Suzanne C.
I was a just laid-off project manager when our Doberman, Rhett, came home from a walk extremely ataxic, could barely stand without falling down, severely weak in the back end, shook, whined, wouldn’t bark, couldn’t get up into his favorite chairs. This neurological issue was due to spinal/cervical/thoracic imbalance. Allopathically, I had been advised to wait a few days to see if he gets better, put him down, or put him through an MRI and invasive surgery. I watched the mir… See more
Brody
My 10 year old Bichon Brody was suffering from a very severe case of Spondylosis. He was diagnosed at 5 years of age & we did everything we could to try to ease his pain, including homeopathic medications & getting weight off him. I got him underweight, took short walks 4 times a day, kept up with homeopathic meds, but eventually pain set in.
At 8 years of age, I decided to try acupuncture. I went to another acupuncturist who was wonderful, but the needles caused him a lot of pain & anxiety and the relief was very short lasting. After approximately 5 visits, I decided that the benefits weren’t worth the treatment & stopped.
About 2 years later, it really caught up with him. My incredibly active dog, who took at least 2 dog classes a week, worked pet therapy 3-4 times a week & spent the rest of his time chasing & catching bunnies, now he could barely walk.
Our nightly walks that used to be almost 2 miles, turned into walking the distance of 2 houses & then I’d have to carry him home. The dog who would take our stairs 4 at a time, couldn’t step up a curb.
One morning, a friend called who I worked pet therapy with & told her we were going to have to drop out. I sent her 2 pictures of how bad Brody looked (see attached pictures). She suggested I go visit Dr Hartai. I told her I already tried acupuncture & it just wasn’t worth the pain & anxiety it caused him. She said ‘just give him a try’.
My husband (who thought we’d probably be putting Brody down within the next 6 months, but he didn’t dare tell me that), said we should definitely go for the consult.
The consultation itself was amazing & educational. Dr Hartai felt every inch of Brody’s body. I had never seen someone who was so incredibly thorough. As he worked, he’d push on certain areas, explaining everything as he went along & taking thorough notes. The whole exam took about an hour. We thought we were done, but Dr H was just starting. He put acupuncture needles all over his body. I was pretty worried about Brody’s reaction to the needles since he was so fearful of needles now. But, he didn’t even seem to notice any of the needles going in. Not one. After that, doc set up little electrical wires attached to many of the needles & started electrical stimulation. Brody laid there with the stimulation for another 20 minutes. After that, he did laser therapy on him. All along, he explained everything he was doing to us & showed us things we could do at home to help Brody between appointments.
I’ve attached a picture of Brody after his first treatment. The change in him was miraculous. After a few days, his pain started coming back, but by that time, we were ready for our next appointment. He started at once a week, after a few weeks, we moved to every 2 weeks, etc…. We now see Dr H every 2-3 months. We also do massage therapy once a month.
I’m thrilled to report that within a few weeks, Brody was pulling me on his 2 mile nighttime walks. He does his zoomies through out the house, is engaged in his classes & pet therapy & spends his ‘off time’ chasing & catching critters. (He caught 5 bunnies last month).
Brody is approaching his 12th birthday. We’ve been seeing Dr Hartai for a little over a year. When we go to his office, Brody gets so excited to see him & always has little kisses for him. (When we’d go to our first acupuncturist, he’d be hesitant to even enter the building).
To sum up, Dr H is extremely thorough, competent & straight to the point. When we thought all hope was lost, he gave us our hope, as well as our baby, back & we are forever grateful.
Plus, the quality of life that Brody now has is amazing. I just can’t say enough.
I’ll start with Thanks!
Stacey W.
We took our dog Baker to Dr. Hartai on the recommendation of our trainer at WAGD. He was 5-6 months old and had to had to have his rear leg amputated at 4 months. He was having a great deal of difficulty walking. He couldn’t seem to support his weight on the remaining back leg and did kind of a crab like walk. He couldn’t even manage to walk the distance across the street and didn’t want to. Dr. Hartai did acupuncture on him and showed us how to stretch him. I wasn’t really expecting much change. Next day we went out for our walk across the street and he was walking almost normally. He was enjoying it and went almost a block! Today he is 10 months old and goes on short hikes with us and loves it. I’m not sure how it works I only know it does work. Thank you Dr. Hartai!!
Carol C.
Four acupuncture and laser treatments have done wonders for my Frenchie
Barbara G.
My 16 year old small, shelter dog is starting to slow down. I decided to try acupuncture to see if she would feel better. After sessions 2 and 3 I noticed her tail wagging more and her overall energy picking up. She is still a slow walker but something has shifted and she is definitely feeling better. I highly recommend Spot On Wellness!