Here at Lyka, we support holistic care for dogs. It’s what we’re all about! Your pupper’s health and safety are always our top priorities. We dove into the world of acupuncture for dogs and are here to tell you what the risks and benefits associated with trying it out for pupper!
Supporting the best technique for pupper
Acupuncture aims to help puppers relieve pain, improve blood circulation, and their immune system effectiveness plus many other conditions. It focuses heavily on nutrition, a proper breathing technique, massage, and herbal medicine as a holistic and wholesome approach to achieving overall wellness for pupper. But all this comes down to one thing, how does it work?
An acupuncture needle is inserted to pupper’s pressure points where it stimulates blood circulation and releases stress-relieving hormones. This results in pupper feeling more relaxed and leads to reduced inflammation, but not to worry! There is minimal discomfort associated with the treatment as the tip of the needle is rounded.
Veterinary acupuncture is commonly used in dogs and is most often recommended by practicing veterinarians. According to the Australian Veterinarian Association, approximately 80% of veterinary acupuncture treatments are used to treat musculoskeletal conditions. Other conditions that veterinary acupuncture can support include: gastrointestinal, behavioural, cancer, and respiratory support.
For those puppers that may be too small, too big, or too sensitive for standard veterinary acupuncture, laser acupuncture could be an excellent choice. Before considering acupuncture for your pupper, we recommend consulting a formally trained veterinarian who is ideally IVAS certified or working towards full accreditation in this practice.
Benefits and risks of veterinary acupuncture
We spoke to our in-house vet Dr Matthew Muir over at All Natural Vet Care and Achieve Animal Wellness about the benefits, risks and the future of veterinary acupuncture. Many benefits of acupuncture that can help your pupper include: pain and discomfort relief, improved respiratory symptoms and mobility, and signs of improvement in digestive activity as well as in skin conditions. With benefits comes risks which are extremely low of negative side effects when acupuncture is performed properly for pupper. Your pupper may show some slight discomfort from the stimulation, but your pupper should gradually start to feel more relaxed once the needle is inserted. After all, this is a completely new feeling for them.
Acupuncture is an area in holistic care that has been and continues to rise in demand. Not only is this happening for humans but for puppers as well! Our in-house vet Dr Matthew Muir shared his experience of the effectiveness of acupuncture for medical ailments and wellness “There is much more work needs in both human and veterinary acupuncture when it comes to research, one exciting area that offers huge potential is use of acupuncture as part of a healthcare plan for well animals.” He also mentions that veterinary acupuncture “is most often used alongside other health care strategies” to ensure that your pupper is receiving the most optimal care to improving their health.
Considering veterinary acupuncture for pupper?
If pupper is living with a chronic illness and either isn’t responding well to treatment or seems uncomfortable—we recommend speaking to a holistic vet that is IVAS certified or working towards full accreditation in veterinary acupuncture.
More and more fur parents are considering acupuncture for dogs. Because acupuncture is a safe procedure with minimal negative side effects involved, it may be worth improve pupper’s wellbeing to let them live their best life.
Now for a bit about us
We’re Lyka Pet Food and we’re on a mission to help puppers live their best life here in Australia. We create a joyful life for your dog through a custom plan of nutritious, fresh dog food, delivered to your front door.
