Your cherished companion is ill and you do not like the conventional suggestions, or they have not been working. Better yet, you know now that there must be better ways to maintain health and increased longevity, so you want to find a holistic veterinarian. You have done internet searches and found no one near you. You may have found a website with referrals, but no one local or you went and they suggested the same old conventional treatments.

So frustrating!!! I am here to help you succeed. You will be able to find great holistic vets for your family. First, you do need to dedicate time to do this. Just as feeding a fresh food diet is easy, first you need to dedicate time to finding your local or internet protein sources. And you do need PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, and strong INTENTION.

First, who is a good holistic vet? How can you tell?

Good holistic medicine takes the perspective of treating the whole animal. Even if there is a current problem, for example diarrhea or itching, a good holistic veterinarian will ask questions about what problems there have been in the past, what changes in the household or the environment may have triggered the current complaint and if there is anything that makes the current complaints better or worse. They will also evaluate the overall energy level of the animal. Their goal is to make the animal healthier for life, not just to get rid of the current symptom. They will educate you and explain what they see when physically examining your animal.

Some of the modalities that integrative veterinarians may use in addition to conventional include acupuncture, herbs, flower essences, homeopathy, chiropractic, network chiropractic, nutrition, supplements,  Reiki, Tellington touch, healing touch, long distance healing modalities. And many more. Some of these have certification programs with a year or more of courses, exams and evaluation of clinical ability. Others are either self-taught or not regulated. Some individuals are wonderful with your animal — others great at explaining to you what is happening with your animals. A few are good in both areas. Few veterinarians are perfect, and we all have bad days. Your animal should at least be comfortable with your choice and you should be able to get your questions and concerns addressed.

The best is to have a partnership where your integrative veterinarian encourages you to do all the healing modalities you want to learn. You and she may differ about the number of vaccines, raw versus cooked meat, flea control and more, yet you should both accept the other person’s point of view.

Some veterinarians and their staff are wonderful with your animal — others great at explaining to you what is happening with your animals. A few are good in both areas. Few veterinarians are perfect, and we all have bad days. Your animal should at least be comfortable with your choice and you should be able to get your questions and concerns addressed.

The good news about finding a veterinarian is that there are now many internet searches you can do and many will work virtually. The challenging news is that the referral websites are poorly maintained, inaccurate, do not really reflect how wholistic vet is, and more.

Follow the steps for maximum success. If you are challenged, or you really are not sure what you are looking for and want some guidance as to what you can do at home and what type of vet you may want – schedule a coaching call with me. You will have the vet you want with my support.  Go to my page or email me at HealThyAnimals@aol.com or call 443-895-9555 to schedule an appointment. Sign up for my newsletter, too.

 

STEPS TO SUCCESS

STEP 1: Go to the web sites listed below for each holistic veterinary organization and read about that modality. Go to their referral list to find one near to you. Write down possibilities, even up to an hour or more away.

STEP 2: Visit the web site of any practitioners you are interested in and carefully evaluate the “about me” page of the vet listed as well as the clinic. Do not yet eliminate any unless the vet is not even listed at that clinic. Maybe call and ask where they are now.

WARNING – put on your critical decision making hat. It may be a very conventional looking clinic yet the bio of the holistic vet seems excellent. It may seem very holistic, yet they are pushing a lot of vaccines, flea chemicals, testing, etc. Why is this? Some are on the web sites because they took one class, joined the organization, then quit completely. Some are no longer in practice, yet are still on the site, etc. Some practitioners are members of only one or two of the organizations because when you are trained in 2-10 modalities, you cannot afford to be on all of them. You do need to go to every site.

STEP 3: For free read the forum at Holistic actions. Search for “finding veterinarians”, veterinarian”,  “do you know..”, etc. Any recommendations in a post will be good ones. If you are a member (which I strongly recommend), you can make a post requesting recommendations.  Most members have, or are trying to find their holistic health care team.   If you do become a member of holistic actions, email me at HealthyAnimals@aol.com for a surprise gift.

STEP 4: Do an internet search to find more possibilities – “holistic veterinarian Baltimore” or “herbal veterinarian Baltimore” or “new zealand homeoapthic veterinarians”. More and more sites are generally listing local holistic vets. If you want to find vets doing flower essences, or reiki, etc, the internet search can be very productive as long as you carefully evaluate as described below. Add these to your list.

STEP 5: Call any local holistic practitioners for people, local health food stores and even pet stores to inquire who they know. Add these recommendations as they will be the place to begin.

  • STEP 6: If no one near seems like a good match, look for a homeopathic veterinarian who does virtual consults.
  • STEP 7: Now you have you list and need to take the time to personally evaluate the possible veterinarians.  Remember to be patient and you may need to try one, and then another. Guidelines are after the web site listings to help you make decisions.

These are the web sites for many of the veterinary organizations who teach and certify veterinarians in these modalities.

GENERAL HOLISTIC

 

HOMEOPATHY

While veterinarians at other organizations’ websites may say they are trained in homeopathy, if you want a homeopathic veterinarian, it is best to select from one of these sites. Even here, there may be one who only studied a little, so still carefully interview them.

ACUPUNCTURE

CHIROPRACTIC AND OSTEOPATHIC

Chiropractic is good for many health conditions, not merely lameness.

POSTURAL REHABILITATION INTERVENTION

Good for many problems, not merely musculo-skeletal

HERBALISTS

ESSENTIAL OILS

KEY POINTS TO SELECTING THE BEST ONE FROM YOUR LIST

Once you have done the internet work suggested above, how do you select one to start with and then how do you know if you are getting good service and what can you do to help them help your animals?

Call the clinic – the office manager or a technician who works with the holistic vet may be the best, or sometimes you will be speaking directly with the vet – every holistic practice is different.
1. Ask what modalities are used?
2. What is their training?
3. Is their goal overall health or to merely treat the current complaint? This may be the most important question.
4. What organizations they belong to & how recently have they gone to conferences or taught?  (Just because they belong to AHVMA, or AVH, does not mean they are trained or capable in those modalities.)

Then you may need to schedule a visit with the veterinarian (or take her out to lunch or dinner!!)

As she treats your animal, a good holistic veterinarian will usually:
1. Ask about the history, overall energy, what might have caused the current problem, the environment and what makes the symptoms better or worse.
2. Their physical exam will be gentle, complete and they will show you (you may need to ask) what they mean by “gingivitis, big lymph nodes, heart murmur”, etc.
3. They will be willing to answer your questions and explain why they are recommending a particular treatment.
4. If they recommend conventional treatments (antibiotics, prednisone, etc.) they will explain to you why they choose this over holistic, and give you a chance to request the more holistic treatment.
5. They will not do anything (vaccinate, treat) without asking you first.
6. They will recommend fewer or no vaccinations and a raw meat or at least more holistic diet.
7. They will schedule follow up appointments until your animal is really healthy.
(See symptoms of chronic disease)

What you can do to help your holistic veterinarian
1. Keep a dated journal of any problems, even little ones.                                                                                                         2. Write down any treatments given. The Healthy Animal Journal by me makes this very easy.  It is also a member benefit at Holistic Actions!
3. Call if symptoms worsen, or they are less energetic and less happy, or you have concerns. This is a different relationship – if the holistic vet does not want you communicating when there are changes, or prescribes different treatments to be given with no further evaluations, they may not be right for your animals’ best health. We are not merely treating one symptom, we are rebalancing the vital force to prevent future illnesses, so you need to persist until all the early warning signs of illness are resolved.        4. Learning how individuals respond to any treatments or life style changes – cure, palliation, suppression or no response will help you persist until your pet is super healthy.

Many people feel that they would rather give a lot of chemical preventatives for worms and viruses and food from a bag as it seems easier and some dogs do seem to thrive on this approach – like some people who smoke and drink and live a long healthy life. In 30 years of integrative practice, though, I see many people frustrated with cancer, diabetes, cushings, severe allergies and more. Many of them, when switching to the above approaches, find both improved health and even satisfaction that they are treating their dog as a member of the family. They feed from the same sources they get their ingredients. They vaccinate no more than they get. If they do not take worm preventatives all the time, they do not give it to their animals. If the label says “do not touch without gloves” they would not think of putting it on their pet’s skin.

Truly it is your choice and there is no right or correct answer, just the one that makes more sense to you.