Acupuncture at 121 Animal Therapy

Combining acupuncture with hydrotherapy and physiotherapy will help maximise your pet's recovery. Acupuncture relieves the pain of arthritis and post-surgery, enabling your pet to recover more rapidly, while physiotherapy and hydrotherapy maintain fitness and the strength and flexibility of muscles and joints.

Acupuncture can have many outstanding benefits for your pet and is used alongside conventional medicine in the following conditions:

•   » Arthritis,
•   » Hip dysplasia,
•   » Slipped discs,
•   » Chronic pain,
•   » Lameness,
•   » Nerve injuries,
•   » Post orthopaedic surgery,
•   » Chronic respiratory,
•   » Skin and digestive problems,
•   » Epilepsy and
•   » Other conditions where the body needs support.

Acupuncture has been used in medicine in China for over 2000 years or more and is now being used in the West and to treat your pets. It involves placing fine needles in specific body points to cause a healing effect. Most animals don't feel the needles and fall asleep during treatment. They need treatment about once a week for 4-6 weeks and then at varying longer intervals. Most pets are maintained on monthly or six weekly treatments.

The first consultation takes about an hour and involves compliling a detailed history of your pet's health, thirst, appetite, toilet habits as well as the injury or condition concerned and your expectations of what you want for your pet. This is followed by a full physical examination and acupuncture.

The follow-up consultations take 30 minutes and involve 15-20 minutes of acupuncture.

Acupuncture is usually performed with fine sterile needles of various lengths. In some cases electrodes are placed on the needles and a small electrical current is used to stimulate the necessary points. This is known as electroacupuncture. Aquapuncture will occasionally be used where small amounts of sterile saline water or vitamin solutions are injected with insulin needles to have a longer lasting effect. In other cases heat can be applied using Moxibustion: burning mugwort herb over the needles.

Most pet insurances will cover acupuncture as a complementary medicine.