What is Holistic Veterinary Medicine?
Holistic Veterinary medicine, also known as Integrative or Complementary Medicine involves the examination of an animal and making a diagnosis after consideration of all aspects of that animal’s life. During an examination, the veterinarian will use a combination of conventional and alternative modalities to diagnose and heal. A holistic veterinarian, when performing a comprehensive exam, takes into account all of his or her patient's behaviors, past and present health problems, diet, environmental stress and toxins, genetics and exercise.
Often a symptom or dis-ease has several layers of causation, and only when the core root of the problem is addressed will the ailment resolve. Holistic Medicine in acute situations may involve conventional western medicine (allopathic) but combined with alternative modalities to maintain as much balance or wholeness as possible. For example, if surgery is needed we often combine conventional pain medications with homeopathic pain meds, as well as offer western herbs to cleanse the liver and body after anesthesia.
Holistic Veterinary Medicine is a medical care plan that is uniquely designed for each specific patient to address that patient’s core medical problem and to sustain long term health. It provides the best results with the least side effects possible. At its core, holistic medicine is humane, so it does not include declaws, cosmetic surgeries, contribute to animal overpopulation and aims to reduce the use of products tested on other animals.
What alternative therapies could my pet receive at your clinic?
At Evergreen Holistic Veterinary Care your pet can receive acupuncture and chiropractic care from our veterinarian Dr. Hannah Evergreen that is certified in both Animal Chiropractic and Veterinary Acupuncture. Other healing modalities that may be included in your pet’s healthcare include Bach Flower remedies, Reiki, Homeopathy, Homotoxicology, some eastern herbs, western herbs and nutriceutical supplementation. We hope to offer massage therapy and other modalities in the future.
Does your hospital use Vaccinations?
Vaccination schedules are based on a per patient basis. We address your pet’s vaccines with an as-needed approach. If vaccines are needed we offer homeopathics to help prevent side-effects and recommend vaccination titers when appropriate. Also our clinic uses non-adjuvented vaccines or vaccines thought to be the safest available. Often pets are given vaccinations too frequently or given vaccines that really aren’t needed. Ask our staff about our vaccination protocol or schedule an appointment to ask our doctors if your pet needs them or if they would not be necessary.
Does your hospital do surgeries and dentals?
We have a full surgery suite with state of the art equipment to make surgery as safe and healthy as possible when it is needed. Some health problems will require surgery to provide the best outcome and quality of life. We offer dentals, soft tissue surgery, spays, neuters, and other procedures that most veterinary clinics offer. It is important for our hospital to offer surgery even though some holistic practices do not. We do not want to send our patients elsewhere for surgeries when we can maintain a holistic approach with this aspect of their healthcare as well. There are some surgeries that we will refer to other hospitals such as orthopedic surgeries.
We offer the latest in monitoring such as blood-pressure, EKG, respiratory monitoring, continuous temperature monitoring, SPO2, heated surgery tables and more. We also will use reiki and acupuncture while under anesthesia when needed. All our patients are recovered with a personal touch by our caring staff. Post-anesthesia or procedure we will use homeopathics to control pain and aid in recovery as well as the latest in western pain control modalities. All aspects of our surgical patients are taken into consideration with surgery ranging from vitals, pain, emotional stress, and overall balance. Post surgery we offer body and liver cleanses to reduce the stress on the internal organs and body from the anesthetic agents.
Do you use standard western medicine?
Western medicine has alot to offer our pets, and to ignore its potential would not be holistic. Some health concerns, infections, emergencies and trauma are best addressed with western medicine. Once the patient is stabilized then the core root of the problem if still persistent can be resolved to restore balance. We try to base our approach on what will work best for a particular patient at that time.
What do you recommend to control fleas?
This unfortunately is not straight forward question. It depends on many factors, such as are fleas already present, what is the living situation, and how are they affecting your pet. This could be better addressed with a consult to discuss more natural preventions such as shampoos, essential oils, and non-toxic solutions for your pets environment. There are times and situations where topical flea preventatives are needed, but ideally we will avoid these types of control. The key is prevention of infestation.
For other common questions such as diet (raw vs. conventional commercial), deworming, training, cancer, heartworm, feel free to give our office a call.