Alternative Veterinary On Medicine

After diligent research on the many forms of treatments that are used in the natural veterinary medicine community, I have typed a paper discoursing the details of a select few of said treatments practiced. The holistic techniques discussed include acupuncture, herbal or botanical medicine, chiropractic manipulation, stem cell therapy and homeopathy. Within each portion of the technique being discussed, the origin, history, examples of conditions healed and how the technique is executed are shared and explained. The nature of holistic medicine is distinguished from conventional medicine, as well as modern herbal medicine and the results of conjugating the two are discussed regarding each technique.

Medical treatments date back to the beginning of time when cavemen and women, and even animals, used “non-traditional” forms of medicine to heal certain ailments. Of course they didn’t have pharmaceutical medications like we do now, so they used what they had, their natural resources. A branch of medicine that has become increasingly popular in the veterinary world is Holistic Veterinary Medicine, also known as alternative or natural medicine.

Holistic medicine is a more natural approach to healing patients and takes various things into account when diagnosing and creating a prognosis for the patient. The veterinarian focuses on elements of the patient’s life like its environment, the disease pattern, relationship of pet with owner, medical history, genetics, nutrition, family relationships, stress levels, and many other factors. Holistic veterinarians center their thinking on love, empathy and respect for the patient and use techniques that are gentle, minimally invasive and incorporate the patient’s well-being and stress reduction.

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There are several forms of treatments used in holistic medicine such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, chiropractic manipulation, aroma therapy, stem cell therapy, homeopathy, osteopathy, rehabilitation sports medicine and many others. One of the most common forms of treatment for functional problems, such as paralysis, noninfectious inflammation, and pain is acupuncture (IVAS, 2018). Acupuncture is described as the insertion of needles into specific points on the body to produce a healing response. The body has several pressure points throughout and each point triggers a certain response when it is stimulated by the needles. This technique has been practiced in China for thousands of years to treat many ailments as well as preventative medicine. Acupuncture can be used along with western medicine, also known as conventional medicine, as long as performed by a trained veterinarian. There is a number of conditions acupuncture can heal for both small and large animals of various species.

Musculoskeletal problems, such as arthritis, intervertebral disk disease, traumatic nerve injury, respiratory problems, skin problems, gastrointestinal problems, and selected reproductive problems are some common conditions in small and large animals that are treated with acupuncture. This technique does not just depend on where you place the needle, the time the needle stays in that particular place is determined by the condition the patient is being treated for. Many people have concern as to whether or not the needles are painful to the animal but in most cases it absolutely is not, unless the animal is hypersensitive and in some cases upon insertion of larger needles in large animals, but nonetheless this is one of the safest forms of treatment for animals. Side effects are very rare but do occur and once treatment is administered, the patient’s condition may seem worse forty-eight hours afterwards and others may become lethargic or sleepy for twenty-four hours. This is an indication of psychological changes developing which are then followed by improvement in the patient’s condition.

Another technique holistic veterinarians use is homeopathy, which means “similar to the disease”. This means that treatment of the disease involves using a substance that has the power to provoke similar symptoms when said substance is administered to a healthy body. Basically, what a substance can “cause” in health, can be used to cure the disease. Homeopathy for animals was developed from the same homeopathic principles for treatment of humans, as devised by Samuel Hahnemann in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Saxony, Germany. Homeopathy has been working with the mind and body in the context of the patient’s environment and lifestyle and has been used in animals for about 200 years. It has proven to be effective in numerous species ranging from cats to reptiles and everything in between. Organic and conventional farmers rely upon homeopathy as an effective, safe medicine that does not give rise to drug residues in meat, milk or eggs produced by their animals and because of the fact that it cannot provoke antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations.

This form of medicine can be given as a pill and most animals are very accepting and eat it with no problem. For conditions such as back pain, neck pain, pelvic misalignment and other spinal problems, holistic veterinarians use chiropractic manipulation. This technique is a form of manual therapy that applies the principles of McTimoney-type chiropractic techniques to each patient seen and is a nose-to-tail assessment with necessary manipulation. Spinal manipulation was used by the Ancient Chinese around 2,700 BC but David Daniel Palmer is credited as the founder of modern chiropractic, in the early 20th Century. Chiropractic manipulation can be confused with osteopathy but they differ in that the chiropractic technique relies on high frequency, low amplitude action and concentrates on bones and their interrelationships whereas osteopathy is low frequency, high amplitude and focuses on muscles and ligaments. When performed correctly, chiropractic manipulation is gentle, well accepted and enhances the overall welfare of the animals. This technique, like most others, can be used on a variety of species and has been deemed effective in all.

One of the most natural forms of treatment for animals used by holistic vets is botanical medicine, also referred to as herbal medicine or phytotherapy. Herbs have served as both food and medicine since life was created. Botanical medicine can be used to treat great number of ailments ranging from COPD, to hoof health and arthritis. Traditional medicine, no matter what part of the world it is derived from, is a holistic therapy and relies upon the whole plant, or defined portions of it. Though herbal remedies have been used for ages, the veterinary world has recently legitimized it as an official form of treatment and have established the Veterinary Botanical Medicine Association. This association assists with the development of responsible herbal practice and encouragement of research and education to strengthen industry relations .

However, modern herbal medicine is drifting towards pharmacognosy, which is the science of defining specific supposed active ingredients of herbs, then extracting and purifying them and using them in isolation. This is not considered holistic medicine because it does not use the plant as a whole and carries inherent dangers. When using herbal medicine, it should never be used in conjugation with conventional drugs, unless administered by professional, because a reaction could occur, resulting in a toxic dose for the patient. Herbal veterinarian, Chris D. believes that there is a logic in the notion that herbs indigenous to the patient’s country should be used in preference to exotic herbs. Every country or region grows different herbs, some examples of western medicinal herbs are vervain, hops, flax seed, sage, burdock and many others.

Despite the fact that the modern Western medical establishment appears to like to demote herbalism to the status of folklore or old wives tales, herbs or byproducts of herbs, form the basis of much of the modern conventional medical armory. Contrary to some beliefs, holistic veterinarians do not shun conventional medicine, they sometimes actually incorporate their treatment methods with conventional medicine when necessary. Holistic, or alternative, veterinarians are also held to the same standards as conventional veterinarians as far as having a valid relationship between veterinarian, patient and client, accurate medical records and other rules that are set by the American Veterinarian Medicine Association (AVMA, 2018). Conventional and Holistic Medicine have both been proven effective for treatment of patients but as the saying goes “there is more than one way to skin a cat”. I want to encourage everyone to keep an open mind when it comes to caring for patients and to keep the animals’ best interest in mind and heart.