Historical Uses of Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been practiced on humans in China for more than 4,500 years. The first use of acupuncture on animals can be traced to the western Jin dynasty period of China from 136 to 265 A.D.  In this early form, sharp stones were used to cut and bleed specific locations on horses and other large working animals.

Traditional eastern medicine explains acupuncture as a method to assess and rebalance the flow of qi, or energy, that travels along 12 main linear pathways, or meridians, in the body.

Sickness comes from blocks or imbalance in the body's qi. To correct these imbalances, small needles, inserted in any number of 365 basic acupunture points, redirect the flow of energy and restore the body to health.

The West explains acupuncture by pointing out that most of the body's 365 main acupuncture points are located at clusters of nerves and blood vessels. Stimulating these areas triggers a host of local and general physiological effects, leveraging the body's own healing power.

Studies have shown that acupuncture can increase blood flow, lower heart rate and improve immune function.

Acupuncture also stimulates the release of certain neurotransmitters like endorphins, the body's natural pain-killers, and smaller amounts of cortisal, an anti-inflammatory steroid.

The Avon Pet Centre is dedicated to providing the highest quality veterinary care through the integration of alternative and complementary medicine with conventional medicine. At the Pet Center, we believe that using a combination of all reasonable therapies or systems of medicine together provides the veterinarian with an increased ability to prevent and treat disease that would not be possible using one system of medicine by itself.  This type of veterinary care focuses on evaluation of the whole animal and on the prevention of disease and maintenance of health, not just on the treatment of disease, and the suppression of symptoms.

An integrative approach to veterinary medicine is designed to improve the likelihood of resolving an animal's underlying disease condition, prevent or minimize adverse drug effects, maximize successful treatment outcomes and improve the quality of life. As our client, you are given all of the available options for the treatment of your pet.  Debra Whitman McGrath DVM is trained in both conventional and complementary and alternative medicine and can effectively treat any of the medical conditions normally seen in regular veterinary practice. By using a combination of Western medicine diagnostics (in-house Laboratory, X-Rays, Ultrasound, EKG),  laser surgery and drugs with acupuncture,  herbal medicine and diet we have a wide array of tools we can use to help diagnose and treat your pet’s medical problems.

Dr. Whitman McGrath is certified by the Chi Institute of Veterinary Chinese medicine and has been using an integrative aproach since 1996.