Natural Dog Detective -- sniffing out the best in holistic dog care

How does one describe Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), an Eastern philosophy of health care, to an American audience raised on a very different, Western approach to disease? Eric Hartmann, D.V.M, M.Ac. laughed thoughtfully at the question.

After a long pause, he said, "From a Chinese medicine perspective, I approach the body without seeing a difference between body, mind and spirit."

In Western medicine, we go to the dentist for a toothache, a gynocologist for female exams, and an oncologist to be treated for cancer. We take our infant to a pediatrician and our teenager to a dermatologist. And that's just for the "body" part, not to mention the mind and spirit! At least we take our dogs to only one vet. Usually...

Perhaps as a culture, we have forgotten the old children's song: "The knee bone's connected to the leg bone. The leg bone's connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone's connected to the foot bone..."

In the introduction to her book, Four Paws, Five Directions, Cheryl Schwartz, D.V.M., agrees. Describing the early years of her veterinary practice, she writes, "The frequently seen animals would come in first for an ear infection, which cleared with antibiotics. Then a month later, the same animal would have an eye infection or a vomiting or diarrhea problem. Each of these conditions was treated as a separate entity and each cleared with the appropriate medication.

"This seemed incongruous to me... How could one animal have a series of problems that were unconnected if they all lived in the same body? With the Western approach, one looks at the most specific, minute part of an individual and loses sight of the individual as a whole. As questions arose more and more in my mind, I began to feel somewhat limited by the Western approach and began to think it was time to look at some other approaches."

Anne Abrams, co-owner of Treatoria Food Company in Seattle, also began to seek a different approach after becoming aware of stiffness and lethargy in her 5-year-old yellow lab about a year after a car accident. Abrams was referred to Naomi Bierman, D.V.M., who practices TCM exclusively. Abrams "noticed a very immediate and fairly dramatic change in Molly" after beginning Bierman's treatments.

Over the course of the last four years, Bierman has treated Molly with a variety of Chinese herbs, acupuncture and dietary changes. It has been a learning process for Abrams, despite her knowledge of other holistic modalities.

"Naomi began to put together a profile of Molly and to educate us about qi," said Abrams. (See sidebar for an explanation of qi.)

Molly's symptoms, which have included chronic itching and skin problems, joint soreness, anemia, and seizure-like tremors where her head would shake uncontrollably for several minutes, might have been seen as unrelated problems in Western medicine and thus given separate treatments. But not in Bierman's office.

Qi (pronounced "chee") is vitality. A person with strong qi has a very high energy and life force. You can sense it but not actually touch it. Conversely, a person with weak qi lacks vitality. It can be tiring just to be around them.

Qi has three main components: hereditary qi, nutritive qi and cosmic qi. Hereditary qi is the substantive essence we are born with, similar to genes and DNA in Western medicine. Nutritive qi comes from the food we eat. Cosmic qi comes from the air we breathe. There's also a qi associated with the immune system, called wei qi. It is the first level of immunity that goes into battle when infection tries to enter the body.

When qi is weak, we feel tired, our immunity suffers, and we are prone to frequent illness.

Source: Four Paws, Five Directions, by Cheryl Schwartz, DVM.

"Almost everything we've dealt with concerning Molly is attached to the same deficiency," exclaimed Abrams. Bierman diagnosed Molly with a liver deficiency early on and the majority of her symptoms have fit that profile. Treating Molly's liver directly, according to Chinese medicine, instead of trying to fix each symptom as it arises, strengthens a vital organ as well as eliminating the symptoms bothering the dog. And it seems to be working.

"In the last nine months to a year," said Abrams, "Molly has not been sore the day after running." She also has more energy, a softer coat, weighs less and has experienced relief from the aforementioned symptoms.

Abrams believes that consistency is the key. She faithfully feeds Molly the homemade diet Bierman created just for her, including a "Molly's blend" of Chinese herbs, and takes her to see Bierman for regular acupuncture treatments. On those rare occasions when Abrams runs out of herbs, Molly begins to itch within several days, as if on cue!

Naomi gives Kody an acupuncture treatment.

Bierman's approach -- and TCM in general -- is, in Abrams' words, "the epitome of a holistic way of looking at" a living being.

"Balance is what TCM is all about," says Bierman, " 'Disease' is imbalance."

Bierman starts with all the information she can gather about her patients, She asks questions about everything from an animal's physical symptoms to his temperament to his likes and dislikes. She looks at blood tests and X-rays and listens to what other vets have said about the animal. She finds out about the animal's home environment and observes her patient's relationship with his owner. She also sits on the floor with the dog during treatments (which seemed to both baffle and thrill my own canine pal at first).

Of her thorough approach, Bierman said, "Accurate diagnosis is an important part."

Also significant, believes Bierman, is an animal's environment. "A lot of the physical problems have to do with lifestyle," she said. And not only are external factors important, such as weather and regular grooming, but also internal components like stress, diet and exercise. Even the ability to eat meals in a peaceful manner plays a role.

"Emotions play a big role in our pets," Bierman said. And since they can't discuss their feelings, some owners seem to forget those feelings exist.

Since both internal and external factors are important in creating health or disease, TCM employs both internal (herbs and diet) and external (acupuncture) treatments to heal.

Both Bierman and Hartmann see a lot of patients with musculoskeletal problems (who are usually suffering from pain of some kind), due to acupuncture's growing popularity as a treatment for things like back pain and arthritis. But Bierman is quick to point out that these symptoms often indicate a deeper problem.

"Lots of dogs with back pain have gastrointestinal problems," Bierman stated. "Their tummy hurts, too!" She also sees patients with irritable bowel syndrome, chronic vomiting and diarrhea and lots of allergies.

And, in true American fashion, more and more vets are prescribing Prozac-like drugs for behavior problems. People often come to Bierman rather than go that route. Unfortunately, throwing drugs at problems causes more harm than good in the long run.

"Immune systems are weaker because of the overuse of drugs and vaccines," said Bierman, whose area of special interest is the immune system.

But it's never too late to return to the whole-body approach, even with an older pet. Abrams, for example, feels like she has a brand new pup instead of the aging dog who was beginning to emerge.

"People see Molly playing at the park and ask, 'How old is the puppy?' I say 9 1/2 and they think I mean 9 1/2 months instead of 9 1/2 years!" Abrams exclaims proudly, adding, "I wouldn't change now."

*This is an excerpt of an article that was originally published in two parts in the November 2000 and December 2000 issues of The Eventer. If you would like to read the entire article, please contact us.