A perentie lizard in Dallas, an African penguin in Boston and an Oberhasli goat in Chicago are just a few recent examples of animals at zoos and aquariums benefiting recently from acupuncture therapy. As acupuncture has gained wide use in human medicine in the U.S., it also has become increasingly common in veterinary practice, especially for pain management.
The Conversation U.S. interviewed University of Tennessee Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medicine Joe Smith, a specialist in farm animal medicine and veterinary clinical pharmacology, about this trend. He describes acupuncture’s current uses for treating many species, from household dogs and cats to large animals like horses, cows and llamas:
Is veterinary acupuncture modeled on the traditional Chinese version?
There are two schools of thought about veterinary acupuncture. The original form of acupuncture, which has been practiced for thousands of years, follows principles of traditional Chinese medicine. It views the patient through a lens of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.
Each element is associated with a different type of energy. Practitioners work to maintain balance between those energies, which they believe is essential for a healthy body to function.
Another approach focuses on anatomical effects on the body. Practitioners place needles to achieve specific effects by stimulating muscles or nerves.
Both versions of acupuncture can help veterinary patients. They use very small, flexible needles, about two-tenths of a millimeter wide – less than one-hundredth of an inch. The needles are placed at various parts of the body to elicit specific responses from connective tissues, muscles and nerves.
The needles can be used by themselves, or with low levels of electrical current – a process called electroacupuncture. Both approaches are effective, but research suggests that benefits from electroacupunture last longer.
Veterinary acupuncturists can treat nearly any animal, from a bear to a porcupine, a dog or a sea turtle.
What does research show about using acupuncture on animals?
Acupuncture and electroacupuncture both increase the body’s levels of compounds called endogenous opioids. These are pain-relieving substances that the body produces naturally. They work similarly to pharmaceutical opioids, such as fentanyl and morphine.
Acupuncture increases these compounds so dramatically that the effect can be reversed with opioid antidotes, such as Narcan.
Studies in small animal medicine show that using acupuncture can speed up healing from nerve injuries, such as spinal cord damage from herniated disks. This is a condition in which material from the disks in between the vertebra of the spinal cord is damaged, and puts pressure on the spinal cord and other parts of the nervous system.
Herniated disks can be very painful for animals. A 2023 study found that when dogs…
