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Exp Neurobiol 2006; 15(2): 81-87
Published online December 31, 2006
© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences
Young Mee Kim1, Byeong Teck Kang1, Su Hyun Gu1, Jong Hyun Yoo2, Chul Park3, Dong In Jung1, Hyo Won Jeon1, Dae Hyun Hahm3 and Hee Myung Park1*
1Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine and 2BK21 Program of Integrative Network Systems for Veterinarians in Basic Science, Industrial Animals and Preventive Medicines, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, 3Acupuncture & Meridian Science Research Center, Kyunghee University, Yongin 446-701, Korea
Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-2-450-4140, FAX: 82-2-450-3037
e-mail: parkhee@konkuk.ac.kr
To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture and synthetic Dog-Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) for the treatment of separation anxiety caused by hospitalization, 25 hospitalized dogs were examined. DAP was delivered with an electrically heated diffuser. Acupuncture was performed at the 2 proper positions, 'shen men', on the ear skin known as relating sedative effect. For the baseline assessments, clinical signs of separation anxiety were examined on the first day of hospitalization. These were regularly checked with the intervals of 8 hours and repeated until the day of discharge. By comparing with baseline and final assessments, the efficacy of acupuncture and DAP was evaluated. Separation induced problems were decreased in both treatment groups, and the efficacy was slightly higher in acupuncture treatment. However, the differences of the efficacy of two treatments were not statistically significant. In conclusion, acupuncture and DAP were all effective to decrease separation anxieties. Thus, acupuncture as well as DAP could be improving the welfare of dogs which are hospitalized.
Keywords: acupuncture, dog, dog-appeasing pheromone (DAP), separation anxiety