Michael Stanford, DVM

12/01/2023

Integrative Veterinary Care for dogs, cats, and horses. Veterinary acupuncture, herbal medicine, Tui-na, food therapy, and veterinary chiropractic care.

12/01/2023

New Years Special, 20% off.

Winter and a New Year are here and Balance Integrative Veterinary Care is having a New Year special. So, if you've ever wondered about integrative care for your pet (acupuncture, chiropractic, food and herbal therapy), now is a great time to check us out.

Until February 1, 2023, mention this ad and we'll take 20% off the price of an initial, in-home, examination and treatment for your pet.

For our existing clients, refer a friend and we'll take 20% off your next exam and treatment.

Want to know more? Check us out at:
https://buff.ly/3Xs7exO

Integrative Veterinary Care for dogs, cats, and horses. Veterinary acupuncture, herbal medicine, Tui-na, food therapy, and veterinary chiropractic care.

07/01/2023

Having trouble getting your pet to the vet? Have questions or wonder if what's going on is an emergency?

Dr. Mike is now seeing telemedicine cases. If you live in Arkansas or California and would like a telemedicine consult, don't hesitate to reach out at

Book an online appointment with Dr. Michael Stanford, a licensed Veterinarian. Vetster has vets and veterinary professionals available 24/7.

01/01/2023

Happy New Year from Balance Integrative Veterinary Care!

14/12/2022

Herbal medications can be baffling to those of us with a solid foundation in western medicine. TCVM diagnosis and treatment relies on a Pattern diagnosis, an identification and listing of a disharmony in the body. Herbal medications are used to treat the opposite. If our patient is warm (Yin Deficient) we treat with cooling (Yin tonifying) herbs and so on.

Balance Integrative Veterinary Care uses Jing Tang herbal Inc. as it's exclusive supplier for herbal medications. Not only is there an assurance of quality ingredients that have been responsibly sources and manufactured with strict quality control procedures, Jing Tang provides a resource for veterinarians to speak with an herbalist that will ensure that there will be no serious interactions between the patient's current medications and the herbal formula being prescribed.

10/12/2022

A great article from the folks at UC Davis College of Veterinary Medicine on aging and our pets. Exercise, diet, mental engagement, and preventative care. All the things that we know we need for a long and healthier life.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to Dr. Mike
[email protected]
buff.ly/3P7n6TE

https://buff.ly/3Y2k0UW

07/12/2022

Chi University, founded by Dr. Huisheng Xie, has been providing Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) education to veterinarians and veterinary students since 1998. Click here (chiu.edu) to learn more about the programs that Dr. Mike is involved in as he pursues his masters degree in TCVM.

23/04/2022

Back at it. Another long weekend in Florida! I’m really looking forward to being able to apply this to my patients.

19/02/2022

As time has marched forward I found myself falling to ruts as to how I approached and treated cases. Acupuncture training has opened so many new doors for both me and my patients. There still seemed to be room in the toolbox though to fill with more techniques though.

This week I’ve been in Florida studying at the Chi University. The topic? Veterinary Medical Manipulation (animal chiropractic, if you will).

So excited to get my hands on my patients again and add this modality I’ll be learning at home and here in Florida over the next several months.

19/02/2022

This one is a bit late in updating but life has gotten busy on me. Piper returned for a 4th visit a week later. So, 3 acupuncture treatments and 3 weeks on herbals. This is a video of her just before treatment. Still pacing at the walk but much stronger and very happy.

We treated for a 4th time and will see her as needed moving forward!

04/02/2022

After another week Piper returned to the clinic. You can see she’s a lot more coordinated in her hind end and stronger. She’s moving in a pacing motion where front and hind limbs move in tandem.

We treated with acupuncture again and left her on the herbs with a recheck scheduled for one more week.

24/01/2022

Piper came back 7 days later. This is a video prior to treatment. Overall she’s been brighter and more active at home. She’s clearly uncoordinated in her hind end but substantially stronger.

We repeated her acupuncture therapy and will keep her on the herbals at the previous dose.

20/01/2022

OK, So a fun case to start.

Meet Piper, a 6-year-old, female, Cocker Spaniel mix. 4 days prior to her visit with me she had a sudden weakness of her hind end. No pain was appreciated on the examination and a diagnosis of inter-vertebral disk disease was made with referral to the UC Davis College of Veterinary Medicine recommended for a MRI and surgery. She was sent home with carprofen (an anti-inflammatory) and gabapentin (an excellent drug for nerve pain). The owner decided to explore options and came to visit.

The attached video shows her in the waiting room just before I examined her.

I found her to be super sweet and full of energy during my exam. She had a swollen pink tongue and a wiry character to her pulses. She had no pain on palpation and a normal range of motion in all 4 limbs.

A TCVM diagnosis of Spinal cord Qi Stagnation and Kidney Qi Deficiency was made. In TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) the Kidney is responsible to not only the production of urine, that we think about, but also for the strength and health of the bones and nervous system and the strength of the hind end. We also would diagnose a concurrent blockage of the flow of Qi in the spinal cord leading to the sudden, acute paralysis.

I treated with a session of acupuncture with both dry-needling and electro-acupuncture and prescribed the herbal medicine, Double PII from Jing Tang Herbals.

Updates to follow.

18/01/2022

This poor page has been languishing for a long time now. Maybe time to blow off the dust and brush off the cobwebs.

We've been in California now for about 4 1/2 years working for a mixed animal emergency practice. My focus has mostly been on the equine side but about 3 years ago I had an opportunity and jumped at it. I attended acupuncture school through IVAS (International Veterinary Acupuncture Society).

I know, acupuncture... Who would have thought? But honestly, I love it and have had a blast learning new ways of approaching my patient's needs. So much fun, in fact, that I went back to school last Fall and am working toward my MS-TCVM degree. This is opening up herbal medicine, food therapy, and therapeutic massage called Tui-na for my cases. Also started VMM school (Veterinary Medical Manipulation because Chiropractic is trademarked by the human field).

So, keep your eye on this page and I'll try to share some of the cool stuff I'm learning. Maybe something will help your furry kids?

04/08/2021