Western vs. Holistic Veterinary Medicine

I mentioned a while ago that I lean towards holistic veterinary medicine, including herbs, homeopathy, etc.  I've heard some people say, "Yes, my vet is holistic".  But when I listen to what their vet does and what I see a holistic vet does, the two vets are miles apart.  So, maybe I should more clearly define what I mean by holistic vet.

Vets come in two main types:

1. traditional, western medicine vets
2. holistic medicine vets

The traditional western medicine vets are the ones most people take their pets to.  They are trained basically to use medicine and surgery to cure a specific problem.  And for some problems, such as a broken leg or a ruptured eye, nothing beats this approach.  Problem, treatment, cure!

The problem with this approach is that many cat problems are not simple.  Take for example Isabel.  She has a runny nose again, slightly dirty ears, and demands that I hand feed her.  The western medicine approach would be to treat her nose as one problem, her ears as another, and ignore her need to be hand-fed (because there's no medicine for that).

Isabel

Holistic medicine is suppose to look at the whole cat, and not just the 'diseased' part of the cat.  A good holistic vet would look at Isabel and immediately point to a general immune system problem.  The nose and ears are just symptoms of a deeper problem.  And the hand-feeding?  Yes, that goes along with it because her need to be hand-fed seems related to her emotional state which relates to her physical state.  A holistic vet looks at the big picture and works to bring the cat closer to the ideal.  If that means not immediately curing or suppressing symptoms with say steroids so that a long-term cure can be had, then a holistic vet will do it.

Just as there are specialties in western medicine, there are holistic specialties.  Some include:

• homeopathy
• acupuncture
• Reiki
• herbs
• nutrition
• Tellington touch
• Chinese herbs

The problem today is 'holistic' is a new buzz word for pet owners and vets are jumping on the holistic bandwagon.  Some of the vets are doing it right -- they go and get additional training and work on adding new skills, such as acupuncture or homeopathy, to their practice.  But some join professional groups and call themselves an expert in herbal pet medicine with no intention of ever using herbs.  It is a way for a vet to attract the growing numbers of pet owners who want an alternative to traditional medicine.  It is a dishonest practice that gives all holistic vets a bad name!

Wendy in her condo

As for my vets -- yes, plural -- the place I use in town is a traditional, by the book western medicine vet.  Both vets have serious questions about feeding raw, so we don't talk about it.  But when a cat needs immediate diagnosis, such as when Wendy was having severe vomiting and diarrhea, they do have x-rays, ultrasound, and in-house bloodwork to get answers.  Unfortunately, their treatment plans and my ideas on treatment are usually not in sync.

Now my main vet is also a western trained vet, but she has gone on to be certified as a classically trained homeopathic vet and is exploring other alternative medicines. She is a holistic vet in the purest sense. Her practice is small, without some of the bells and whistles, but when it comes to complicated, long-term problems, she has all the tools needed.  She doesn't use herbs or Tellington touch, but she is more than open to both being effective and she encourages me to use it when it is appropriate.  I will be taking Isabel up to her and working with her to improve Isabel's immune system (and energy level) -- we won't be directly treating her ears or nose.  An office call is usually 45-60 minutes long and she even asks questions about how the cat seems to feel emotionally.  She works hard at understand what is going on with a cat at the deepest level.

Two very different ways to practice and to think about veterinary medicine.  Each has it's place.  And my cats benefit from the best of both vet worlds.

How I Discovered Holistic Vet Medicine

For many people, when the cat gets sick, they take the cat to the local vet and the vet treats the cat.  It's only when this treatment 'fails' that the owner may question the vet or the general approach to veterinary medicine.

And such was my case.  I had Emily, a Persian mix, and for some reason, she stopped eating.  After about 10 days, she became jaundiced and I took her to every vet in town.  Each one told me the same thing -- "Best to euthanize her now because she has less than a 10% chance."  Finally, I took her to the local vet college and they agreed to treat her to show her students how a cat dies from liver failure.  Not a great prognosis.

So, for a few days, I followed all the directions.  And she got worse -- much worse.  The solution was to give me more medication to treat the side-effects of the other medication.  Still she got worse.

In a desperate attempt to save Emily's life, I called an animal healer and then a holistic vet.  The healer suggested several herbs and a raw liver mix and then insisted I call this one vet.  So I called.  We were on the phone for about an hour.  He asked me some "weird" questions which didn't seem relevant and then prescribed a homeopathic remedy which I had no clue what it was.  I had nothing to lose, so I tried it.

Nothing happened the next day -- she got neither better nor worse.  Then Saturday, she began to act perkier and to throw up every half hour, for most of the day.  On Sunday, she didn't vomit and let me force feed her and was even more perky.  Whatever that little white powder was worked!  (She made a full recovery and lived another 15 years.)

This is my story.  And it's not dissimilar in broad respects to how other people have turned to alternative treatments.  Cat is gravely ill -- try any alternative possible.

But this whole episode with Emily had two significant effects on me and the way I treat my cats:

1. These alternative medicines, be they herbs or homeopathic remedies, do actually work.  From what I have seen, they work a lot better for some conditions, such as IBS or mild URI caused by viruses.  And most alternative medicines have few, if any, side-effects.
2. I don't trust most vets.  Vets do make mistakes -- some are honest mistakes, others are driven by money, and a few because the vet doesn't look at the individual cat.  The more educated I am, the better I can check that the vet doesn't make mistakes.