7 Ways You Can Tell if a Vet is really "Holistic" or Not

The term "Holistic" has been co-opted as one more form of marketing lingo, often used in a perjorative manner.

First of all, how is the term “holistic” defined? It can be defined in many different ways depending upon who you are talking to, what their perspective or working paradigm is, and what they are trying to sell you.

I define it as viewing the world, my patients, and my cases from a perspective that takes into account their physical, mental, emotional, and physical state, their home environment, and the greater environment they live in. To be in a thriving state of well-being, all of these inner and outer conditions need to be taken into account.

Many of the ancient systems of healing mapped out this intricate web of life, describing constitutional types, elements, doshas, and interconnections among all the parts.

This excerpt from “The Web That Has No Weaver”, a book by Ted Kaptchuk, describes the cosmology behind Traditional Chinese Medicine:

“The Chinese assume that the universe is continuously changing. Its movement is the result not of a first cause or creator, but of an inner dynamic of cyclical patterns. Just as the sun maps out four distinct seasons in its yearly round, so all biological organisms go through four seasons in a lifetime: birth, maturation, decline, and death. The constancy of the cosmos is in these patterns of change, which are regular. The cosmos itself is an integral whole, a web of interrelated things and events. Within this web of relationships and change, any entity can be defined only by its function and has significance only as part of the whole pattern.

This metaphysics that emphasizes the perception of patterns is basic to Chinese thinking. It results in part from Taoism, which altogether lacks the idea of a creator, and whose concern is insight into the web of phenomena, not the weaver. For the Chinese, that web has no weaver, no creator; in the West, the final concern is always the creator or cause, and the phenomenon is merely its reflection. The Western mind seeks to discover and encounter what is beyond, behind, or the cause of phenomena. In the Chinese view, the truth of things is imma-nent; in the Western, truth is transcendent. Knowledge, within the Chinese framework, consists of the accurate perception of the inner movement of the web of phenomena. The desire for knowledge is the desire to understand the interrelationships or patterns within that web, and to become attuned to the unseen dynamic.”

Today, the term “holistic” has been snatched up and utilized as a marketing ploy. If someone happens to be practicing an alternative treatment modality, such as acupuncture, they are labeled “holistic.” If they are selling herbal supplements, they are labeled “holistic,” often just to get clients in the door.

I've compiled a list of 7 things that you, the client, can look for to determine how “holistic” a particular practice or veterinarian is.

Number 1: Their emphasis and requirements on vaccinations.

• Several of the world’s leading immunologists have backed off on how many time times dogs and cats need to receive booster vaccinations.

• Simple blood tests, which utilize antibody titers, are a great way to determine whether a patient has the protection of circulating antibodies in the bloodstream, if reassurance is needed. They do NOT measure memory cells or cellular immunity, which are life-time sources of immunity even when antibodies are not present. Hence, a low or negative titer does not equate to NOT having immunity.

• Many of the diseases that we are now vaccinating for are not high-risk factors for the majority of patients, such as leptospirosis, Lyme disease, and canine influenza. These particular vaccines also more commonly cause adverse effects and are often not that efficacious.

• Every patient should undergo an individual risk-benefit analysis, examining lifestyle factors, risks of exposure, and places where they live and travel.

• Cats are at high risk of vaccine-associated fibrosarcoma, a very aggressive tumor that appears at the site of vaccine injections. Indoor-only cats are at extremely low risk of disease exposure so I do not recommend exposing them to the higher risk of vaccine-associated cancer.

• New vaccines are coming onto the market utilizing experimental gene therapy techniques, such as self-amplifying RNA. I would not recommend consenting to these in any case! They have not been safety tested and have the potential to recombine genes into more virulent viruses and shed them into the environment.

Number 2: The type of pet food they sell in their lobby.

• Are they supporting Big Pet Food or do they have alternative brands, i.e. freeze-dried, frozen whole food?

• What “prescription diets” re they recommending?

Number 3: What modalities do they offer? And how are they utilizing them?

• Is it only acupuncture?

• Is acupuncture used to treat disease or as relaxation before the doctor comes in? Yes, this is a real thing happening out there.

• If they use herbal medicine, what sort of education do they have in it? What school of herbal schools do they follow: Chinese herbs, Ayurvedic, Western?

• If they use homeopathy, is it classical homeopathy, or combination remedies, ie homotoxicology?

• Do they combine modalities, creating individual protocols based upon the individual patient? Or are all patients with that particular western diagnosis treated the same?

Number 4: Their Initial Intake: time spent, questions asked

• When I see a new patient, I want the whole history, from day 1 if possible, because the patient’s medical history tells me a story and gives me a trajectory describing how we arrived at the condition the patient is in today. This takes time, patience, lots of questions, and reading through pages of records.

• Healing involves rewinding the story back to the root causes.

Number 5: What type of flea and tick preventatives do they sell?

• If it is Isoxazoline (Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica), I would think twice about their other recommendations.

Number 6: Do they utilize the newer drugs and injectable products, i.e. Librela, Solensia, Apoquel, etc.?

• The FDA has truncated the drug and biological product approval process so much in recent decades that most new products on the market are being tested on our patients—our dogs and cats are the stage 3 clinical trials.

• I do not utilize any new products for the first few years after they hit the market, after the side effects are well-known and established.

Number 7: Do they take a nutrition and supplement history?

• Do they even want to know what you are feeding your pet?

• What is their opinion on feeding whole food, species-appropriate diets?

• What type of supplements do they use? Reputable products? Private label? Whole food? Chewables filled with sugar and fillers?

This is just a short checklist to keep in mind.

No practice, person, or veterinary clinic is “perfect.” One of the most important things that is not on the list:

Is the veterinarian and support staff willing to listen to you, answer your questions, and provide various options?

If you find a veterinarian who will do this, work with them.

And if you need a second opinion or case review, contact me.

Better yet, if you want to develop a strong foundation in holistic wellness for your animal family, check out my year long program: