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Life alt-vet revolutionary pet care — longevity solutions Sometimes the cure is not what alternative medicine will give you, it’s all about qualityof life and pain control. I always tell my clients that what is important is not a number of days that you live on this earth, but the quality of such days. A lot of patients I treat are actually hospice care due to terminal cancer. These are very emotional cases and end up being some of my dearest patients. As a matter fact, it seems that when you get a cancer diagnosis on your pet something amazing happens: people that would never consider acupuncture will open their minds enough to accept it. Maybe it is because they are desperately trying to save their pets or at least have more time with them. Many people know that acupuncture helps with disc disease, lameness, and paralysis, but they do not know other conditions that can be helped by it. For example, gastrointestinal disorders like vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea can be helped with acupuncture. Cushing’s disease, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, and behavior problems are conditions in which acupuncture is not commonly used despite it being a great way to treat them. The senior dogs and cats are like antique cars, when a part is broken, you fix it only to have another one break. That’s the case with the hormones, they are in a feedback loop and if one depletes it causes a domino effect which explains how many senior diabetics with low thyroid and concurrent Cushing’s are seen in my practice. Meet the Doctor Alt-Vet offers chapters on pet acupuncture, massage, healing diets, prevention care and more! Available in bookstores, amazon.com & www.mitsievargas.com We can’t keep substituting parts, and sometimes there are no replacements, so we must refurbish and maintain them. We are in a race against age and body deterioration and the best way to slow it down is using the holistic approach. Good nutrition, a loving environment, and regular examinations can aid in prolonging the longevity of our senior and hospice care pets. Quality-of-life maintenance and hospice care are often areas in which acupuncture could provide help. Many of my cancer patients go on to live exceptionally long lives post-diagnosis. Cancers have a common core of energy or Qi deficiency, therefore the approach to “heal” is to replenish the Qi, especially the Wei Qi which is the Defensive or Immune system Qi. If we cannot kill cancer, at least we can erect giant walls of immunity to contain it and its damage. In my new book Alt-Vet: the revolutionary pet care and longevity solution, I aim to show pet owners ways to enrich the quality of life of their pet using the holistic approach. Mitsie Vargas, DVM, CVA is an assistant acupuncture teacher at the Chi Institute and a consultant with Disney Animal Kingdom. You can reach her at drv@osahvets.com, @osahvets on Twitter or her Facebook page. Orchid Springs Animal mal Hospital 615 Overlook Drive Winter Haven 863.324.6964 osahvets.com 26 WomanToWomanMagazine.com


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