ADVERTISEMENT
The acupuncture vet
“I knock lightly because dogs can get upset if you knock loud, or with a cat, it might run under the bed,” said Levy, a veterinarian who specializes in acupuncture, exclusively by house call.
Recommended articles
![How to deal with panic attacks [CompleteCare]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "How to deal with panic attacks [CompleteCare]")
This house call was for Harpo, a 10-year-old toy fox terrier with a liver tumor that was diagnosed a year ago as terminal and untreatable.
“They told me to just keep him happy for his last couple of months,” said Harpo’s owner, Jess Caragliano, 36, who heard that Levy, 61, could help provide palliative care during Harpo’s last few weeks.
She had him begin weekly acupuncture treatments, and while a year later Harpo’s prognosis has not improved, outwardly he is energetic and thriving, said Caragliano, founder of a music marketing company.
ADVERTISEMENT
Levy’s rounds are mostly in Manhattan, but he will take on patients as far as the city’s subway system extends. He sometimes sees a dozen patients a day, putting plenty of miles on his unlimited-use MetroCard. “I swipe that card clean,” said Levy, who does his paperwork in transit.
Levy, a certified veterinary acupuncturist, assists with rehabilitation and pain management for pets whose owners want to avoid medication or surgery. He also gets referrals from other vets who have been unable to help a pet with traditional medicine.
Nervous or aggressive pets are often more cooperative in familiar surroundings, said Levy, who treats many older or debilitated cats and dogs that are too fragile, physical or emotionally, to travel.
Acupuncture can make pets with cancer more comfortable by stimulating points in the body that help with pain relief, or increase energy and boost the immune system and appetite, said Levy, who sat beside Harpo on a rug and inserted a red-tipped needle into the top of the terrier’s head.
This is a calming point, explained Levy, where the yin energy pathways converge. He then inserted a needle between the dog’s shoulder blades, a yang energy point that was “sort of like turning up the thermostat.” Another needle just beyond the last rib would affect the kidney, which “houses the fire of life — it’s like a pilot light,” and can help with arthritis and mobility issues, he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Typically, pets fall asleep soon after the needles are inserted. Harpo, a high-energy dog excited by visitors, did just that, despite ambulance sirens and car horns outside.
He gave a reflexive yap at footsteps in the hallway, put his head down and napped.
Levy grew up in Brooklyn and became interested in veterinary medicine as a child after seeing his pet dachshund, Mushroom, suffer from chronic back problems.
Levy travels with a thick bag, or sometimes several, stuffed with medical records, equipment and acupuncture needles. He typically charges $195 for an initial visit and $150 for each follow-up.
After visiting Harpo, Levy took a bus and three trains to Brooklyn to visit Nana, a 14-year-old shepherd mix that collapsed in July and became immobile.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nana’s owner, Vanessa Soderstrom, 40, said that a veterinarian told her, “When the big dogs go down, they don’t get back up, and that I’d have to put him down.” But after a few acupuncture treatments by Levy, Nana began walking again, she said.
Levy made preparations to put needles along the dog’s back. Watching intently was Soderstrom’s Chihuahua mix, Tiny Tony, a pet world celebrity with more than 41,000 Facebook followers.
Levy is no stranger to celebrity, having treated Mick Jagger’s cat as well as dogs for the likes of Lou Reed, Joan Rivers and Marvin Hamlisch, he said.
“Some people like to rub shoulders with celebrities — I like to rub muzzles with their dogs,” said Levy, who also founded a pet-themed rock band called Pet-Rox, which has performed benefit concerts for animal welfare groups.
The band’s members come from the animal-welfare community. Over the years they have included a pet psychic, a sea-lion trainer and a pet lawyer.
ADVERTISEMENT
At one point, the band had a pet tarot card reader on percussion. Levy sings and plays guitar.
He said the band began as a semi-serious venture playing cover songs like “Octopus’s Garden” and “Rockin’ Robin,” but after encouragement from Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore at a pet charity event, the group turned to songs written by Levy, often on the subway between house calls. The band’s first CD, “Just Sniffing Around,” included such classics as “Raining Cats and Dogs,” “Urban Jungle” and “Lost Dog.”
“One time, we played an event at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn,” he said. “It was pretty cool — the sea lions were howling behind us.”
—
The Particulars
ADVERTISEMENT
Name: Dr. Jeff Levy
Age: 61
Who he is: Veterinary acupuncturist
Where he’s from: Mill Basin, Brooklyn
Telling detail: He met his wife through a kitten rescue operation.
ADVERTISEMENT
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
COREY KILGANNON © 2018 The New York Times
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
Next story
ADVERTISEMENT
