Holistic Medicine is the examination and diagnosis of an animal, considering all aspects of the animal's life and employing all of the practitioner's senses, as well a the combination of conventional and alternative modalities of treatment. A holistic vet in addition to giving the pet comprehensive physical exam, they want to find out about its behaviors, distant medical and dietary history, its environment including diet, emotional stress and other factors. Techniques used in holistic medicine are gentle, minimally invasive, and incorporate patient well being and stress reduction. When presented with a "disease", the holistic challenge lies in the question of "why?" With a series of analytic observations and appropriate testing the goal and finding the root source of the pathology. A simple appearing symptom may have several layers of why its happening. Only when the cause is found is there a possibility for a lasting recovery. Once the symptoms have been treated, the task is not complete until the underlying disease patterns have been redirected. The dog as well as its owner will be guided to a new level of health.
Some of the Modalities used in Holistic Medicine, Modern Drugs, Surgery and Diagnostics:
Acupuncture
Behavior Modification - Ethology, biology, nutrition, pharmacology, lifestyle evaluation and aspects of modern psychotherapy.
Herbal Medicine - Specific herbs and plants. Western herbs, Ayurvedic herbs from India, traditional
Chinese herbs and other herbs from all over the world. Herbs have healing powers that are capable of balancing the emotional, mental and physical dimensions of animals.
Homeopathy - remedies are from plants, minerals, drugs, viruses, bacteria or animal substances. These remedies do not mask or suppress symptoms, they treat the deepest causes of the illness.
Nutritional Therapy - Proper nutrition is the best preventative medicine.
Veterinary Chiropractic
~American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
I have been reading a lot on holistic medicine and am surprised on a couple things that I have found.
Conventional kibble could be slowly killing your pets!
Many conventional kibble products, or pet foods that come dried in bags, contain animal by-products, chemical additives and other questionable ingredients that could be slowly killing your pets.
Even the more expensive pet food brands contain some of these questionable ingredients, which include things like leftover animal parts ground up from "4-D" livestock. The 4-D part refers to dead, dying, disabled and diseased animals that are considered unfit for human consumption, and the by-products of these animals are routinely added to pet kibble. "According to the online pet pharmacy, PetMeds, by-products are 'the leftover parts of the animal that are not suitable for human consumption' and can include animal pieces such as necks, feet, bones, intestines and lungs," Besides animal by-products, most conventional pet foods are loaded with all sorts of other ingredients that no mammal should ever consume. Many dog food brands that contain fish meat also contain ethoxyquin, a preservative chemical linked to cancer causation. Many pet foods are also heavily composed of grains like wheat and corn which, besides their potential GM status, are not healthy for pets. Dogs in particular thrive on raw diets composed of healthy meats, fish and vegetables, not processed grains and chemical additives.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/045116_dog_food_kibble_pet_care.html##ixzz33YQgWKbA
Now this information is a tad bit contradicting to another post I made a couple weeks ago pertaining to chicken by-products, so it makes you wonder what is factual and what we should believe. Pretty scary if you think about it, so make sure if your pet's health and wellness is a top priority, be sure to do your research before feeding your babies!
One size fits all?
Over the years, devoted toy breed dog owners have wondered why our tiny balls of fluff receive the same dose of vaccine as large breeds. It doesn't seem to make sense that a five pound Maltese or Yorkie should receive the same size vaccination as a 120 + pound Great Dane! Vaccinations protect against illness, and are an important issue in veterinary care.
Research was done by American Holistic Veterinary Medical Foundation to look further into the question of do the little dogs need the same dosage of vaccines as large dogs?
This formal study is based upon nearly five decades of personal clinical and research experience with vaccinations in companion animals. This experience has shown that the dose of canine distemper virus (CDV) and canine parvovirus (CPV) vaccines can be reduced to 50%, but not more, for small breed and breed type dogs, based on body weight, and still convey full duration of immunity. They are continuing the research and it will take 6-12 months to complete. You can follow their continued research on their website. www.ahvmf.org
My Sebastian (American Staffordshire Terrier) passed away from cancer in 2011. Now I'm not saying that he passed because I did the "traditional" shots every year, which are now being said as not necessary to be given every year. There were several times when he had an injury or not feeling well and we went to the vet to get meds, either an antibiotic or steroid. And I also gave him the dried dog food from the bag for many years, not even thinking about the ingredients as it wasn't as talked about as it is now. Could both of those things contributed to him getting cancer at the age of 12? With all the information that is passed onto us humans as to what we should be doing and not doing as far as medications and the side effects, as well as the foods that are good and bad for us, why wouldn't we want to take that information into consideration when it comes to our pets? No they don't live forever, but if we adopt a pet, we are taking responsibility for that animal and we should give them the best life possible. If that's what we want for ourselves, then we should do the same for them. A thought for the day....
:)
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