Tested technique
Area vet uses ancient method to help pets
BY JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Friday, July 18, 2008 10:23 AM PDT
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| Dr. Sara Ahola, a certified veterinarian acupuncturist, applies acupuncture needles to Rusty, a 12-year-old golden retriever with chronic arthritis, while Rusty’s owner, Cheryl Collins, looks on. Ahola is one of two certified vet acupuncturists in Idaho. |
FRUITLAND — Rusty, a 12-year-old golden retriever, ambled into a small checkup room at Snake River Veterinary Center late Tuesday afternoon with his owner Cheryl Collins, a vet technician at the care center.
Rusty, a mild-mannered pooch suffering from chronic arthritis, was Dr. Sara Ahola’s last patient of the day, but one of her first patients scheduled for acupuncture since she started at the clinic this summer.
“We’re still getting the word out,” Ahola said of the newest service to be offered at the veterinary center.
Interest, however, is gradually building, and Ahola was scheduled for more visits this week.
Ahola, a veterinarian certified to perform acupuncture, said she became interested in acupuncture in vet school at Colorado State University, which is one of the few universities to offer acupuncture as a complementary track in its veterinary program.
“I’m open to complementary therapies,” she said. “I like that it’s one other way to counteract pain in animals.”
While pet acupuncture is not new in the world of veterinary medicine, it is starting to gain popularity and acceptance as a valid form of animal treatment. Ahola said more people are seeking services like hers, and she feels she is providing one more treatment option for her four-legged patients and their owners.
Like Rusty and Collins, who told Ahola in her preliminary exam of Rusty that her pet has suffered from arthritis for quite some time and she was considering starting him on a different medication for his pain.
Ahola and Collins briefly discussed medication options while Ahola finished her physical check-up of Rusty and his sore elbows and limbs.
Ahola said, while she gathered her medically-approved acupuncture needles, since it was Rusty’s first time, she would not give him a full treatment, but would instead center around his shoulders and his back.
She said it is not uncommon for animals new to the treatment to be sore for the first couple of days and for owners not to see much improvement immediately, but they might see some improvement after that.
“Most animals tolerate it very well,” Ahola said, as she massaged Rusty’s affected limbs in preparation for the acupuncture. “Just about any animal can benefit from it.”
As Ahola applied hair-thin flexible needles with plastic tips underneath Rusty’s thick, shaggy golden-brown fur along his shoulders and back, gently inserting the needle just below the dog’s skin, she said acupuncture is very helpful with horses used for racing or barrel work, cows, dogs, cats, sheep, goats, even turtles and birds. From his end, Rusty didn’t take much notice to Ahola’s work or the needles she inserted and then gave a slight twist to before moving on to the next one. That is not uncommon, she said, comparing the feeling of an acupuncture needle being inserted to a small pin prick.
“The biggest concerns with pets is they don’t eat the needles,” she said. “And, of course, I don’t let them.”
While she agreed Rusty was handling the treatment quite calmly she said dogs who have suffered from chronic arthritis for awhile tend to adjust to their daily pain and compensate in other ways. During the procedure, Rusty sat patiently next to Collins on the floor, with his concerned owner holding his paw from time to time for support or when a needle hit a particularly sensitive area causing him to flinch.
He even yawned a couple of times as he waited for the treatment to end. After inserting the needles, which range in length depending on the animal’s size and muscle tone, Ahola said they would let the needles sit for awhile to have some affect.
The length of time depends on the patient, but, unless the muscles seize around the needle, gripping it tight before they relaxed again, animals don’t need more than 10 minutes, she said.
Acupuncture was used in China for thousands of years, but has only recently gained acceptance as another treatment option in western medicine. The treatment uses needles to stimulate anatomical points on the body.
“It’s all anatomically based,” Ahola said, adding she had to study for hours on the various points in the many regions that correspond to different areas of the body. In case of chronic pain, she said, the needles can be applied around the general problem area. The purpose of the acupuncture needles, she said, is to stimulate the muscles around nerves, releasing neurotransmitters, which helps regulate pain and, depending on the ailment, aid in healing. Ahola said acupuncture is very beneficial for some problems, but cannot be used for everything, and she said it is not a replacement for any other veterinary treatment.
Instead, she said, it is a complement to the veterinary treatment, and depending on the animal and it’s problem Ahola said she may suggest it as a treatment option to owners, sometimes in accompaniment with other treatments.
“I don’t view acupuncture as a replacement (to other veterinary medicine),” she said. “It’s just one more treatment modality that we use. It’s one of my tools in the toolbox.”
Nor does acupuncture work on every animal, and she said, if that appears to be the case, she recommends to an owner they try something else because she doesn’t want to pursue a treatment that is not benefiting the animal and is wasting time and the pet owner’s money.
“The biggest thing with acupuncture is we can only treat something that’s functionally reversible,” Ahola said.
In Rusty’s case, however, Ahola said she thought acupuncture would work and help make him more comfortable, which Collins said was the reason she wanted to try acupuncture in addition to medicine.
Rusty, Collins said, as Ahola began to remove the needles, has been hurting for sometime and it is obvious in his day-to-day movement and activity.
“He limps a lot,” she said. “It’s hard for him to get up. He can’t jump up on the couch anymore. He can’t jump on the bed anymore. He can’t up on the truck(bed) anymore.”
Collins said the aged Rusty, a beloved family pet, deserves to be as pain-free as possible in his golden years.
“And that’s what I wanted in the last part of his life,” Collins said. “I just want him to be comfortable.”
After Rusty went home for the afternoon and Ahola wrapped up her work day, she said she is seeing more and more animal owners like Rusty’s, who consider their pets a member of the family and are willing to try new things if they will benefit their animals. Those are the people Ahola expects to make up the majority of her customers. While she is skeptical of treatments that claim to be cure-alls, she has seen animals benefit from acupuncture and is satisfied it helps with anything from chronic pain to organ malfunction and some infections.
“I’m all for science-based treatments,” Ahola said. “I don’t go for any old song and dance.”
