Animal Acupuncture: More Pets Get the Point
Broad anecdotal evidence suggests acupuncture can effectively treat a host of ailments in animals. But much remains unknown about how and why acupuncture works. The challenge today, supporters say, is to bridge the research gap to better understand the promise of this alternative therapy.
When Mary Morrison's 16-year-old border collie, Shadow, was diagnosed with kidney disease last year, traditional veterinary medicine offered two options: kidney dialysis or euthanasia.
Morrison chose another option altogether: acupuncture.
Three times a month for the past year, Morrison has brought Shadow to the Del Ray Animal Clinic in Alexandria, Virginia. There, during a typical 20-minute session, Anne Mixson, a board-certified veterinarian trained in veterinary acupuncture, inserts up to a dozen needles into various acupuncture points on Shadow's skin.
Acupuncture has not cured Shadow's kidney disease or slowed the decline of old age. But it has helped alleviate the collie's symptoms and discomfort.
"She has more interest in life, more pep. She's eating," says Morrison. "We haven't felt like she was ready to be
