Hello! There is absolutely a time and a place for the practice of Western Medicine.  An old friend who was getting his doctorate and was the son of a surgeon used to say, very aptly, that ‘they call it the practice of medicine because that is exactly what we are doing…practicing.’  WM excels in trauma cases and is sometimes the only or the very best option.  Recently our Doberman had a neurological spine injury.  An MRI and Surgery were recommended by one vet and putting him to sleep over quality of life issues by another if there wasn’t swift improvement.  A friend of mine just had spinal surgery performed on her Doxi. Her pup is gradually improving and healing after the surgery.  My neighbor with a Dachshund, in commiserating with me when I was seeking help last June for our Doberboy, Rhett, explained that surgery was recommended but all he could afford were NSAIDs. He took his beloved pup home sans surgery, gave him his pain and anti-inflammatory meds and slowly the dog healed all on his own.  That was a decade ago.  Now elderly, the dog can hop up on furniture and trot up and down stairs with no issues.  And our Rhett is fine now after going from being unable to run, falling down repeatedly trying just to walk and with a badly stumbling gate, to back to normal all with CMT (Canine Massage Therapy) Acupuncture and an Assisi Loop.

When Rhett was a puppy, I began looking for alternative vet options and they seem to be slim. So here is what I know for those in the Dallas area. These are recommended vets whoose first thought is not the pharma reps drugs or surgery but rather a more logical, thoughtful and holistic approach.  And again, I wish to stress here that I am NOT slamming all Western Medicine workers or modalities.  But we have options far older and less invasive.  When faced with potential surgery or a few needles to fix my boy, neither guaranteed to work by the way, it made, to me, the most sense to do the least invasive thing on him and move from there, with patience and attention.  Rhett had to have bloat surgery last Christmas and that was very hard on him, the pain of the very long incision and days of healing enough to where he could sit and then more time to be able to lay down.  The poor guy stood and whined.  He’d bunch up pillows under himself to sort of melt into place to rest.  He was miserable.  But his tummy torsioned and surgery was necessary.  For folks wondering, god yes he was on heavy pain pills but nothing knocks the worst pain out.  So if you are looking at engaging a more holistic vet, from advice on what if any annual shots are recommended to homeopathic and Asian herbs & treatments, here are a few options for you; Patricia Ballard of Alternative Vet Clinic, reached at myqivet@gmail.com works The Colony area and has semi-retired. Those in the Dallas area, I schedule CMT, Canine Massage & Acupressure therapy. Out in the Plano area, Sean at Paws & Claws Animal Hospital. In the White Rock Lake area, East Dallas Vet Clinic has recently added Acupuncture. Lisa Molidor is the DVM that does this work and is terrific to work with! She also makes house calls for acupuncture work. At EDVC I also adore Kevin Gibbs. He has experience that lends him to a unique & detailed perspective on his recommendations and treatments. And, lastly, Spot On Wellness, Dr. Hartai who is just brilliant. There are no other words. He travels and has several places around the metroplex where you can seek out his chiropractic and acupuncture mad-skills.  There is also Dr. Pam with Vitality Pet Care but we tried for 3 years to get an apointment after being told she would see us as we were referred by another vet to her.  Nope.  I ended up doing my own mojo magic with what I know about Kidney disease and my boy and he is fine so far, thank you very much.  I was recently able to secure an appointment with Dr. Ballard with Alternative Vet Clinic who just told me to keep doing what I was doing.  She taught me well.♥  Recommended Reading: Dr. Goldstein Nature Of Animal Healing