We typically see the maximum effects of the serotonin release and pain reduction at day three post acupuncture treatment. The treatment can last anywhere from one to four weeks. It's dependent on the dog and what their disease is.

You would be amazed how well most dogs tolerate acupuncture. Some dogs are very needle sensitive. If they're very tender, then maybe acupuncture is not the best choice for them. But I would say that nine times out of 10, most dogs don't even know that we're putting the needles in. Once the needles are in place, you can just see their bodies relax, and they get very sleepy.

We'll bring in a patient. We usually put a big mat on the floor in the exam room and have them stand there. Usually, I'll begin my acupuncture appointment with feeling along the meridians and channels and looking at how the animal moves, what they're here for. I usually have a point prescription already figured out. We've seen the patient or have had a list of records, so I know what I'm going to be treating. I like to see the patient move before I start. Once I place all the needles into the prescribed points, we let them sit there for about 10 minutes. We'll turn the lights off in a nice, restful, dark space, so the pet can relax and be comfortable before we remove the needles and return the dog to you.

There’s really nothing to do other than to bring the pet in. We like to have them relaxed and comfortable. I suppose the one thing not to do is bring them in with wet fur.

I guess the answer would be to get in ASAP and get it done. In some cases, like how I mentioned before, if you go too long between certain intervals depending on their age or what vaccine it is, you may have to restart the series. You may have to start back over and give an extra booster. So the timing is essential, and you don't want them to have a lapse in it. Get them updated as soon as you can.

Yes, absolutely. As a kitten, they'll be closer together until they achieve their appropriate immunity. As adults, they go to different intervals as we space them out—the FVRCP can ever be every three years, and rabies and Bordetella, depending on which ones your cat gets.

I'd say, typically, the answer is yes. Often we do multiple at a time, but there are some considerations. Even when people get many vaccines, some people do feel more groggy or just a little sick or don't feel well in general. So when necessary for timing or certain situations of the cat, absolutely. We can and do multiple vaccines together, but that is why we split things up as they get older.

We try to rotate things. We have three-year vaccines if they can stretch out that far. We try to do, say, the rabies vaccine on an alternating year, change things up a bit so that they're not getting as much at once.

I'd say typically, no. There is some debate on that, even with dogs. There aren’t a lot of good studies that show that, yes, this breed is necessarily different from another breed. We want to be careful in general, depending on age, size, and how many vaccines are given. But no. I would say that there's not a breed predisposition for that.