How to get clients, colleagues and staff on board when introducing integrative treatment options to your practice.
Interest in integrative medicine is rising every year in both the human and animal fields. Adding integrative treatment options to your list of veterinary services helps your bottom line, and can boost your success rate with even the most difficult cases.
But how do...
Massage is an increasingly popular and effective therapy that has numerous applications and makes a valuable addition to the integrative practice.
Massage has become a popular rehabilitation therapy aid in veterinary settings. Although it is used every day in many hospitals, its primary success and information come from clinical responses and minimal (double blind) scientific research studies on animals.
The normal...
Annie didn’t seem herself. She was grumpy and didn’t have much appetite. She seemed lethargic and uninterested in activities she had always enjoyed. Once outgoing, confident and happy, she was now reluctant to do much of anything, preferring to just watch life go by.
Who is Annie? From those vague behaviorial signs, she could be a horse, dog, cat or...
Whether or not surgery is needed to correct a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament (CCL), rehab is necessary to get an injured dog back to normal again.
Many orthopedic surgeons and rehabilitation veterinarians report that cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) ruptures or tears are the most common limb issues they treat. There are two cruciate ligaments -- cranial and caudal -- inside...
Skin diseases can affect horses all year round. Take a look at how a complementary approach can help ease symptoms and, in many cases, treat the problem by addressing the root cause.
Equine skin diseases are a significant problem in many parts of the country, especially those with warm and humid summers. Horses in northern climates get a break from...
Low level light therapy (L3T), or cold laser therapy, is becoming an important component of many integrative veterinary practices, and is most often used for pain control and tissue healing. A laser produces electromagnetic radiation in the visible and near infrared light band (400 to 10,000 nanometers). Cutting lasers are usually over 1,500 nm, while therapeutic lasers will be...
Diabetes mellitus (DM) in cats is similar to human Type 2 diabetes in humans. The causes in cats include: • Obesity • Inactivity • High carbohydrate food • Pancreatitis (probably exacerbated by grain in cat food) • Hyperthyroidism • Hypersomatotropism (large cats) caused by excessive pituitary growth hormone secretion. These conditions all increase blood glucose (BG) or insulin resistance....
Bach Flower Remedies have found a place in many integrative practices as a way to shift emotional states to aid recovery, and to help with behavior or training problems.
The Bach Flower Remedies are based on the research and findings of English physician Dr. Edward Bach. A medical pioneer in the early 1900s, Dr. Bach became aware of the link...
A common equine injury is to the suspensory ligaments, caused by poor (or incorrect) riding. Classical principles of dressage training and movement are being replaced by flashiness, hyperflexion and the “show trot”. When a horse is ridden in a flashy trot, his back is pushed down, the saddle balance falls too far back, and the rider sits behind the...
Burnout is a common occurrence within veterinarians. Developing awareness and self care habits are essential to having a successful practice.
When we consider the risks of being a veterinarian, most of us think of zoonotic diseases, bite wounds, kicks, and lifting injuries. These are the hazards most veterinarians learn about during veterinary school and in continuing education seminars. Sadly, our...
