Holistic Veterinary Care

During our consultations Dr. Hudson will collect a complete history, discuss your goals and concerns for your pet, discuss lifestyle, nutrition and supplements, along with any other concerns or questions you have for your pet. Dr. Hudson will perform a comprehensive examination to evaluate all of your pet’s body systems.

As an integrative practitioner she will also perform a TCVM exam to assess if there are any imbalances or early signs of disease, and can discuss if acupuncture, herbal therapy or other holistic modalities would be beneficial for your pet.

She will also perform a motion palpation exam evaluating the body’s range of motion at each joint, and will evaluate for signs of musculoskeletal pain. From these findings, she can discuss if veterinary medical manipulation would be beneficial for your pet.

Then we will work to create an individualized treatment plan for your pet to help maintain health and prevent or manage chronic conditions.

Integrative medicine combines the benefits of holistic medicine and western veterinary medicine.

“TCVM is often viewed as a form of complementary therapy, and is best when used in conjunction with Western Veterinary Medicine (WVM). Both TCVM and WVM have their own strengths and weaknesses.

TCVM is a holistic approach that is suited to assessing the well-being of the whole patient, and treatments are generally non-invasive with few side effects. However, TCVM lacks the tools necessary to pinpoint illness to specific disease-causing agents like pathogenic bacteria or viruses, and treatments are better suited for chronic conditions than acute ones.

On the other hand, WVM utilizes the tools of modern science to diagnose disease with great precision, and Western drugs and procedures are powerful and fast acting. However, its insistence on detailed diagnosis may come at the expense of getting the larger picture. Furthermore, while modern medicine can perform miracles for trauma and acute injuries, it has little to offer chronic conditions like liver failure and atopy which can be treated effectively with acupuncture and herbal medicine.

In many ways, TCVM and WVM each has what the other lacks. Thus, the best medical system involves the integration of the two systems, so that the strengths of one can compensate for the weaknesses of the other.”

Information courtesy of the Chi Institute http://www.tcvm.com/About/WhatisTCVM.aspx