Halloween can be a spooky time for pets. Strange noises, unfamiliar trick or treaters and dangerous candy. Here are a few ideas to keep your pets safe during Halloween.

1.Halloween candy, especially chocolate, can be harmful or even deadly for your pets. To help keep your pets out of the candy bowl, try to have a few extra pet treats around the house for your furry friends. After all, it’s a Trick or Treat night for them, too, and it’s only polite to have treats for your pet.

2. Candy wrappers, tin foil and small toys can get stuck in your pets digestive tract and may require an quick and expensive trip to the vet. Some dogs will eat anything that’s laying around the house, so be sure to keep an eye on what falls to the floor.

3. Thinking of Trick or Treating with your pet? In many places, Halloween night is not a safe night for any of your animals to be out. Here in Salem, Massachusetts, Halloween night means thousands of noisy and costumed visitors filling the streets: quite a confusing spectacle, and far too loud for a dog’s or cat’s sensitive ears. Try keeping your pets indoors for the evening and reward them with a special treat.

4. If your pets are sensitive to noise, loud rapping on the door and noisy children may rattle them. Add some Rescue Remedy to their water for the evening, and play soothing music for them. You may want to set them up in a room that is away from the commotion for the evening.

5. Finally, remember to keep your pets (and their tails) away from burning candles and jack-o-lanterns. There is nothing spookier for you or your animal than a tail on fire.

With these safeguards, your night of ghosts, goblins and costumed children can be safe and fun for everyone.

Happy Halloween from Four Paws Acupuncture Making veterinary acupuncture house visits on the North Shore of MA.

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day is observed annually on October 24. It is designed to increase public awareness of the progress, promise, and benefits of acupuncture and Oriental medicine

To learn more about the theories and history of oriental medicine visit www.www.aaaomonline.org

For more information on how acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can help humans stay healthy visit www.myacudoc.com. Visit the Four Paws Acupuncture website to see how Traditional Chinese Medicine is used for dogs.

Four Paws Acupuncture Clients receive 30% off your first acupuncture visit with Norm Kraft at the Acupuncture Center of Salem. Offer expires November 20, 2009

This E-How Article has some excellent tips for caring for your tripawd. I have included some tips from a TCM perspective.

How to Care for a Three Legged (Tripod) Dog
By Melissa Maroff
eHow Contributing Writer

* Stay close to your dog for a few days after the surgery while he adjusts. After that it’s a good idea to always monitor or assist your dog on stairs and be ready to give a boost in and out of cars (depending on the ease of access).

* Exercise your tripod dog regularly; walking is good, but remember not to push since she’ll be moving a little slower. Swimming (canine hydrotherapy) is the best exercise for a tripod dog.

* Keep your dog’s skin and pads clean and free of infection. If your dog has cracked pads (which tripods are more prone to), apply bag balm, Vaseline or other products that speed up healing.

* Feed your tripod dog a healthy diet and maintain a proper weight. An overweight dog will have to work harder to support himself.

* Keep your tripod dog’s nails trimmed. Long nails can inhibit movement. ”

Four Paws Acupuncture:

* Acupuncture can help your tripawd recovery from surgery. It relieves pain, increases circulation and reduces stress. It is also beneficial for dogs who also suffer from arthritis, hip or elbow dysplasia or knee aliments.

* Make sure your dog is not eating any dog foods that contain by-products, fillers, wheat, corn or soy. Organic free range meats are best, especially for those diagnosed with cancer.

* Give your dog a relaxing massage. Take special care to massage the opposite limbs and any area he may be experiencing pain.

* Play calming music while you are away to help your dog relax.

Four Paws Acupuncture makes veterinary acupuncture house-calls on the North Shore of MA. fourpawsacupuncture.com

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture can treat the following conditions in dogs:

Hip & Elbow Dysplasia
* Internal Medicine
* Movement Disorders
* Neurological Disorders
* Pain Management
* Stress/Anxiety
* Arthritis
* Osteoarthritis
* Allergies
* Asthma
* Low Energy
* Spinal Cord Injuries
* Shoulder & Elbow Injuries
* Ligament and Tendon Injuries
* Recovery from Fractures
* Neurological Disorders
* Degenerative Myelopathy
* Muscle Strains
* Off Season Agility Conditioning
* Low Back Pain
and so much more!

Worried about how your dog will react? Dogs actually like acupuncture. Most dogs fall asleep or become very relaxed once the needles are placed. It is a very gentle and effective therapy.

While acupuncture is effective for a wide range of canine ailments, don’t expect too much from a single treatment. Acupuncture in dogs and humans have a cumulative effect. Over time, the treatments build on one another, giving greater effect with each treatment.

PLEASE NOTE!
Each state has its own regulations about veterinary acupuncture. It is important to find a practitioner who has more than a few weekends of training. Some states only require veterinarians to have 130 hours of training in veterinary acupuncture. Unfortunately this is not an adequate amount of time to learn Traditional Chinese Medicine. Other states only allow veterinarians to practice.

All licensed acupuncturists have at least 3,000 to 3,500 hours of training and graduate with a Masters degree. To find an acupuncturist in your area visit acufinder.com.

Here is a wonderful article explaining the use of Chinese herbs.

Understanding Chinese Herbal Medicine
Part 1
By Jingduan Yang, M.D.

Chinese herbal medicine is one of the major clinical healing modalities in the ancient Chinese medical system. It is not as well-known as acupuncture, possibly due to its complexity and lack of immediate effects compared to acupuncture, which can reduce pain quickly.

Chinese herbal medicine is not quite an accurate description of this modality because it employs herbs or plants, minerals, insects (silkworm skin, for example), sea creatures (oyster shells), and animal products.

People who seek help from a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine are very often confused by what medicines might do to them, how they work, and how they are prepared.

One of the common misperceptions of Chinese herbal medicines is that they are chemical agents like other medications or vitamins. Indeed, there are a lot of chemical agents in each of the individual herbs. Sometimes, they contain extracts, which are particular chemical components that are made into medicines.
To read more of this article Click Here

Four Paws Acupuncture offers nutritional and herbal phone consultations Click here for more info

Duke is a 1 1/2 yr old male purebred GSD, healthy and loves kids. He is about 85 pounds. Up to date on shots and is fixed. Eats Evo brand dog food.

His owners are not home during the day and he is put outside in the yard for long periods of time in the yard. His neighbor Mary takes him in from time to time and he gets along with her other dogs and kids. He may be OK with cats.

Duke will need some training and a home that he will have lots of exercise and stimulation. He is a smart dog and needs a job. I think he would be great in a home with kids since he loves them. He loves to play.

If you are interested in Duke please email Mary at mary.walsh@net1plus.com

We receive several emails a week from folks trying to find homes for pets in the MA and Nh area. Our goal is to make this process more efficient and easier than just forwarding emails to everyone we know who is pet friendly.

We will be sending out an e-letter about once a week or so with information about pets looking for homes. If you would like to receive this e-letter please email us at AdoptMe at FourPawsAcupuncture dot com
We never give out or sell your email addresses.

If you would like to have us post information on any pets in the MA or NH area who need homes. For everyone’s safety and privacy here are the guide lines we ask you to follow:

* Since there are too many emails floating around lately that are scams, please only send from pet owners or pet professionals you know.

* If you are sending an email to us and others, please always use the Bcc not the Cc field to reduce the chance of spammers grabbing these addresses or spreading viruses. We will not post any pets that come from an email with several email addresses exposed in the Cc.

* Please post the name of the pet, age, sex, breed, any health related information, spay or neutered, city, state with the email address of the person to contact. We prefer not to publish phone numbers.

* Other info such as: Does the pet get along with children, dogs or cats? Any info on the pet to help it find a home would be helpful.

Please send only one picture of the pet. All emails with several attachments will be deleted before we open them.

Thank you for being a part in helping local pets find forever homes.

In my acupuncture practice I come across many pets who suffer from red, itchy or oozy eyes.
Chrysanthemum flower tea is an easy remedy for most of these cases.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, chrysanthemum flower is one of the main herbs used to treat eye ailments. It is especially helpful during allergy season. It can be used for pets or humans. Most animals do not like the taste of the tea. Fortunately it can be used externally.

To make a soothing eye wash from chrysanthemum tea for you or your pets, place the tea bags in luke-warm water for about 3 minutes. Then gently place the tea bags on your pets eyes for a minute or as long as they will allow it. You can do this twice a day.

If you are not able to find the tea bags and are using loose dried flowers, allow them to soak in lukewarm water for the same amount of time. Dip a cotton ball in the bowl and gently place on the eyes.

You can find chrysanthemum tea at most Asian food or herb shops. For more information on
how to use chrysanthemum tea visit the Wikipedia

This event took place at the New Skete Monastery in Cambridge NY on October 4, 2009 to celebrate the Feast of St Francis, patron saint of animals. For more information on the Monks of New Skete and their Divine Canine Shepherds please visit their website www.newsketemonks.com

Here are a few pictures.

To learn more about the Monks of New Skete and their Divine Canine German Shepehrds visit their site at www.newsketemonks.com