Should your dog or cat visit a holistic veterinarian or an integrative veterinarian? What is the difference between the two, and what care will your furry friend receive at Sunvet Animal Wellness?
Let’s start with a few definitions…
- Allopathic medicine: conventional or Western medicine
- Alternative medicine: used in place of conventional medicine
- Holistic medicine: generic term for any treatment/therapy session that is intended to treat the individual as a whole
- Integrative medicine: combines the best of allopathic, holistic medicine, complementary and alternative therapies
Holistic veterinarian: a veterinarian who intends to treat her patients as the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical beings that they are.
Integrative veterinarian: a veterinarian who applies a comprehensive medical approach to animal care that combines the best of conventional and holistic medicine with complementary and alternative therapies.
From our perspective, the definition of integrative medicine must have a holistic part, and that is the premise of the heart-centered, compassionate veterinary care we offer at Sunvet Animal Wellness Clinic.
We use the treatments and medicine that are most appropriate for our patients, given their individual situation. Whether that treatment is a pharmaceutical or natural supplement, you can always trust that our recommendation was made with your love-muffin’s best interest at heart.
Here’s what Dr. Laurel has to say about her path to holistic and integrative veterinary medicine
“I graduated from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1989 as a conventional veterinarian, chomping at the bit to start my journey of healing our beautiful four-legged companions. My early years were spent nailing down how I handled myself in the conventional medicine realm, including biochemistry, physiology and anatomy.
About 5-6 years in, I became disenchanted with my traditional approach to veterinary medicine. I saw that often, though we conventional veterinarians had our patient’s best interest at heart, we were at a loss for how to best solve a chronic or undetermined condition. Although traditional veterinary medicine became increasingly advanced by utilizing a wide array of techniques and options (ultrasound, x-rays, MRI, chemotherapy, blood transfusion, and physical therapy), I realized that it was based primarily on pharmacological medicine. We, as conventional veterinarians, would look to prescribe medication that might silence symptoms, but perhaps not resolve the underlying problems.
As fate would have it, I came across an applied kinesiology class offered by Dr. Janet Orion, a local Asheville chiropractor. This course re-ignited my passion for veterinary medicine. I felt like a dog on its first trip to a pet store, with the infinite, delectable possibilities!”
Integrative Veterinary Medicine at Sunvet
Over the years, Sunvet Animal Wellness Clinic has supplemented its core conventional veterinary medicine with many holistic and alternative modalities.
We focus on keeping our four-legged patients healthy overall, in order to prevent physical, emotional, mental and physical dis-ease. When issues appear, we treat these beings as a whole and as an individual. While two different patients may present with similar symptoms, their respective treatments may be quite different. We consider all available modalities and options as viable for our patients.
This integration of conventional and alternative medicine that puts the patient’s needs first is the future of veterinary medicine.