Holistic Medicine

What is Holistic Veterinary Medicine?

Holistic medicine encompasses many different disciplines that all focus on balance from within and allowing the body to heal itself. Our focus is to provide the best care for your pet through Integrative Medicine. Integrative medicine combines conventional medicine with holistic medicine to create a treatment plan that best fits each pet.

 

Who is our doctor?

Dr. Stephenie Rensberger graduated from Purdue University with her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1991. She took an interest in holistic medicine and started attending holistic seminars ten years ago. She has participated in several conferences and seminars, including American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association’s annual conference, the Standard Process Nutritional Therapy conference, Homotoxicology Seminar, and Western Veterinary Conference. She is currently enrolled in a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine Food Therapy Course. Future goals include accreditation in Chinese Herbal Medicine, Food Therapy, and Acupuncture. Dr. Rensberger is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

 

What To Expect At Initial Visit

At your first visit, Dr. Rensberger will spend 60-80 minutes gathering a detailed history of your pet and performing a thorough physical exam, including tongue-pulse diagnosis.

To aid in this process, please bring all of your pet’s medical records along with any medications or supplements they are currently taking the diet you are currently feeding.
Diagnostics, including radiographs, ultrasound, allergy testing, or lab work may be recommended.

A unique treatment plan can then be designed specifically for your pet and their lifestyle. Holistic medicine works by treating the whole body, not just individual symptoms. Therefore, it may require several follow-up appointments, and your pet may take longer to heal than using conventional medicine alone.

 

Holistic Modalities Offered

Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Acupuncture: Acupuncture is a component of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine. It usually involves the insertion of very thin, sterile needles into specific points on the body to cause a therapeutic effect. Acupuncture may include other methods such as aquapuncture, in which fluid is injected into the acupuncture point, or electro-acupuncture, in which a small current of electricity is passed between acupuncture needles. Acupuncture can relieve pain, promote tissue healing processes, regulate gastrointestinal motility, decrease inflammation, reduce fevers, and help regulate the immune system.
• Chinese Herbals
• Food Therapy
• Tui-na (Chinese Massage Therapy)

Homotoxicology

• Rids the body of “homotoxins” and stimulates the body to start healing itself

Holistic Pain Relief Options:

• Cold Laser Therapy: If your pet experiences a soft tissue injury, chronic pain, or a wound needing more help healing, our doctors may add Laser Therapy to your pet’s treatment plan. A therapeutic laser is the application of light energy to areas of the body to stimulate and accelerate healing. The therapeutic laser reduces pain by decreasing inflammation, as well as by decreasing tissue chemicals that stimulate pain and by affecting nerve conduction. The therapeutic laser also enhances healing by increasing microcirculation (blood flow through the smaller blood vessels of the body), stimulating cellular activity, and increasing growth factors.
• PEMF (Assisi Loop) Therapy
• Alpha-Stim Therapy

Nutritional Therapy

• Improves all aspects of health based on feeding a quality balanced diet
• Counseling for raw diets and home-cooked diets

Nutraceuticals

• Uses nutritional supplements to treat a specific disease

Glandular Therapy

• Heals and boosts organ function by using tissue extracts

Western Herbals

• Uses a combination of all parts of a plan to treat or prevent disease