Modern miracles

Ailing animals can benefit from advances in veterinary medicine.

Gone are the days of resignation when a beloved pet becomes seriously ill, loses mobility or behaves egregiously. With advances in the field of veterinary medicine, it’s not uncommon today to see large dogs being wheeled into surgery to repair ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs). Both dogs and cats are likely candidates now for insulin shots for diabetes, lens implants following cataract removal, liposuction to remove fatty tumors and chemotherapy to treat cancer.
    What’s more, as options for pet care expand, it’s only natural that pet owners are also seeking alternative forms of health care for their animal companions. Just as complementary therapies are becoming increasingly available and acceptable in treating humans, a quick Google search can locate practitioners that offer acupuncture, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, spinal manipulation or behavioral services for our furry and feathered friends—be they dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs or horses.
    “Thirty years ago people put their pets to sleep [when seriously ill or infirm], but now that pets are a more treasured part of the family, their owners are often willing to incur the costs of extraordinary care if the problem is treatable,” says Mack Barney of Barney and Russum, a practicing veterinarian in Fairfield for 30 years.
    Regardless of the species, your pets have one thing in common: They can’t tell you what ails them. Therefore, your animals and their vets rely on your observations. As an animal’s caretaker, you can watch for signs of discomfort: Does your dog have trouble getting up the stairs? Does it groan when it stands? Does your horse throw its head when the lead is changed? Does it “collect”—gather its full energy potential—when requested by the rider? If you notice a change in your pet’s behavior, the road you take for care is up to you; but these days you have a wide variety of therapies from which to choose.
    Read on to learn about Lady, Chase and Rosemary—a dog, a cat and a horse—and the care they received that improved the quality of their lives.

Arthritis relief through acupuncture

Dr. Dale Olm performs acupuncture on Snowball. (photo: Olm, Southampton)

Lady’s age is showing in her movements and the gray around her eyes. “She’s still my baby,” says owner Erin Beeman of the 14-year-old German shepherd mix. “I’ve had her since I was 15.”
    Lady has degenerative arthritis in her knees and a ruptured ACL. Beeman says that before Lady started acupuncture treatments she couldn’t get up by herself, wasn’t wagging her tail and seemed depressed.
    After graduating from Cornell University in 1986, DVM Dale Olm and his wife, DVM Shelby Riddle, opened Southampton Pet Hospital in Benicia in 1992, where they now offer a conventional practice plus alternative approaches, including acupuncture. Olm was certified in 1999 by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society.
    “Acupuncture, used in China for 3,000 years, uses chi (life force energy) to bring about changes in the body that we can’t explain from a biochemical Western point of view,” says Olm.
    With Lady settled on a padded platform in the exam room, Olm places 12 one-inch stainless steel needles in her hips, back and feet, and she doesn’t seem to mind at all.
    “Now she wags her tail, wants to play and doesn’t have any trouble getting up at all,” says Beeman while affectionately patting her furry best friend.
    Acupuncture can help chronic pain associated with hip dysplasia and arthritis, and is used to relieve pain and symptoms due to inflammatory bowel disease, skin allergies and chronic kidney failure in cats, and to decrease the nausea associated with chemotherapy.
    The initial consultation fee is about $118, with an added $85 per acupuncture treatment. Olm expects to see a positive response in three to five treatments, with the condition improving after each visit.

Chasing away bad behavior

At 3 years old, Chase is a strong, energetic tabby with a white belly, partial white head and pretty gray-green eyes. As a kitten he occasionally nipped like all kittens do, but when Richard Olson and Laura Hendrickson recently moved into a new house, Chase started showing signs of aggression. It began when Chase, who was raised as a house cat, escaped his new digs and got into a fight with the neighbor’s cat. Now when Chase sees his nemesis outside the window he yowls and snarls, breathes heavily through his nose and his hair stands on end. Agitated, he attacks whatever is nearby, be it a couch, pillows, a table or his owner. He has taken to scratching or biting Hendrickson’s legs, once leaving half-inch deep lacerations.
    From Chase’s vet, they learned about the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Behavior Service, a program that works to correct behavior problems in animals. The goal of the program is to help pets stay with their families, and its core principle is that you can teach a dog new tricks by addressing the underlying motivation for its behavior. Behavior science is the newest board-certified specialty service for animals, and the UC Davis program of veterinary behavior is the largest in the country. Practitioners in the program work primarily with dogs and cats, but also with horses, birds, rabbits and the occasional pot-bellied pig.
    At a behavioral science consultation last winter, while Chase swished his tail and roamed the room, Karen Sueda—a postgraduate scholar in clinical animal behavior at Davis—took detailed notes. In the 45-minute session, she asked Hendrickson and Olson about their pet’s history, behavior and the layout of the house—including the window that gives Chase a view of the neighbor’s cat. She also asked about their responses to Chase’s behavior.
    After the oral history, Sueda and a participating graduate student left the room to discuss the case and come up with a treatment plan. The goal in this case was to remove the trigger of the aggression. Since Hendrickson’s neighbor had already refused to keep his cat indoors, Sueda suggested an opaque window covering for the sliding glass doors and the living room window to keep Chase from seeing the offending cat, and provided them with a brochure to find the product.
    For Hendrickson’s safety, Sueda encouraged her to leave the room when Chase had an episode, and to toss stuffed animals at him so that he would attack used thrift store bears instead of her legs. Since Hendrickson had been responding to Chase’s bites and scratches by feeding or playing with him, he had learned that his behavior reaped rewards. Therefore, she was instructed not to play with him when he bites or scratches, and to reward him with treats when he displays calm behavior.
    The cost of having your animal seen by a UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Behavior Service specialist is $250 for a cat and $340 for a dog. Both include a phone follow-up.

The healing touch

Dr. Troy Stevens treats Robert, one of his chiropractic clients. (photo: Troy Stevens, D.C., Equine Chiropractic)

Rosemary is a dark-chocolate, 6-year-old registered Morgan who stands at 15 hands, or 5 feet. When Rosemary began to show reluctance in holding her head in a relaxed position at the trot and canter, Ann Taylor of the Woodland Stallion Station called Dixon-based chiropractor Troy Stevens.
    Licensed by the state of California in 1991 after graduating from Oregon’s Western States Chiropractic College, Stevens took over an existing Dixon practice in 1996. Interested in applying his chiropractic skills to animals, he attended Options for Animals in Illinois, the original school founded for animal chiropractic.
    Stevens explains that chiropractic care for animals is based on the same principles as human chiropractic care, but the
anatomy is different. The philosophy of chiropractic is to release or reposition joints that are out of alignment so that the nervous system is free and clear to communicate with all the living tissues of the body.
    According to the California Code of Regulations, chiropractors who work on animals must work closely with vets while following specific procedures. Several years ago Stevens developed a working relationship with Sacramento veterinarian Signe Beebe, owner and operator of the Integrative Veterinary Center, where he currently works on small animals one day a week. He also provides care for horses throughout Northern California.
    With rain pelting against the metal roof of the large, open-walled arena at Woodland Stallion Station, Stevens worked with Rosemary. Susan Germier, Rosemary’s trainer, led Rosemary in circles while Stevens watched her run.
    This was Rosemary’s second treatment. During her first treatment, Stevens found a subluxation, or joint misalignment, in her neck and made an adjustment. On her first ride, Germier didn’t notice a difference, but the following day she had the best ride ever. Being a skeptic, Germier initially chalked it up to coincidence, but then Rosemary did great for a week. However, at the end of that week Rosemary started showing signs of discomfort.
    Stevens wasn’t surprised. He had felt a good deal of scar tissue in Rosemary’s neck and knew that without a second treatment Rosemary would naturally revert to the subluxation.
    During the second treatment, Stevens ran his hands along Rosemary’s neck, doing a bit of soft tissue work along the way. He got underneath her head and gently pulled her neck towards him with a quick tug, then offered her a carrot close to her lower chest to stretch her neck. He also stood on a large plastic foam block to feel for any subluxation in her spine. To perform a lumbar traction, he got behind Rosemary and pulled firmly on her tail. With the whites of her eyes showing, Rosemary’s look said, “This is somewhat embarrassing, but it sure does feel good.”
    Chiropractic care can also be good for symptoms associated with age, arthritis and post-surgical complications. The cost for a first-time evaluation is $95 for horses, $65 for dogs and cats, with subsequent treatments slightly less. Stevens emphasizes the importance of taking your house pet or performance animal to your regular vet before seeking chiropractic care.

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