Acu in Practice: Coors, Kidney Disease, Phase 1 of Integrative Treatment Plan

Welcome to Acu in Practice! This week, and for the next 2 weeks, I am going to feature a case from the lecture I gave on “Acupuncture for Senior Pets: Mixed Patterns” at the AAVA conference in Portland. Meet Coors, a 12-year old Male neutered cat that came to me at 12 years old in IRIS Stage 2b Renal disease. Today I will present his symptoms and treatment plan for phase 1, which included the first 2 years of his treatment period. During this phase, Coors presented as the following:

Phase 1: Increased thirst, increased urination and elevation in kidney values (CRET, BUN), low urine concentration, mild hind end weakness with mild Lumbosacral sensitivity. Pulse: Deep, weak

Tongue: red edges, center more pale than edges, moisture normal.

Western Diagnoses:Renal insufficiency- IRIS Stage 2b, Arthritis – lumbosacral region

TCM diagnoses:Kidney Qi and Yin Deficiency, early Bony Bi (spinal), early signs of Wei

Acupuncture plan:

Kidney Qi Deficiency: BL 23, GV 4, Lumbar BH, KID 3 (Via Bladder 60), BL 17 (For Blood), ST 36 and GV 4 tonify Source Qi

Kidney Yin deficiency: BL 23, KID 6, SP 6

Bony Bi Syndrome: as above for Kidney, plus ST 36 and SP 6 (move Qi and Blood), BL 54

Combat Wei: SP 6, BL 17, BL 20

Herbal plan:Patient declined. I would have liked to start the patient on Rehmannia 8 tincture by Kan Herb. Jing Tang, Natural Path and Golden Flower all have similar formulas.

Food Therapy: Change to all moist food, a combination of canned and home cooked toppings. Toppings included ground beef (lean), egg, sardine.

Western therapy:Azodyl (for increased BUN and CRET). SQ fluids once per week.

Coors was able to stay in Phase 1 for around 2 years (we will cover phases 2 and 3 over the next 2 weeks). And, his total survival time was over 4 years which is approximately 1 year longer than the average survival for conventionally treated pets. More importantly, he regained/ maintained weight and quality of life/mobility at a very steady state for a full 2 years after starting Integrative treatment.

Stay tuned for Coors: Phase 2 and 3!!!

This post is created by Nell Ostermeier, DVM, CVA, FAAVA and is intended for informational use, not to replace medical advice.