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This article discusses alternative treatments for dogs/pets, but I found this section odd and interesting:
Alternative medicine stirs debate
Not surprising to me was that diet is one of the primary alternatives for fixing what ails a pet.
There's a lesser-known Japanese treatment called gold bead implants, used for younger pets that suffer from arthritis, epilepsy or spinal disorders. In this treatment, an animal is anesthetized and injected with hundreds of gold or stainless steel beads through 14-gauge hypodermic needles into muscle tissue in the back, hips or shoulders — what doctors consider permanent acupuncture.
"It's like magic if it's done properly," Van Engelenburg said. "I've never seen a negative effect."
But Dr. Narda Robinson, who heads the complementary and alternative medicine program at Colorado State University's School of Veterinary Medicine, has seen negative results.
One dog was brought in after receiving the treatment for arthritis. The pet's owner wondered why the dog was still limping, and the doctors suspected a tumor. The only way they could find out for sure was with an MRI, but the doctors couldn't administer one because there was so much metal in the dog's body from the implants.
"Because of the implants, there was nothing we could do," Robinson said.
Alternative medicine stirs debate
Not surprising to me was that diet is one of the primary alternatives for fixing what ails a pet.