Accupressure is an overlooked effective option for arthritis in a recent news letter for the online vet, Dr. Andrew Jones found at www.veterinarysecretsrevealed.com who says massage is great for your pets too. See below an except of how to massage your cat with arthritis.
I personally massage my pets to improve their health. No particular pattern but basically the neck, spine and all around the joints, their tail, head, feet, legs, the works. They, my dog and cats all love it. And they will actually work with you moving a stretching a bit which really speeds up the healing process and brings relief.
I do the same to myself and often use the recapitulator massage tool as it makes the pressing much easier and i can be massaging while sitting still or my favorite place to work on before sleep is my lower back or hip area, especially good around the joints. It has relieved and stopped my arthritis symptoms and no more pain or limited movements. Keep up the massaging everyday and you will continually feels better til the pain disappears all together.
always have my massage tools by my office chair and bedside, so helpful!It cost less than one professional massage and i have had mine for over 10 years, my favorite massage tool of all time. Works great for any body area. and speeds up the healing because you can be comfortable massaging for longer when you don’t even have to move, just lay or lean into the knob(s). A massage tool is not necessary but you will find your fingers get sore after awhile with all the pressure needed to massage for any length of time. That’s where the tool helps beyond words.
Back to our animals, Here’s what the vet says about how to massage your cat.
EAR. The ear is a microcosm of the energy pathways in your pet.
Perform gentle circling motions on the top inside of the ear –
this stimulates the back legs.
GV4. Find the last rib, go directly up to the spine, this point
is right in the depression between L2 and L3 Vertebrae.
GV20. In two areas on your pet – one is five vertebrae spaces back
from the GV4 point, this is between L7 vertebrae and S1. The
other GV20 point is at top of the head in depression on the skull,
midway between the ears. These are very effective for any type
of back injury or arthritis.
NOTE: (i massage all the vertebrae on both sides of the whole spine and my dog & cats respond by sending shivers up it that i can see and feel, so i know they are enjoying and healing moving the energy around is a good thing, circulation activity)
Even a couple of minutes helps tremendously. Massage and keep on massaging til the pain, muscle tightness or problem disappears.
My dog, i presume has arthritis because she’s 14 years old and began limping on her rear right leg, so that’s where i begin to relieve the pain caused by the traumatized or tight muscles there. Massage everywhere, pressing, squeezing, manipulating to force the tightness to breakdown and get the blood flow back to any given area. When the muscles are tight it restricts such normal energy and flow. She is not limping after a 10 to 15 minute massage but it comes back after awhile so i do it again. I see the limping decrease every time, so i believe it works. I know it does cuz i do the same for myself.
You can even practice on your self so you know how it feels or what feels good and how hard or light to press.
I also massage my 2 cats and they come back for more. I have a male cat that had a very mean mom (not me but his real mother) and he may have stayed away from females due to being hurt by a female so he was plenty friendly with men but shyed away from women. But he now comes and sits on or close to me and loves to be close to me, he really works the massage with me by stretching and moving his body and they will even lick your hands while you are massaging them so i know they love it and are thanking us for the attention. You can tell, try it and you’ll see what i mean. Don’t leave your reptiles out, i have a friend that massages his (i’m not sure what kind it is)but a larger lizard and when he walks by his cage the lizard stretches his neck out so far, sort of appears as he is asking to be touched and massaged. When you do so, you can see him loving it. The animals become less agressive and more relaxed, land that’s everybody’s goal. Any person or any animal i have seen love massage, it does feel good even if you have to do it for yourself.
If you have a nervous pet this may calm them down to. Number one, they have your attention and that is most likely what they seek AND number two it feels wonderful to liberate muscles from any stress from whatever the cause.
You can tell when an area needs massaging because you can feel where the muscles are not in their normal state. They may be inflamed, tight, bumpy or feel bigger where they shouldn’t. If exploring on yourself you can tell what it feels like and how much pressure to apply and how to work it by pressing, squeezing, manipulating in such a way to wake up and break down that tight muscle, relaxing it and bring the blood back circulating again through the distressed area or any area for that matter. Blood that brings our nutrients to our entire body. If the muscle is tight, how can things be properly nourished? We can make a difference to our physical presence and do it yourself, for free.
Dr. Jones, the online vet i have recently found offers a free CD “Learn natural healing remedies and effective techniques for healing your pet at home. Here are some of the areas it covers:
The fundamentals of healing your dog or cat with herbs, homeopathy acupressure and massage: Therapies and Techniques. This video seminar gives you some key insights into these vital healing methods.
1 hour, 34 minute video presentation covers:
- Top Herbal Therapies For 10 Common Illnesses, including:
- Behavioral Disorders
- Arthritis
- Soft Tissue and Muscle Injury
- Cancer
- Heart Conditions
- Diarrhea
- Cushings Disease
- Hyperthyroidism
- Eye Disorders
- Allergies
click ‘onlinevet’ link above for more natural health remedy categories
I encourage you all to massage every chance you get you will see the immediate affects and has long range potential for difficult areas to heal your selves, friends and your PETS.
Also thinking about our pets, our best friends nutrition, their food what are we feeding them? Nutrition also plays a role in health. I like natural things, so i am discouraged when looking to find a substantial product out there to provide the good without all the chemicals and by products. After reading the ingredients on most of the commercial pet food out there, i decided to make my own, at least i will know exactly what’s in it and can add more important vitamins through a variety of foods we already have in our homes. For instance, instead of byproducts in the can i cook chicken, and use leftover items like rice, 9 grain cereal we may have had for breakfast, carrots, other veggies, parsley (good for digestion), flaxseed, wheatgerm and many more i haven’t even gotten to as yet. But i would say start them when they are young trying as many healthy items as you can as when they are older they are a bit fussy. There is much online and so you can adapt to your own personal habits, the door is wide open.
I mix up the chicken with other goodies and my dog eats it up and i then know she is getting the nutrients that are important in maintaining a healthy body. I am going to start making her dog bones too and found a lot of choices at Amazon. The one i got was, the doggy bone cookbook but there are so many homemade recipes online for free, even videos, so do some research. Like making cookies, your children may get a kick out of cooking for your pets too. You can make a batch and mold into patties and freeze using as needed. You can take one pattie out the night before and keep in fridge to be ready for you in the morning.
A recipe from my book is as follows just to give you an idea of how easy it is to assure your pet a healthier option.
‘veggiebite’
3.5 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/8 cup dices red bellpeppers (optional), 1/2 cup shredded carrots, 1/2 cup of unsalted sunflower kernels, 1/1/4 cup water, 1 clove garlic (i use more) and 3 tbls oil. Preheat oven at 350 degrees, mix water and oil. Add flour, cornmeal veggies, garlic and sunflower seed. Knead dough for 2 to 3 minutes and roll to 1/4″ thick. Cut dough into bone shapes or use a cookie cutter and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 30 mminutes, Makes 2 1/2 dozen. You can also add cheese or peanut butter, 2 of my dogs favs.
(salt i hear is not good for dogs, mine puked once when i had salted her food, to keep in mind and NO chocolate at all, keep out of their reach. Makes them sick)
Best regards and please add to comments if you know of a good way for you and your pets to stay healthy naturally. We hunger for more info and find common sense ideas work best. we already know the answers we just have to awaken them, here’s your nudge!
More food 4 thought from www.nuhealth.org