Christopher Day is a holistic vet with 35 years of experience. He has been using veterinary acupuncture for 27 years. The benefits of acupuncture for animals are:

 

1.  It can relieve pain, via the release of endorphins (morphine-like endogenous opioid chemicals, which are the body's natural pain-killers and anti-stress messengers).

 

2.  It can stimulate the body's own healing and defence mechanisms.

 

3.  It can offer an alternative to drug medication, thus avoiding drug side-effects.

 

4.  It can offer therapeutic possibilities, when drug medicine or surgery may have failed.

 

5.  It is well-tolerated or even enjoyed by most animal patients.

 

Acupuncture has survived thousands of years, a true 'test of time' and yet is still used as first-line medicine for a large percentage of the human population of the world. It is gaining in popularity, in the West, as a result of disillusionment with drug side-effects, the continuing prevalence of chronic and debilitating disease and the sense of well-being that can be induced by this gentle form of therapy.