Vet smart: comprehensive health care for pets

Better Nutrition, August, 2003 by Lori Tobias

Today, when a traditional veterinarian suggests that a four-legged friend might benefit from acupuncture or herbal therapy, most pet owners won't bat an eye. And when a holistic practitioner suggests surgery as the best solution, it's hardly shocking news.

Twenty years after complementary medicine began gaining a credible foothold in this country, the well-drawn lines that once defined "alternative" and "conventional" veterinary care grow increasingly blurred.

"Holistic care ideally evaluates the entire animal and then decides which tools, including conventional medicines, would best serve the animal. A good practitioner uses all the tools he has at hand," says Mike Kohn, DVM, president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

But while veterinarians from both approaches may swap tools, what often distinguishes the holistic practitioner from the conventional is time spent with the patient. "It takes a whole lot longer to practice holistic medicine," says Narda Robinson, DO, DVM. "It's because we don't tend to pigeon-hole a disease or say, 'OK, this is the problem, here's the medication and here is your bill.'"

Treating the Whole

According to Robinson, holistic veterinarians are more interested in the animal's full lifespan--not only the current illness, but any possible contributing factors. "Someone who practices manual therapy would be very interested in the palpation part of the exam, feeling the tissue, finding areas where an animal might be sensitive.

"That gives additional diagnostic information. An acupuncturist might look at the color or coating of your pet's tongue, which can reflect health or lack of it, how much vitality there is and if there are deficiencies or problems with digestion."

Holistic practitioners call this the "whole animal approach." Robert Poppenga, DVM and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in Philadelphia, believes it may explain why more and more pet owners are turning to alternative care.

"Many conventional practitioners still don't focus on the animal as a whole. They're focused on the disease process and not the other factors contributing to it."

But Poppenga, who specializes in toxicology, says he has several concerns about the safety of alternative therapies, which led him to create a course called Perspectives on Veterinary Complementary and Alternative Medicine 3 years ago.

"I realized a lot of pet owners do use various forms of complementary treatments. I thought it important to give our students some idea of what's out there: acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy and herbal medicine. I think there's some evidence that, for very specific problems, acupuncture may be useful. There's certainly very good evidence that some herbs and supplements are useful. But just because something is 'natural' doesn't mean it's safe. Some of the most toxic compounds known to man are natural. Unless someone is trained in herbs, they could run into problems."

Quality of Care

Even when administered by properly trained practitioners, alternative treatments can interfere with traditional care. Herbs and supplements, for example, may cause adverse interactions with other medications--which is why both conventional and alternative veterinarians stress the importance of keeping communication open between all the practitioners involved in your pet's care.

Both types of practitioners also agree that, while in some states it may be legal, allowing someone who hasn't been specifically trained in the care of animals to treat your pet could lead to a misdiagnosis or mistreatment.

Janet Dunn, DVM, practiced traditional veterinary medicine for 14 years, but now she specializes in osteopathic manipulation and acupuncture. Recently, a client called to report that her Shih Tzu's back was out again. But as Dunn, who practices in San Francisco, soon diagnosed, it was not the dog's back but its knee, a problem that would ultimately require surgery.

"What she didn't tell me," Dunn says, "was that she had taken the dog to a human chiropractor the day before, and he had adjusted its back but hadn't even checked the leg. That's the problem with human chiropractors. They aren't going to look at the whole dog."

While holistic veterinarians utilize a full spectrum of treatments, ultimately holistic health care is very much about prevention. "We start with good nutrition as a base," says Kohn. "Diet is the foundation of all. If you don't have good nutrition, you don't have a good foundation."

Good nutrition, however, isn't so simply defined. The best rule of thumb is to ask your veterinarian for recommendations, and, says Robinson, "Ask yourself, 'How is my pet doing on this food?'"

Vexing Vaccines

Like their conventional counterparts, alternative veterinarians generally consider vaccinations a critical part of preventive care--though rarely as traditionally used. Most believe vaccinations have the potential to do as much harm as good.