: Vet Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis in Dogs & Cats

Another thing you might consider is working to desensitize him to car travel. This involves breaking the process into a series of very small steps, then doing each step with positive reinforcement until it can be done with calmness and no stressing out.

For example, step 1 might be leaving the carrier out with a comfy towel or blanket in it and perhaps a sprinkle of catnip or a spritz of Feliway. When you see the cat starting to sleep in it, you're ready to take another step.

 

[Meowluv]

About 15 years ago I had an Arabian horse who had a very sensitive back. I hired an equine acupuncturist to come out and work on him. It did wonders! Also when I was pregnant a couple of years ago and having extreme back pain, my chiropractor performed acupuncture on me and it helped some much with the pain.

I would really recommend it. You may also look into TTouch for cats. There are some videos on youtube and you can get books on how to do it. I used to do it on my Arab because he was kind of head shy and it really helped him. I also use it on my dog who has bad arthritis and it seems to help.

 

[arozeboom]

Unless an appointment is a last minute thing, I bring the carrier out about 3 days prior. If the carrier is out, she hangs out and sleeps in it. She loves it. The second we cross the threshold of the door, she starts yowling and trembling. I've tried Rescue Remedy, Feliway, treats, catnip, and several other herbal/botanical/holistic sprays and nothing seems to calm her down.

 

[BJM]

Thats because you've gone from step A to step Z without working on any intermediate steps.

Systematic desensitization is a series of small steps.
Each step is worked at least a week at a time before progressing.

Step 1 - leaving the carrier out - you've got that
Step 2 - could be closing door, lifting up, putting back down, treat - do for at least a week or until she accepts this calmly
Step 3 - as above, add walking a few steps before putting it back down, treat - do for at least a week or until she accepts this calmly
Step 4 - as above, now add walk through the door, turn around and go back inside
Step 5 - as above, now add placing carrier in car, shutting door, opening door, going back inside
Step 6 - add turning on the car and turning off the car
Step 7 - add moving car a few feet, going back to park
Step 8 - extend distance
etc

You take very small steps.
You work them once or twice a day.
You give positive reinforcements for desired behavior. You ignore undesirable behavior such as howling (no soothing voice, no trying to relieve the anxiety with words or touch.
If a new step doesn't work out, you go back to the previous step and look for a way to subdivide the next step. Or alternate working on it and the previous step.