By Kelly Lake

Holistic veterinary medicine is a type of veterinary practice that utilizes complementary & alternative medicine and therapies in the treatment of animals. Treatment may be for physical ailments, illness, behavior modification and a host of other issues. It can (and is) also utilized to maintain health, rather than simply to treat or cure ailments.

A holistic veterinarians approach is one where they focus on empathy and treatments utilizing minimal invasive techniques. Interest in complementary alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing among veterinarians.

Practitioners on our site provide the opportunity treat our animal companions whole health and understanding through a wide-range of holistic services, including the following:

- Acupuncture 
- Chiropractic 
- Massage 
- Herbal supplements 
- Proper nutrition 
- Alternative therapies 
- Intuitive communication 
- Holistic Grooming

A holistic veterinarian is simply a vet who specializes in one or more alternative or complementary treatments. The American Veterinary Medical Association has stressed that "There is only one veterinary medicine and only one standard by which it should be assessed. All treatments and modalities should be judged by the same criteria and held to the same standards." They also state that alternative veterinary therapies should not receive any special consideration when their efficacy or the safety of those treatments is judged.

Holistic veterinarians examine and diagnose their animal patients by taking the animals whole life, environment, stress levels, full patient history and their day to day behavior into consideration, and then apply a combination of both conventional or 'traditional' modalities of treatment, along with holistic ones. 
It has been recommended that holistic veterinary medicine be practiced only by licensed veterinarians who have been educated in the modalities they plan to employ. They may well be a member of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. In addition, the modalities that comprise holistic veterinary medicine should only be practiced according to the licensee concerning each modality.

According to the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, holistic medicine, by its very nature, is humane to the core. Holistic thinking centers on love, empathy and respect, and the techniques used are gentle, minimally invasive and incorporate both patient well-being and a reduction in stress. The emphasis is to get away from traditional 'crutches' like x-rays, blood tests and other 'technological' diagnoses, and instead to develop a sensitivity and understanding of the animal during the consideration of treatment.

Nearly all forms of holistic medicine that can be applied to humans may also be applied in the treatment of animals. The most common holistic methods used by veterinarians however, are herbal medicines, homeopathy, acupuncture and manipulative therapy. Other holistic animal treatment methods are not necessarily applied by vets, such as 'whispering' and other forms of animal behavior modification.

Kelly is a frequent writer on issues affecting alternative medicine, holistic approaches to health care and well being. Most of Kelly's work can be seen at Chicago Healers. Chicago Healers main mission is helping people find just the right holistic practitioner in the Chicago land area.

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