Thanks, Pete...

>
for your thoughtful and intelligent reply...I guess I am a bit jaded, because when I went to school years ago, I never thought that I would spend half of my time defending traditional medicine and debunking a lot of the "alternative" stuff out there ...

I do not claim to have all the answers by any means and use a few "alternative" meds in my practice that have good research behind them...

It is just very frustrating for me to have to be the last person that many of my clients consult re: their pet's health...they are all too quick to believe what the 16 year old at the petstore suggests or try everything they can find on the internet before contacting me...

I guess I am just too skeptical or maybe just out of step with societal trends...

I used to take pride in the fact that my practice emphasized preventative care and client education instead of waiting until problems happened and then fixing them...now, I have become a "fixer"...

Also, with all of the warehouse pet "pharmacies" on the internet, we are losing that part of our income as well..lots of people don't realize that we keep our exam fees down by selling rx meds, heartworm and flea prevention...this loss will be passed to the consumer in the form of higher exam/ lab test/ surgery fees, etc...veterinary practice consultatnts are now advising us to "charge out the wazoo for the things that they can't get at Wal-mart"!

Contrary to popular belief, we do not make anywhere close to what physicians make, thus the partial reliance on rx meds, etc. to help cover costs...

Anyway, I hear the violins, so I better zip it for now...I need to find a way to practice veterinary medicine on the internet! lol...good luck with your site...

dman

Dman, I know your comment wasn't addressed to me, but I'd like to respond
> just on the basis of the informal but pretty extensive research I've done
> in this area. That's research into the level of interest in the topic, NOT
> scientific research, btw.

> I believe there's a general trend toward the natural, organic, holistic
> and alternative realms of medicine, nutrition and overall health care
> nationwide. Whole Foods Market used to be the only place to get a lot of
> these products, now my local Publix has entire sections devoted to them as
> well. Acupuncture, Chinese medicine, etc. used to be considered pretty
> much on the fringe, now they're much more mainstream. To me, it's logical
> that this kind of societal trend would extend to pets, especially with
> more baby boomers becoming empty- nesters, and the family dog or cat
> becoming a surrogate child.

> I would emphasize that "holistic" literally means dealing with
> the WHOLE organism, including mind, body, abd spirit. On my site, I
> encourage folks to consult with their vet on every aspect of animal care,
> and post a note to that effect in the footer of every page along with
> reminders in the articles themselves. A true holistic approach INCLUDES
> traditional veterinary diagnosis and treatment. Holistic care should be an
> integrated strategy of allopathic or coventional medicine, WITH
> alternative complements. Granted, there's a lot of empirical research that
> still needs to be done on the alternative methods. But that's all the more
> reason for individuals to at least consider them, provided they are not
> harmful.