Chirovet Wales

ABOUT US

Holistic Veterinarian in Wales

Who are Chirovet Wales?

Chirovet Wales is a holistic veterinary practice in Wales that is catering for your horse, dog, cat and farm animals through holistic care. Julia, the veterinary surgeon, has got over 10 years’ experience in holistic medicine. She specialises in Traditional Chinese medicine and adds aspects from the western holistic approach to the treatment. Having been a conventional vet prior to specialising, she knows how important it is to approach the problems from all sides. Julia and her family (husband, two boys plus horses, dogs, chicken, guinea fowl, sheep, pigs, ferrets and a cat) moved recently to Wales from Kent. She brings her knowledge and experience to Wales having been established in her practice in the South East England for well over 10 years. Julia is helped by her husband Guy who takes bookings and is the man behind the scene plus Jane who is managing the office side of things.

Holistic to us means that we look at all aspects that have an impact on your animal. We take into account the animals surrounding influences like environment, lifestyle and management, food, work, exercise and goals that you might have. The treatment for sports horses competing at high level or to a retired horse will be done with the same care and intensity depending on the needs of the patient. This applies too whether we are improving the trainability of a working dog or treating an indoor cat. Acupuncture and herbal medicine are very powerful tools that improve the animals on a wide range whether it is behaviour, pain management, lameness or digestive issues just to name a few.

What is a Holistic Veterinarian?

A holistic veterinarian is a veterinary surgeon who works in a holistic way. It is mostly understood that this means that a holistic vet doesn’t use conventional medicine- this is only partially true. If your animal needs conventional drugs we are often able to help to reduce the dosage and or decrease the side effects. At Chirovet Wales based in mid Wales, we don’t prescribe any conventional drugs- this is down to your conventional vet who specialises in their area. We  work together with your conventional vet to help your animal from all sides.

When we have your animal under our care we look at all aspects that have an impact on your animal. This means that will assess firstly of course the reason you are coming for- for example a skin problem- and then will look at everything that could and has an impact ion your pet. Some animal react via the skin to stress, which might not always be obvious to you. We will ask about your feeding management-kibble/ raw/ home-cooked and find the best option for you. At Chirovet Wales we are very fond of

Who works at Chirovet Wales?

Dr Julia Ledger- Muennich MRCVS is a veterinary surgeon who graduated in Germany .  She spent the first year after graduation in horse clinic caring for the inpatients and emergencies during the night. She then gained broad experience in Germany and England general equine practice where her case load was mostly first opinion ambulatory. 

Working in conventional only medicine the options of treatment were not always to her satisfaction. This lead to explore other options which soon developed into a passion for traditional Chinese medicine to treat the root not just the symptom of a problem. The fascination was that it could complement conventional medicine but as well work to on its own with a vast amount of options. Julias practice in Kent was opened well over 10 years ago and for the last 8 years is a holistic only practice. 

As A veterinary surgeon and TCVM Specialist Julia is able to offer the best of  both worlds. 

Further Qualifications

Julia has  undergone extensive training to offer a comprehensive solution to her patients in terms of holistic animal care- whether its small animal or equine patients. Her Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) accredited work at four-star events allows her to support her patients up to Olympic standard.

She is certified in animal chiropractic since 2008.

She studied acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine in some depth, qualifying as a veterinary acupuncturist .  Julia wanted to gain more depth and certified first with the  World Association of Traditional Veterinary Chinese Medicine (WATCVM) as a  Certified Chinese Veterinary Herbalist, after a two year course and then another year to  gain certification  as a Certified Traditional Chinese Veterinary Herbalist accredited by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS). Adding on to that Julia has qualifications in Tui-Na, Traditional Chinese Veterinary Food Therapy,  and has completed Certification in Advanced Neuroacupuncture with the determination to treat the Stroke/Epilepsy/ Geriatric/ Neurological patients with even more in depth and specific knowledge.

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) veterinary accreditation allows her to work as a FEI Permitted Treating Veterinarian at FEI events, where she has worked at Badminton Horse Trials, Burghley Horse Trials and the CHIO in Aachen, Germany.

The practice also utilises a small team people to help her like her husband Guy and Jane who manages the office. 

What holistic services do Chirovet provide?

At Chirovet we offer a wide range of holistic services which include:

  • Classical Acupuncture
  • Laser Acupuncture
  • Herbal Therapies
  • Food Therapy
  • Essential Oil Therapy
  • Chiropractic
  • Tui-na (Medical Massage)
  • Aromatherapy
  • Medical Mushroom Therapy

What does Holistic mean?

Even when I was a little girl I was always drawn to animals. My family rescued animals that came out of difficult homes and rehabilitated them until they could be re-homed to their forever home. I had to overcome quite a few hurdles to be accepted into vet school and just couldn’t wait to be fully qualified. When I worked in conventional practice I loved it when I could help the animals but somehow there was still something missing and I felt that my options of treatment were small. Conventional drugs didn’t always work to my satisfaction and I felt there needed to be more that could be done. This is when I started learning chiropractic to be able to help my patients with something other than just medication to suppress pain. My holistic journey had just started and led soon to Traditional Chinese medicine. I took an acupuncture certification course in Germany where traditional Chinese medicine is lectured rather than Westernised acupuncture. In those two years  my perception of medicine completely changed. Following on to that it naturally led to Chinese Herbal Medicine. The results with the combination of herbs and acupuncture were absolutely mind blowing. Learning about the body from a different point of view made me realise that there is so much more that can be done for the animals if we take the whole surrounding and influencing factors into account and utilise them to our advantage. Learning other methods of body work like Mysofascial Release and Tui-na- a Chinese massage technique gave me more tools to work with if the patient requires it. Traditional Chinese Food Therapy  was another big tool  that I qualified in (and am very passionate about!) as I realised how important the correct food is as many patterns arise from the wrong food- we are what we eat! My knowledge in homeopathy has been deepened when working as a TCVM Specialist at the holistic practice of Dr Birgit Ahlemeyer.

In order to help my stroke/ epilepsy and generally neurological patients I certified in Advanced Neuroacupuncture which complements my other tools to a great level.  

 If Conventional medicine is needed as well as my treatment  I work together with your vet as getting the best, most up to date knowledge in every aspect is important for the best care for your animal and a purist approach in either direction can be detrimental.

Where is the practice located?

Chirovet Wales is located in  Mid Wales about 20 minutes away from Newtown in the surrounding area of a little village called Trefeglwys. Visit our contact us page. At the moment the conversion of a barn is taking place to change into an office /treatment room. Until this is completed Julia will treat the animal in her home or a home visit can be arranged.  For horses Julia travels usually to their stables, where the horses are relaxed in their home environment.