Visit with the Holistic Vet

Hopefully this is the right forum, if not I hope someone doesn't mind moving this topic

Anyway today Napolean had a visit with the Holistic Vet! The vet sent us home with a few things:

Plant Enzyme w/ Probiotics to help him break down his food better. Which should help with the allergic response. It should also boost the immune system.

Herbal Ear Drops with Mckillips to put in his ear for a couple weeks. He's got tons of gunk down there hopefully this will help out.

Colostrum to help boost his immune system. He said he probably didn't get enough as a baby and so this would help. One of the vets I work with says she thought it wasn't absorbable after the stomach sack closed or something? But according to everything I've read it's bovine colostrum so it isn't species specific, and is beneficial to basically everyone. We're gonna roll with it.

Lastly we got Thuja which is to help with symptoms of vaccinosis[and is homeopathic]. He said that even though Napolean hasn't had vaccine reactions it could have lowered his immune system so we're treating for it.

He was strongly against vaccines and flea control. I'm fine holding off on vaccines, the cats are indoor cats and have been vaccinated for the past 3 years so they should be immune. I'm semi leery only because I have seen cats with distemper and it isn't pretty. Anything I can do to protect my kids! But I think they're protected enough since there's studies going out saying we're over doing it, not to mention in people we don't repeatedly vaccinate for things like polio and measles and alla that... so yeah.

I'm NOT backing down on my flea control. I love my Revolution, and like being flea free. I think balancing his diet and body should be fine... it should make him strong enough to deal with the flea control

And I KNOW you've all been telling me this over and over, but now the VET said it so I'm going along. He said that RAW food is basically hypoallergenic because since it's not cooked all the natural enzymes remain intact. He had me take home some Rad Cat chicken. Hopefully combining the probios, colostrum, and treating the ear, along with the thuja should make him strong enough to handle eating chicken even though he's allergic to it otherwise.

SO after spending $165 I don't know that I'd go back there for simple things I can get at my own clinic, or for surgery... but if he needed to be on IV fluids, or have a check up, I'll probably go back. He was TOTALLY chill. At my clinic he's a freak and thinks we're going to torture him. He only growled once after the doctor looked in his bad ear. Other than that he was cool as a cucumber and being friendly and cute. It's comforting because I know he's pretty happy/comfortable there, so I feel like if he really did get sick, there's a place we could go that wouldn't be as stressing to him as my clinic is.

All this being said, I think we're onto something! He ate some rad cat tonight, no qualms about it [yay!] so I'm excited!

I also use a holistic vet in conjunction with the traditional vet. The holistic vet provides senna herbs for my cat's constipation, which works well. However, I still visit the traditional vet for simple visits and annual shots. The traditional vet charges $43.00 for a visit while the holistic vet charges $80.00. Nonetheless, I am very pleased with the holistic vet who offered a better treatment than the other vet. It was worth the $250 initial visit!

the vaccine issue is the only thing that worries me. having recently gone through 2 leukemia/aids scares, both negative but one still resulting in losing my cat, i have vaccinated both my indoor kittens against everything. it is such a difficult one.

i'm with you all the way on combining holistic therapy though. when my rb lurcher had to have his eye removed through cancer, he came out of the operation looking like he'd been hit with a baseball bat. the poor dog was black and blue and terribly swollen. the vet was concerned and said the stitches probably wouldn't come out for 13 days due to this. we then put him on a combination of homeopathic remedies and his face was back to normal within 24 hours. i took him back to the vet after 7 days and he was amazed.

i have also used rescue remedy in the cats drinking water whenever a new furry has joined our home.

good luck!

My food allergic dog reacts to cooked and raw beef exactly the same. I'd kill to be able to feed raw meaty beef bones (everything else they break into small pieces) but I cannot. Some animals don't react the same, but most of them do.

You're right, the antibodies in the colostrum will not be absorbed by the intestines and passed into the bloodstream. They DO however do an excellent job of protecting the gut, and if this is where your critter has difficulties, then they just might help.

Sounds like your vet has some good options though, and I hope your kitty feels better soon!

Sound like he hit all the corners of the issue...

My food allergic dog reacts to cooked and raw beef exactly the same. I'd kill to be able to feed raw meaty beef bones (everything else they break into small pieces) but I cannot. Some animals don't react the same, but most of them do.

Click to expand...

Yep. He's reacting to the raw chicken. He's really digging into his ear now. But ya know, it was worth a try and the food was only $7. He's also pulling out some hair on his front legs, so I'd say the raw chicken is a now go. It just makes me laugh because time and time again I've had people try to tell me that he's just itching because the food he's eating is cooked, or the wrong brand or whatever, and no, he's genuinely allergic. We now know this. Just the same, thanks for the well wishes!

the vaccine issue is the only thing that worries me. having recently gone through 2 leukemia/aids scares, both negative but one still resulting in losing my cat, i have vaccinated both my indoor kittens against everything. it is such a difficult one.

Click to expand...

Yeah totally! I might drop the leukemia vaccine, only because both cats are indoor only, so they won't have exposure to it. But it's a very grey area, and I like you am VERY leery of messing with vaccines because the diseases they most of the time prevent are very scary and bad.

i'm with you all the way on combining holistic therapy though. when my rb lurcher had to have his eye removed through cancer, he came out of the operation looking like he'd been hit with a baseball bat. the poor dog was black and blue and terribly swollen. the vet was concerned and said the stitches probably wouldn't come out for 13 days due to this. we then put him on a combination of homeopathic remedies and his face was back to normal within 24 hours. i took him back to the vet after 7 days and he was amazed.

Click to expand...

That's awesome! I agree homeopathy and holistic medicine have their place. But I think just like massage and chiropractic work, conventional and holistic medicine go hand in hand. I don't think either one is truly the answer, but I feel they work well together.

Ah well... it's back to the drawing board for us! I think I'll work on finding a novel raw protein [maybe try elk again...] and see where that gets us. Combined with the Colostrum and Probiotics maybe he'll tolerate things better, it can only help things!

I dont like the sound of the vaccine thing! I had a little grrlly kitty named Kitten accidently get out last year, she came home right away, and died 24 hours later of distemper! Worst thing ever. You never know what could
happen!! Good luck to ya! I hope most of the stuff "Does a body good!"

If your cats NEVER go outside, go ahead and skip the leukemia vaccine... I do, and I'm more pro-active about vaccination than many.

If your cats NEVER go outside, go ahead and skip the leukemia vaccine... I do, and I'm more pro-active about vaccination than many.

Click to expand...

Yeah they never go outside, Napolean will escape into the garage once in a while, but knock on wood they've never gone outside. I'm pretty sure I'll skip it when I vaccinate him this year. It'll be nice because it'll be one less poke for him.

I dont like the sound of the vaccine thing! I had a little grrlly kitty named Kitten accidently get out last year, she came home right away, and died 24 hours later of distemper! Worst thing ever. You never know what could
happen!!

Click to expand...

I totally hear ya! Distemper is horrible! I really think the vaccinosis diagnoses was kind of a joke anyway. His itching only changes when we change food, he has never had a vaccine reaction of any kind, so I'm just not backing down on the vaccines. And the flea thing, I know there's alternatives to Revolution, but I am VERY picky about fleas, haven't had them and don't want them. Plus one of my dogs is very sensitive, one bite sends her itching.

I hope most of the stuff "Does a body good!"

Click to expand...

Hopefully so hahahahaha

Glad it was such a great visit! I'd LOVE to have a holistic vet near me, but alas, nothing yet

I agree with holistic vet on the vaccines. After getting their full series and a the yearly booster, I really think it does more harm then good to continue vaccinating. JMHO. I won't vaccinate mine anymore then they have been, with exeption of the rabies that I have to get legally whenever I make a vet visit.

I agree with holistic vet on the vaccines. After getting their full series and a the yearly booster, I really think it does more harm then good to continue vaccinating. JMHO. I won't vaccinate mine anymore then they have been, with exeption of the rabies that I have to get legally whenever I make a vet visit.

Click to expand...

It's really a grey area. If I had a butt load of money I'd love to test his vaccine titers to see if he's covered. I do know most studies out there say we are overvaccinating, but how crappy would I feel if my cat, who already had a weird immune system contracted distemper or something like that? If I stopped vaccinating and he got it, I'd feel like crap, if he got it even though I vaccinated him, at least I did everything that I could do to try and prevent it. I don't know if you've seen a cat go through distemper but we had a kitten at our clinic stay for a month fighting distemper. He ended up surviving, but it is the worste disease ever. He went through 3 blood transfusions, turned yellow, we had to place a jugular catheter because his legs were shot, his sister died from it.... I mean it's just a bad disease overall. I'm fine not doing the FeLv vaccine because my kids don't interact with other cats, but I think we'll continue with rabies and FVRCP.

Glad it was such a great visit! I'd LOVE to have a holistic vet near me, but alas, nothing yet

Click to expand...

Yeah I think this place is like the only Holistic clinic semi near me... but I'm glad we have access to it!

Originally Posted by Plebayo

It's really a grey area. If I had a butt load of money I'd love to test his vaccine titers to see if he's covered. I do know most studies out there say we are overvaccinating, but how crappy would I feel if my cat, who already had a weird immune system contracted distemper or something like that? If I stopped vaccinating and he got it, I'd feel like crap, if he got it even though I vaccinated him, at least I did everything that I could do to try and prevent it. I don't know if you've seen a cat go through distemper but we had a kitten at our clinic stay for a month fighting distemper. He ended up surviving, but it is the worste disease ever. He went through 3 blood transfusions, turned yellow, we had to place a jugular catheter because his legs were shot, his sister died from it.... I mean it's just a bad disease overall. I'm fine not doing the FeLv vaccine because my kids don't interact with other cats, but I think we'll continue with rabies and FVRCP.



Yeah I think this place is like the only Holistic clinic semi near me... but I'm glad we have access to it!

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I totally understand, different strokes for different folks Everyone has to do what they research and feel comfortable with.

I was a vet tech for a number of years and also rescue cats, and this is just my decisions I make drawing on my experiences in the past.