Erika Halle, DVM - Holistic Veterinarian

01/10/2024

I haven't posted much lately, but this one's important for pet parents. A lot of these pets (dogs and cats) are ending up in the ER and some are dying. The cause is yet unknown. Please check your food!

03/02/2022

01/11/2022

Today tune in to "How To Understand ALL Of Your Pet’s Treatment Options with Dr. Erika Halle, DVM - Holistic Veterinarian" on The Spawdcast with Carrie Hyde, The SPAW!

https://youtu.be/IcZB0z3qxoE

08/25/2020

Analysis paralysis and your fur baby's medical issues

We are all well aware that much like with small children, when it comes to our fur babies we are their advocates and the decision makers for everything from food to medical care.

That can be a lot to handle sometimes, especially when we're dealing with intense illnesses or other stressful, urgent situations. This is the case sometimes even when we are generally really tuned in to them and to our inner guidance.

I've had many clients that I've done this for, but there has been one dear client in particular who has dealt with a number of fairly intense health issues in her girls over the last couple of years. I've known her for quite some time now and she is a very tuned in, very intuitive person. Even so, when one of her babies is experiencing urgent medical issues, it has been really hard for her to listen to her inner guidance through the stress in the past.

At first when this would happen, we would just have a brief phone consult. I am her regular veterinarian and pretty familiar with her girls and their various challenges. When things went sideways and she needed urgent care that I couldn't provide, we'd hop on the phone to discuss the situation and her options.

Honestly, I rarely had to tell her what I thought was the best option. Just talking to me on the phone, having space held for her by someone who understood not only the situation medically and personally, but also by someone who really believes that she knows what to do was often enough. We'd talk, by which I mean I'd mostly listen and validate what she was experiencing. The grace of having space held for her was enough that by the end of our calls she usually knew exactly what to do without my even giving her much in the way of medical advice.

There's a really good reason for that: She knew deep in her soul what she and her girls wanted out of the situation. She already knew the right answer, but the stress got in the way of her seeing it and even if she did see it, the stress got in the way of her feeling confident that what she had was the "right" answer.

I have loved doing this for her, but a couple of things have happened. One super amazing thing is that through these calls she has developed the ability to hold space for herself. Now I often hear about urgent situations after they have already been taken care of, or when they're well on their way to resolution. She has been able to hold space for herself in a way that allows her to see and feel confident in the answers she had all along.

The second is that as my practice has grown, I'm not able to do this as much anymore for my in person clients, and for non-in person clients it takes quite a long time to get the background information I need to be able to help. (Not to mention private phone consultations are booked out a month at this point.)

One of the major goals of From Grief to Joy is to train you how to do this. Learning how to hold space for yourself

- Creates confidence in yourself around making big, sometimes permanent decisions and knowing you made the right choice.

- Allows you to deal with the negative emotions that arise, move through them, and be able to be completely present for yourself and your fur baby in a serene, constructive way no matter the situation.

- Empowers you to see that you've held the answers all along. No outside authority has them for you; you just need a clear enough mind to see them.

If you would love to learn more about how to be able to see the answers inside yourself and feel 100% confident in them no matter the urgent and stressful situation you find yourself in, shoot me a PM for more details about the From Grief to Joy course.

08/17/2020

FROM GRIEF TO JOY

I'm so excited to be sharing this here! I wasn't sure this would make it past the private group, but it has and now I'm opening it up for others who are interested.

Why join a death and dying course when you're trying to focus on enjoying the life you have left with your baby?

One of the things I've heard lately is how this workshop group doesn't seem to be a fit because we're trying to focus on enjoying the life we have left together rather than working on processing death right at this moment.

Yes! Perfect! You have hit the purpose of this group right on the nose.

This is not a grief support group, though we will be doing this work with each other. This is not a hospice support group, though we will also be doing that work together.

This workshop is about what it means to get really cozy with the idea of impermanence.

I've walked so many people through this process and can't tell you how heartbreaking it is to get to the end and hear that they have regrets. That they were so focused on treating disease or doing any number of mundane things that they forgot to enjoy the time they had until after it was too late.

Our goal as we journey together in this is to learn how to really suck the marrow out of life.

To really savor every single moment that we have left with our furry babies whether that's 20 years, 2 months, or 2 weeks. To get to a place where you feel that no matter how brief of a time you had with them, you were both able to really enjoy all of that time.

In this course, you will learn:

- The beautiful and inevitable transformation that death is for our fur babies

- How to accept this transition, even if your fur baby is still young

- To joyfully participate in every moment that you two have together, without the shadow of illness or disease taking anything away from your connection

How this course works and what’s included:

- We begin August 29

- Three calls per month, for three months

- A private community to share with like-minded fur baby parents, and drop into these transformational learnings and experiences

- You will receive a bonus gift in the mail, that will take all this content deeper for you

- Ongoing support, where you can ask me your questions & get personalized feedback

- BONUS $200 value gift of immediate access to my online course Feeding For Five Elements: Identify your pet’s constitution and feed them optimally for a long and healthy life

This workshop is unlike anything I have created before, and I am excited to give you the tools that I have shared with my private clients for the past many years.

By the end of this workshop, you will:

- Utilize animal communication to dialogue with your fur baby about any medical choices, especially and end-of-life actions

- Have a deeper experience of joy, love and daily appreciation with your fur baby, that will carry you through any health challenge they or any other of your babies may ever face

- Have forged bonds in a community of like minded pet parents journeying through similar territory


Spots are very limited, as I will be giving you deep personal attention during these three months, and am committed to keeping this an intimate, close-knit container.

If you feel a call in your heart to go on this journey, or to explore if this is a fit for you and your fur baby at this point in your life together, PM me now, and we will chat about how this can support you.

06/19/2020

Finally, the thing we all knew has been shown in a literature review of studies available. I suspect this will not be something that is widely spoken about since it doesn't benefit the large companies, but here it is. There is no causative link between grain free diets and DCM.
All the data here: https://academic.oup.com/jas/article/98/6/skaa155/5857674

02/18/2020

Holistic housecall practice associate (FT) needed for growing practice greater Salem area.
Must have an interest in Chinese medicine and certification in at least one holistic modality. Experienced mentorship in TCM available. Practice is medicine only with a strong emphasis on naturopathy, no surgery. Committed clients, flexible schedule in a relationship based practice focused on healing and maintenance of health. Potential for partnership with the right candidate.

01/02/2020

Is it really allergies? And the one most important thing to do to help with healing leaky gut.
"True allergies" vs "sensitivities"
Want to get individualized advice on sensitivities or gut healing? Have another pet health challenge you're facing? PM me, comment below, or fill out this form and I'll be in touch!
http://bit.ly/consultwithdrerika
Want to participate in the live videos? Join the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/558608608281407/

12/28/2019

Hope you and yours are all having very good holidays!

12/04/2019

Remember, even when you feel most sorrowful, the animal souls around still love you.

I often receive hearts as signs from the other side, and so do many other people. When I was riding last week my lovely Neyya tossed her head and spontaneously created this amazing perfect heart. This one was sort of for me, but she told me at the time it was also for something/someone else, so I kept my eyes open for the other recipient.
It turned out to be mostly for my friend who just lost her beloved heart horse this last weekend. Her horse and Neyya were together for a while in this life, and her horse taught Neyya a lot of what she knows.

Everything is connected which is how many of us can communicate with animals. (Yes, probably even you right now, you just don't realize it.) This is one of the biggest "secrets" to managing and healing the pain of loss: Remembering the connectedness of everything and the illusory nature of separation.

If you would like to learn how to look beyond separation to realize your connection to everyone, including the beautiful animals who have left paw or hoof prints on your heart, or are curious about how you can learn recognize your communication with animals, fill out the application or comment below to set up a 30 minute complimentary call with me.
Only three calls available this week, make one of them yours.

https://form.jotform.com/92858085338167

Want more content like this? Catch it first in our facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/558608608281407/

11/28/2019

I've got two pretty hot sales for you this Black Friday!
Starting today and going through Monday you can get 40% off my Feeding for Five Elements Intensive course or 50% off my Long Walk to the End course!!

The Feeding for Five Elements Intensive teaches you how to determine your pet's constitution and what to feed them from a Chinese medicine perspective to support balance based on their constitution. https://healinghandspetvet.com/product/feeding-for-five-elements-intensive-course/

A Long Walk to the End is a course focused on helping you from terminal diagnosis to the end on what to expect on the journey and how to deal with the emotional challenges of the process.
https://healinghandspetvet.com/product/long-walk-to-the-end-black-friday/

10/22/2019

10/06/2019

The author is associated with a small grain free pet food company, but his points are valid nonetheless and reflect what holistic veterinarians (who are not at all selling pet food) have been saying this whole time.
Always follow the money.

10 Things Every Pet Owner Needs to Know About the FDA Investigation into Grain-Free Foods and Dilated Cardiomyopathy

08/18/2019

08/09/2019

08/09/2019

07/07/2019

Here's the latest and most comprehensive report I have read on this problem.
It is not just grain free, if you read this list you will find that basically every major brand and a number of smaller ones are implicated. The problem has not been determined to be directly diet related at this point.
Money talks. This is why when the vitamin D recalls were happening the fact that Hill's Science Diet had a major recall got buried.

Why haven't we heard about the other 50 brands that were named?

06/20/2019

Keep cool, folks!

Are you taking proactive steps while having fun in the sun and protect your pups from high temperatures and the sun this summer?
It will come as no surprise that Summer is closely associated with the Fire personality. The Fire personality is outgoing, friendly and upbeat. The organs linked to Fire are the Tongue, heart, pericardium, small intestines, and triple heater. Here are a few tips for both you and your dog to stay cool and fight the heat.

03/19/2019

07/18/2018

Just a few more days of communing with Icelandic horses and I'll be back to seeing your fur friends.

03/04/2018

To be fair, this is kind of my life.
Much love to all of you and the furpeople you share your lives with. Thanks for the incredible opportunity you give me to meet all your wonderful selves and help you all out!!

12/28/2017

The scoop on prescription diets for pets.

Is a prescription diet the best choice?Published December 28th, 2017 in Blog | Comments Off on Is a prescription diet the best choice?Prescription diets formulated for particular diseases seem like a really easy choice to help your pet with food, but are they as healthy as they are advertised to be?...

12/27/2017

Have a look. Some Primal lots are recalled for a bone grind size that is slightly too large. This shouldn't be a problem, but they can be returned.

Primal Pet Foods is voluntarily recalling 5 of its freeze-dried dog and cat foods due to their grind size. According to an announcement from the company: “Through a recent product quality review process, we have determined that 5 specific Primal Canine and …

10/17/2017

It has been quite a while!
Today I'm writing about kennel cough protection AKA what to do about the Doggie Cold.
If you've been following my blog or had a wellness appointment with me, you know by now that I'm not a big fan of vaccines and constantly stimulating the immune system.
You may also know that as far as protection from common dog illnesses, once we have the "puppy shots" done, we can test titers. If you have no idea what what is.... Click the link to finish reading the article.

Kennel cough vaccine alternativesPublished October 17th, 2017 in Blog | Comments Off on Kennel cough vaccine alternativesKennel cough protection AKA What to do about the Doggie ColdIf you’ve been following my blog or had a wellness appointment with me, you know by now that I’m not a big fan of vacci...

08/25/2017

Curious about the use of h**p products in pets?
I use industrial h**p based CBD products in my patients all the time to help with a lot of different conditions. Read the details here:

Especially here in Oregon, medical use of cannabis is all the rage. Cannabis (ma*****na and industrialized h**p) is excellent to help a range of conditions as

08/18/2017

I had a great conversation with a friend today that reminded me of something we horse people often overlook.

You know all of those things you ask your horse to do while under saddle? They’re hard work. If you’ve ever given anyone a piggy back ride you know that just walking around with another creature on your shoulders is challenging and physically tiring. Add to that the fact that regardless of your discipline, we want our horses to be balanced, forward, and willing to immediately turn, speed up, or slow down as soon as we ask for it. Oh, and if they could please look pretty and make it a smooth ride while they’re at it?
Click the link to read more.....

08/01/2017

Dr. Erika has returned from adjusting Dala horses in Sweden and ready to get back to visiting all your wonderful furkids!

07/11/2017

07/04/2017

Who can relate?