Acupuncture for pets
Kellie Doyle, one of our small animal vets, is currently undertaking a course in Animal Acupuncture through the University of Melbourne and is hoping to be able to start offering this alternative treatment to your pets in the very near future.
Although many of you are probably familiar with a variety of alternative medicines available to people, acupuncture is a relatively new field in the western world of animal care. In particular, it has proven itself useful as an aid in the management of musculoskeletal pain (such as arthritis, or after orthopaedic surgery), although it has applications in many disorders including urinary tract disease, nervous disorders, gastrointestinal disease and many geriatric conditions.
Traditionally its usefulness can be explained by the acupuncture needles tapping into a network of energy channels in the body. By placing needles at certain points in these channels, the function of all organs in the body can be affected. From a scientific perspective, acupuncture works by increasing the microcirculation of blood to the area of focus, decreasing inflammation and stimulating the production of endorphins (the happy hormones).
If you are interested in exploring this option for your dog or cat but are worried about how they will cope with having multiple needles placed in their body, don’t rule it out straight away – you may be surprised at how well it is tolerated and the needles are very small!
Kellie has been performing acupuncture on a couple of our staff members’ dogs recently and they are coping with it very well. As soon as this option is available for your pets we will let you know.
In the meantime however, if you need any further information regarding acupuncture for your pet, give us a call at the Feilding branch and we will be happy to help.
