Integrative Veterinary Medicine

Description: Integrative Veterinary Medicine

Practical guide integrating holistic modalities into Western veterinary practice to help with patient treatment

Integrative Veterinary Medicine provides a clinically oriented, evidence-based guide to integrating complementary and conventional therapies into veterinary practice. Covering acupuncture, manual therapies, botanical and herbal medicine, integrative nutrition, and physical rehabilitation, the book draws information on these modalities together into a single resource. Rooted in evidence-based medicine, it demonstrates how to use these modalities in veterinary practice.

The book begins by discussing the basic concepts of integrative veterinary medicine, then examines each modality in detail. A companion website offers video clips showing acupuncture techniques.

In Integrative Veterinary Medicine, readers can expect to find detailed information on topics such as:

• Anatomy and physiology of acupuncture with relation to soft tissue and neurologic concepts, and traditional Chinese theory of acupuncture (Yin and Yang, Five Element Theory, and The Meridians)
• Veterinary manipulative therapy (neurology, biomechanics, and available evidence), and massage therapy and myofascial principles
• Origins and major systems of herbal therapy with selected evidence-based interventions and adverse events, herb-drug interactions, supplement evaluation, and regulation
• Trends in nutrition, such as raw diets, home-prepared diets, grain-free diets, owner perception, and current marketing

Covering common modalities across all species in one volume, Integrative Veterinary Medicine is an essential reference for any veterinary practitioner wishing to use integrative techniques in their practices, as well as veterinary students, academics, and researchers involved in programs of study related to integrative veterinary medicine.

Preface

Integrative Veterinary Medicine (IVM) is a new clinical approach to veterinary medical care that combines conventional (Western) veterinary medicine, as traditionally taught in veterinary schools, with complementary therapies to improve clinical outcomes in patients. The idea for this book stemmed from a publication, co-authored by 26 board-certified veterinarians, which proposed curriculum guidelines for veterinary schools to introduce students to IVM (Open Vet J 6:44–56, 2016). Topics suggested by the publication have been expanded in this book and detailed information is covered in 26 chapters. All chapter authors are talented integrative clinicians with expertise that include one or more AVMA-recognized specializations and/or certification in multiple areas of complementary therapies.

The authors have offered valuable integrative medical approaches in treating patients based upon their long-term experiences in clinical veterinary medicine even though some chapters might challenge a reader’s thought processes. Readers are encouraged to have open minds, as well as look for therapies that are evidence-based. One author coaches the reader, “those who dismiss the advantages of integration of therapies, prior to personal exploration, run the risk of stifling scientific method.”

The IVM therapies consists of acupuncture, rehabilitation, medical manipulation (chiropractic), physical therapy, nutrition, and botanical medicine etc. Each of these disciplines is inherently individualized; therefore, one cannot expect impressive results from a “one size fits all” approach. Although scientific method is most often linear, the application is circular and follows an authors’ insight gathered from years of experience and “learned from patients” based upon outcome of their selected therapies.

The incorporation of IVM approach in your practice can be rewarding for patient outcome, client satisfaction, and professional development. This book contains a compilation of knowledge and wisdom from experienced clinicians to attain that goal. It is your interest and effort that will be the critical factors in the success of your endeavors.