Veterinary Association Accepts This Alternative

Its history within the veterinary profession in Western Washington is strewn with upbeat visions and rhetorical flourish, yet alternative and complementary medicine's sensitive nerve has been frayed to near the breaking point at times.

Spirited debate over the efficacy of its modalities has resulted in a climate heated with distrust and doubt among some professionals. Sometimes, however, silence speaks much louder than words, and today the scenario is cool and controlled.

It took a charismatic and confident 30-year-old practitioner, however, to help break the ice earlier this year for what might rank as one of the area profession's most progressive moves ever.

After hearing a compelling presentation by Dr. Donna Kelleher Feb. 12, the Seattle-King County Veterinary Medical Association board of governors, at the urging of its president, Dr. Skip Nelson, passed a measure unanimously designating a new affiliated chapter dedicated to practitioners interested in acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy, massage therapy, homeopathy, botanical and holistic medicine.

Last year the American Veterinary Medical Association approved guidelines for these fields, recognizing the dynamics of each are changing rapidly, which may necessitate revisions again soon.

"I was thrilled," says Kelleher, one of about 15 members of a new Washington chapter of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. "Quite frankly, I wasn't certain what action the board would take or if a vote to accept us as chapter would be delayed, defeated or passed."

Practices both

Kelleher, an emergency-hospital veterinarian, emphasizes that both conventional and alternative medicine have their merits. "As an emergency veterinarian, I see the best Western medicine has to offer - and also its limits. Sophisticated diagnostic equipment, antibiotics and improved surgical techniques allow us to stabilize many injured and seriously ill pets, and in the process save many lives.

"But when some animals suffer from chronic long-term ailments, conventional medicine has a tendency to suppress the immune system with steroids, sometimes resulting in only short-term improvement. Steroids are suspected to have long-term side effects such as cartilage deterioration, muscle wastage and alteration of many hormones in the body. They often become no more than a pharmaceutical Band-Aid."

According to Dr. Richard Pitcairn, in "Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats (Rodale Press, 1982), a dog with skin problems that is continually suppressed with a cortisone-like drug can develop deep-seated problems such as calcification of the spine, pancreatitis (ranges from an inflamed pancreas to the release of digestive enzymes into the abdominal cavity) or kidney failure.

Pitcairn doesn't place all the blame on practitioners, saving some for owners seeking a "quick fix.

"We don't want to change our lives or habits, or take the time to investigate a health problem deeply. Instead we just want to get rid of something we dislike, the sooner the better - even if we know the pain may return later on when the drug wears off. If we took the time and care to work a little harder at understanding and treating the disorder we might be able to do away with it altogether."

Kelleher, a 1994 Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine graduate, is enrolled in a five-days-per-month veterinary chiropractic course offered in Illinois, by Dr. Sharon Willoughby, the matriarch of veterinary chiropractic medicine. "There are about 70 of us enrolled," she says. "Some are chiropractors who treat only human patients, others, like myself, are veterinarians. It's a challenging and exciting course."

Learning experience

Nelson, of Kirkland, a 30-year practitioner in the area, says, "I am the first to admit that before Dr. Kelleher contacted me about the group, I didn't know moxibustion from massage or hydrotheraphy from homeopathy. She presented the board with a mini briefing on topics covered under alternative and complementary veterinary medicine and we all learned something.

"I have certainly had cases which I couldn't diagnose or treat to my satisfaction, let alone the client's and patient's benefit, which might have been better served if I had brought such modalities to the table.

"The morning after I learned a bit about alternative and complementary modalities, a case came to mind which I had been unable to diagnose . . . let alone relieve the symptoms for the poor bunny.

"I called the owners and gave them the phone number of a veterinarian who practices an alternative modality. The client was very appreciative of my demonstration of concern and thanked me for going the extra mile on their behalf.

"None of us knows everything. The welfare of the animal is the bottom line and we must keep an open mind to all parameters of treatment. Those who practice alternative medicine are our colleagues and offer us an option when we've exhausted everything else.

Prefers referrals

"I'd much prefer sending a patient to a knowledgeable colleague who is putting his or her license on the line than having the owner turn to the Internet or a health-food store without receiving professional consultation first."

Having observed an atmosphere of confrontation and few referrals for years, Dr. Michael Lemmon of Renton, past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (1989) and coordinator of that group's national convention here the same year, sees the S-KCVMA's move to accept the new chapter as a "significant step forward."

Conventional veterinarians are turning to prescribing vitamins, supplements and nutrients, says Lemmon, and becoming more open-minded about referring clients, whom they are unable to help or who want to seek out alternative options.

"I have no objections to conventional medicine," says Lemmon. "There's a place for it and holistic medicine in our profession."

Lemmon, who has practiced here since 1965, was in on the groundwork when Dr. Carvel Tiekert of Bel Air, Md., founded the AHVMA in 1981. "There were about a dozen of us at the first meeting in Las Vegas," he recalls. Now the organization numbers more than 600.

Possibly a first

Tiekert is unaware of any other major local veterinary association bringing in an alternative chapter. "It's certainly a positive move," he acknowledges.

"I think you'll see more graduating veterinarians seeking out information about holistic medicine. If they ask for it, it'll certainly be incumbent on some of the veterinary schools to offer credit courses." Only noncredit courses are available now.

Taking the high-energy movement to the next level in this state would include the appointment of a holistic veterinarian to the state board of governors and offering continuing-education credit to practitioners who enroll in courses taught by qualified area professionals.