Get a V suite - Why have one vet when a whole kennel of vets are available?
Curiosity and asking some big questions has always lead us to some interesting places and no less when exploring dog health.
We don’t usually think of spreading our wings when it comes to vets. Traditionally we have one vet and generally we treat what they say as gospel ( or how ever you swing on that particular subject).
What if an entire cross modality collection of vets were available to you? As you only pay for vets when you take advice from them then it is entirely plausible to have a collection of advisors for your dog. You wouldn’t go to an acupuncturist for a broken leg but you might want to talk to a behaviourist/therapist for depression or anxiety you may even want a Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) vet for anything from skin conditions to cancer treatment, they can work with your western medicine vet rather than in opposition. It’s a good idea for future situations if your dog has already established a good relationship with your vet(s). This makes diagnosis easier for the vets, if they know your dog it also ensures a calmer consultation so in times of real need there won’t be added distress, which can be counter productive.
If you can find an independent vet as well you will more than likely be less pressured into having tests and procedures, which can simply be done to achieve sales targets rather than actually required. This is easy to do with eastern modalities but can be a challenge when it comes to western vets, as there are a handful of large corporations that own a high percentage of veterinary practises and they need to keep their shareholders happy, a situation that has proved difficult for vets and pet owners alike. It’s natural to want the best for your pets and so exploring other options can provide you with some unexpected answers.
Because we at Hixx believe that Mother knows best and a lot of western medicines are based on natural formulas anyway, we always run issues past our TCM vet first. Sometimes it’s a slight change of food that is required, acupuncture or herbal medicine but it’s always an illuminating experience. For some, even if we have explored alternative methods for ourselves, it can take courage to step off the path of the known and tread lightly onto the path of the unknown for our pets. However because we always like to err on the side of the natural that’s the side of the road we will try first. Curiosity and asking some big questions has always lead us to some interesting places and no less when exploring dog health.