Pet Acupuncture in Lake Macquarie

Many of our clients and staff have benefited from acupuncture themselves and now we are offering this treatment to our patients in conjunction with our existing services. The only catch for them is they need you to bring them for their appointments. Read on to find out why you should 

Acupuncture is just one part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and dates back thousands of years. Acupuncture and TCM promote good health by taking a whole body approach to understanding disease processes, maintaining normal function, and focusing on prevention of illness as well as treatment. 

Acupuncture can be used to treat musculoskeletal problems including cruciate injury before and after surgery, arthritis, conditions of the eyes or ears, urinary problems including “blocked” cats, intervertebral disc disease (‘slipped disc’), skin conditions such as scars and some allergies, behavioural problems or changes, some geriatric changes, in addition to internal individual organ problems. Treatments are focused on the underlying condition as well as the presenting problem. Some patient’s problems will resolve completely whilst others with long standing conditions such as osteoarthritis or skin problems may have a decrease in severity or reduction in medications required. Sometimes additional medications will be prescribed if necessary.

The first consult is usually a long one (30 - 45min) with lots of questions as your pet’s history and habits are essential to help form the treatment plan – remember it’s a whole body approach and things that you may think are irrelevant can be very important from a TCM perspective. Usually our vet will call you prior to the first consult to ask most of the questions as we know your time is important. Treatment consists of a thorough examination followed by very thin needles placed in combinations of specific points over the body in order to stimulate or decrease Qi flow through an area, organ or along a meridian. The needles stay in place for 5-20 minutes. The number of treatments depends on the condition, for long standing illness or injury usually 3 -4 treatments are needed a week apart then follow ups as required. For an acute condition, one or two treatments may be all that your pet needs. Some patients will go home with exercises for you to help with or a list of things to try before the next appointment. Most times you will be asked to be with your pet during treatment, please let us know if you would prefer not to, we understand needles aren’t for everyone!  

It might seem strange that needles may be placed in a front leg for a problem in the neck, or back leg for your vomiting pet, or in the front foot for an ear or eye problem. Remember Qi flows throughout the body in a specific pattern and sometimes our patients are happier having the needles placed away from particularly sensitive areas.