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The Herbal Vet

The work of a HERBAL VET explained

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FAQ Herbal Medicine

Herbal vet medicine - Mullein

A HERBAL VET (herbal veterinarian - herb vet) is one who uses herbs (herbal medicine - herbal treatment - plant medicine - phytotherapy - herbal veterinary medicine) for his or her patients. This may or may not involve the use of Western herbs but more often does so, in the UK. Other possible forms are Chinese herbs, Indian herbs and Ayurvedic herbs or other indigenous natural medicines from around the World. Only those regions of the World that are covered in ice would have had no herbal lore.

Herbal medicine is a deep tradition. Animals have an instinct for the medicinal benefits of herbs (zoopharmacognosy) and early mankind would have been no different. Over subsequent generations and with developing cultures, man has refined the use of herbs into a medical tradition.

The committed way of working also demands of the herb vet adherence to holistic principles, for correct application. This is a fundamental part of the traditional approach that is built into the methodology.

The first consultation with a herbal vet differs from the conventional one, in some key areas and usually takes longer. It necessitates collection of more information, by wider and deeper enquiry, in order to allow for holistic application. The herb vet needs to have a deep understanding of the patient and of the plant medicines available.

In the traditional way of thinking, herbal medicine used whole herbs, parts of herbs (e.g. root or leaf) or various extracts of herbs, in unadulterated form. Modern herbal medicine is sometimes in danger of forgetting this important fact. Nowadays, there is a 'fashion' for extracting and purifying or refining an assumed 'active ingredient' of a herb, for use on its own. This has more danger of side-effects, as the extracted component is not balanced by other plant ingredients, in a whole-plant holistic context. Herb vet Chris Day believes that this is a parody of traditional herbal medicine. An even further extension of this is to modify that 'active' ingredient, to make a patent drug (modern conventional drug medicine). This is reductionism at work, usually with massive profit motivation to blur the science.

Herbal medicine is not homeopathy, although a vet using homeopathy uses many remedies that share the same names as those used by a herb vet. The method of preparation and the mode of use are different, however. In herbal medicine, material quantities of the plant are used for their pharmacological actions. In homeopathy it is more usual to use the extreme dilutions with which that method has become associated and to use them according to the reaction they can provoke in the body.

In the UK, many practices and individuals have started to use some herbs in their patient care. These practices will not all be working on holistic principles or providing essential diet work or may not be making sufficient use of herbs to merit the description 'herbal vet' (herb vet) but it is encouraging that there is increased usage of herbs in the veterinary profession and increased recognition of their worth in support of the health and welfare of our domesticated animals.

Herbal vets may or may not use other forms of complementary and alternative medicine. If they do, the therapies should be properly integrated, for safety and efficacy.

The Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre (AVMC) offers Herbal Medicine for animals

carefully integrated with other therapies and holistic management

To illustrate the scope of herbal medicine, we have prepared pages discussing phytotherapy for each of the major species:

Herbal vet medicine - Comfrey

Horses Herbal Medicine - Ponies Herbal Medicine

Dogs Herbal Medicine

Cats Herbal Medicine

Herb Vet at the AVMC

At the AVMC, we use exhaustive holistic methodology, with integrated alternative and complementary medicine methods. Chris Day, herb vet / herbal vet and holistic vet, has more than 38 years of experience with veterinary herbal medicine and is willing to share experiences, understanding and ideas with veterinary colleagues, veterinary students and animal owners.

Herb Vet Chris Day

*Herb vets don't grow on trees but some important herbal medicines do! Take salicylic acid, for instance, harvested from willow bark to give us aspirin and the Hawthorn Berry (Crataegus) that is such an effective cardiac (heart) support. At the AVMC, however, we would give willow bark or meadow sweet (another plant that is rich in salicylate), in the raw state, in preference to the manufactured chemical extract. N.B.:  Willow and Meadowsweet herbal medicines should not be given in conjunction with conventional NSAIDs and vice versa, unless dosages are carefully controlled and monitored. The veterinary herbalist (herb vet) should know this but many conventional vets will not, hence the potential dangers.

Herbal vet at work: We see animals at the AVMC premises for phytotherapy (herbs) and we regularly visit an area stretching from Wales to London, from Devon to Kent, from South to North Midlands and from Bristol and West Midlands to the Wash and East Anglia. Visits are mainly to see horses but we can also arrange house calls (home visits) for domestic pets. We see many patients from London and visit London homes.

While deeply respecting the ancient practices of Ayurvedic Herbal Medicine and Chinese Herbal Medicine, both of which have extremely long traditions (as opposed to the modern marketing and pharmaceutical strategies, which have changed them from their original holistic practice, extracting and purifying ingredients and/or labelling them for specific purposes), Herb vet Chris Day tends to use indigenous Western Herbs as first-line herbal medicine.

Holistic, Alternative, Natural or Complementary?

The Holistic Vet

The Homeopathic Vet

The Acupuncture Vet

The Complementary Vet

The Alternative Vet

The Natural Vet

www.veterinary-herbal.co.uk

The work of a herbal vet (herb vet) explained

www.naturalfeeding.co.uk

An information-only website drawn up to introduce readers to natural feeding for dogs, cats, horses & ponies

www.holisticvetmed.co.uk

An overview of the work of a holistic vet & the therapies involved

www.chiropractic-vet.co.uk

The work of a chiropractic vet explained

www.equineacupuncturevet.co.uk

The work of an acupuncture vet explained

'Phytotherapy' is another word for 'herbalism' or 'herbal medicine'

Chris Day is a vet who qualified from Cambridge in 1972 and whose parents were both extremely vocational vets. He therefore studied veterinary life and veterinary medicine from a very early age. He also had a great interest in plants and their uses. He started to use homeopathy on himself, from about ten or eleven years of age. He bought books on veterinary acupuncture and on homeopathic medicine, while at veterinary school, in 1969. He studied these and started to use vet homeopathy in his first year as a vet. Herbal medicine (herbs - phytotherapy) and acupuncture followed soon after. He became fascinated by chiropractic treatment in the mid-nineteen-seventies. All this explains his holistic approach, his dedication to patient care and his integrated use of the different therapies, each having been carefully built on the previously-studied techniques. He thus has many years of experience in the various therapies and has been brought up in an environment in which patient care was always paramount.

Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre

Herb Vet - Holistic Vet - Homeopathic Vet - Acupuncture Vet - Herbal Vet - Natural Vet - Herb Vet

Copyright © AVMC - November 2007

Herbal vet / Herb vet at AVMC - Putting the patient first

Herbal vet also known as: herbal veterinary surgeon - herbal veterinarian - veterinary herbalist - herb vet - phytotherapy vet

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Copyright © 2007 Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre
Chinham House, Stanford in the Vale, Oxon SN7 8NQ (UK)
Tel.: #44 (0)1367 710324 - Fax: #44 (0)1367 718243
www.alternativevet.org

holistic vet - homeopathic vet - acupuncture vet - herbal vet - chiropractic vet - natural vet
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