KR Holistic Vet

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KR Holistic Vet Veterinary Pain Management, Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine

Based at JF Vet Physio in Bannockburn

Opening 24th August 2026

🐾 CONDITIONS RESULTING IN CONTRAINDICATIONS TO TRADITIONAL PAIN RELIEF 🐾Some pets may have other conditions besides thei...
19/08/2026

🐾 CONDITIONS RESULTING IN CONTRAINDICATIONS TO TRADITIONAL PAIN RELIEF 🐾

Some pets may have other conditions besides their painful condition that make medicating them difficult. In dogs and cats with kidney or liver disease, many traditional pharmaceuticals are contraindicated. You may also have a pet who has a sensitive stomach unable to cope with a daily dose of oral medication. Others are simply too clever and evade the giving of medication altogether! Acupuncture could be a great, safe, addition for these pets.

I've seen a lot of older cats with kidney disease looking to acupuncture for a safe addition to their pain management protocol. Our feline friends seem to be very good responders to acupuncture - moving and feeling better than before.

For pets with sensitive stomachs, acupuncture can be added in without the threat of vomiting or diarrhoea. For those with ongoing gut issues, you could also consider the integration of herbal medicine at KR Holistic Vet.

If any of this is sounding a bit too familiar, and you think your pet may benefit from Acupuncture, you can find out how to book in with me at www.jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/

🌿 Could Herbal Medicine help your pet? 🌿Herbal Medicine is a complimentary treatment which is not intended to replace co...
18/08/2026

🌿 Could Herbal Medicine help your pet? 🌿

Herbal Medicine is a complimentary treatment which is not intended to replace conventional therapy, but rather to fill in the gaps where conventional therapy cannot. There's just not a drug for all of the effects we are looking for; or maybe there is but your pet is struggling to tolerate it.

There are numerous herbal concoctions available online - so why is this different? Many of the over the counter products are made with inadequate amounts of the components listed - they may be the right ingredients, but they just aren't at the correct dose to gain an effect. They are also not tailored to an individual, meaning you'd need to look at one product to target the gut, another for anxiety, and maybe another still for immune support etc. Through a herbal medicine consultation we would factor in all of the actions required for your specific pet and create them an individualised blend of the right herbs for the job. We source our herbs from a trusted supplier, with all the right certifications, so you can know for certain you are giving your pet a quality product.

So what conditions can benefit? In short, most. But for some examples:
- Behavioural conditions such as reactivity and anxiety
- Cognitive decline
- Chronic gastrointestinal disease: e.g. chronic IBD, diarrhoea
- Skin disease
- Support for kidney and liver disease
- Recurrent infections
- Neoplasia (cancer)
and many more.

Visit our wesbite at https://jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/ to find out more or book an appointment!

🐾 CURRENT PAIN RELIEF NOT WORKING 🐾Inevitably in many cases of chronic pain, we come to a point where the medications ju...
17/08/2026

🐾 CURRENT PAIN RELIEF NOT WORKING 🐾

Inevitably in many cases of chronic pain, we come to a point where the medications just aren't doing enough. There will likely be an option to add additional pharmaceuticals, but at this point there could also be the option to add in something like Acupuncture.

Acupuncture activates something called the descending inhibitory pain pathway, resulting in opioid like pain relief being produced by the body to neutralise sources of pain and allow the body to focus on the immediate threat. Here's the kicker though, the acupuncture needles are actually tricking the body into thinking there is a threat, when there isn't. The fine needles are atraumatic, meaning they do not cause damage to blood vessels, muscle fibres or nerves when inserted. They just stimulate the response we are looking for!

In chronic pain cases we can often find our patients suffering from something called 'central sensitisation'. This is a form of wind-up of the pain messaging system where even some normal stimuli are seen as painful, and it can be hard for our drugs to have their usual effect. By using acupuncture we can target this central sensitisation effectively and safely - hopefully allowing the medication your pet is already on to work better.

If any of this is sounding a bit too familiar, and you think your pet may benefit from Acupuncture, you can find out how to book in with me at www.jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/

🐾 STRUGGLING TO JUMP ON THE SOFA 🐾Struggling to jump up onto the sofa, into the car, onto the cat tree or windowsills is...
14/08/2026

🐾 STRUGGLING TO JUMP ON THE SOFA 🐾

Struggling to jump up onto the sofa, into the car, onto the cat tree or windowsills is an all too commonly noted sign of pain. This can be caused by the pain directly, or as a secondary consequence of tight muscles as mentioned previously, muscle loss or lack of confidence.

Our cats in particular can be hard to spot pain in, but struggling to get up to their usual high resting points is a commonly experienced sign. Cats are even better responders than dogs to acupuncture, and you'd be surprised how well they seem to tolerate the needing!

I will always remember the lovely story an owner told me of her pet heading home from his first acupuncture session, and immediately jumping on the sofa bed he used to spend a lot of time on. It sat in the perfect afternoon sun trap but he hadn't used it for a longtime - his owner assumed he just preferred elsewhere. On return from his appointment he jumped onto the sofa bed and rolled around on his back like the happiest little chap. Letting your pet get back to their favourite spot again is really something special.

If any of this is sounding a bit too familiar, and you think your pet may benefit from Acupuncture, you can find out how to book in with me at www.jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/

🐾 LAGGING BEHIND ON WALKS 🐾Have you noticed your pet seems a bit slower on their usual walk, and generally greets it wit...
12/08/2026

🐾 LAGGING BEHIND ON WALKS 🐾

Have you noticed your pet seems a bit slower on their usual walk, and generally greets it with less enthusiasm than they used to? I hear this often from clients, and also often hear about an improvement following acupuncture treatments! As well as providing safe and effective pain relief, acupuncture causes the release of several feel good neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. I always remember my old dog Ben having his "super dog day" following his acupuncture sessions, where is seemed nothing could get in his way. Chronic pain can take a real toll on our pets, and with the lack of 'Dr Dolittle' type abilities to help them understand what's going on, the best we can hope for is to help make them as comfortable as possible and boost their mood in the ways we have accessible. A phrase I hear time and time again in feedback from acupuncture is "they just seem happier". A sure fire way to make my day when that happens!

If any of this is sounding a bit too familiar, and you think your pet may benefit from Acupuncture, you can find out how to book in with me at www.jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/

🐾 RESTRICTED MOVEMENTS 🐾When a tight knot develops in a muscle from abnormal movement or loading, the muscle fibres them...
11/08/2026

🐾 RESTRICTED MOVEMENTS 🐾

When a tight knot develops in a muscle from abnormal movement or loading, the muscle fibres themselves become shortened and all, well, knotted together. This effectively reduces the range of motion of a joint. We see this often in pets suffering from osteoarthritis, elbow and hip dysplasia, spondylosis and other painful conditions.

I remember a lovely old collie I treated a few years back that had not been able to physically sit for as long as his owner could remember. His options were: 1. Stand, 2: flop to the ground. After even one session of acupuncture targeting his incredibly tight lumbar (back) muscles he was able to a little more gracefully lower himself to the ground. By the end of his third session he took both me and his owner by surprise by sitting properly for me to trim his nails! It was so lovely to see him regaining the ability to do such a basic thing like sitting!

If any of this is sounding a bit too familiar, and you think your pet may benefit from Acupuncture, you can find out how to book in with me at www.jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/

You might be wondering - how would I know if acupuncture would help my pet? In my experience, there are a few common the...
10/08/2026

You might be wondering - how would I know if acupuncture would help my pet? In my experience, there are a few common themes that seem to come up in my patients who see the benefit most. In this series we will focus on each in turn, explaining in further detail.

🐾 STIFFNESS ON RISING 🐾

Often if our pets are struggling with some osteoarthritis, or other painful conditions of their legs, they do a form of compensatory stance or movement which leads to tight muscles in their backs. You know those really tight knots we often end up with from bad posture? Our pets can get those too! Acupuncture can help unwind some of these tight muscles allowing free-er movement and the ability to get up and down more easily. Sometimes our older pets have this as their only sign of discomfort, and owners are (understandably!) reluctant to start daily pain relief medications. In some cases, regular acupuncture could be the answer to reducing the need for traditional pharmaceuticals. An important caveat to this is often our pets are very good at hiding their pain; so a full pain assessment would be completed at the time of the appointment to ensure this was an appropriate plan of action for your pet.

If any of this is sounding a bit too familiar, and you think your pet may benefit from Acupuncture, you can find out how to book in with me at www.jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/

🌿 HERBAL MEDICINE 🌿Sometimes there simply isn’t a conventional medication that meets your pet’s individual needs — or yo...
02/08/2026

🌿 HERBAL MEDICINE 🌿

Sometimes there simply isn’t a conventional medication that meets your pet’s individual needs — or your pet may be unable to tolerate the one that does exist. Herbal Medicine offers a natural, complementary therapy to help fill these gaps. We look closely at your pet’s medical history and symptoms to create a personalised blend of high quality plant extracts (usually as a tincture) that aims to gently support their conditions and wellbeing.

Conditions that may benefit include:
- Chronic gastrointestinal disease
- Chronic skin conditions
- Chronic Pain
- Anxiety
- Kidney or Liver Disease
- Chronic respiratory conditions
- Cancer

Visit https://jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/ to find out more or book an appointment.

🐾 ACUPUNCTURE 🐾 Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine approach that uses fine needles placed at specific points...
02/08/2026

🐾 ACUPUNCTURE 🐾

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine approach that uses fine needles placed at specific points on the body to encourage a range of beneficial responses. It works by stimulating the body’s natural pain‑relief pathways, essentially “tricking” the system into responding as though an injury has occurred—without causing any actual harm. We utilise acupuncture’s natural pain relieving properties to support a variety of chronic pain conditions such as:
- Osteoarthritis,
- Spondylosis,
- Back pain
and many others!

Acupuncture is possible in both dogs and cats - as demonstrated by Turra the collie and Rafiki the cat below! Both receive regular acupuncture to relieve their chronic osteoarthritis and respond wonderfully. We've a range of tips and tricks to keep patients still for acupuncture; but these guys are happy to just hang out and relax! Rafiki is always offered a bed, he just prefers the scales!

Visit https://jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/ to find out more or book an appointment.

🐾 PAIN MANAGEMENT 🐾During a pain management assessment, we take the time to explore the full picture of your pet’s lif...
02/08/2026

🐾 PAIN MANAGEMENT 🐾

During a pain management assessment, we take the time to explore the full picture of your pet’s life so we can create a bespoke pain management plan, free from the usual time pressures of general practice. Together, we’ll look closely at all the therapeutic options available (both medicinal and complimentary), talk through any questions or concerns you may have, and decide on the best way forward for you and your pet. You'll receive a comprehensive report featuring recommendations about medications, home adaptations, complimentary therapies and more. We'll work with your own vet to then put this plan into place.

Visit https://jfvetphysio.co.uk/pain-management/ to find out more and book an appointment. Clinics officially open on the 24th of August.

❗Please note we do not physically stock or dispense any of your pet’s medications at the clinic, but will work with your own vet to facilitate this.

Address

JF Vet Physio, 70 Quakerfield, Bannockburn
Stirling
FK78HZ

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm

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