Effectiveness of aqua-acupuncture for reducing stress of canine patients in veterinary clinics
Item
Title
Effectiveness of aqua-acupuncture for reducing stress of canine patients in veterinary clinics
Description
Am J Trad Chin Vet Med (2021), Mier, H.
Journal Publication
issn
1945-7677 (print)
1945-7693 (online)
Date
Language
English
Author(s)
Subject
Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) aqua-acupuncture (aqua-AP) for mitigating veterinary clinic visit stress in dogs. Twenty fogs with a history of stress behaviors at veterinary clinics were recruited and randomly assigned to either Control Group (sham aqua-AP) or Test Group (aqua-AP at GV-20 and bilateral An-shen). Only dogs with an elevated heart rate (HR) or exhibiting positive stress behavior 10 minutes after arrival were included. The change (baseline to 15 and 30-minutes post-treatment) was compared between the 2 study groups for each stress measurement: HR, salivary cortisol and stress behavior score (average of panting, trembling, vocalizing, pacing, hiding, lip-smacking). The study showed behavior score improvement at 15-min and 30-min post-treatment in both groups, however, improvement in the aqua-AP group was double that of the control dogs (61% vs 28% at 15 min, 50% vs 23% at 30 min, respectively). When considering only panting behavior, which dominated the behavioral score, the Test Group improvement when compared to Control Group at 15-min (46% vs 10% decrease, respectively) and 30-min (50% vs 23% decrease, respectively) demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the 2 study groups (p=.008 at 15 min and .004 at 30 min). In both groups, the study did not find significant changes in either HR or salivary cortisol concentration (SCC), although the HRs were reduced in both groups. This small pilot study suggests vitamin B12 aqua-acupuncture (GV-20, An-shen) could be useful for reducing canine visit stress at veterinary clincs.
volume
16
issue
1
Abbreviated Journal Title
Am J Trad Chin Vet Med
page start
41
page end
50