We recently connected with Sandra Leonard and have shared our conversation below.

Sandra, appreciate you joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

After beginning my career in traditional small animal medicine, I developed an interest in acupuncture and became certified. Initially, I had a mobile acupuncture practice. After several years, I became certified in Chinese Food Therapy and Animal Chiropractic as well and decided I wanted to open a brick and mortar practice in order to offer more comprehensive holistic care. I found a location on the edge of Raymore, MO and opened Whole Health Pet Center in 2014. We offer basic well-care, lab testing, x-rays, vaccinations and vaccine titers, non-critical sick care, dental care, nutritional consults, and of course acupuncture, Food Therapy, and animal chiropractic for dogs and cats.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our goal at Whole Health Pet Center is to optimize patient health. This may include diet changes, weight management, behavior and training advice, medications, homeopathic treatment, Chinese medical therapies including acupuncture and specific foods, regular chiropractic, health monitoring with regular lab work, and more. We use conventional medications when it is the fastest path to health, such as treating an infection with antibiotics or controlling parasites. But for chronic ailments, we optimize health with nutrition, chiropractic, supplements, exercise, acupuncture, weight management, and more to reduce the need for more medications. Our practice places an emphasis on listening to our clients, and customizing care based on each family’s desire for more or less holistic or traditional care. We try to make patients comfortable with our care with treats, essential oil diffusion, pheromones, soft music, and careful handling. Our goal is for each visit to be more acceptable the pet than the last one.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Veterinary students are primarily instructed in conventional Western medicine and taught to use highly processed prescription diets. Most vets continue to only recommend such pet foods. When learning the benefits of well-balanced whole-food based pet foods, I had to learn how processed diets contribute to inflammation. After years of seeing improved health in my patients when kept off commercial highly-processed kibble diets, I’m a believer! The key is making sure the diet is balanced as home-made diets often lack essential nutrients and can cause serious health issues of their own.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

My goal to become a veterinarian was set when I was twelve years old. But until I had been practicing over a decade, holistic care was not on the radar. I do wish I had learned chiropractic first, then added the Chinese therapies, as chiropractic has such an immediate and broad effect on health. Patients LOVE their chiropractic vet as the treatment immediately makes them feel better. That is probably the only thing I would change, besides learning about holistic medicine much sooner in general.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wholehealthpetcenter.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WholeHealthPetCenter/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wholehealthpetcenter2687

Image Credits
Boden Photography provided the in-clinic shots, purchased for advertising use.