Holistic vets

[Guest guest]

Will was also the only vet I ever met that had books on animal healing

available right in the clinic. One of my all time favorites is Love,

Medicine and Animal Healing by Allan Schoen, DVM. The stories are wonderful

and will make you laugh and cry. It has remedies for cows, horses, cats and

dogs, so a must have.

If you are new to holistic vet care this book is fantastic. Alan reminds me

so much of Will. He saw a cow who bloated and they were going to ship her

for slaughter. Alan instead gave the cow an old folk remedy of beer to get

the rumen culture going and was successful in saving the cow.

It's a great book to read if you want to know what kind of vet Will truly

was when he had his clinic. Alan has the same values and integrity.

Will taught me a lot. After he sold his clinic, I saw another vet for 15

years. The new vet was a good surgeon, but not holistic. I taught him many

things that I'd learned from Will. An example is I brought in a rescue dog

that had been abused and starved. The dog had demodectic mange and many

other problems. That type of mange indicates an immune problem. The new

vet said he was sorry, but it would cost $3,000 to treat and he felt we only

had a 20% chance. He recommended euthanasia. I told him that I'd like to

try and would appreciate an antibiotic, but wasn't interested in steroids.

I took the dog home and did the antibiotic, probiotic and then things Will

had taught me years before.

Three months later I brought in a healthy dog to be neutered. The vet had

students from the UMN visiting and called them in to see the remarkable

case. I heard him tell the students that he wasn't sure what I'd done, but

that I was a great nurse:)

There are lots of holistic vets around the country who wrote good books on

natural care. I keep waiting for Will to add to the collection and share

more of his knowledge with us. I will be forever grateful to him because of

what he did for my animals.

Kathy