A Note From Dr. Lord: 

Holistic medicine is a term that means different things to different people. I call myself a holistic practitioner and by that I mean to convey two different things. First is that I look at the whole of the animal and work to come to a treatment plan that will benefit my entire patient and not just address one presenting complaint. Secondly, I will use the whole of medicine to come up with the best treatment plan possible.

Many veterinarians use different terms to convey this same or a similar sentiment. Alternative veterinary medicine, complimentary veterinary medicine, integrative veterinary medicine are but some of the different terms you may come across. I could use any of them comfortably but I feel that holistic medicine best conveys my attitude toward practice.

Many of my patients come to me from conventional practices and are already involved with a treatment plan. Arthritis patients are on non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, seizure patients on phenobarbital, neurologic patients on steroids and cancer patients are doing chemo. I work with your primary Veterinarian to give the best of what medicine has to offer for your pet.

My ultimate goal in practice is to improve the quality of life of my patients, and if that means steroids, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, seizure medication or the like need to be part of the treatment plan, then they will be included. Western medicine is not the enemy. It is, however, but one of the many branches of medicine, and in many cases, it does not have all of the answers. The modalities chosen depend on the presenting condition of concern, the patients overall condition and energy, owners constraints, and animal temperament. 

All cases have their challenges, but ultimately I need to be able to look each animal in the eye and feel confident that what I am doing is creating a treatment plan aimed at health.

We must always remember that it is the quality and not the quantity of life that makes it so precious.