We all know about herbal practices for ourselves, but what about your furry friends? Did you know that there is an alternative veterinary practice near you?? This week we will highlight another one of our favorite alternative health providers – Five Elements Veterinary Alternatives – and they happen to utilize (and love) our herbal products!! Five Elements strictly provides care for animals, sorry, no herbal consultations for humans (that’s what our Herbal Clinic is for)!
Our relationship with Five Elements started about 2 or maybe 3 years back, when my wife and I first took our 2 Great Danes to see Jen and Grant for chiropractic care. Great Danes are one of the largest breeds of dogs that exist, they are practically human-sized, if not larger! Having Scooch and Buttercup as part of the family has been like having two small children to feed, house, and take care of – this was an important factor for us, because Danes are known for having short life-spans (averaging 8 years) and we want to do everything within our power to keep them healthy, strong, and vibrant for 8 years plus!
We started off with traditional veterinary practices because we weren’t aware that there are alternative options. Since we work in the herbal industry, Scooch and Butter have their own herbal formulas, customized to their constitutional needs. We take our pups to Five Elements for their chiropractic specialties - the nervous system has a huge role in the overall health and well-being of every living creature and in my opinion, is especially important for the larger creatures with more moving parts.
Seeing where Scooch and Butter get their adjustments also gives us insight to what they need in terms of herbs. Studying their adjustments and exchanging theory with Jen and Grant has helped us to better understand what their health needs are; since dogs can’t tell us when something hurts, we must watch for other body signals. Buttercup is almost always getting adjustments for liver support and Scooch always has tight hips with adjustments for supporting spleen and stomach function. Like we mentioned in our last blog (insert link for spinal communications blog), we have seen many improvements in our dogs’ health by pairing physical body work with herbal supplements and other lifestyle changes. Our furry friends are an important component to our family and we want to provide for them the best life possible with the methods that we are familiar with.
From Dr. Jen Hebel herself, here is an excerpt of all that they offer at Five Elements:
“At Five Elements Veterinary Alternatives, our mission is to provide an integrative approach to improve the wellness, comfort, performance, and longevity of your animal companion. Our treatment strategies are based on philosophy that the body contains the innate ability to heal itself. The therapeutic modalities that we offer – chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese and Western herbs, rehabilitation therapy, and nutritional counseling – simply help remove barriers to natural healing and allow the body to return to balance. Our veterinarians are also well-grounded in Western veterinary medical practice and seek to add a rational, professional approach to alternative therapies with proven results.
All pets could benefit from therapies offered at Five Elements, beginning as puppies and kittens. Starting a young pet off right with the appropriate nutrition, exercise, and chiropractic care, along with an intelligent approach to vaccination, can go a long way towards lifelong wellness.
Pets with existing chronic disease can benefit from therapies such as chiropractic, acupuncture, physical rehabilitation, nutrition, and herbal therapy. While allopathic medication or surgery may still be needed, using integrative therapies can ease side effects, improve comfort, and gradually shift the body towards homeostasis. We routinely treat conditions such as:
- Musculoskeletal conditions like arthritis or chronic back pain
- Neurological disorders causing weakness in the back legs
- Skin allergies, chronic infections
- Epilepsy
- Endocrine disorders (ie. Hypothyroidism, diabetes, Cushing’s diseases)
- Chronic organ dysfunction (ie. Liver disease, kidney insufficiency, inflammatory bowel disease)
- Cancer
Like people, the needs of your pet change dramatically as they age. Highly digestible nutrition, herbal therapy, and routine chiropractic care can greatly improve both the longevity and quality of life of older animals. Senior animals are more prone to many disorders such as:
- Obesity or malnutrition
- Decreasing mobility due to joint pain and other musculoskeletal/neurologic issues
- Kidney and liver disease
- Heart and lung disease
- Mental and cognitive function
- Cancer
Alternative therapies provide gentle drug-free options that can be safely added to more conventional pharmaceutical approaches. Acupuncture, chiropractic, and herbs integrate nicely with conventional treatments of many disease processes by supporting body systems and helping to restore balance where there is excess or deficiency. Dr. Jen Hebel is now creating custom Western herbal formulations for canine and feline patients using Prairie Star herb tinctures. Nearly all of the above listed conditions can be supported with Western herbs formulas. If you are interested in custom herbal formulations for your pet, please call to schedule your consultation at 402-614-6075.” You may also peruse their website to learn more information: https://5elementsveterinary.com/ Located at 3125 S. 61st Ave. Omaha, NE 68106; if you can’t make it to Five Elements specifically, search your area to see if you can find alternative veterinary practices near you.
Along with the lovely description of the practices offered at Five Elements, we acquired a biography on Dr. Jen:
“Dr. Jen Hebel brings a very diverse background to the practice. She has had a lifelong love of gardening and outdoor recreational pursuits: hiking, wildflower identification, backpacking, climbing, mountain biking, and kayaking. She receives a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science and Policy at Duke University and both a PhD in Anatomy and Neurobiology and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University. She was a handler and trainer with Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado during her time in Colorado and served as a Captain in the United States Army Veterinary Corps at Offutt Air Force Base.
Dr. Jen is a certified rehabilitation therapist through the Canine Rehabilitation Institute and has completed the Options for Animals College of Animal Acupuncture at the Chi Institute. Dr. Jen has taken Western herbal medicine classes from the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies, Dr. Tierona Low Dog, Matthew Wood, and Phyllis Light and is currently enrolled in the Family and Community Herbalist Program at Four Winds Natural Healing Center in Omaha.”
Leave a comment