Holistic Pet Care

Training & Qualifications for Holistic Veterinarians

Veterinarians who practice holistic veterinary medicine must attend traditional veterinary school to receive training. To become qualified to offer holistic medicine, they obtain additional training after graduating with a veterinary degree. 

Holistic Medicine for Pets: Treatment Options 

Our vets often recommend one or multiple treatment options that are classified as holistic medicine for pets. They include:

• Acupuncture

  Acupuncture is an aspect of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine that focuses on promoting healing by restoring the energy balance in the body.

  Acupuncture treatment can help encourage increased circulation, which can help hot spots, granulomas and allergic dermatitis. It can also improve healing and reduce pain, leading to less itching and subsequent over-grooming.

• Musculoskeletal Manipulation/Chiropractic Therapy

  Musculoskeletal manipulation, in our practice, involves much more than chiropractic adjustments. We incorporate a number of different manual therapies in the treatment of our patients, including osseous adjustment, massage and deep tissue work, tuina, and home-based physical rehabilitation.

  Osseous adjustment, broadly referred to as “chiropractic”, involves the focused, gentle and predictable manipulation of the spine and skeleton to relieve misaligned areas and reintroduce normal range of motion.  

  Massage and deep tissue work techniques, including aspects of Swedish, Shiatsu, trigger point therapy, and cross-fiber massage, have been shown to increase circulation in treated areas, relieve muscle spasms and improve function and range of motion.

  Tuina is the Traditional Chinese Medicine art of massage, body dynamics, and osseous manipulation. It incorporates aspects of Western bodywork while being based in, and focusing on, the meridian model of energy flow.

• Herbal Medicine

  Herbal medicine has a long and respected history, dating back to Biblical times. Chinese medical texts from the Han Dynasty (200 AD) describe hundreds of herbal formulas, many of which are still in use today. A great number of western herbs, such as slippery elm bark, ginger, and chamomile, are discussed in herbals dating back to the 16th century.

  Herbs can be used to support the body in many ways. They can be used to supplement conventional medicines in the treatment of acute disease, or as long-term, “tonic” formulas to help strengthen an aging patient.  Poor digestion, chronic infections, arthritis, and asthma are only a few of the many disorders that respond to herbal medicine.  In addition, herbs are often used as adjunctive therapy for our patients that are also undergoing chemotherapy, to help minimize the side effects of that therapy, and to improve their overall health.

  While herbs are the “ultimate” natural remedy, they are also potent medicine, which must be used appropriately.  Herbs and herbal formulas are utilized by the body in specific ways, and our domestic pets metabolize them differently than we do.  This makes the selection of the correct herbs for your individual pet vitally important.

• Homeopathy

  Homeopathy is a systematic method of stimulating the body’s vital force to heal. First discovered in the 1800s, the word “homeopathy” derives from the Greek “omeos”, meaning “similar”, and “pathos”, meaning “suffering”. In essence, then the basis of this therapy is the use of remedies that assist the body in healing itself.

  The remedies used in homeopathy consist of very dilute, potentized concentrations of glandulars, herbs, and minerals that, in high doses, produce the same symptoms as those seen in the patient. In their therapeutic form (often a 1:100,000 dilution of the original substance), they act to specifically stimulate the body to respond to illness or injury, and alleviate the symptoms.
  
  When prescribed by trained individuals, homeopathy is an extremely safe and gentle form of therapy that can have immediate and profound effects. In acute conditions, homeopathic remedies may be administered every few hours; in chronic cases, 2 or 3 times daily may suffice.

• Ozone Therapy

  Ozone therapy is a natural way to energize the body, boost the immune system, promote healing, and reducing inflammation all by aiding the body’s ability to utilize oxygen.