Pom Pom Meets Eastern Medicine

2010-01-08 16.18.56I took Pom Pom to her annual vet visit last Friday, and finally got news that I’ve been dreading for as along as she’s been with me – Pom Pom is aging.

Yes, indeed, my baby Pom Pom is showing signs of her age.  I’d say, for 12-years-old, she is as spunky and sassy as ever, and has been and continues to be as healthy as can be.  But, this year’s exam brought with it news of her senior eyesight (Vet: “It’s probably getting harder for her to see in the dark and in her peripheral vision”), dental health (Vet: “She has pretty serious periodontal disease”), and worse of all, mobility deficits (Vet: “She’s definitely leaning to one side and compensating for the pain in her hip”).

Worse of all, Pom Pom was in so much pain in her hind left leg that she actually snarled and growled at the vet when she tried to exam her backside.

We’ve noticed Pom limping and lifting her leg, and have been hearing her cry in pain when we tried picking her up, so this wasn’t exactly a surprise to me.  Still, it’s not easy to get confirmation from your vet that your little girl is getting old.  Dustin and I have been doing research and learned that a lot of pain medication for doggie arthritis is harmful to their liver, so we were hoping for some sort of holistic treatments that would help relive Pom’s pain and prevent it from getting worse.

Luckily, our vet happens to be a certified animal acupuncturist, and believes in incorporating Eastern methods with traditionally more Western approaches to animal health care.  This just happens to fall in line with my own worldview, so Pom Pom got signed up for acupuncture.

It was the cutest thing – she had little tiny needles sticking out from the top of her little circle head and all along her body.  I was so nervous, but apparently I didn’t need to be because Pom layed calmly still for the 15-20 minutes the needles stayed in.  Okay, she kinda gave me this annoyed look like, “Mama, WHAT are you doing to me?”, but didn’t act like it hurt, or even showed that she noticed the needles at all.  For the entire time, she layed on the table and licked my hand, just like normal.

We left the vet office with an herbal concoction for treating arthritis pain, another appointment for acupuncture in a week, and a hefty vet bill.  But, most importantly, we left with a relaxed, sleeping Pom Pom in her tote.

I’d say it’s all worth the $$ and stress to have a pain-free Pom Pom again.

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