Teaching Bovine Acupuncture with the ADA-603 Cattle Model

Large-animal acupuncture is taught in rooms, not in barns. That single constraint explains why a physical bovine model earns its place in a veterinary curriculum: a student cannot repeatedly find a point on a standing cow while a lecturer explains, but a model can be passed around, labelled and examined. The ADA-603 is a PVC cattle model with 68 useful acupuncture points marked by numerals on the right side of the body, intended as a veterinarian's reference and a classroom teaching aid.

What the model provides

Feature	Detail
Model	ADA-603
Subject	Cattle, standing, on a wooden-look base
Points marked	68 useful acupuncture points, right side
Labelling	Numbered markers
Material	PVC
Intended user	Veterinary reference, teaching
Quantity per carton	10
Package size	58 × 37 × 29 cm
Gross weight	6 kg

The numbering is the teaching mechanism. A lecturer can call a number, ask the student to locate it, and then discuss the indication without the student hunting through a chart. That drill is difficult to run on a live animal and impossible to run repeatedly on a photograph.

Why point location dominates the curriculum

Veterinary acupuncture evidence is uneven, and the honest position is that the literature supports some applications while leaving many claims unproven [1]. That makes technique and safety the defensible core of a training course: the student should leave able to locate a point reproducibly, know the underlying anatomy, and know when not to needle.

A model supports the first of those three. It does not teach depth, angle or tissue response — the parts that require an animal or a cadaver. The practical division is therefore:

• Model: point identification, numbering, regional anatomy, examination practice.
• Cadaver or live animal: depth, angle, response, and the decision to stop.

Courses that use a model as the sole practical experience tend to produce students who can point at a location but hesitate at the needle. Build at least one supervised animal session into the course, or state clearly in the syllabus that the model is a location aid only.

A 40-minute point-location session

1. Orient the group (5 min). Name the regions marked on the model: head and neck, trunk, hindlimb, forelimb.
2. Number drill (10 min). Call ten numbers at random; students locate each on the model and name the region.
3. Reverse drill (10 min). Name a clinical indication; students propose a point and justify the choice.
4. Palpation translation (10 min). For five points, describe the landmark a clinician would feel on a standing animal.
5. Record (5 min). Each student writes the five points and one caution for each.

Step four is the one most often skipped, and it is the step that converts a numbered model into clinical behaviour.

Specification and handling notes

PVC models are durable but not indestructible. Keep the model out of direct sun, clean with a damp cloth rather than solvent, and store it so the legs and base are not load-bearing. At 6 kg gross per carton of ten, the unit weight is manageable for shelf storage, and the 58 × 37 × 29 cm carton is the shipping size rather than the display footprint.

If the model will be used in a barn or during field teaching, ask the supplier about a carry case; the base is the part most likely to be damaged in transport.

Quotation and specification. Current pricing, carton quantity and delivery for the ADA-603 are available from sophia@adahealthy.com.

FAQ

Q1. How many points does the ADA-603 mark? 68 useful acupuncture points, numbered, on the right side of the cattle body.

Q2. Is it life-size? It is a teaching model on a base, sized for desk and classroom demonstration rather than for simulating a full standing animal.

Q3. What material is it made from? PVC, with a wooden-look base.

Q4. Can it replace practical training on animals? No. It teaches point location and regional anatomy; depth, angle and tissue response require a cadaver or supervised animal session.

Q5. Who is the model intended for? Veterinarians using acupuncture as a reference aid, and veterinary or technician students learning bovine point location.

Q6. How is it packed? Ten units per carton, 58 × 37 × 29 cm, 6 kg gross.

Product page: Teaching Bovine Acupuncture with the ADA-603 Cattle Model — specification, packing data and a quotation request form.

References

1. Habacher G, Pittler MH, Ernst E. Effectiveness of acupuncture in veterinary medicine: systematic review. J Vet Intern Med. 2006;20(3):480–488.
2. World Health Organization. WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region. Geneva: WHO; 2008.
3. Preece D, et al. "Let's get physical": advantages of a physical model over 3D computer models and textbooks in learning imaging anatomy. Anat Sci Educ. 2013;6(4):216–224.

---

For a quotation on the ADA-603, or to ask about a carry case for field teaching, write to sophia@adahealthy.com with your course size and region.