WHERE DOES IT HURT? Thermography Can Shine the Light on Your Pet’s Pain
Our practice is alternative in many ways. At Sleepy Dog, we practice alternative medicine for small animals. We use acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic, herbal medicine, massage, physical rehabilitation, Reiki, and traditional Chinese veterinary medical nutrition to treat our patients. The majority of our patients come to us with a chronic challenge, something such as arthritis, cancer, kidney disease, allergies, gastrointestinal complaints and more. We use conventional diagnostics like blood work and...
Recognizing Soft Tissue Injuries in Dogs From an Integrative Perspective - Part 1
Applying rehab and physiotherapy techniques to an injured dog should be preceded by a proper consideration of how the injury developed and progressed, and how it affects the health and function of the entire body. The care of the canine athlete in performance and working disciplines is finally getting much-needed attention and awareness. While this seems to be a new and rapidly-growing aspect of veterinary medicine, working dogs have needed...
A Referring Vets Guide to Hip Dysplasia
Healthy, active, pain-free pets are important family members. But our pets do not speak and we should be able to understand when they are in pain. Unfortunately, hip dysplasia (HD) is an all too common, developmental orthopedic condition resulting in osteoarthritis (OA). Osteoarthritis causes discomfort, chronic aching and pain. So it is important for the primary care vet to engage with the insidious nature of this condition and recognize the...
Certified vs. Trained-Who is Really Swimming Your Dog?
The other day, a friend of mine was telling me how a couple years ago she had hired a canine hydrotherapist to work with her dog. Sophie, a beagle mix, was older, had severe arthritis and didn’t want to move around too much. My friend considered hydrotherapy and thought it would be a great way to provide relief of pain, inflammation as well as get her dog moving and exercised....
Why We Care About Stairs
Options to help make this everyday challenge more accessible to our pets with weakness, injury or as they age Stairs are an everyday challenge to many of our older pets. What goes up: When a dog walks up the stairs they have more body weight over the back legs putting increased weight and pressure on the hip and knee joints. If these joints have arthritis, this can be painful. It...
Expert Interview with Dr. Aronson
Dr. Randy Aronson, DVM is the founder of P.A.W.S., an integrative veterinary center in Tucson, AZ. Dr Aronson's practice includes complimentary therapies such as acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and physical rehabilitation therapy. His vision for the future of veterinary medicine is to are for the whole animal, and not to simply treat disease symptoms. Find out more at pawstucson.com. Dr. Aronson talks about all the conditions he uses PEMF therapy...
An Ancient Art: The Benefits of Pet Acupuncture
Acupuncture has a long history, but it hasn’t always been exclusively for humans. Believed to have originated in India, ancient Chinese legends describe the successful use of acupuncture in battle-worn horses. Over time, other animals, such as camels, chickens, cattle, elephants, monkeys, goats, and sheep were also treated. Since its adoption throughout Europe in the late 17th century, pet acupuncture has continued to heal and treat pain and chronic disease....
Heat or Ice, Which is Best for an Older Dog
Knowing what is best for your older dog when it comes to treatment of their ailments and making them more comfortable can change as your dog gets older. If your dog is in pain or has an injury, the difference between using heat or ice can be the difference in the way they heal and the quality of their life. Benefits of heat: Heat is a great way to reduce...