Naturopaths and the creep of pseudo-science

[magical thyme]

11. thank you. I'll add that in Massachusetts, only licensed veterinarians

can legally perform chiropractic treatment, and Tufts University (and a couple other state Universities that I can't remember off the top of my head, maybe Colorado and Arizona) offer training in alternative treatments such as accupuncture and herbs.

This saved my dog, Jake's, life 6 years ago. He had a neck injury that was treated allopathically for 6+ months with metacam and rest on 3 occasions: first with the initial injury and next for pain between his shoulder blades and finally for pain in the lumbar region. The 2nd vet diagnosed him with moderate hip dysplasia, (nonexistant) herniated discs in the lumbar region and a (nonexistant) mass on his liver. By the time she was through (mis)treating him, he was passing chyme instead of poop, eating 3-4 pounds of food/day, carrying his bowl around begging for more, and starving in front of my eyes.

After her 2nd or 3rd voice message telling me "just keep doing what you're doing. you're doing all you can," I spent the night on the internet researching and the next day on the phone calling every major animal hospital within a day's drive.

The hospital an hour away referred me to a veterinarian/chiropracter/accupuncturist, who took us in immediately on an emergency basis. His had no mass on his liver and no herniated discs. L4-7 had subluxations, along with C3-4, and a couple between his shoulder blades (I forget which ones they were t-something I think).

One 15-20 minute chiropractic/accupuncture treatment eliminated *all* his symptoms. He was pain free and drug free. The only thing the other vet was correct on was the dysplasia. We returned every 2 weeks for a couple sessions to keep his vertebrae properly aligned while his sore and strained muscles, tendons and ligaments healed, and then annually for checkups for another 2 years.

Call it woo. Call it anecdotal. All I know is she saved my dog's life.