I took advantage of this quarantine period to work on my certification. It's an online program though IVAS and typically it takes about 9 months (self-paced) but I was able to do it in about 4 months. This now basically means that I can diagnosis your pet based on a Chinese diagnosis and prescribe herbal medications. Chinese diagnosis' are based on the pet as a whole, not the specific western diagnosis. There are certain herbs that work for certain disease processes, such as endocrine issues and heart issues, but the specific herb will be picked based on the overall picture of your pet. The part that may be frustrating for owners is the that the herb picked is based on the current presentation of your pet. Once your pet has been on a specific herb for a period of time, and you come back in for a recheck, we may switch the herb at that time if your pet is showing different signs.
Holistic medicine typically always comes down to diet. Most of our pets get dry kibble because it's easy and convienent. However, dry kibble is the human equivalent of eating dry cereal everyday for the rest of your life. You can imagine the health issues that can form from this (obesity, liver disease, diabetes, heart disease, etc). Guess what, the same happens with our pets. You need to research on your pet's food to understand all the ingredients in their diet. Holistic vets push for homemade and raw food diets. You will have a hard time finding a western practicing vet that agrees with homemade and raw food diets. Don't get me wrong, you still need to research the ingredients and make sure that your pet is getting a balanced diet, so don't just start feeding them everything that you are eating. Be sure to talk to your vet about your choice.
I plan on doing an acupuncture course for certification this fall, as long as this virus doesn't cancel that!
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