Jac has acupuncture!

I have mentioned that Jac has had a bit of an issue lately. He did in his cruciate ligament before Christmas. Since then he has been to the vet and been rested walked on a lead at all times and restricted to the ground floor of the house. After 3 months we were left with the option of him having an operation. This meant very invasive and very expensive surgery (fortunately he is insured). Basically this meant cutting the top of his bone off and screwing in a metal plate and then extensive recovery time.

I was quite prepared to go ahead with this but Alex was doubtful. Anyway I read up as much as I could on the subject and found there is strangely little scientific research into the effectiveness of this or any type of surgery for dogs with this ailment. In fact there were instances of the surgery going very wrong albeit there were many instances of the dog fully recovering after. Additionally 30% of dogs having this surgery then have the same problem with their other back leg.

We were then told about acupuncture for dogs, I was sceptical but having been told by a friend that it had worked for their dog decided we had nothing to loose. If it didn't work we could still opt for surgery, albeit reluctantly.

It turned out the person doing the acupuncture was a qualified vet and would come to the house. To cut a long story short. after five sessions Jac is now walking and trotting on an extending lead and I defy anyone to tell me which is the injured leg. We are working up to letting him run free and fingers crossed he won't undo the good work but if he stays as he is he is 90% back to his former self. This is a major transformation five weeks ago he was moving on three legs only.

I don't know how it works, I don't really care but I am considering asking her to fix my hip! Thanks Jo.