Chinese Medicine For Pets: Yin and Yang Balance
Yin and Yang: Unlocking Balanced Health for Pets Through Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TVCM)
Dr. Bhatt holds a certification in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, in addition to her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. Combined, these practices allow Dr. Bhatt to provide customized and balanced therapies to pets in her care. To help our pet parents understand Chinese Medicine and learn why certain therapies are used, we will explore some of the basics of the why and the how of it all.
Balancing Yin and Yang: The Ancient Chinese Approach to Pet Health
Since you are interested in integrative medicine for your pets, let’s dive in. Using aspects of Western veterinary medicine has proved invaluable, but you may be interested in exploring other more holistic philosophies and practices that have stood the test of time. One such tradition is Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), which has been around for thousands of years.
At the core of Traditional Chinese Veterinary medicine (TCVM) is the concept of yin and yang - opposite but complementary forces that are believed to exist in all things. Understanding and working to balance these forces is key to maintaining health and well-being according to TCVM principles. Let's look into what yin and yang really mean when it comes to your pet's health.
Yin and Yang 101
The basics of yin and yang are simple, but the full theory has incredible depth and nuance. At its most fundamental level, yin represents cold, darkness, quietude, and inward energy while yang embodies heat, light, activity and outward energy.
You can observe yin and yang all around you in the natural world - day and night, summer and winter, fire and water. Within all beings and phenomena, both yin and yang qualities exist in a delicate balance. Disturbances in this balance are thought to be the root cause of disease and disharmony.
In TCVM, everything is categorized as yin, yang or a specific blend and balance of the two forces. For example:
The sun is ultimate yang, while the moon is yin
Summer is yang, winter is yin
A dog's back is yang, its belly is yin
The heart and small intestine are yang organs, while the kidneys and liver are yin
This dynamic system provides a framework for understanding health and developing treatments aimed at restoring balance and harmony within the body.
Your Pet's Constitutional Balance
Just like humans, animals have an innate yin-yang constitution and tendency that shapes their personality, physique and health patterns from birth. Energetic, driven pets with robust appetites and high metabolisms are considered more yang constitutions. More laidback, smaller pets with lower energy levels lean toward yin.
Dr. Bhatt can assess your pet's constitutional yin-yang balance by evaluating their:
Body type and weight
Activity levels
Temperament
Eating and sleeping patterns
Other behavioral characteristics
A yang dog may be a large, muscular breed like a Rottweiler who loves to run and play for hours. A yin cat might be a petite, thin-coated feline who is shy and reserved. Knowing your pet's inherent yin-yang balance provides a baseline for maintaining their optimal health.
For example, a very yang dog may need extra cooling yin support like access to shade, frequent baths and cooling foods in hot summer months when their excess yang energy is amplified. In cooler months, yang supplements or acupuncture could help raise their vitality.
On the flip side, a yin pet struggling with low energy in winter may benefit from warming yang herbs, foods like chicken or beef, and sunlight to relieve their excess yin cold and dampness. In summer, herbal formulas or foods that clear yin heat could prevent internal heat buildups or inflammation.
Seasonal Attunement
According to TCVM, staying in harmony with the seasons and environmental energetics is key for health. Each season is associated with one of the five elements - wood (Spring), fire (Summer), earth (Late Summer), metal (Fall), and water (Winter).
These elements relate to different yin-yang energies that can increase or decrease at certain times of year. For example, summer's intense heat, activity, and radiant fire element increase yang forces, while winter's stillness, darkness and inward water element energies are more yin.
Feeding your pet a seasonal diet, modifying their exercise routines, and providing an accommodating environment can all help align their yin-yang with the seasons. Simple tips include:
Spring (Wood/Yang) - Increase walks, feed веgе and grass treats
Summer (Fire/Maximum Yang) - Early am Exercise, cooling herbs like mint
Fall (Metal/Yin) - Bone broth, immune herbs like astragalus
Winter (Water/Maximum Yin) - Rest, fatty foods, warm environments
Dr. Bhatt can make specific diet, herb and lifestyle recommendations based on your pet's constitution and the time of year. The goal is to prevent yin-yang imbalances before disease takes hold.
Treating Yin-Yang Imbalances
When yin and yang forces become depleted or excessive relative to one another, pathogenic patterns emerge according to TCVM theory. There are four potential imbalance patterns:
Yin Deficiency (False Heat) - Yin cold, dry, under-functioning patterns like kidney deficiency in older pets. Characterized by seeking warmth, panting, anxiety.
Yang Deficiency (False Cold) - Yang cold, slow, fatigue patterns. Pets may be lethargic, bloated, cold to the touch.
Yin Excess (True Cold) - Excess cold, damp, heavy yin conditions like arthritis. Look for chills, edema, clear mucus discharge.
Yang Excess (True Heat) - Excess heat, dryness, thirst, inflammation and hyper-metabolism are hallmarks. Pets may be restless, have dry coats and red eyes.
Dr. Bhatt will examine all signs and symptoms to determine the precise yin-yang imbalance pattern behind your pet's condition. From there, an integrated treatment plan can be crafted using:
Diet Therapy - Warming or cooling foods matched to the yin-yang diagnosis. Examples include:
Yin/Cold: chicken, lamb, brown rice
Yang/Hot: foods like turkey, spinach, banana
Herbal Formulas - Yin or yang herbs to tonify deficiencies or clear excesses. Common herbs include:
Yin: Rehmannia, coral shell
Yang: Cinnamon, morinda root
Acupuncture - Specific points stimulated to rebalance yin-yang energy flows. Your vet may use needles, laser, electrodes or aquapuncture injections.
Tui-na - An ancient Chinese massage and bodywork discipline that clears stagnations and regulates yin-yang.
Lifestyle Adjustments - Changes to environment (heating, cooling), exercise levels, playtime and more to harmonize with the treatment plan.
The goal is to use an integrated multi-modal approach to guide your pet's yin and yang back into a smooth, balanced flow for optimal health and vitality.
Yin-Yang for Preventive Care
Ideally, your pet's yin-yang constitution will remain in healthy equilibrium throughout their lifetime. Your role as pet parent is simply to observe for any subtle energetic shifts and make adjustments to keep them grounded in balance and harmony.
Work with Dr. Bhatt to develop a preventive care plan focused on diet, supplements, bodywork, acupuncture and lifestyle. Be attuned to energy level changes, appetite fluctuations, behavior, and any physical signs that could indicate yin or yang starting to drift out of balance.
Catching imbalances early through TCVM's lens of yin-yang makes it easier to do course-corrections with simple tweaks. An ounce of prevention can avoid the need for more invasive treatments down the line.
Stay In Harmony
Achieving and maintaining yin-yang harmony and balance provides a strong foundation for your pet's overall wellbeing based on TCVM principles. While the concepts may seem a bit esoteric at first, many pet parents resonate with this ancestral wisdom once they experience its benefits.
Talk to Dr. Bhatt about her holistic and integrative approach to learn about how she uses TCVM's energetic to heal your sweet pet(s). With some minor lifestyle adjustments and preventive care, you can help support your pet's innate yin-yang balance for a long, healthy, happy life in total mind-body harmony.