DIAGNOSTIC TESTS
HOLISTIC DIAGNOSTICS
The Holistic approach to Veterinary Care takes a very broad view of the animal including it’s diet lifestyle and habits before making a diagnosis or recommending a treatment plan. Holistic consultations are usually slightly longer than conventional ones to allow time to gather all the relevant information from the owner and the pet. But even a great and thorough history make not give us all the answers we need and sometimes owners are taken aback that we may recommend conventional diagnostic tests before making a decision.
BLOOD TESTS, X-RAYS, SKIN SCRAPES…
When consulting at Companion Care Eastbourne or Goudhurst Vets we may be able to do blood testing or skin work ups on the day of your consultation. When home visiting or for radiographs we will recommend you visit your Primary Care Practice.
WHY DOES A HOLISTIC VET NEED DIAGNOSTIC TESTS?
All Vets face the problem that their patients can’t describe their symptoms so we have to rely on what we and owners can observe. In many orthopaedic pain management cases it isn’t essential to know what is the underlying cause of the pain and we can treat the muscle using acupuncture and select herbs to suit the animals needs. But if we suspect a disease which can be better treated surgically (for example a luxating patella (knee-cap) or cruciate ligament injury) or when manipulation could make a problem worse (for example a spinal problem) we need to gather more information.
When treating a skin problem most of them end up looking the same after the dog or cat has had a good old scratch; we will get no-where giving herbs for allergic skin disease if the dog has mange and will struggle to control skin infection if there is an underlying disease such as hypothyroidism or cushings.
Holistic Vets don’t have crystal balls to allow us to diagnose problems though sometimes our wider focus lets us pick up things a conventional vet may not consider but sometimes we’re still going to have to fall back on conventional diagnostic tests.
FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT
IT’S FINALLY SUMMER!
After a long winter and slow spring it seems summer has arrived in the UK, if only for a few days so time for a few small pointers on helping your pets cope!
TOO HOT FOR WALKIES?
Although getting out and about is essential for your dogs mental and physical wellbeing don’t overdo it in the sun! Take extra care if your dog has health problems, is overweight, has a heavy coat or a short nose.
Walk when it’s cooler, choose shady woodland or a breezy beach or swap walks for brain teasing back garden games such as bobbing for toys and treats in a large bucket or paddling pool!
COOL TREATS
Both dogs and cats love playing with food stuffed Kong toys all year round but in the warm weather make them a Kong ice-pop. Use any ingredient they would normally eat or make up some salt free chicken stock then freeze and serve.
CHILL OUT TIME
Make sure your small pets have plenty of shade too and remember to apply pet-safe suncream to any pets with pink areas of skin. Just like humans they can get sunburn and skin cancer!
THE PROOF IS OUT THERE…
DO HERBAL MEDICINES WORK?
Once upon a time our Vet Vicky was discussing the various treatments available to support an arthritic dog, including acupuncture and herbal medicine as well as nutraceuticals and conventional anti-inflammatories. The owner stayed quiet then when Vicky had finished said,
“I don’t believe in herbal medicine. It doesn’t do anything does it.”
In reply Vicky said, “Well, you are free to choose whichever treatments you prefer for your dog but herbal medicines contain many active chemical compounds so it’s not fair to say they don’t do anything. What would you say if I offered you a nice cup of herbal tea….foxglove tea?”
“I wouldn’t drink that!” said the client, “It would kill me! Oh, I see what you mean.”
SO HOW DO HERBAL MEDICINES WORK?
Plants contain a wide range of chemical compounds which interact with the human or animal body. Sometimes these chemicals are used by the plant to protect itself from being eaten, or to attract pollinating insects. These chemicals are often related to those used in conventional medicine and many conventional medicines were originally derived from plants.
HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT THE HERBS CONTAIN AND WHAT THEY DO?
The companies which develop and produce new drugs often look at medicinal plants when looking for the next wonder drug. This has been going on for a long time! Acetylsalicilic acid (Aspirin) is a modified synthetic version of the salicilates found in Meadowsweet and Willow bark.
Drug companies look for herbs with traditional uses for the illness they are interested in then conduct trials to see if the whole herb actually does have the desired effect before trying to isolate the chemicals which bring about the effect. This means herbalists have a large amount of scientific as well as historical data on the herbs they use.
SO WHY DO WE STILL NEED HERBAL MEDICINES?
Isolating and modifying a plant chemical may make it more potent (like the aspirin) but can also increase the side effects compared to the original chemical or the whole herb. Take Meadowsweet; this herb is traditionally used to treat stomach ulcers but Aspirin can cause them! The difference is that the Aspirin is more potent and does not contain the tannins and mucilage which work with the salicylates in Meadowsweet to heal ulcers.
We like to think of herbs as complex medicines for complex disorders of complex beings!
WORKING TOGETHER
WE CALL IT COMPLEMENTARY VETERINARY MEDICINE…
People often contact us wanting an alternatives to convetional drugs and diagnostic techniques for their pets but in most cases our way of treating pets works best in combination with conventional diagnostics,surgery and medicines.
WORKING TOGETHER
A couple of weeks ago we recieved a call about a young cat who had been hit by a car, breaking his pelvis. He had undergone surgery to stabilise his fractures and was healing well….except that he couldn’t urinate by himself. This is a common problem for cats which have been hit by cars and if normal bladder function can’t be restored the only option is euthanasia, always sad but even more so when a cat has pulled through from it’s initial injuries.
The referring vet team were rather attached to this patient and had done everything they could including fitting a tube to allow his owners to drain the bladder. This was only ever a short term fix and when the tube blocked and had to be removed the clock was ticking. The cat was also on drugs usually used for human patients…anything to try and get him peeing again.
Acupuncture can be useful in stimulating nerve function after accidents so we visited four times in two weeks. The treatment was more painful than usual as the cat was still recovering from surgery but he was very tolerant. We also showed the owner how she could use her TENS machine to try and stimulate the nerves and muscles between visits. Everyone was working together for this little cat…but would it be enough?
THE MINOR MIRACLE
A week after starting acupuncture and 4 weeks after his accident…our lucky patient managed a small wee by himself and has continued ever since. He is still recovering from his major injuries and four surgeries but….things are looking up!
A win for truly integrated veterinary medicine.
HERBAL FOLKLORE
HERBAL FOLKLORE
When Vicky was studying herbal medicine she came across some interesting historical uses and memorable stories about herbs. Here she shares a few of her favourites.
MOUSE TRAPS!
Devils Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) is known as the grapple plant due to it’s unusually shaped seed cases. Some sources say these have been traditionally been used as mousetraps, though with no explanation of exactly how!
VELCRO
Velcro was invented after a scientist noticed how the seeds of Burdock (Arctium lappa) stuck to his dogs coat!
MARSHMALLOWS
Although not used in making the modern day sweets the root of the Marshmallow (Althea officinalis) was once an essential ingredient.
DYES
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) makes the yellow dye for Buddhist robes. Indigo (Baptista tinctora) makes a blue dye.
PETER RABBIT…
Finally for today, did you ever wonder why Peter Rabbit fell asleep in the vegetable garden? Well, it may have been the wild lettuce! Lactuca virosa, a relative of garden lettuce is renowned for inducing sleep.
WHAT WE LEARNED AT CHELSEA
VICKY OUR VET HAS BEEN TO CHELSEA…
So what was your Holistic Vet doing at the Chelsea Flower Show? Well, as you can imagine a vet who works with herbs also likes gardening and took a day off to visit arguably the World’s most famous flower show.
Vicky was really impressed to see many of the gardens using wild flowers and culinary and medicinal herbs with one of the Artisan gardens having a natural apothecary theme. But on the whole the gardens didn’t look like a place to relax with your pets and few had any lawn for playing or grazing.
SO WHAT’S IN IT FOR OUR PETS?
Chelsea show gardens aren’t very pet friendly on the whole but Vicky did pick up a catalogue from a company who make seed mixes specifically for pets! Not only the pets you may think of such as rabbits and guinea pigs but also fresh food for hamsters, cats, dogs, cage and aviary birds and tortoises as well as wildlife mixes.
GARDENS FOR PETS
Vicky thinks you can have a beautiful garden AND a pet friendly garden at the same time (she thinks hers ticks both boxes anyway) and that access to a garden can be important to your pets health. Cats can scratch, climb and hunt; dogs can sniff, dig and roll and rabbits and guinea pigs can forage and run. Proud gardeners should make special digging pits and scratching posts to keep the pets off the prize petunias and mesh tunnels can provide safe passage to different runs for the small herbivores. Take care when planning for a pet friendly garden to avoid toxic plants such as foxglove and those irritant to skin such as euphorbia; garden centre labels will usually carry warnings. Avoid cocoa shell mulches which can be toxic if eaten by dogs and use and store garden chemicals safely. Maybe even devote a small patch to growing these innovative seed mixes for your pets!
KITCHEN CUPBOARD CURES
IS IT FOOD OR MEDICINE?
There is a fine line sometimes between culinary and medicinal herbs! In fact many of the ingredients of your favourite Friday night take-away were originally used as much as for their medicinal properties as for their flavour!
Ginger, cinnamon, fennel and cumin all help prevent indigestion by relaxing and warming the stomach and cardamom seeds are used as a cure for upset tummies in Indian herbal medicine. When you think how hard keeping meat fresh would have been in hot countries like India it’s not surprising so many digestive herbs found their way into meals!
WHAT DOES CURRY HAVE TO DO WITH MY PET?
Sometimes we suggest herbs which are easy to obtain from the supermarket and are more effective given in that form than as tinctures or tablets. Our favourite suggestion is adding lightly crushed fennel seeds to the dinners of dogs prone to flatulence! It really works! Give 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon twice a day depending of the size of your dog. If your dog won’t eat the seeds on his dry food steep them in hot water and add the resulting ‘tea’ to his dinner instead!
WHAT OTHER CURES ARE HIDING IN MY KITCHEN CUPBOARD?
Garlic can help with allergies, infections and parasites and is best fed raw and freshly grated. In excess garlic is toxic but 1/2 a clove on 5 days out of 7 is fine for a 20kg dog.
Ginger can enhance digestion and circulation and is especially good for travel and chemotherapy induced nausea. Again fresh grated ginger is best; 1/4 teaspoon twice daily for a 20kg dog.
Parsley is good for bad breath. You can feed as much as a table spoon per meal but be sure to rule out dental problems.
Turmeric is one of our favourites and it is added to many of our herbal prescriptions. Some owners choose to feed it raw and fresh though and it can be found in Asian supermarkets. 1/4 teaspoon twice daily for a 20kg dog but do be careful…it will stain anything it touches!
Although these are common culinary herbs if you are thinking of using them regularly for a health problem in your pet please discuss them with your vet first. Some may interact with conventional drugs or may not be suitable for animals with certain health conditions or due to have surgery.
ALTERNATIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE?
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ALTERNATIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE!
At Four Seasons Holistic Veterinary Care we don’t use the term ‘Alternative Medicine’ because what we do is first and foremost Veterinary Medicine. Unlike in the human health field where people are free to choose any form of diagnosis or treatment only a Vet can diagnose animal health problems and prescribe treatments. A small group of ‘paraprofessionals’ including Veterinary Nurses, Physiotherapists, Chiropractor and Hydrotherapists can provide treatments under Veterinary supervision.
When looking for complementary therapists for your pet walk away if they don’t ask for Veterinary referral!
CONVENTIONAL AND COMPLEMENTARY
Our Vet Vicky Payne works in First Opinion General Practice as well as taking Holistic referrals so is ideally placed to advise on any conventional diagnostic tests or medicines which may benefit your pet as well as the complementary therapies we offer. All of the therapies we offer combine well with conventional medicines as well as being powerful treatments in their own right.
TRULY HOLISTIC
What Vicky offers is quite unusual in that she takes a truly holistic view of Veterinary Medicine. On recent visits, after examining animals at home she has referred them back to their First Opinion practices for radiographs, blood tests or hospital care before dispensing herbal formulas to support their recovery.
FIRST AID
INTRODUCTION TO DOG FIRST AID
Our Vet Vicky Payne will be giving a seminar on Dog First Aid at Stone Cross Memorial Hall on Sunday 28th April at 10am
Tickets are still available at only £5!
If you would like to attend please ring the organiser on 01323 643403