To achieve this, we worked out a plan based on weight control, thyroid control, and joint therapy. We started her on glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, and MSM (a natural anti-inflammatory) as well as antioxidants and a combination of herbal preparations. We also took over monitoring and fine-tuning her thyroid medications. Maria, Catherine, and I discussed how to improve Liberty's diet both for her overall wellness and to address her obesity. For the next three years, these measures enabled her to live reasonably well with her compromised knee.

After the old gal turned twelve, she started slowing down and was in obvious pain. Her arthritis was getting worse. So we added chiropractic treatments to the mix. Her mobility was sufficiently restored enough to carry her through comfortably until she passed on with dignity at age thirteen.

Liberty's story is a great example of how a deserving animal's life was given back to her by the reconstructive efforts of mainstream medicine, the supportive therapies of the holistic way, and the unfailing dedication of the people who loved her.

As your pet's human companion, you want to do the best you can for him or her, as do the clients who come to my clinic. This book will offer you better ways to do that. And whether or not you already use a holistic approach, it will give you new tools to ensure that your pet stays as happy and well as possible.

One of this book's most important tools involves learning a new perspective on health and healing - one that respects the best that natural health care and mainstream medicine have to offer, yet goes beyond the limitations of both. This new way of thinking will take you beyond fixing immediate problems and will give you a fresh and comprehensive take on prevention.

The holistic way of thinking also involves seeing your role and your veterinarian's role in a different way. Because you are the person closest to your dog or cat, you are in the best position to influence her well-being. You have the primary responsibility for making decisions that affect her quality of life. In my view, a veterinarian is a coach who provides expert opinions, perspectives, and advice about how to support your pet's wellness. At times, he may point you toward further resources and even toward other types of health care professionals to help you do that. Therefore, the information you find in these pages will also help you support your pet's wellness by updating your understanding of the relationship between you and your veterinarian in the holistic approach to pet care.

Finally, this book will endorse the value of various additional services that can help your dog or cat. In holistic veterinary care, paramedical services delivered by qualified professional acupuncturists, herbalists, chiropractors, homeopaths, and bioenergetic assessment technicians, to name a few, become a fundamental part of the total approach to maintaining wellness.

The holistic way of thinking that is so important to your pet's wellness begins with the way we look at health.

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Copyright © 2009 by Paul Mccutcheon.

Tags: Pets

About the Author

Paul McCutcheon, DVM, is the founder of Toronto's East York Animal Clinic, serving 5,000 patients, and a former director of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and the Human-Animal Bond Association of Canada. Dr. McCutcheon penned the "Ask a Vet" column for Chatelaine magazine and has contributed numerous articles to Pets Quarterly, Dogs Annual, Alive Magazine, Health Naturally, California Veterinarian, Canadian Veterinary Journal, and the Journal of the International Institute of Stress. He hosted the popular Canadian television series Perfect Pet People and the radio show People and Pets. More

Susan Weinstein is a writer with a special interest in animals and health care. Recent articles have appeared in The Whole Dog Journal and Dogs! Dogs! Dogs! Based in Eastern Ontario, she has worked with Dr. McCutcheon as a client-collaborator since 1988. More