In China, acupuncture for pets is a big business:
“As the army of pet owners expands exponentially in China’s affluent cities, more and more are attracted to the promise of traditional methods. But patience is advised.“Acupuncture works very slowly, and you have to see the doctor repeatedly. That’s a hassle for people, let alone for dogs,” said a Beijing dog owner, who gave her surname as Zhang. Even so, an entire sub-industry is emerging in China’s largest cities, staffed by hundreds of practitioners, many of them attached to pet clinics that also offer western treatment.
In Beijing alone there are dozens of more or less qualified doctors specializing in acupuncture for pets, Guo estimated.”
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“Acupuncture and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine have so far been used predominantly for human diseases, which means there are large unexplored areas when it comes to the applicability on animals. A strong interest in further research has emerged both at home and abroad, according to Xu Jianqin, a member of the Chinese agriculture ministry’s committee for approving traditional medicine for use on animals. “There are problems with western medicine that simply refuse to go away, such as growing resistance to basic drugs,” he said. “As a result, many western doctors have started studying Chinese medicine on their own accord.””
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