At Silverson Vet Clinic we combine Traditional Veterinary Medicine with Veterinary Herbal Medicine & Complementary Therapies such as Therapeutic Laser Therapy (TLT). Our special interests lie in Wound Care using TLT and herbal medical products in all animals. This integrated approach results in holistic pet care - treating the "whole animal".

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Veterinary Western Herbal Medicine (VWHM) provides us with increased options for patient therapy in addition to traditional veterinary therapies. By integrating VWHM into our clinic we have expanded our toolkit for patient care, increasing the quality of care for our patients and expanding options of treatments for our clients.

 

We have access to a vast array of medicinal herbal plants with which we can formulate remedies. The beauty of using whole plants in our treatments is the fact that these plants provide medicinal benefits of hundreds of compounds found in these plants.

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When treating illness & patterns of disease, chronic conditions, pain management, and palliative conditions, we consider imbalances within the whole animal body, the animals' environment, routine care, nutrition, and most importantly, the human-animal bond.

 

Prescriptions are formulated with a body systems-based approach. Herbal actions of plants can benefit more than one body system. By using blends of herbs there is a synergistic effect that vastly multiplies the medicinal effects.

 

For example: For an old dog with arthritic pain and signs of decreased cognition/dementia, we may formulate a tonic that addresses not only arthritic pain (musculoskeletal system) but also includes formulae for cognition (nervous system), increases blood flow to the brain,  (cardiovascular system) and increase disease resistance (immune system) Medicinal plants provide opportunity to treat all these systems with one simple tonic!

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Furthermore, for this arthritic dog, we use Traditional Vet therapies such as Cartrophen injections for arthritis and tablets for pain relief. Complementary therapies such as Therapeutic Laser Therapy are also available to treat arthritis. Integrative Vet Medicine thus allows us to provide optimum holistic health for our animals.

 

Many of these therapies we use on a daily basis - sometimes without even realising! Clay poultices are used regularly by horse owners for hoof bruising; along with natural Epsom Salts - both examples of organic products used for medical purposes.

 

Many therapies have stood the test of time - a long time! Egyptian burials have been found with pots of honey, sealed, intact, and ready to use! Honey needs no introduction as a well-respected, thoroughly studied, and highly effective instrument for wound healing.

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FORMULA & PRESCRIPTIONS

Veterinary Western Herbal Medicine is based on Evidence-Based Medicine. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is defined as "the conscientious, explicit evidence-based veterinary medicine and judicious use of the current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of EBP means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research (Sackett 1998). (College Of Integrative Veterinary Therapies (CIVT))

Through our ongoing Continuing Veterinary Educational studies & Certification with CIVT, we can formulate appropriate prescriptions for our patients. We have extensive reference material available to us and there is an enormous body of Herbal Medicine Research available to access. 

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COMBINING HERBS WITH TRADITIONAL & EXISTING DRUGS

In Veterinary Medicine (as in human medicine) the practitioner always needs to be aware of interactions between medicines and drugs, when prescribing a treatment for the patient.

 

In the process of gathering a patient profile, our examinations of the physical body, the blood, the urine, the diet, the vitality, the home environment, the owner, and so on, we can "paint a picture" of the individual medical status of our patient, at that point in time.

 

By gathering this information, we understand the condition of the patient's whole body. We can asses - what is the condition of the liver, or the kidneys, or the pancreas, or the blood system, or the gut? By having this information we then formulate our treatment plans and the medications, drugs, and herbs we want to use to treat the patient. Importantly, we also have the information we need to understand what medications, drugs, and herbs WE DON'T want to use.

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We may not want to use certain medications, drugs, or herbs because:

• the patient's body condition may not tolerate certain compounds

• the patient may already be on certain medications

• the medications, drugs, or herbs we want to use, for that individual, may have undesirable effects when combined. 

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Our prescriptions of herbal compounds can work synergistically to treat several patient problems with just one formula. Not only can we use herbal formulas to treat a disease state, but we can provide longer-term strategies to detoxify and support the patient . However, we still need to be aware of potential herb-drug interactions within our prescriptions to ensure there are no alterations of actions in the medicines we use.

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For example, there is a possibility there may be either increased or decreased effects of the drugs or herbs being used, or even a new effect occurs altogether. We therefore examine the way herbs and drugs are absorbed, changed in the body, distributed and eliminated from the body. The scientific information we have available to us allows us to examine how different classes of drugs and herbs may interact. 

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Safe use of different medical compounds, whether this may be pharmaceutical drugs, herbs or combinations, is managed via:

• individual consultation of patients 

• developing patient profiles with history taking, physical examinations, laboratory testing

• knowledge of Veterinary Herbal Medicine

• consistent and ongoing Continuing Veterinary Education and access to ongoing veterinary and medical research

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​Ref: Wynn SG, Fougère BJ. Veterinary Herbal Medicine: A Systems-Based Approach. Veterinary Herbal Medicine. 2007:291–409. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-02998-8.50024-X. Epub 2009 May 15. PMCID: PMC7151902.