Dr Jane Hunter has had an unusual career treating both animals and people with acupuncture. Twelve years after qualifying as a vet from Glasgow University, and with a PhD in antibiotic resistance, opportunity took her to the other side of the world to New Zealand. There her eyes were opened to less conventional treatments that challenged some aspects of standard veterinary and medical practice. Back in Scotland, Jane began treating dogs and cats in pain with acupuncture, and was then encouraged to treat their owners too! In this book, she shares her twenty-one years of training and experience, along with stories of the many animals, owners and other human patients she has met along the way, and describes how transformative acupuncture can be - not just for pain, but for a range of conditions, from common skin complaints to the loss of smell and taste.
"These real-life stories of Jane's patients, both two-legged and four-legged, are an absorbing, interesting and fun read for everyone. They are also educational and informative for anyone in the veterinary and medical fields. Even with all my years of experience using acupuncture to treat both animals and humans, I was able to glean some new and helpful tips from this book." Dr Ann Hutchison BVMS MRCVS CCRT MBACC Veterinary & human acupuncturist
For every copy sold, a contribution is made to the charity www.missionrabies.com.
Paperback ISBN 978-1-909675-285 | 252 pages
PRICE £14.99 plus p&p
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I qualified as a vet from Glasgow University in 1983 and after spells in vet practice in the UK and Australia, I completed a PhD at Liverpool University in antibiotic resistance in pigs and people in 1992 and then worked in the Scottish Borders diagnosing farm animal disease. In 1995 opportunity led me to a lecturing post in veterinary bacteriology at Massey University in New Zealand. In my spare time I also learned of the benefits of therapeutic massage. From this I realised that after ten years of academia I wanted to be a more hands-on vet again. However, I had no idea acupuncture would take over my career after a stop-over in Australia on the way home! I consider myself lucky to have been introduced to acupuncture, purely by chance being at the right place at the right time. In 1999, at a veterinary conference in Hobart, Tasmania, I listened to Dr Allen Schoen, an American expert in the field of veterinary acupuncture. Initially very sceptical, I was intrigued and trained with the British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS) which led to me treating dogs, cats and people with acupuncture in Fife, Scotland for the next 21 years! I was awarded the BMAS Diploma in 2006 and Postgraduate Certificate from University of Hertfordshire in 2012 and trained in the use of electro-acupuncture and laser too.
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The book, set in New Zealand, Australia and Scotland recounts the stories of family pets allowing me to use acupuncture on their painful health conditions. I also talk about how some owners were so impressed by their pets’ recovery, they turned to me for help with their own ailments. The book has been three years in the making - I never thought writing it would turn out to be more challenging than writing my PhD thesis. However, I felt a huge responsibility to tell these stories and do my animal and human patients justice.