Holistic vets & TCM Herbology

[Guest guest]

Todd and all:

 

>>I had a vet in Portland whose basis for treating with chinese

herbs was clearly based upon four paws, five elements, not formal

training, so your comment that this book is for laypeople seems to have

been missed by some vets. <<

 

I'm sorry your limited experience with vets who use TCM has been negative.

I am at a conference now and just sat through my first hour of advanced TCM

lectures offered this week - I assure you that the talks are not based on

tonics but on dealing with pathogens, while keeping deficiencies in mind if

they are present. I think you found the exception and not the rule.

 

>>... I value chinese medicne because of its long tradition. there is no

tradition of

feline medicine in china, so NO ONE has a classically grounded experience.

I think

experience without tradition and training leads to erroneous conclusions.

... A single generation of anecdotes is as meaningless to me in animal

medicine as it is human medicine. To adapt TCM based upon experience

requires deep study of the classic subject, many, many generations of

collected anecdotes and/or modern research to verify it all. Without an

established consensus of experts across many generations, what do we have?

<<<

 

I agree that a bunch of anecdotes does not data make. But where do you

start? I think you start with veterinarians who are treating 5-10 patients

daily, day in and day out, who are in communication with each other and who

develop and publish clinical reviews and clinical trials. That is no crap

shoot - it's building a tradition, and it's a great deal better than

building your conclusions on your own personal experience.

 

>>Talk about disparaging a profession. So what I took 4 years to learn to

do effectively a vet can learn enough to do in two days. .. So if vets can

practice TCM with 2 days training, that just means TCM is not a deep study

on par with vet med. I totally disagree and to

accept that statement is to accept that MDs should just take over the

practice of

TCM for humans, as well. You are saying that there is no real depth

necessary to study TCM... I think in order to treat animals, you need

expert knowledge in BOTH TCM and veterinary medicine, not one or the other.<<<

 

No one is claiming that veterinarians with no or insufficient training can

practice TCM effectively. We are talking about very deep study in a

specialized area. That doesn't mean that you can ONLY practice as a well

trained specialist. Surgical specialists are qualified to do and have

great success in all kinds of weird conditions, but general veterinarians

can easily do laceration repairs and castrations. I don't think it's a

stretch to let vets with 2 days of training try Curing Pills for dietary

indiscretion and nausea in a dog, or try Liu Wei Di Huang Wan for renal

failure. Any veterinarian can learn that GB 29, GB30, BL54, GB34, and ST36

needled for a short period of time can help dogs with hip osteoarthritis,

but when the patient is considered on a holistic level or the condition is

more complicated, real acupuncture training is required. No one is

belittling the specialized training of a LAc.- we are simply trying to say

that animals may not be treated as little people. It's a different course

of study.

 

>>And Susan implied that an L.Ac. is unqualifed to treat animals due to no vet

training. Would you go further and say humans are best treated with herbs

by those whose

primary degree is also in western medicine. That seems the like the

logical absurdity of this argument.<<

 

There is no absurdity - MDs and DVMs don't have any TCM herb training, but

become more qualified the more they learn about herbs. LAc's had darn well

better know something about animal syndromes before they prescribe an herb

- not just because it is illegal in the U.S., but because it is indeed

dangerous if they assume animals and people are physiologically and

energetically identical.

 

I'm pretty sure that we both recognize the UNIQUE expertise of both LAcs

and DVMs. They are very different courses of study. What *I* am hearing

though is that the LAc believes that animals are treated like people. This

is the mistake of someone who has never had *any* veterinary training at

all. A veterinary nurse could you tell you what the differences are. SOME

training is necessary.

 

That's all.

 

Susan G. Wynn, DVM, RH (AHG)

Woodstock, GA

Executive Director,

Veterinary Botanical Medicine Association