Dog Cancer And the Use of Holistic Medicine

Holistic medicine (or integrative veterinary medicine) is the examination and diagnosis of an animal by studying all aspects of the animal's life and employing all of the practitioner's senses, in addition to the combination of conventional and alternative avenues of treatment. When a holistic veterinarian sees a dog, besides giving it a complete physical examination, he/she wants to find out all about its behaviors, medical and dietary history, and its environment including diet, emotional stresses, and other factors.

Holistic medicine veterinarians will set up a regime for the animal that is most appropriate for a quality, healthful life. The techniques used in holistic medicine are gentle, minimally invasive, and integrate patient well-being and stress reduction. Holistic thinking is centered on love, empathy and respect, for both the dog suffering from cancer and the dog owner who is suffering, too. The veterinarian will use one or more of the following:

- Acupuncture
- Behavior modification
- Herbal medicine
- Homeopathy
- Mega-nutrients
- Augmentation therapy
- Nutritional therapy
- Surgery
- Chiropractic veterinarian
- Traditional Chinese medicine

This mixture of healing arts and skills means taking in the whole picture of the patient—the environment, the disease pattern, the relationship of pet with owner—and developing a treatment protocol using a wide range of therapies for healing the patient. Holistic medicine is interested in genetics, nutrition, family relationships, hygiene, and stress factors.

In the treatment of dog cancer, holistic medicine questions the “why?” Using a series of observations and testing the practitioner searches for the true root source of the cancer. It is at this point that the most successful, least invasive, most cost-efficient, and least damaging path to a cure is selected.

The holistic medicine practitioner involves as many therapies as necessary to bring wholeness to the animal. Treatment may involve surgery and drug therapy from conventional technology, along with some of the above listed alternative techniques to provide a harmonizing whole. This form of treatment has great value for severe trauma and certain infections.

Once the symptoms have been treated, the dog cancer treatment is not complete until the underlying disease patterns have been redirected to a holistic balance. The dog cancer is just part of the dog that is treated; holistic medicine concentrates on the dog and the owner to achieve a healthy lifestyle and balance for both of them.