Illustration by Em Roberts
In the early 2000s, Jivleen Sandhu and her greyhound, Major, were both in pain. Sandhu’s neck and shoulder were bothering her, and Major was experiencing lumbosacral stenosis, a degenerative spinal disorder common in older dogs.
Acupuncture helped them both.
“I went to my first [acupuncture] visit with some doubt, but was pleasantly surprised when I had a great amount of relief upon completion of the session,” Sandhu says. “After a few sessions of acupuncture, I found [Major] to be in less pain and more outgoing.”
Sandhu read “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats,” a book on holistic pet care first published in 1982, and developed “a whole new viewpoint,” she says.
So in 2011, when another greyhound, More, was diagnosed with bone cancer, Sandhu sought a treatment plan that blended traditional and nontraditional approaches: The leg with the cancerous bone was removed, and More underwent chemotherapy. At that point, More’s prognosis was for six to 12 additional months of life. Under the guidance of a research professor at the University of Washington and in conjunction with More’s oncologist, the dog was given Artemisinin, a plant-derived drug used to treat malaria, in “very precise doses, in a very precise manner,” Sandhu says.
More and Sandhu enjoyed three more years together.
“There is a place for the conventional and [the] holistic.” —Jivleen Sandhu
Sandhu says she strives to live a holistic life, paying attention to diet, exercise and her environment. She does the same with her pets, believing that quality food, a toxin-free environment in the house and yard, plenty of walks in sunshine and fresh air, and mental stimulation work together to foster good health. When medical intervention is required, she wants to consider all options. “There is a place for the conventional and [the] holistic,” she says.
“With people, there can be a placebo effect; the mind is a powerful thing, as we all know,” she adds. “With animals, there can be no such thing, as they have no comprehension of what is taking place.”
Dr. Rebecca Funk assesses movement in a horse’s back to determine if there is need for a chiropractic adjustment. (Photo courtesy Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Science)
Traditional vs. ‘Alternative’
Formal veterinary education took hold in the U.S. in the mid-1800s, as the first schools of veterinary medicine were founded. Veterinary schools both then and now typically focus on “Western” medicine, which includes testing of drugs and methods that validate their use in treatment.
A variety of terms are often used to describe medical treatments that differ from Western medicine: alternative, holistic, non-Western, Eastern or Chinese, and homeopathic. Treatments for pets that are considered nontraditional include acupuncture, chiropractic, essential oils, and cold laser, says Rebecca Funk, a clinical associate professor at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. The term “complementary medicine” applies to using alternative medical treatments alongside Western medicine.
Funk, whose degrees and certifications include internal veterinary medicine, traditional Chinese veterinary medicine and veterinary chiropractic, says alternative medicine is relatively new in the U.S., even though traditional Chinese medicine is thousands of years old.
“It focuses on balance within the body and uses five modalities to restore balance,” Funk says, with the modalities being acupuncture, herbal medicine, food therapy, tui-na (medical massage), and qi gong (movement meditation).
While research is ongoing to understand how alternative medicine works and where it can be best employed, Funk says “there is good evidence for many of these modalities in treating pain and in treating chronic diseases or cancer.”
“It's the idea of looking at an animal in its entirety instead of focusing on one small portion." —Rebecca Funk
At Virginia Tech, the curriculum includes two elective courses for third-year students: One explores rehabilitation and complementary medicine, while the second focuses on the theories behind traditional Chinese veterinary medicine. Funk says a quarter to a half of third-year students take one or both of these classes, and students may also see complementary techniques used in school clinics.
Holistic medicine, Funk says, describes the approach a doctor would take with a patient. “It’s the idea of looking at the animal in its entirety instead of focusing on one small portion,” she says. “For example, if an animal has lameness, holistic medicine will examine all parts of the body and the external environment the animal is placed in, while Western medicine will drill down and focus only on the cause of that lameness.
“Most of the alternative medicine categories embrace this holistic approach to a case,” she says.
Veterinarian Danielle Hartman (left) and student tech Lauren Rader perform acupuncture on a cat. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Putting Theory Into Practice
Veterinarian Danielle Hartman of Rutland Animal Hospital in Mechanicsville believes in the healing power of veterinary acupuncture. After attending a national holistic veterinary medicine conference, “I went down the rabbit hole,” she says. “You hear some stories and you think, ‘No way.’ But there is Western-based scientific research that shows [the effects] are not just a placebo.”
Hartman has taken College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies classes on herbal treatments and is pursuing acupuncture training through the Florida-based Chi Institute of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine. The six-month program includes online classes and on-site training.
Herbs are useful in treatments, Hartman says, because humans and animals developed and evolved alongside plants. “Herbs tend to work more effectively and have fewer side effects when used appropriately,” she says. “A lot of people will use acupuncture for acute, soft-tissue injury, such as sprains, or arthritis. Positive changes you can get from acupuncture can be extended with herbals.”
Acupuncture, which involves the placement of small needles on the surface of the body, is believed to stimulate the body’s natural healing signals. Hartman says the Western perspective of acupuncture is to use it for a specific problem, while the Eastern approach is holistic, geared toward adjusting the body internally so a problem doesn’t return.
Hartman advises clients to commit to six acupuncture visits, though most cats will show improvement after just one visit, and dogs after two to three. She says she finds it useful to pair acupuncture with Western medicine, especially when an animal has multiple diagnoses. Currently, she’s treating her dog — which has cancer in its left front leg, arthritis and heart disease — with a traditional cancer protocol, but is using acupuncture to quell coughing caused by the heart disease.
“You don’t want to do acupuncture around a tumor, because you don’t want to bring blood into an area with cancer,” she says, “but we can strengthen the heart” with acupuncture.
Taking the Long View
For veterinarian Tracy Lord, founder of Four Paws Veterinary Holistic Service in Henrico, integrative medicine is the best way for her to help her clients, both two-legged and four-legged.
“I always tell people that my goal is to improve the quality of life for the owner and the pet,” she says. “People give up a lot for their pets; it can become like taking care of an elderly person in hospice.”
Lord, who has trained in veterinary acupuncture, Chinese herbals and animal chiropractic, says demand is increasing for nontraditional treatments, even as some clients are skeptical. “We have clients who look at me strangely as they’re standing in the room,” she says. “They’ve come to me because they are basically desperate, but they don’t believe in what I do.” After treatments succeed, she notes, pet owners often ask her to recommend a holistic doctor for themselves.
One challenge of holistic treatment, Lord says, is that because each patient is regarded individually, she can’t tell pet owners at the outset what the treatment will be. “They don’t all get the same thing, because there are factors to consider,” she says. “The owner might not be able to get pills in her pet, the pet might not like needles or might not do well with a particular supplement. We have to do whatever is best for the animal and the family.”
Even with alternative approaches, traditional treatments may be essential, she says. “Western medicine is very good for emergency and acute conditions,” Lord says. “It can be life-saving. There is definitely a place for antibiotics, and we can offer something else, if necessary, to counter the negative effects of antibiotics.”
Lord says the effectiveness of treatments is apparent in a variety of ways: increased appetite, willingness to interact with family members or other animals, coat condition, muscle tone, and agility. “You can see [pets] literally doing things they weren’t doing before,” she says. “We regularly have people who say their dog jumped on the bed, and he hasn’t done that in five years.”
Traditional lab work can show internal improvements as well. For example, acupuncture designed to improve kidney function can be verified through blood tests.
After the initial problem has been resolved, Lord says, “We can continue treatments for longevity and well-being. If we’re lucky enough, systems just wear out. I hope to change people’s view to get past the fear [of losing a pet].”
