Referring Veterinary Surgeons collaborating with you and your client

Thank you for considering a referral to Botanical Veterinary Care. We look forward to collaborating with you and your client to achieve the best outcome for the patients presented to us.

You might be wondering what, exactly, we do! Our care model is based around the Integrated Care in Veterinary Practice certificate. This is a holistic approach which combines knowledge and skill of traditional veterinary medicine alongside recognised, evidence-based complementary therapies such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, physiotherapy and nutritional therapy.

What you and your clients will get from me:

  • Setting expectations: as a veterinary surgeon I work under the cascade. Herbal medicines are used to augment traditional medicines, ameliorate side effects, and/or fill in any gaps. They are not a replacement for veterinary drugs, diagnostics or therapies. This is made clear to clients throughout my consultations.
  • Collaboration: I love my patients, my clients, and my colleagues! I am a very experienced general practitioner, and I know the value of the whole veterinary team working together. I am always keen to learn, and as an avid practitioner of evidence based veterinary medicine I would love to hear your knowledge and experience. I will always be happy to discuss cases with you. It is likely that over the course of treatment I will refer the patient back to you for further work-up/investigations, and as new conditions arise. My intention is that through working collaboratively with the client and with yourselves, our client will have an even better relationship with your practice and be more likely to seek help and advice from you.
  • Safety and control: around 30% of small animal clients and 50% of equine clients are using herbs/supplements already – mostly without any veterinary input. These may be products bought online or from human food sources, and don’t have the advantage of quality control. There is higher risk of adulteration (using the wrong parts of a plant, or mixing with other potentially dangerous substances). It is to the patient’s benefit to use herbal medicines that are efficacious, safe, and evidence-based. My sources use Good Manufacturing Process and are quality controlled for the active phytochemicals. They are also sustainably and ethically sourced, which particularly important to herbs which are a conservation risk (such as slippery elm and devil’s claw).
  • Knowledge: my written reports will explain which herbs and dietary modifications are used and why. There will be safety information, including any known drug interactions in a clear, concise format. I am easy to contact, and should you have any concerns I will do my best to address them.
  • Time: we are all busy in veterinary practice. Some cases require more time than we have in a 15 or 20 minute first opinion consult, and referral centres are busy too. Complex cases often benefit from an environmental assessment – and home visits can be tricky to fit in as routine in small animal practice. I can offer clients the benefit of time and convenience, while supporting and acknowledging the value of what you do as their primary care vet.

CPD

We are pleased to be able to offer CPD for vets and nurses at your practice. The following options are available, or if you have something else you would like please email hello@botanicalvet.com and we will do our best to create something especially for you!

Free lunchtime Fresh Food Feeding and Herbal Medicine presentation – 1hour

I will come into practice, or present virtually via Zoom if you prefer, a one-hour talk about raw/home cooked diets and veterinary herbal medicine. I can provide a small reference factsheet and a certificate of attendance for vets and RVNs.

In return for this I will provide you with some in-practice advertising (posters, leaflets, or video for the waiting room TV) and a social media post to share on your channels. 

£25 each or 5 for £100 – Webinars – 1-2 hours each

You can purchase these webinars for your vets or nurses to watch at a time that suits them. One CPD certificate will be provided for each registration. If you’d like any other subjects to be covered please let me know – I’m always happy to produce more! 

  • Raw feeding – why and how to do it safely
  • Bespoke nutrition – simple adjustments for different clinical conditions
  • Weight loss clinics – a holistic approach
  • Herbal medicine – a short history and modern day approach
  • Simple, practical herbal solutions for every-day practice

 

Where is the evidence?

Herbal medicines are used as part of first line human GP medicine in 80% of the world, according to WHO. It therefore shouldn’t be surprising that there are over 90,000 citations for herbal medicine on PubMed, including over 2000 meta-analyses (quantitative, formal epidemiological studies generally accepted as the highest level of evidence). 

Most of these studies refer to human medicine, however there are a growing number of animal studies. The British Association of Veterinary Herbalists collates these and communicated relevant research regularly. This includes new discoveries in phytochemicals, their actions, clinical trials, and potential drug interactions.

I am a firm believer in evidence based veterinary medicine. My advice to clients will be based on a respect for historical records, my own clinical experience and results of published research. I am always happy to discuss research papers, and I will highlight interesting evidence in my podcast and social media channels.