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Vet Offers 'Dogupuncture' and Separate Waiting Rooms for Cats and Dogs

By Serena Solomon | August 29, 2013 6:47am
 Dr. Amy Crain does an examination on a patient at the Lower East Side Animal Hospital.
Dr. Amy Crain does an examination on a patient at the Lower East Side Animal Hospital.
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DNAinfo / Serena Solomon

LOWER EAST SIDE — A new animal hospital that aims to help its patients relax with "dogupuncture" and separate waiting areas for dogs and cats has opened on the Lower East Side.

The Lower East Side Animal Hospital is offering conventional veterinary treatments to pets along with alternative practices such as homeopathy and herbal remedies in its new 3,200-square-foot location at 241 Eldridge St. near Houston Street.

The hospital, which will also offer dentistry and surgeries, is an outpost of the Heart of Chelsea Animal Hospital on West 18th Street.

"What we do for our patients, our clients, is definitely above and beyond," said Dr. Amy Crain, a vet who is stationed at the Lower East Side location full-time and lives in the neighborhood.

Like the Heart of Chelsea Animal Hospital, the Lower East Side location will offer acupuncture service for both cats and dogs.

The treatment, which involves inserting thin needles into pressure points, is said to relieve pain related to ailments such as arthritis and kidney failure, and make animals more comfortable in the last stages of their lives, Crain said.

“They [the pets] relax during it. They even fall asleep,” she said.

Laser treatment is also available at the hospital, which promotes healing by decreasing inflammation in animals that suffer from back pain or ear infections, Crain said.

On top of its New Age treatments, the hospital has a floor-plan design that aims to relieve patients' stress, with separate waiting areas for dogs and cats.

Individual treatment rooms are also segregated as either dog-only or cat-only spaces so the scent of a nemesis does not cause anxiety.

"They can smell each other," Crain said.