Pet Acupuncture? Why I Tried It for My Cat, and Why I Think It Works
Key takeaways:
Nell McCaslin says acupuncture helped her treat numbness and pain in her hands and feet.
So when her pets had health problems, Nell turned to Eastern medicine for them as well.
Her cat, Gracie, gets acupuncture treatments every 6 to 8 weeks.
Nell McCaslin has benefited from both Eastern and Western medical practices. Her cat has too.
Nell’s cat, Gracie, now about 20 years old, began receiving regular acupuncture treatments in 2018 to treat asthma. She began with twice-weekly sessions, then scaled back to once a week, then once every 6 weeks. Five years later, Gracie still gets acupuncture treatments every 6 to 8 weeks.
Nell credits the practice with keeping Gracie’s asthma in check. It wasn’t an immediate fix, but after multiple treatments over a short period of time, Gracie stopped coughing. Nell wasn’t surprised by the results: She’d had the same experience when she tried acupuncture to treat numbness and pain in her hands and feet.
“I got one or two treatments a week, and it felt a little bit better,” Nell says. “Then I started going every few weeks, and suddenly I realized, ‘Hey, I’m not in pain anymore.’ It’s very subtle, but if you stop getting [acupuncture], you’ll notice it again.”
A practice dating more than 2,000 years
Humans have used acupuncture to treat illness for at least 2,500 years, beginning in China, where it remains part of traditional medicine, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). At its most basic, acupuncture involves strategically inserting pins into the body to unblock or increase qi (pronounced “chee”), the inner energy believed to sustain all creatures. Balanced qi is necessary for good health.
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The practice began gaining popularity outside China, including in the U.S., in the 1970s, the NIH says. A 2012 national health inquiry survey found that the demand for acupuncture had grown rapidly in the decade prior. That year, trained practitioners reported performing 33 million acupuncture treatments.
The original practitioners of acupuncture treated both animals and humans, but widespread veterinary acupuncture is relatively new. In 1988, the American Veterinary Medical Association approved its use as an alternative therapy.
As demand for veterinary acupuncture has increased, so has the number of practitioners: Specialty veterinary practices like the one Nell uses often offer other options, including herbal supplements, sports massage, low-dose tissue stimulation to promote natural pain relief, and hydrotherapy. These treatments are believed to enhance traditional care methods, including prescription medications.
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A cat using an inhaler? Let’s try acupuncture
Nell brought Gracie to a veterinary acupuncturist because the alternative was treating her cat’s asthma with an inhaler, a challenge with even a docile animal. With regular acupuncture treatments, Gracie not only lost the hacking cough but also showed more life, Nell says.
“I definitely noticed a difference in her. She eats better — and with cats, eating is one of the best measurements of how they’re feeling,” Nell says. “When she was younger, she became more active after acupuncture, jumping around for weeks. Now, she’s gotten older, but she was still jumping up and catching mice until 8 months ago.”
Acupuncture can be used to treat multiple issues. It’s up to the acupuncturist to decide where to place the needles based on what problem needs to be addressed. As she’s gotten older, Gracie has gotten crankier and needs to be sedated before her treatments, Nell says. To enhance that, the first needle is inserted into her “third eye” — between where the eyebrows would be — because it’s supposed to have a calming effect.
Worth the money
Nell says she doesn’t like to think about how much money she’s spent on Gracie’s years of acupuncture treatments, which have cost over $10,000. When Gracie was receiving multiple treatments each week, the cost was about $300 per month. Now it’s closer to $100 a month.
“One of my friends always says, ‘In my next life, I want to come back as one of your cats,’” Nell says.
Or as one of her dogs. When her golden retriever, Clapton, was alive, acupuncture helped the dog jump into the car again. Her current dog, 11-year-old dog Sydney, has been receiving regular acupuncture treatments for about 4 months to address arthritis in the hips. Nell says the change has been remarkable.
“She’s acting like a puppy now,” she says. “That’s when you know it works. If your animal responds well, they don’t know it’s supposed to make them feel better.”
The acupuncture is also helping with the dog’s stomach issues, she says. When doctors suggested steroids to treat internal inflammation, Nell again looked to the East for guidance. Her veterinarian recommended herbal treatments, and the dog “got better and better,” Nell says.
Another indicator that acupuncture works, Nell says: Three years ago, Gracie’s kidney function began to fail. Doctors said an animal with her condition would live for 18 months to 2 years.
But Gracie’s veterinary acupuncturist began to address that problem with needle placement. The cat’s blood work improved.
“I think it prolonged her life,” Nell says. “Most people don’t get a cat to live until 20.”
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