” What a painful, frightening experience”
My 10 or 12 appointments were neither painful nor frightening, certainly not torture, and there was nothing to suppress. Many human patients doze or enter a hyper-relaxed state.
As I pointed out in my initial comment on this topic, an animal has no comprehension of what is going on. A human taking acupuncture “treatments” has likely heard many anecdotal stories of how acupuncture is a miracle cure for a wide range of conditions, and is therefore likely to suppress the pain associated with having needles driven into one’s flesh. An animal, on the other hand, has no expectations of benefit and is therefore extremely unlikely to suppress the pain. The animal only knows that it is being restrained while sharp objects are being shoved into its flesh.