It Simply Works By C.A. Krowzack, DVM

In February of 1998, the Great Lakes Irish Wolfhound Association (GLIWA)
held their annual meeting. The meeting is an occasion for fellowship of
the members, the club attends to business and also hosts a speaker on a
special topic. In the past it has been obedience, therapy dog training,
and this year the topic was acupuncture.

Dr. Debbie Mitchell gave an overview of what acupuncture is, its history
and its medical uses.

Then, using a member’s dog, showed the participants several
acupuncture/acupressure points that they could utilize. One point was to
stimulate gastrointestinal motility to combat bloat.

This week at my clinic, a GLIWA member brought her wolfhound in for an
examination. During the night Quinn had begun experiencing discomfort.
He sleeps in the bedroom with his owners. The husband had worked a long
day and was asleep, but the wife was awakened by the restless behavior
of Quinn. When she petted him she found his abdomen severely enlarged
and hard to the touch. She knew it was bloat, but didn’t know what to
do. She is a small woman, and Quinn a large dog. She remembered the
acupressure point Dr. Mitchell had shown and began massaging it. Within
a few minutes, Quinn began passing "a lot of gas" and his abdomen became
smaller and softer. The husband and wife brought Quinn in the next
morning to make sure he was all right, and because he had diarrhea.

On examination, Quinn was completely normal. He was not experiencing
discomfort upon palpation, and no abnormalities beside the diarrhea
could be found. Because she remembered the acupressure point, the wife
had saved Quinn’s life. The acupressure point is on the hind leg. If you
start at the hock, on the front of the leg (anterior) you can feel the
tibia. Move your hand up the leg along the tibia’s sharp crest; what in
humans would be called the shin. As your hand approaches the stifle, or
the "knee" the crest becomes very pronounced and then curls around to
the outside (laterally). Just inside this curve is a depression. The
acupressure point is in this depression. An acupuncturist might insert a
needle into this spot, or inject a liquid, but, as Quinn’s owners will
attest, massaging also stimulates the point. The gastrointestinal tract
starts to contract and move (peristalsis) and expels the built up gas
before torsion can occur. If torsion has occurred, massaging the spot
will not help.

I don’t recommend this procedure instead of veterinary treatment, but
begun early, or on the way for veterinary treatment, can save your
hound’s life!