Acupuncture

[buddyboy]

Cassie Cavalier had to go in for a dental last week. She has been with me 2 years and her teethhave been dodgy from the start however she has an extremely enlarged heart andsevere murmur (not that you would know it from the way she hooleys around withthe others) so up until now the risk of the GA has been more than the risk ofthe teeth causing problems. At her lastcheckup for repeat meds the vet said the teeth had really got to the stagewhere they had to come out and to book Cassie in with one of the other vets whois the speediest at dentals.

 

We went to the surgery where bloods were taken and then wentfor a long walk round town. When we gotback to the surgery the bloods had all come back ok so Cas was given a mildsedative and a minimal dose of metacam.

 

She was in surgery for just over an hour (the teeth weremanky but still put up a fight). The vetdid not want to give her any more GA or painkillers than was absolutelynecessary as the risk of losing her was extremely high so she used acupunctureinstead. There was no pain relief otherthan the original metacam. Normal GA is2.5 – 3.0% apparently, Cas had only 1.75%. There were 2 needles either side of T3 and T5 – the sites used for painrelief which coincidentally also benefit the heart. There was also a needle in the point justabove her dew claw which is used for calming (only one side, there was a dripin the other leg). Cas’s femoral pulsewas strong throughout, her vital signs were good and her heart rate remainedsteady at between 120 (normal resting rate for her) and 135.

 

Within an hour of surgery Cas was bright eyed and demandingfood (well – she had forgone breakfast!). She coughed a bit after eating (knowing her she did not bother chewing,just hoovered it up!) so had more acupuncture. She came home 2 hours after surgery as they felt she would be better athome than wondering what was going on there.

 

She had half a metacam tablet on Saturday morning and halfon Sunday morning – no signs of discomfort but I thought I had better give them as prescribed to help anyinflammation. Saturday afternoon she wascharging around the field with her friends, Sunday she was clambering overrocks on the beach.

 

The vet said today she could have murdered the other vet whosaid the teeth were to come out as the risk was so high, but she is thrilled tohave seen just how much of a difference the acupuncture made to a dog withserious heart problems and is definitely going to use it again. She did use acupuncture as pain relief onanother dog yesterday – not under GA and it made a small difference but not asmajor as Cas. She is planning on writinga paper on it.

 

Thought this may be helpful for anyone else who has a dogwith heart problems as it is worth asking your vet to find out more if a GA isrequired.

 

[blackmagic]

That is very interesting.

 

Thanks for posting

[Karen]

Wow - absolutely fascinating and what a benefit all round for Cassie. It would be great if her vet could share the information.

[buddyboy]

Spoke to the vet when we went in for boosters on Thursday.... she did not mean she was going to write a paper on it but was going to use Cas as a case study for it..... but she is happy to speak to others about the results. She used the same principles on another Cav with a heart murmur (not as severe as Cas's) a few days ago - and again was very pleased with the reduction in pain relief and GA needed.

[Yantan]

I'll pass this info on to my friend who has an elderly Cav with heart problems too. Little Cav is possibly going to have to have a dental in the not-too-distant future but the anaesthesia is, understandably, worrying my friend.