Chiropractic care can help pets with everything from injuries to age-related issues

To the point

The first recorded use of veterinary acupuncture is in China’s Zhou-mu-gong period (947 to 928 B.C.) when Zhao Fu used it to treat horses, according to an article posted in February 2022 on the website of the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine.

“Acupuncture is one part of traditional Chinese medicine and is used to rebalance the body and its energy,” says Dr. Daniel Beatty, owner of Balanced Motion Veterinary Services in Crown Point.

Beatty, who trained and was certified in animal acupuncture by the Chi University in Reddick, Fla., incorporates the components of traditional Chinese medicine with allopathic Western medicine, depending upon the animal’s needs.

Beatty, who works with dogs and horses, inserts tiny needles to stimulate specific points on the body as a way of rebalancing the body and its energy.

“In western medical language it is used to stimulate the nervous system to cause the body to react to help heal itself,” he says, noting that animal acupuncture can be used to treat most ailments.

“However, in our practice we use it a lot to help control pain,” he says. “And it is used in conjunction with other therapies to help with anxiety, seizures, chronic kidney or liver disease, allergies and digestive disorders.”