Pets get needled
As an alternative therapy, acupuncture is already popular among humans, but now China’s pets are getting in on the action as well. A clinic in Shanghai is providing anxious pet owners with a means they claim will heal paralyzed cats and dogs – acupuncture and herbal medicine. “The therapy is for veterinary patients suffering from neurological problems,” says Doctor Kim Il-sun of the Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Neurology and Acupuncture Animal Health Center. The center claims to have treated more than 2,000 pets since it opened four years ago. About four-fifths of their patients have shown some level of improvement after treatment, Kim says.
Traditional therapies for animals date back to the Han Dynasty two millennia ago and were first used on livestock such as cows and horses. One of China’s oldest surviving Daoist texts, Biography of Immortals, includes the essay “Mashihuang,” an account of an early veterinarian who uses acupuncture to treat horses. “Thereupon he performed a puncture on its mouth just below the upper lip, and gave it a decoction of sweet herbs to swallow,” the text reads.
1. A silver tabby from Jinan Province undergoes acupuncture therapy at the clinic.
2. A dog undergoes moxibustion treatment, a traditional practice that consists of burning dried mugwort over particular points on the body.
3. The cost of a single acupuncture session in Doctor Kim’s clinic varies according to the length of treatment, from 220 yuan (US$33) to 260 yuan (US$39).
4. Acupuncture needles used on pets are the same as those used on humans.
5. Equipment used for moxibustion treatment. 6. Herbal medicines for use on pets.