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Holistic vets look for treatments for your pets that are natural. Side effects and risks shouldn’t come along with your holistic vet’s treatment plan.

It is typical that someone seeing a holistic vet has thought about the danger of vaccines and is looking to avoid them. Your holistic vet shouldn’t push them on you and they certainly should not ask you to repeatedly vaccinate.

A holistic vet typically thinks of the bigger bigger. They look at what your previous vet has already done to treat your pet (if they’ve done anything) and see how that affects their overall health.

The Difficulties

Being that you are a patient and your vet has gone to school, it can be difficult to tell them you don’t agree with their possible treatment plan. This can include prescriptions, vaccinations, heartworm, etc. I mean they have the education, right?

When switching or finding a holistic vet, it’s important to make sure they are what your pet needs. Some “holistic” vets are not as holistic as you might think, so it’s important to ask some questions so that you know you’re about to get the best treatment for your pets.

The Questions to Ask

You don’t have to ask all of these questions, and might even want to add your own, but these questions should get them thinking. The answers will be telling enough to know if they are who you want treating your pet.

1. Why do you call yourself a holistic vet?
2. What is holistic? Please define holistic.
3. How long have you offered holistic services?
4. What holistic sorts of training have you had since vet school?
5. Has that training been followed by testing and certification by a recognized holistic organization?
6. What percentage of your practice do you consider holistic?
7. Do you vaccinate adult animals who have a previous history of vaccinations?
8. If so, why?
9. If I want to call the shots on whether or not my animals get more vaccinations, are you still willing to work with my animals?
10. Do you offer titer testing? If so, and my animal’s titers fall, I will likely not get further vaccinations.
11. Do you support raw feeding of dogs and cats?
12. If not, are you okay treating my raw fed pets?
13. If I choose not to use monthly heartworm medication, will you test them annually for me anyway.
14. Do you sell topical flea preventatives?
15. If so, will you work with my animals if I choose a natural, non-toxic flea control?
16. My main vet is a homeopathic vet who may ask me to get diagnostic work on occasion. Are you willing to work with my animals in this way, even if I’m not seeking treatments from you?

Some of these questions may not apply to you, and that’s okay. The point is to have a general idea of where they stand, and hopefully they are opposed to the toxic route of treatment. This would include vaccines, quick fix medications, etc.

You want them to ultimately see the bigger picture of health and offer a natural treatment for your pets. You also want them to support your decisions for your pet and be willing to work with you no matter what you decide is best.

When you’re finding a vet, asking some questions can be useful to reach a healthy goal for your pet. Their answers will hopefully help you feel more comfortable in your decision of who will treat your pet.

Have you asked some difficult questions to get your pet’s to a healthy point? Let us know what works best for you in the comments.