Some vets look to East for treatments - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Now, some pet owners spend $100 per week on acupuncture fortheir dogs. "That' a pretty expensive treatment if you can get a Westerhn medicine that does thesame thing," said Al Raymond, a veterinariaj and co-owner of the in But sometimes there is no Western medical treatment that can help an ailinvg dog or cat. That's when pet desperate to keep their best friends alivweand pain-free, turn to more unusual licensed veterinarians who advertise a holistic health with services such as acupuncture, homeopathy and chiropracticd care. "It's not mainstream," said Jodi Van Tine, a veterinaria n with in Sacramento.
"You can't get certified in acupuncture orherbal medicine." But those treatments are becomingh more common, said Peter a veterinary anesthesiologist at who also practiceds animal acupuncture. Organizations such as the in Fort Colo., and the Chi Institutre in Reddick, Fla., offer coursesz annually for veterinarians who want to learbnthe skills. Pascoe said thers were about 100 people in the class he took at the International Veterinary Acupuncture Societyin 2001. "A lot of veterinarianes who were there thought it woulc be a good addition totheirf practice," he said. "They had clients who were askingfor it.
" TURNAROUND Veterinarian Signe Beebe foundee the Integrative Veterinary Center in 2000. It offerds acupuncture, herbal medicine, physical therapy and chiropracticf carefor pets. Van who previously had a veterinary practiceein Folsom, joined the clinic last year afte bringing her own golden retriever to Beebe for cancerf treatment. Van Tine said she chose acupuncturre to easethe retriever's pain and improve her dog's energ levels instead of tryin to cure the cancer with "I've seen what (chemotherapy) does," she "It just makes them sick. it kills the animal before it killsthe cancer.
" Raymoned and his business partner, Kris Dailey, are licensed veterinarians who workef for an animal hospital in Ranchop Cordova before deciding to open theirf own practice in Davis. "We were both getting frustrated that there werecases (for we couldn't offer any suggestions for our patients, cases where Wester medicine stopped," Raymond said. In additioj to traditional veterinary services, their clinifc offers acupuncture, chiropractic techniques, herbal remedies, Chinese medicine and treatmen with a machine called theBICOM 2000, which the clinix advertises as a computer that sends an electromagnetic wave to destroyg disease-causing microorganisms and Roseville resident Tracy Herson credits acupuncturde and BICOM 2000 treatmentds at the Animal Wellneses Center for saving her miniatur pinscher, Bella.
She said she first went to a differengt veterinarian who gave Bella standard veterinary care for treatinh pancreatitis andliver disease. But Bella kept getting worse. "Sh e had gone from 10 pounds to 4," Herson "She wouldn't eat. She wouldn't She would just look at me with thosesad ...I was to the point where I was feeling like I was keepin g her alive for myself, and she was suffering." She took the dog to who started acupuncture treatments to calm Bella's digestive system, and then startex the BICOM treatment. "The turnaroundd was amazing," Herson "In one week she started eatingt again.
Her liver enzymes went Herson estimates she and her husband have spent closeto $10,000 over two years on treatments for Bella, including almost $5,000 for the gallstonee surgery and $1,500 for one year of treatment at the Anima l Wellness Center. One year later, Bella is healthy and Herson said.