The Associated Press

As alternative approaches like acupuncture and herbal remedies have moved into the mainstream for humans, veterinarians have made those same techniques increasingly available for pets.

Animal-care officials say pet owners have been convinced by their own positive experiences that their pets should also enjoy the benefits of alternative techniques.

"Seeing is believing," said Sally Wortman, Pets Unlimited's hospital administrator, standing near a row of scented candles on the new clinic's reception desk.

A Japanese fountain, soft lights and walls painted in soothing tones of sage, ochre and salmon augment the calming atmosphere of the clinic, which is one floor down from the city's only
24-hour-a-day emergency room for pets.

The renovations have a therapeutic effect on pets, Wortman said, but added that it was just as important to create a setting where owners also feel relaxed.

"The practitioner can only help the animal through the person," she said.

Still, the push for the new treatments - also known as holistic or complementary medicine - has not come so much from vets, whose medical training is still steeped in the rigours of the Western
scientific tradition.

"It's been more consumer driven," said Joe O'Hehir, executive director of Pets Unlimited.

That holistic medicine for animals would catch on in San Francisco, which also ushered in the no-kill movement in animal shelters in the 1990s, comes as little surprise. But the field is
spreading.

The Maryland-based American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association claims more than 800 members from Florida to Alaska.

Marilyn Chartrand of Alameda, Calif., treats her cats with aromatherapy when she gets sick.

"I do holistic things for my body. So I thought, how exciting that they're doing this for animals," said Chartrand.

The Association of Veterinary Acupuncturists of Canada has an extensive list of practising doctors across the country.

Still, despite broadening acceptance, alternative medicine for animals faces continued skepticism.

The American Veterinary Medical Association said in recent guidelines on alternative medical
techniques for animals that the organization is "open to their consideration."

But it stressed that the quality of research into different methods varies, saying some practices "may differ from current scientific knowledge."

Beth Schneider, an animal acupuncturist for Pets Unlimited, said one positive experience with alternative techniques can be enough to convince doubters.

"They see how beneficial it is to the animal," she said. "And they want to start going to acupuncturists themselves."