We had a husky what at 6 or 7 years old started losing her hair in big patches and was in a lot of pain, and we started out treating for demodex mites with a dermatologist. When that yielded no real results, additional conventional testing (to the tune of more than $2,000) was inconclusive about the presence of cancer. The idiot vet who we were referred to wanted to treat with chemo anyway, and after doing a little research and finding out that husky's have a very hard time with chemo (as in, very high mortality rate due to the chemo) we found a holistic vet.

First holistic vet we worked with treated the pain with acupuncture, and our girl perked up right away. That vet referred us to another holistic vet, who figured out the problem and treated it with chinese herbs. Within a couple months our beautiful girl was not only back to her old self, she had more energy than she had in months (suggesting the problem had been around a while).

So I think the practice of holistic medicine is sound. Finding a good holistic vet can be a challenge, and it ain't cheap.

By the way, our holistic vet is in Richmond, so if you're in that area look up Dr. Thompson @ Sycomore Vet. She's also a graduate of the VT vet school, so that's a bonus!

Good luck!!!