[From: Bob Dennis, owner of Micro-Pulse; I have a financial interest in the sale of PEMF devices, so please take that potential bias into account when considering my statements]
Many people have talked to me about using PEMF for their pets and horses.
Although I do not have any direct personal experience using PEMF on pets, I will summarize what I have discussed with people who have used PEMF on their dogs, cats, and horses, both personally and professionally
Research: I did submit a major proposal to the military in 2016 to study the effects of PEMF on spinal injury (SCIRP Program). It was a standardizes research model using rats for drug discovery (Pharma). I was informed that my proposal was at the top of their funding priority list and that it would almost certainly get fully funded… but then political reality hit with budget cuts and government shut-downs, and the research was never funded. This is a shame, because I think we would have gotten some very important information from that study. I have successfully carried out pother laboratory studies on animals showing dramatic reductions in inflammation, and changes in the inflammation-related cytokine profiles, which I will discuss elsewhere.
General Comment: over the years, I have offered to work with many mainstream veterinarians, but on the whole they are very reluctant to use new technologies with their clients. Many veterinarians expressed the sentiment to me that they would “wait and see if it works on humans first, then, maybe, I’ll try it on an animal.”
But people who are open to the use of PEMF have used it on animals, and they report to me that in general the results are very satisfactory, with a few exceptions.
DOGS:
I have talked to about 20 people who have used one of our ICES-PEMF systems on their dog. Many more have used it but they have not told me any details. The problems they were dealing with were diverse, ranging from incontinence to spinal injury and paralysis to hip/joint problems and car accidents with major orthopedic injury to the dog. Out of the ~ 20 reports, about 3 or 4 said they saw not much improvement. The remainder, about 80%, reported dramatic benefits.
In at least 2 cases people reported that dogs with spinal injuries had recovered some movement of their hind limbs.
In almost all cases older dogs showed markedly reduced discomfort and an improved activity level (running and jumping).
Several dogs were able to recover from severe orthopedic injuries.
Several dogs showed improved joint function and mobility.
In all cases, people had been using the Omni8 pulse pattern and a Micro-Pulse model A9 or one of the earlier models that are roughly equivalent (less energy efficient, lower power output).
In some cases, people fashioned bandages to hold the coils and pulse generator. In a few cases, especially with smaller dogs, people simply slid the coils under bedding while the dog slept.
CATS:
The primary uses that people have reported to me for cats are:
1- Age-related discomfort and reduced activity level
2- Feline kidney disease
In every case that was reported to me (about 6), elderly cats had significantly improved activity levels, and they could jump higher, climb, and they were more tolerant pf cold and/or hard surfaces to lie down on.
I have three reports that PEMF was very helpful with feline kidney disease, as measured by creatinine level. In two cases it was just a verbal report of improvement, but in one case the person had extensive laboratory testing which very clearly demonstrated that the kidney function was improving during periods when ICES-PEMF was in use, but getting progressively worse during periods when PEMF was not being used. I am a bit surprised that veterinarians have not taken an interest in this, as it is my understanding that feline kidney disease currently has few effective options.
In the graph I show the creatinine levels for one elderly cat which had a complete set of lab tests available. At the left (the first time point) the cat had a dangerously high creatinine level, indicating feline kidney disease, and was unresponsive to other treatments. On January 15, 2015, the owner began using a pair of ICES-PEMF coils placed under the bedding of the cat while it slept (A9 with Omni8 protocol on M or H intensity). The creatinine levels dropped back to normal by May 2015, so the owner discontinued PEMF, as indicated by the horizontal red and green bars at the bottom of the graph. GREEN indicated ICES-PEMF was being applied, RED indicates ICES-PEMF was discontinued, and the creatinine level began to climb again. The owner resumed ICES-PEMF in December 2015, and the creatinine levels again returned to normal. Thereafter, the owner regularly used ICES-PEMF to maintain their cat’s renal health.
Anyone who has tried will tell you that it is almost impossible to strap a PEMF system to a cat. Therefore, I developed the 2x2 coil array initially for use with small pets (specifically cats), so that the coil array could easily be slipped under bedding while the cat slept. In general, that is how PEMF was applied to cats. A model A9 was used (Omni8 pulse pattern) on a medium setting. If the device irritates the animal while it sleeps, simply reduce the intensity until it is no linger irritating.
HORSES:
Initially, I was quite skeptical, because our PEMF systems are small and portable, but horses are large animals. Nonetheless, several equine acupuncturists employed our PEMF system in their practice, and reported very good results to me.
In at lease 2 cases they were dealing with very severe orthopedic injury, and reported very good results.
In three cases they reported that severe hind limb swelling and discomfort was dramatically reduced within about 25 minutes with PEMF.
Several other conditions specific to horses, with which I am not familiar, were reported with very satisfactory results.
These conditions had not responded to other forms of treatment.
In most cases the PEMF coils were stacked and placed on equine acupuncture points. They were held in place by a specially sewn drape. The original A9 pulse pattern was used. Very low intensities were used. It was explained to me that this was to be expected, because horses in general are very sensitive animals.
HOW TO HELP:
What we are looking for is as much information as you can share about your animal’s condition, how you used PEMF, and what the results were. You can upload photos and documents as well as your text. The more detail you include, the better. You can come back later, edit your text to add more details, upload images, documents and test results, add helpful links, etc. Also, don’t forget to ask questions, because this will help people to share their observations and experiences that they may have forgotten to mention.
Share what worked and how you did it, but negative results are just as important as positive results!!! If you tried something that did not work well, this experience would help other people too. People respond very differently and have different levels of sensitivity, so something may work well for others, but not for you. What we need is a lot of different observations from many different people so that we can begin to see larger patterns and formulate general guidelines about what is likely to be helpful, what is likely to be wrong, which options should be explored, and which options can be avoided.
