It can be hard to find a good, holistic veterinarian. One whose number 1 goal is helping your pet live the longest, healthiest life possible. But it is possible.
An a handy checklist makes it easier.
These are a must for a good health practitioner. Don't settle for anything less!
⭕ Ability to listen without interrupting.
⭕ Ability to admit when wrong.
⭕ Ability to admit that you do not know everything.
⭕ Firm belief that helping your patients is more important than making money.
⭕ An extremely open mind to try new things and a willingness to try a nonharmful therapy even if you don’t really believe it will work.
⭕ The knowledge that a great deal about health and science remains unknown and that a lot of what’s taught today will be disproved in future studies.
⭕ The knowledge that a double blind placebo controlled crossover study will never be carried out on many products and therapies which work very well.
⭕ The knowledge that many of these studies conflict with one another proving that this supposed “gold standard” is not always accurate.
⭕ The knowledge that a great deal of exceptional research is carried on in other countries and that it may not be reprinted in our journal nor read by our professors. So the “not invented here” syndrome is very injurious to the growth of modern scientific knowledge.
⭕ An extremely skeptical mind is also important given many products and procedures in fact do not work.
⭕ An understanding of the US government’s office of technology assessment study which showed that less than 50% of all current drugs and surgical procedures have not been adequately researched and have not been proven safe and effective clinically.
As I said, caring, compassionate, knowledgable practitioners are out there, so don't settle for anything less than the best for yourself and your pet!
*Excerpt from a lecture by David Getoff, Naturopath