Plants for Animals Group

For years, I have been thinking about how I want to practice veterinary medicine—not just how I want to provide veterinary care, but what kind of practice I want to build.

I am moving toward a community-centered model, with the goal of making good care more accessible, creating opportunities for people to learn from and support one another, and building a practice that is sustainable for the animals, their people, the community, and for me.

In recent years, I have also become increasingly convinced that one of the greatest absences in our modern society has been community. Whenever we can, I think we should be practicing ways to come together.

For those of you familiar with Flora Roja in Eureka Springs, I have been inspired by Francesca. I was enamored by her sacred ability to create space and bring her style of healing to more people through community acupuncture. I have always imagined an opportunity to make my way of practicing more accessible to a larger population of patients.

Those things have gradually come together for me: a desire to impact the health of a larger number of animals, to build community around my practice and apothecary, and to use my skills in a way that allows me to maintain my own health and quality of life.

Community acupuncture:

The most common reason I see my patients is for consistent acupuncture treatments. Somewhat frequently in the beginning, and usually every 2–4 months for maintenance.

I believe that all of my patients can benefit from acupuncture, and I see it as a way to fine-tune their health. I have said that if I were able to treat an animal their whole life, even minimally, they might need me less when they are older.

It is an opportunity to steer them back toward health, and a tool that can do that even in early imbalance.

My desire is to have to intervene in a reactive way at later stages of disease much less, and instead focus on keeping pets healthy.

This is my response to witnessing medical systems fail from the beginning, when there isn't enough time, money, or staff to give every patient the resources they need. I believe this is what a truly sustainable system can look like—one in which fewer resources are required in every way, because an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure.

In community fashion, acupuncture will be offered on a sliding scale. This will make it more affordable for those who need a break, while those who can afford to pay more can help subsidize the endeavor.

Other ways to work with me:

Community acupuncture will be the center of the practice, but it won't be the only way to receive care.

I will be offering one day each week for scheduled phone consultations, which can be booked in 30- or 60-minute slots depending on the amount of time needed. This feels like a much better way to do routine check-ins, manage ongoing cases, and address issues that don't require an in-person visit than trying to keep up with text messages.

I will also still be offering the more intensive one-on-one holistic consultations. These are the in-depth evaluations and consultations that allow us to spend more time looking at the whole animal, including complicated or longstanding health problems. They will remain particularly important for patients with more significant or complex disease, at least for the initial visit.

The two forms of individual care serve different purposes. A phone consultation gives us a practical way to stay connected and manage ongoing care, while an intensive holistic consultation gives us the time to really evaluate the whole animal.

I will be able to prescribe and adjust herbal treatments through acupuncture sessions and phone consultations when appropriate.

Learning together:

I will also be offering monthly classes covering much of the extensive information I currently provide in my standard holistic consultations. This will include diet therapy and preparing homemade pet food, parasite prevention, and other general health topics.

These classes will be free to members of the community, meaning I have seen your pet in some way.

All booking will be done online, and my website will also serve as a community forum, with message boards where we can continually learn from each other.

I want the information I have spent years learning to be something that can be shared more broadly, rather than something that always requires an individual consultation.

Bringing animals and people together:

I am also in communication with local trainers about providing community workshops focused on the relationship between physical and behavioral wellness.

I would like these to be opportunities to bring together dogs and their people in a social setting, where they can safely learn how to incorporate them into their lives in a way that furthers their bonds and eases anxieties for all parties involved.

I think community is part of how we get to a healthier and more sustainable way of caring for animals—not just because it allows us to share resources, but because health doesn't happen entirely in isolation. The more opportunities we have to learn from each other, support each other, and pay attention to our animals before something becomes a crisis, the less often we have to rely on intensive intervention later.