Wow – we covered a lot of information with Dr. Roster. I know it was a lot to take in, so I’ll include timestamps on the video to make going back to review the long live video a little easier.
This quote from the author of my recent book read, Pets on the Couch, really stood out to me as a great parallel to our conversation. While the Eastern medicine techniques and approaches Dr. Roster is using have been around for several millennia, their introduction into western veterinary medicine is much more recent. Integrative care in human medicine gained traction around 20 years ago, so it can be assumed that an integrative approach in pet medicine is behind that.
Dr. Roster mentioned that western medicine is very focused on studied outcomes, and talked about a colleague’s study of mapping acupuncture points in Icelandic ponies. Using Dr. Dodman’s thoughts on how long it takes medical studies to reach an impact in medical practice, it might be another 2 decades before these studies make significant effect on how “standard” vets practice. We are all now ahead of that curve after this chat!

Here is Dr. Roster’s clinic contact info: Windhorse Veterinary Practice
Clinic phone number: 605-246 2854
Full-Service clinic: 24868 SD Highway 25, Spencer, SD
Acupuncture clinic: 3500 S Minnesota Ave #102, Sioux Falls, SD
Time Stamps for easier review:
Intro-0:00
Dr. Roster Bio – 2:45
Acupuncture and Fascia – 11:30
Integrative Care – 13:00
When to start – 21:15
Food therapy – 23:15
Chinese Medicine Diagnosis – 28:30
Explorer Question: Itching while still on allergy meds – 35:30
Explorer Question: Anxiety can Integrative Care help – 42:45
Explorer Question: Frequency of visits – 48:25
Explorer Question: Behavior changes based on life changes – 50:30
Vitamin D for Dogs – 1:00:00
Favorite tip for pets (Serving bone broth) – 1:03:00
Explorer Question: How to find out if your dog is hot or cold – 1:09:05
Dr. Roster contact info – 1:11:35
Importance of “hands on” veterinary care – 1:13:25