WELCOME to The Caring Vet!
The Caring Vet provides pets with high quality veterinary health care and medical services. Dr. Michel Selmer offers Long Island pet parents traditional, holistic, integrative medical and wellness care.
Dr. Michel Selmer and The Caring Vet team take the time to get to know your pet individually and develop a lasting relationship that continues well beyond his or her senior years. Working alongside Dr. Selmer, the hospital staff consists of highly qualified individuals who consistently strive to provide quality veterinary care in a compassionate setting. Our goal is to care for your pets consistently, reliably and in a loving and stress-free environment, providing you and your family the luxury of “peace of mind.” We are continually striving to maintain lasting relationships with our clients, treating each patient as a member of our ever-growing family.
Dr. Selmer focuses on Holistic or Integrative Veterinary Medicine, on the examination and diagnosis of an animal, considering all aspects of the animal’s life and employing all of his senses, as well as the combination of conventional and alternative (or complementary) modalities of treatment. When Dr. Selmer sees a pet, besides giving it a comprehensive physical examination, he wants to find out all about its behaviors, distant medical and dietary history and its environment including diet, emotional stresses, and other factors.
What is Integrative Medicine…
Integrative veterinary medicine combines conventional therapies with complementary and alternative medicine for a comprehensive collaboration of diagnosis and treatment.
Most veterinary medical schools train only conventional methods, though this is changing as the use of alternative and complementary therapies, sometimes called a holistic approach, gain acceptance based upon results. Like many professions, veterinary medicine has those who advocate strongly for one approach versus another. Some veterinarians have their heels firmly dug in regarding the use of a holistic-only approach which encompasses therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, aromatherapy, herbal treatments and more. On the other side of the argument, many conventional veterinarians believe use of these alternative therapies to be dangerous and ineffective versus a totally conventional approach. But this all or nothing world is changing as positive results are being reported by those who are willing to be open-minded in their view of health and disease.
The profession is learning that by combining the appropriate and best therapies from all the available disciplines, illness can often be avoided and sick animals can be more quickly and effectively returned to health. And this is the simple definition of a veterinarian who practices integrative medicine.
Veterinarians practicing integrative medicine have also brought another important idea to the field. They believe the focus in veterinary care needs to shift from disease and treatment to health and healing. On the human side this is equivalent to recognizing the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. It also preaches the importance of treating the mind and spirit as well as the body. In simple terms, a happy pet (or person) is more likely to stay healthy in the first place and heal more quickly when sick. Were you surprised when it was discovered that patients (humans) who were happy and laughed a lot were more likely to heal faster?
Some Advice…
If you choose to work with Dr. Selmer who practices integrative care, you’ll be offered a wide range of both diagnostic and treatment techniques so that a proper diagnosis and treatment plan can be instituted. You should ask lots of questions about the recommended course of treatment to insure that you are comfortable and satisfied that the right thing (and everything) is being done to help your beloved pet. You should also expect and be willing to accept recommendations regarding simple methods of intervention, such as dietary adjustment and the selective use of natural remedies, which are all effective parts of integrative medicine.
Dr. Selmer can clearly and confidently guide you through the confusing maze of therapeutic options, particularly when a conventional-only approach simply isn’t working or appears to be ineffective or harmful.
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