Megs Meats Truckee, California

Interview with Lindsay Croom, DVM
May 12, 2007
Lindsay Croom began her career as a veterinarian in 1991 working with horses, dogs, cats, and some pocket pets. She has resided and has worked in Oakdale, California since 1995. About 10 years into her work in a conventional practice, Lindsay began to feel that she was no longer helping the sick animals that came to her and actually considered giving up her practice. “I had gotten to a point where I felt I was hindering the healing process. I was prescribing medications and administering vaccinations that were harming the animals. Intuitively I knew that I had not tapped into my full potential as a healer. I felt like I was just patching and treating symptoms rather than treating the whole animal, the whole individual.” Five years ago a friend from Veterinary School encouraged her to take an Acupuncture course and she loved it! That first class led to an exploration of alernative therapies. As Lindsay says, “I now had an entirely new avenue to help the animals. I love going to work now. I have a better understanding of what the animals need when they come to me for help.”

Grace: Tell me about your connection to animals.

Lindsay: When I am with the animals I feel happy and joyful. They make sense to me. I understand them. I know that the animals are here to teach us about life and I am grateful that they are willing to do that.

Grace: What is your definition of health and wellness?

Lindsay: A healthy well animal is an animal

again for another three to six months. I am fairly conservative and spread visits out as soon as possible. As the animal ages I will see them more often due to the aging process.

Grace: What are the typical conditions that you see?

Lindsay: Chronic disease, cancer, allergies, immune conditions as well as musculoskeletal problems, lameness, sore backs, and senior citizens with arthritis.

that has good shen. Shen is a term used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to describe the spirit aspect of the life force energy which is present in all of nature. A healthy animal is happy and emotionally sound. Their eyes are bright and alert. They are of good weight with no apparent lameness, signs of allergies or disease and are energetically balanced.

Grace: What alternative modalities do you utilize in your practice?

Lindsay: Acupuncture, chiropractic, homotoxicology, and nutrition. I have also completed courses for Western and Chinese herbs. Homotoxicology is basically homeopathy but it involves combination remedies rather than classic homeopathy where you use a single remedy. It adds to the acupuncture because I can use it as aqua puncture by placing homeopathic remedies in acupuncture points.

Grace: How would you define acupuncture?

Lindsay: Acupuncture is a technique of stimulating the nervous and the vascular systems to create balance through the movement of energy. When the nervous and vascular systems are stimulated at specific points along meridians, chemicals, are released that enable the body to heal. It is ultimately a way of supporting the body to heal itself.

Grace: How do acupuncture and chiropractic work together?

Lindsay: Acupuncture can help relieve pain and chiropractic enables joints to release adhesions in order to move correctly. For example I often treat animals for back and hip pain. Stimulating acupuncture points around the hip will trigger the brain to release chemicals for pain control. Manipulating the joint through chiropractic releases adhesions and promotes blood flow to that joint ultimately helping to control the degenerative progression of the joint.

Grace: How many visits will an animal
need for an observable change?

Lindsay: It really depends on the condition we are treating. Most people see a change after the first visit. It might be as simple as the animal seems happier and or feels better. There is often an immediate improvement in sleep patterns. Neurological disease or injuries generally require frequent treatments over a short period of time. An animal that has a disk problem, is paralyzed, or has a neurological injury will often take longer to observe a change in the existing condition.

Grace: How many treatments are usually needed?

Lindsay: Generally, I have people schedule two to four visits in one to two week intervals and then I may not see that animal

Many of these conditions are related to poor nutrition, excessive vaccinations, and exposure to toxins in the environment. I would like to do more preventative work rather than simply managing chronic issues.

Grace: Tell me about the parameters you use to assess your patients.

Lindsay: I look at the animal as a whole. When I was in a conventional practice I had to have a history before I could walk into the room. I needed a problem like, itchy skin so that I could start thinking about what I was up against. What could I rule out and what could the diseases be. Now when I walk into the room the first thing I notice is the emotional status of the animal. I want to know about their environment and relationship to their people. I am more concerned about energetic imbalances rather than a specific disease process. What are the other things that we need to help first to get to the core issue. I am not necessarily going to prescribe an antibiotic but I might prescribe a change in environment, a change in diet, or increased exercise.

Grace: When you take a history what types of things need to be included?

Lindsay: A history will include not only a history of the illness but I also want to know about vaccinations, diet, sleep, and exercise patterns. Are they panting at night, are they cold or hot, how much are they drinking?

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	Truckee, California, USA