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Try needles

"To be honest with you, I'd never even seen a falcon before treating that one," said Chen, who is also vice-dean of the university's College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science. "But I know exactly where a chicken's acupuncture points are. When it comes to birds, the locations of their acupoints are all much the same."

A dog undergoing acupuncture at the Beijing Companion Animal Hospital. Traditional Chinese medicine is back in fashion, not only for people but also for pets. Veterinarians are now connecting animals to electric acupuncture machines, treating them with homeopathic remedies and even feeding them herbal TCMs. [ Photo / China Daily ]

According to Chen, dogs and cats aren't the only beneficiaries and the traditional skill can also be used to treat horses, cows, rabbits and even guinea pigs. "It has commercial uses as well. Did you know that in Japan, people use acupuncture on fish to save the huge costs of refrigerating sashimi?" said Chen, explaining that acupuncture can induce sleep in fish, so that the expense of keeping raw fish in cold storage is no longer necessary.

However, not everyone is convinced that the treatment is beneficial.

Li Mo, a medical affairs commissioner from the biomedical researcher Shanghai Huayi Bio Lab, who majored in veterinary studies and studied both Western and Chinese medicine, said it will be a long time before animal acupuncture is accepted in China.

"First of all, it's a demanding skill - how many experienced acupuncturists can you find in China for people, let alone animals, so there's a lack of talent," he said. "Even if we find enough people willing and able to do it, mainstream pet hospitals couldn't accept it: How many hospitals specializing in animal acupuncture can you find in Shanghai? None, the only ones available are based in Beijing," he said.

Li argued that the high treatment costs - 300 yuan ($47) per session, according to Chen Wu - means that the therapy is limited to pets rather than other domesticated animals such as chickens and ducks.

Meanwhile, the Colorado-based American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture in Hygiene, has said that acupuncture is limited to the treatment of aliments ranging from hip dysplasia and chronic degenerative joint disease to respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and urinary tract disorders.

Chen Wu doesn't agree. "It can manage almost anything, because the underlying philosophy is that acupuncture mobilizes the animal's bodily functions. Inserting a needle at the correct acupuncture point can maximize your pet's potential. That's what I love about this method - the magic is there in this simple, tiny needle, which can cure so many diseases," he said.

Of course, acupuncture has its limitations," he added. "When an animal has already lost control of its bodily functions, in cases such as massive bleeding for example, acupuncture can't help."

The researchers understand relatively little about how and why this alternative therapy works, but Chen said his practical experience is the best proof. "Out of the thousands of paralyzed animals I have helped, more than 90 percent reacted in the first two weeks of the treatment," he said.

One of those animals is Jiao Jiao, a 12-year-old Pekingese. Two years ago, Jiao Jiao's owner, Wu Jianhua, was desperate. Her beloved dog was paralyzed from the neck down after becoming stranded in a spring snowfall in Beijing. "Jiao Jiao has had bad lumbar vertebra since she was a puppy, but when I found her in the snow, she couldn't stand, eat or drink, and she had become incontinent," said Wu. "We tried conventional injections and infusions, but she just got worse. Jiao Jiao would lie awake at night, crying and drooling. She could not swallow and started to suffer from progressive muscle wastage."

Just when Wu began to consider putting the animal to sleep, a vet recommended acupuncture. "I figured it was worth a shot," she said. As it turned out, it was worth many shots. Twice a week, Jiao Jiao sits quietly on a special hammock-shaped table - so that the animal can't make any sudden movements when the needles are inserted - as Chen Wu sticks a series of 0.2-millimeter-thick needles along the length of her spine and across her shoulders, haunches and forelegs at a depth of 2 centimeters.

Although the treatment is expensive it has produced rapid results. By the second week, Jiao Jiao was able to stand up. "I don't think I would have her today if not for acupuncture," admitted Wu. "I would have had her put to sleep two years ago because I couldn't stand her being in such pain."

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