Our Approach
Our Mission
As a veterinary medical center, our main purpose is to improve the quality of our patients' lives. We aim to contribute information, practices, medicines, and foods that promote disease-free living. When disease states persist, we work to detect them and correct them at the earliest possible stages to maximally improve quality of life. When symptoms cannot be fully resolved, our goal is to minimize their detrimental influence on the lives of our patients. The best way to minimize disease and maximize health is through proper symptom interpretation and resolution, preferably at the earliest stages possible.
Chinese medicine offers a significantly different vantage point than the current popular problem-based approach to medical care by seeking to explain patterns of disease via overarching narratives that draw from symptom interpretation. One challenge to this proactive approach is to 'know when to and know when not to' act on a particular symptom. Constitution, lifestyle, diet (i.e. everything fed to a creature), medicines, climate and the immediate weather, and emotions are all factors in physiological and pathophysiological processes. The best practitioners of Chinese medicine view symptoms as the result of all of these factors and propose holistic solutions to address the pattern fundamentally. This is our goal here at Qi Veterinary Clinic.
Dogs and cats age five to seven times faster than we do. They experience youth, full maturity, aging and deterioration at speeds that prompt us to notice and study these cycles of life. As providers of their care, we control what they eat, who they cohabitate with, their exercise levels, and even whether they can seek and fulfill their true aspirations and joy. The exercise of animal care adds joy and education to our own lives and aging processes. Qi Veterinary Clinic seeks to apply the fundamental principles of Chinese medicine to the greater ecosystem embodied by this human-animal bond, and through it become an agent for a greater awareness of truly holistic health.
Maintain Optimal Health
Chinese veterinary medicine offers treatments for a wide range of disorders. Its strength, however, lies in the ability to discover an animal's inherent tendency towards imbalance, and neutralize this tendency by identifying lifestyle and nutritional practices that are favorable to an individual. When these measures are insufficient, acupuncture and herbal medications are used to restore balance. In short, by its very sensitive nature in identifying and neutralizing disease in its earliest stages, Chinese medicine excels in its ability to maintain optimal health.
Acupuncture has been used through the ages as an effective treatment modality for a variety of ailments. It can provide pain relief for musculoskeletal disorders, such as arthritis in the spine and joints of the limbs. More deeply seated internal medical disorders can also be addressed with acupuncture.
Acupuncture exerts its effect on the body by manipulating blood flow. It may serve to increase blood flow to an area, thus aiding healing in times of a deficiency. Alternatively, it may be used to direct blood flow away from areas that are inflamed by excessive blood supply. This rebalancing effect of various acupuncture point stimulation is important both therapeutically and diagnostically. Based upon which acupuncture points are successful, herbal medicines can be chosen to support the goals of treatment.
Herbal Medicine
We predominantly use Chinese herbal formulas, and some Western herbal medications, to address disease in our patients. These herbal formulas address not only the symptoms that trouble animals, but also the root cause of the problem(s). In this way, over time, the disease pattern is addressed completely, and the self-perpetuating cycle of chronic disease can be broken.
Classic Chinese herbal formulas have an impressive track record of treating millions of patients over centuries of development. Diseases are usually the result of a delicate interplay between several organs in the body. Complex, multifaceted problems require complex, multifaceted solutions. Herbal medicines contain many active ingredients to address disease on several levels simultaneously.
Nutrition
A quick look at the anatomy and physiology of dogs and cats, with their short digestive tracts, very acidic stomach acid, and sharp, shearing teeth, clearly indicates that these creatures evolved to eat meat. Yet many foods available on the market contain high amounts of grain that cause most of the health problems affecting dogs and cats today. We researched the best diets available, and carry foods that we feel keep our patients healthy.
We advise all of our clients on the best feeding practices to address each individual patient, with special consideration to their breed, disease tendencies, and current disease patterns. We also advise on properly preparing home cooked diets for our patients.
Holistic Petcare. Is it Right for You?
At Qi Veterinary Clinic, we use the Chinese medicine system, the best developed holistic system, to characterize the energetic properties of foods, herbs, pharmaceuticals, emotions, vaccinations, anti-parasitics, and relationships through the various stages of life. Because our animal companions’ lives progress faster than our own, we see their inherent tendencies towards disease develop quickly.
A Holistic Approach to Pet Healthcare
We invite you to learn more by viewing our New Client Form.