Choosing a veterinarian is one of the most important decisions you will make for your dog. With so many different types of veterinarians out there, it can be hard to know which one is right for you and your pet.

Here are a few of my thoughts to you choose the best veterinarian for your dog.

Types of Veterinarians

Your first decision is to consider the type of veterinarian you want for your dog. There are three main types of veterinarians: holistic, integrative, and natural wellness.

Holistic Veterinarian

Holistic veterinarians focus on the whole animal, not just the symptoms of the disease. They treat animals with natural therapies such as nutrition, acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, and herbal medicine. There are now many holistic veterinarians incorporating essential oils into their practice as well.

Integrative Veterinaran

Integrative veterinarians use both conventional and alternative therapies to treat the animal. They focus on the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

Holistic and Integrative Veterinarians are focused on wellness, not sickness. I know that may sound cliche to you. But the more you learn about these topics the more you will see exactly what this means.

Both can be very difficult to find. There frankly are not enough of them! Especially in local communities. Many will offer telemedicine support and work in tandem with a local veterinarian for blood draws and other lab procedures assuming that your local vet is open-minded and supportive of alternative medicine approaches.

Naturopathic Veterinarian

Naturopathic medicine is a system that uses natural remedies to help the body heal itself. It embraces many therapies, including herbs, homeopathy, essential oils, massage, acupuncture, exercise, and nutritional counseling

Find a Holistic Vet Online:

I recommend Dr Barb Fox But you can also visit https://www.ahvma.org/

But you know what makes me sad? know holistic veterinarians who are forgoing their memberships and attendance to some corporate programs because big business creates less focus on health, and more on ways to make money.

Consider someone like me who is certified in nutrition for dogs, aromatherapy for animals, homeopathy for animals, Reiki, Raindrop, and more. I’m standing right here in your community ready to support and teach you. To establish a relationship with you and your dog today and for years. And when we need support from the holistic vet — I have several and a naturopath on speed dial.

Traditional Veterinary Practice

Times, they are a changing. There was a time a fully relied on my vet for my dog’s health. I accepted the need for Flea and Tick medicine monthly, for heartworm prevention monthly, for antibiotics and steroids with a wait-and-see-what-happens approach when they didn’t know what else to try.

What’s worse — many veterinary offices are being bought up by big corporations, including candy companies! Why? It’s big business with lots of profit. They can use “waste'“products from their other food companies’ production and turn them into dog food. Big marketing programs rely on how much you love your dog and convince you to trust products and foods that simply are not the safest for your dog. Your local vet may now have a corporate goal for surgical procedures they must perform, sales goals for food, sales goals for products, etc. They simply no longer have your dog’s best interest in mind long-term.

Don’t get me wrong, we need veterinarians for procedures and emergencies. But there are so many things that you can learn to do with natural wellness modalities that will reduce your vet visits, save you money, help your dog heal from “dis-ease” and keep your dog healthier and longer.

Natural Wellness Consulting:

It’s my goal in my blog and consulting programs to show you many ways to do just that — and when we need to engage a holistic veterinarian, I have them on speed dial.

But please understand — learning to use nutrition, essential oils or herbs wasn’t something they learned in veterinary school. Many have learned how these modalities work through self-study, workshops, shared resources, etc. There are more educational programs available, and some are restricted to veterinarians. But friends, oils, herbs, nutrition, it’s all the same no matter how you were educated on these subjects.

So no, I cannot practice medicine, and I don’t claim to — but there are many opportunities for me to coach and support you on nutrition and natural wellness through your dog’s life.

Let’s Explore your options and other info you need as you choose and what alternatives to veterinary medicine you may have.

Choosing A Veterinarian