Posts Tagged ‘kidney failure’

According to Will Falconer, DVM, the diseases that are quite common in cats now were virtually unknown in the late 70’s.

Cats didn’t have thyroid problems, and hyperthyroidism was not in the books or the exam rooms.

Chronic diseases such as heartworm (a dog disease originally), asthma, kidney failure, inflammatory bowel disease, dental calculus and decay, heart disease, and cancer are fairly commonplace now in the feline population.

Wild cats like the lynx and bobcat are not experiencing these chronic degenerative diseases. Wolves don’t die of heartworm disease or have dirty teeth.

We are actually causing these chronic diseases to become more prevalent by administering annual vaccines, feeding toxic food, and using topical flea poisons that warn us not to get them on our skin. You can read the full story by clicking on the following link:

The Cats are Talking… About Chronic Disease

Although acupuncture has been used on hundreds of millions of people for thousands of years, it has only been used on domestic pets in the USA since the 1970’s

When a patient receives acupuncture treatments, the needles are inserted at specific longitudinal points on the patient’s body. Four-legged patients, such as cats, have such points, or meridians, at approximately the same locations as the corresponding points on the human body.  According to acupuncture theory, each point controls a specific region of the body.   

The aim of acupuncture is to treat the root of the illness, not just the symptoms. A short list of the conditions and illnesses in cats that respond well to acupuncture include kidney failure, liver problems, arthritis, musculoskeletal problems, vomiting, asthma, and a multitude of geriatric problems.

Generally, acupuncture is really not painful, except for a patient who is extremely underweight. The needles used are many times smaller than a normal hypodermic needle, generally only 0.02mm wide

For cats who are truly intolerant of needles, there are modern methods of needleless acupuncture.

Because acupuncture stimulates the body to heal itself, it doesn’t work overnight. A course of treatment usually requires six to eight visits to an acupuncturist.  

To find a qualified veterinary acupuncturist in your area, visit the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society’s web site or its American affiliate, the American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture.