Anne S. Rice, DVM, “the visiting vet,” says, “My house call practice started in 1986. Integrating holistic and complementary medicine started from my own personal need for relief. I found acupuncture and cranial sacral manipulation offered me the help I needed. Assisting the body to heal itself felt like a positive tool to blend with my conventional knowledge.”

Rice will sit and talk about the animal’s health, diet, behavior and environment for up to three hours. She will discuss nutrition, the pros and cons of vaccination, behavior concerns and emotional and environmental impacts. As a holistic/integrative veterinarian, Rice addresses the whole patient, looking beyond any specific problem of the day to determine what else may be happening.

Rice advises, “Over the past 25 years, there has been a shift in the way people think about their pets’ well-being. As conventional medicine and surgery become more complicated, more and more owners are turning to practitioners who use techniques of preventative care and natural healing to treat everyday ailments, as well as chronic more serious illnesses in pets.”