We all want our pets to live forever. The powerful soul-level desire behind that statement is so much stronger than just the surface of its words. Personally I would do anything, absolutely anything, to make that wish come true. And if you are reading this, it’s a safe bet you feel the same way about your animals.
The truth is, they aren’t just animals to us. They are our best friends, our children, our siblings, and in many cases, our soul mates.
With that in mind, I try to read and listen to everything I can get my hands on about holistic animal wellness. Interestingly, like many of you, I work much harder at maintaining my pets health than even my own.
The last three Hand To Paw blog articles focused on holistic wellness for pet parents with the thought that, we need to be in the state of our best health if we want to stick around and remain capable of advocating for our pets best health.
We’ve also talked about some of my favorite holistic pet wellness modalities like reiki energy healing, therapeutic massage, and fitness programs customized to the unique needs of pet.
It is my commitment to continue to share with you as many holistic avenues for pet wellness as I possibly can. After all, we’re in this quest for pet immortality together, right?!
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At its heart, holistic practice aims to achieve the longest, healthiest lives for clients, in this case our pets, by looking at the big picture of each unique patient, as well as the interactions between their body, mind, and soul.
A holistic practitioner will look at, not only their past and current medical history, but also take into account their nutrition, water intake, exercise/activity, sleep/wake cycle, social environment in the home, stress levels, as well as other factors.
A holistic practitioner will also take the time to detective out all of the intermingling causative factors that led up to issues found, as well as multiple options for ways to go about treating it.
On the animal side of health care, most vets already treat the animals whole body, with the help of a handful of specialties should an extra level of experience be helpful. For example, your primary vet probably does their annual all-over body exam and then treats whatever isn’t within normal parameters, whether that be sensory, dental, orthopedic, metabolic, dermatological. you get the idea.
Veterinarian specialty areas that can be refereed out include surgery, oncology, and holistic practices (you can find a holistic in your area on the website for The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (https://www.ahvma.org)
This is in contrast with the way most human medicine operates, which is to divide each system of our bodies into sub-specialties. We’ve all been in that situation where a medical professional you go to see can only look at their one specialty area, and need to send you to see someone else if your issue is comprised of more than that one part.
In human medicine, doctors who are ahead of the curve and do take into account that holistic look at the entire person approach include Osteopaths (designated D.O., Doctor of Osteopathy) and Naturopaths (designated N.D., Naturopathic Doctor.)
If your pets primary veterinarian acknowledges the mind-body connection; and looks at, evaluates, and treats both sides of their being, you have found a great care giver! If that vet also acknowledges their energetic and soul self, hold on and never let go!!
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One of the keys to remember is, a dis-ease in the body, animal or human, does not appear overnight. It is usually the culmination of many triggers, experienced over and over, until the threshold is hit where the body can no longer compensate for it. The healthier that body is, the more triggers it can tolerate before teetering over that threshold.
Knowing that, your goal as a pet owner, or even as a human being with your own body to care for, is to build up that healthy wall so it becomes a protective barrier that will successfully shield you from daily attackers that come at it, whether that be a decline in nutrition, a decline in activity, increased environmental stress, or just the challenges of age.
The stronger you’ve built that protective barrier, and the stronger your holistic treatment weapons, should those attackers sneak in from time to time, the better your chance is that your pet will avoid any serious medical issues, or at least bounce back quickly from any that do manage to slip past the gate.
Those holistic wellness weapons we will look at in more depth over time include things like:
– Nutrition
– Reiki
– Massage
– Fitness/Exercise
– Acupressure
– Osteopathy
– Chiropractic
– Acupuncture
– Rehabilitation
– UltraSound
– Electrical Stimulation
– Stem Cell Therapy
– Low Level Laser
– Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy
– Homeopathy
– Herbals Remedies
– Flower Essences
– Aromatherapy/Essential Oils
So stay-tuned, and let’s take a stroll down this holistic path together!!!!