I spent the afternoon manning the Red Cross booth at the local kennel club’s annual K-9 Wellness Day. For much of that time my assistant was Rottweiler named Stormy, a remarkably sweet-tempered and gentle girl; particularly remarkable since she spent her first two years the prisoner of a low-life scum-sucking dirtwipe who ran a dog-fighting ring.
She lives a happier life with Ron and Loretta now. Loretta told me that Stormy wasn’t vicious enough to be a good fighter so eventually she wound up being used as a sort of canine punching bag for the other dogs. Shooting is too good for some people.
Among the vendors at the Wellness Day were a trio of mountebanks who were shilling aromatherapy, Chinese herbal medicine, and acupuncture. For dogs. Since I was, so to speak, in uniform, I couldn’t walk over and hurl abuse at them.
If you are an adult human being who is sick or in pain, and you choose to quack yourself with needles and weeds, that’s one thing. But if an animal that loves and trusts you is suffering and you don’t take him to a vet, I hope you get bitten.
Little Grey Bungalow
Couldnt' agree with you more. I'm an animal appreciator too. We regularly watch the animal police here in animal planet and it makes my heart break watching the way animals are treated. To me, if you can't look after your pet then you shouldn't have one. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Shay. I have an old dog who has developed back problems. The vet xrayed her and found that she has bony protrubrances (is that a word?) growing off her spine that are causing her pain. We are managing her pain with meds, and she is obviously very happy with being in the world. But a family member is on me to get doggie acupuncture. I fail to see how that would help spinal bony growths.
ReplyDeletere: making a shag rug. I'm not ruling out a throw shag rug as an accent. We are decorating our house in a retro modern tiki style, and a shag throw would not be out of place!
Love your blog.
Personally, I would stick the needles into the quacks! Both of my felines came from "No-Kill" shelters. A pet is as big a responibility as a kid. Both need good homes, enough food and love and medical care. One cat is now diabetic and that has re-arranged our daily schedules permantely.
ReplyDeleteSo keep up the good fight. I love your blog! Animals, odd cook books and tatting - what more can one ask for?
Actually, a dear friend of mine took his old German Shepherd to a vet when the doggie got to be in too much pain. When medication didn't work, the vet suggested acupuncture, which worked miracles for the old boy's mobility in the last year of his life.
ReplyDeleteMy mother is currently undergoing successful acupuncture treatment for her back problems. Last week she didn't have to use her walker to get to and from her car and office.
As far as "quacking yourself" with what you call weeds, don't forget that many of our modern medicines are based on the chemical properties of herbal remedies.
It's not all bunk.
While alternative therapies wouldn't help my dog with pancreatic insufficiency problems, I *might* try something like chiropractic treatments if he had back problems and was in pain. But only as an additional therapy, not INSTEAD of going to the vet.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of that stuff is just woo-woo therapy, but OTOH, there maybe occasionally be something helpful there.
Ahhh, some people just shouldn't be allowed to post on the internet, especially when they're so completely uneducated. Chinese medicine has been around for more than 3000 years, successfully treating the whole body by addressing nutrition, dispensing herbs and essential oils (aromatherapy), doing acupuncture, etc. Today’s western doctors on the other hand, treat symptoms, give you a quick fix for that symptom without any regard to the affect it has on the whole body. That often leads to other complications that can be avoided through alternative means. In the past, animals were essential to the Chinese farmers' livelihood, so much so that the doctor wasn’t paid unless the animal remained healthy. Today, Chinese medicine can be used to successfully treat and manage a number of conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, respiratory, skin and circulatory issues, etc., and even behavioral problems. Granted, if I had a sick animal and felt it was an emergency, I wouldn’t hesitate to take him to my regular vet. But given a choice of putting my dog on some life/mind altering drug or giving him acupuncture treatments, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the latter. It’s all about quality of life here, and vets have their place as much as alternative (or complementary) practitioners do. The ideal situation is when vets work in concert with complementary practitioners for the ultimate good of the animal.
ReplyDeleteMost disturbing about your post however, is that you feel the need to “hurl abuse” at people whose opinions, experiences and choices may be different from yours. It is the exact ability to have those differences that makes this country great. I suggest you get some therapy for your anger management issues; perhaps some acupuncture would help!
There is no alternate medicine. There is only clinically proven medicine, and mumbo-jumbo.
ReplyDeleteApparently you believe 3000 years of Chinese history accounts for nothing. Like I said, some people really need to be educated and you appear to be one of them... Go ahead and continue to feel good about "hurling abuse" at those who are different from you. I feel sorry for you that your mind is so closed.
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ReplyDeleteAnd I feel sorry for your dog.
ReplyDeleteMy dog is just fine thank you, very healthy and very happy, and so are all the ones I have worked on using "alternative means". In fact, I have saved several from surgery using that "mumbo jumbo". As I said, I feel sorry for you, and for anyone (human or otherwise) with whom you come in contact. I'm done with you now, it's obvious to me and any other sane person there's no hope to even crack open your mind just a wee bit. It's really too bad, but it's your loss, not mine.
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