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Andrew is a 12 year old cat with intestinal cancer. His cancer is in
remission, but he suffers from constipation. The traditional treatment
for constipation is oral medication, which was helpful, but Andrew
resisted taking it. So Andrew’s owner looked into animal acupuncture,
which has been practiced in China for at least 2,000 years. Many clinical
studies have documented the benefits of acupuncture.
Andrew’s owner had limited knowledge of
acupuncture but understood that acupuncture was more than randomly placing
needles all over the body. Acupuncture is an exact treatment involving
placing needles in local and distal sites. For example, if a patient has
arthritis of the hips, local needles placed around the hip can provide
significant pain relief. Longer lasting pain relief is often obtained by
placing needles far away from the hips in distal points.
For Andrew’s first treatment, his owner held
him on her lap while needles were placed. This releases natural endorphins
and calmed him. There are hundreds of acupuncture points grouped into
meridians, which are channels connecting the points. Acupuncture points
are used not only to treat but also to diagnosis illness. If a point is
sensitive, the patient may have local pain or a problem with the meridian
the point lies on. In Andrew’s case, he was very sensitive over points on
his back, which are associated with the intestines. Andrew didn’t hold
very still for his first treatment, which lasted fifteen minutes. After
his first treatment, he slept most of the afternoon, as is common.
Andrew’s follow up treatment was a week
later. He was calm and slept during his second acupuncture treatment. By
the third treatment, the owner was able to reduce his traditional oral
medication and today Andrew rarely needs medication for constipation.
Andrew seems to enjoy his acupuncture, which he receives every six weeks
for maintenance.
Andrew is an example of how well animals
accept and respond to acupuncture treatment. In addition to constipation,
acupuncture can treat arthritis or an injury, and can help manage skin
allergies, chronic vomiting or diarrhea, as well as balance the body when
faced with cancer, kidney, liver, or heart disease.
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