Pulse
The Yin and Yang of Dogs and Cats
There’s no frantic clicking of dog nails on a metal examining table in the office of Keum Hwa Choi, D.V.M. That’s because there is no examining table. Instead, there’s a futon.
That cotton mattress is a welcome sight for Charlie, a 5-year-old boxer with lame front legs.
Charlie’s owner, Pat Gagin, read a newspaper article about Choi’s use of alternative medicine to treat pets and decided to give it a try after two other veterinarians said they couldn’t help her dog, who suffers from fibrocartilaginous embolism, a condition that occurs when a tiny fragment of the gel-like material between the vertebrae leaks into the arterial system and plugs a blood vessel in the spinal cord.
Gagin is one of about 2,000 pet owners who annually seek out Choi’s services at the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Service at the University of Minnesota’s Small Animal Clinic in St. Paul. Choi founded the clinic that specializes in traditional oriental medicine five years ago. (Choi prefers the term “oriental” to “Chinese.”)
Choi, who grew up in a family of medical doctors and veterinarians in Korea and spent more than two decades practicing Western-style veterinary medicine, became convinced of the benefits of acupuncture in 1978, when a traditional oriental doctor used it to treat her knee. Drugs hadn’t relieved the pain in the joint, which was swollen and stiff because of trauma. But the morning after the traditional doctor placed needles in her uninjured knee, the pain in the injured knee was gone.
Choi came to the University of Minnesota to finish her Ph.D. in veterinary pathobiology, became certified in veterinary acupuncture, earned a master’s degree in traditional oriental medicine, and began to integrate Eastern and Western treatments into her veterinary practice.
After examining Charlie, Choi prescribes physical therapy, herbs, a diet that includes fish and vegetables, and acupuncture to remedy his stagnated qi—vital energy—and blood stasis. According to traditional oriental medicine theory, illness occurs when the body is out of balance. Acupuncture is thought to stimulate the flow of qi and blood, therefore restoring balance.
To deliver Charlie’s first acupuncture treatment, Choi gets down on the futon with him and lays her hands on his paws, haunches, hindquarters, and spine. She’s focused, calm, and appears to be in a meditative state. She takes her needles and tests his paws, which don’t respond. “He’s losing nerve function,” she tells his owner. When she places one needle in his hind end, Charlie yelps—an indication of the flow of qi, according to Choi.
Choi says acupuncture harnesses the power of compassion in addition to energy. “Different people place the needles in the same places, but the outcome is different depending on how much compassion is given to the patient,” she says, noting that placing the needles is like opening gates that allow compassion to flow through the body.
A week after treatment, Gagin says Charlie still cannot walk but seems to have more feeling in his front legs, so she’ll continue bringing him to Choi. “This is a new avenue for me also,” she says.—Scott D. Smith
Managed Care Goes to the Dogs
More and more pet owners in the United States and Canada are purchasing health insurance for their pets. According to a March 1 article in JAVMA News, a publication of the American Veterinary Medical Association, sales are up at the two largest companies that offer pet health insurance. Veterinary Pet Insurance of Brea, California, had issued about 392,000 policies in the United States in 2005, up from 195,000 in 2001. Pethealth Inc. of Oakville, Ontario, had about 153,000 policies in Canada and the United States, compared with 22,000 in 2001.
Managed care for pets is next on the horizon. Pethealth Inc. and USA Managed Care Organization, a preferred provider organization for people with offices in Arizona and Texas, announced plans last fall to create a managed care network for dogs and cats. Called USA Pet Health Network, it will consist of veterinarians and clinics that agree to charge according to a negotiated fee schedule.
Outsmarting Outbreaks
Avian flu. West Nile virus infection. Lyme disease. Outbreaks of these illnesses have made headlines and alerted us to the impact on humans of what were once thought to be diseases of animals.
New awareness of the link between animal and human health may be partially responsible for the growing popularity of the University of Minnesota’s combined doctor of veterinary medicine/master’s in public health (D.V.M./M.P.H.) program. A collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Public Health, the dual-degree program enrolled its first three students in 2002. Today, enrollment is 103, making it what is believed to be the largest program of its kind in the United States.
The idea for the program came from a 1998 industry study that noted a need for veterinarians in epidemiology, food safety, biosecurity, and occupational health and safety.
“Veterinarians have training that really suits them for a public health approach,” says Laura Molgaard, D.V.M., associate dean for academic and student affairs at the College of Veterinary Medicine. However, graduates often didn’t know about the opportunities available to them at places such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in industry, the military, and at research institutions.
The D.V.M./M.P.H. program has attracted students from 12 veterinary medicine colleges. They complete work online and attend two three-week on-campus sessions. As of December 2006, the program had graduated two students.
Molgaard says the university is also considering starting a joint D.V.M./M.B.A. program in order to provide veterinary students with more of the skills they need to manage a
practice.—Kim Kiser