Sticking It to Animals.

Acupuncture is now considered mainstream medicine for people and is fast becoming so for our cats, dogs, horses and other domesticated animals. Starting in 1970, veterinary acupuncture and acutherapies became available for the treatment of pain, various forms of weakness and paralysis. Conditions of internal organs and other maladies have also benefited from this minimally invasive procedure.

Though acutherapies are considered safe, they should only be administered by a competent and properly trained veterinary acutherapist. You may be seeing a practitioner of acupuncture for your own medical problems, but this does not mean that this person is trained in its use on pets. Our bodies are very similar to our cats and dogs but they are not the same. Acutherapies require the same skill level that you would expect for anyone performing surgery on your pet. You would not want someone poking needles into your pet that has only read about it?

If you believe that your furry member of the family could benefit from acutherapies, contact your local or state veterinary medical association for doctors in your area who have undergone specialized training in this field because it is "Your Pet…Health Matters."