Traditional vets vs. Holistic vets

[Dan & Corinne]

Originally Posted by yorkiesmiles

I have had extremely positive experiences dealing with a vet who was original schooled as a traditional vet and later entered the holistic approach. I trust his judgement about which course of action to try first for any problem. He knows the pluses/minuses to both sides. Let me share a bit of my story and my experience with him and even a bit about how he came to be involved in holistic care.

I used to have a pair of Bichon Frises. One day, my male could not walk - I took him to my traditional vet and he said he had likely had a stroke. He gave Andre a cortisone shot and told me if I didn't see any improvement in 48 hrs, I would have to put him down. After 2 miserable days and nights of sleeping on the floor with my beloved dog - who had sired some of the earliest Bichons in Des Moines - I knew we were at the end.

But on the second day there was a story in the newspaper about a new vet in town who did accupuncture - I called Dr. Van up and he said he thought he might be able to help. Andre had one treatment and then we went back the next day - after the second treatment Andre got up and WALKED!! He was hesitant at first, but very quickly he improved!! He later would run

He lived for almost another 2 years because of the accupuncture treatment. He went on a regular basis for awhile and then on an occasional basis.

Dr. Gary Van Engelenburg and his wife, Vicki, and the rest of the staff at Iowa Veterinary Acupuncture Clinic are unbelievable. Dr. Van was a regular vet for years, but that did stop him from learning new holistic techniques.

In the winter of 1991 while attending a conference he was "made aware" of acupuncture. He was a total disbeliever and skeptic but attended some meetings out of curiosity to see what kind of "strange people" would try such foolish things in practice. After several sessions total disbelief turned into mild curiosity and Dr. Van started training in April 1991.

Now he travels all over the world training others about vet. accupuncture and he is used frequently with the large animals, ie horses, bulls.

learn more about accupuncture, herbs, and the best nutrition for your loveable furry friends at his site http://www.apvet.com or from a link on his page I found this site where you can search by your city and state for an accupucture vet: http://www.ivas.org/member_search.cfm

I have referred many friends to Dr. Van, all have came back with the best experience. Of course part of that is his calm demeanor, but wouldn't you want a doctor for yourself who is schooled in the most diverse methods? Why ask for less for your pets.

Yorkiesmiles

Thank you for sharing your courageous story! I'm glad Andre got to spend a few more wonderful years with you. We are praying Jewel will do the same.

I also want to thank you for posting the link to the veterinary accupuncture site. I actually had a post asking if anyone tried it but only got one response from a person with second hand knowledge.

I'm planning on checking it out right away!

[yorkiesmiles]

Originally Posted by Dan & Corinne

Thank you for sharing your courageous story! I'm glad Andre got to spend a few more wonderful years with you. We are praying Jewel will do the same.

I also want to thank you for posting the link to the veterinary accupuncture site. I actually had a post asking if anyone tried it but only got one response from a person with second hand knowledge.

I'm planning on checking it out right away!

I'm glad I could help (actually, I was suprised by the direction this thread took). Anyway, I found another link you might want to check - I think some holistic vets belong to different organizations - see www.aava.org/ they also have a directory to find a vet. Also see http://homepage.tinet.ie/%7Eprogers/roghome.htm - there is a ton of info here about holistic medicine and research and links to other sites.

Andre is just one story I could tell. The herbs and alternative medicine really are affective. I adopted my Yorkies - 2 Years Ago Tuesday!! - anyway, the male, Bubba, came with medicine from the traditional vet for chronic ear infection. Dr. Van quickly gave us something else that helped much more!

Best wishes for health dogs and finding a holistic vet

It matters not if medicine is old or new
so long as it can cure.
It matters not if theories come from East or West
so long as they be true.

Jen-Hsou Lin, Taipei

Yorkiesmiles

[StewiesMom]

Just wanted to say
Hannah, thanks for starting this thread and
Corinne, thanks for the great info you've provided. I'm so glad that Jewel is feeling better.

I've been wondering about hollstic vets myself

[reneernc]

I really haven't researched holistic vets but I would be concerned about the use of herbs. Since these aren't regulated I would be concerned about the unknown effects. I know drugs are pulled from market sometimes after bad side effects but they did know the potential side effects when they were marketed. With herbs I wonder if they know which side effects to watch for.

[hannah_cho85]

Wow. All the positive reports about holistic vets are convincing enough to make a switch! I heard that holistic vets attend the same vet schools and go through the SAME training as do the traditional vet, but in order to be considered a holistic vet, they need extra training in whatever their specialty is. Is that true? If it is, I don't see any reason why people wouldnt' make the switch to holistic vets. They can combine the best of both worlds to treat and care for our pets, right?

[Itspuppyluv]

To me it is about having choices. Traditional medicine doesn't always work and I want to know what else is available if I need it.
Gus had a reaction to two of his puppy shots (kennel cough and rabies) so when it was time for the boosters I found a holistic vet to talk to about vaccinations. He was a regular vet for many years - still is during the day - but the hospital allows him to see people after hours for holistic care.
What I absolutely loved about him was he tells you about all the options available (traditional and holistic) and what he advises but also tells you not to just take his or anyone elses word about anything, to educate yourself.
I've never had a vet explain everything so thoroughly. We talked for about an hour and a half (about a lot of things). If all holistic vets are like this one, I would recommend them to everyone.

Also, I met the lady who had the appointment before mine on her way out, when she saw Gus she came over to talk. She said she had two yorkies - one of which had been ill from some disease (never heard of it before) and the traditional medicine was killing it. She told me the doctor saved it's life.

[dinkydawgs]

I too use a combo doctor who is trained in both western and hoistic. I have had the same experience as the others here and I have learned so much about over vaccination and its effects as well as over medicating period. I would recommend that everyone seek out the services of a holistic vet especially if they have a problem that has not responded to traditional treatment. These docs are absolute miracle workers in my opinion and they treat you like you want to be treated. I never \had that experience with a traditional vet.

[BamaFan121s]

I have never used a vet other than our traditional vet. I've never had a reason to need to. I will say though, that I have seen the benefits of using an alternative treatment method, depending on the situation.
For example, my aunt has a doberman that was diagnosed with Wobbler's Disease (a disorder where the spine and nerves do not work together as they should that causes pain and mobility problems) several years ago. The only method of treatment that a traditional vet could offer was a very expensive (like, thousands of dollars) and risky surgery with little chance of help. She opted to try acupuncture treatment and herbal supplements and has had GREAT success.
I guess it really depends on the problem at hand.