$#*% Holistic Vets Say: Truth Bombs from an Integrative Vet

🧠 Summary

In this candid and fiery episode of Tails of Truth, holistic veterinarian Dr. Angie Krause and veterinary nurse JoJo pull back the curtain on some of the most misleading claims circulating in holistic pet care. Aptly titled “$#*% Holistic Vets Say,” this conversation dives deep into the rhetoric, misinformation, and oversimplifications that too often cloud the world of integrative and holistic veterinary medicine.

From the false claim that “vaccines last a lifetime” to the myth that “a healthy dog can’t get heartworm disease,” Dr. Angie breaks down the science, the risks, and the real-life implications of these dangerous statements. She and JoJo also unpack guilt-based marketing around flea and tick prevention, the polarizing debate about raw diets and kibble, and how fear-driven messaging steals joy from pet guardians who just want to do their best.

This episode isn’t about choosing sides—it’s about restoring nuance, honesty, and compassion to veterinary care. With nearly 20 years of hands-on experience, Dr. Angie offers a grounded perspective on how pet guardians can make informed decisions without falling prey to shame, fear, or pseudoscience.

Listeners will walk away feeling informed, empowered, and seen—reminded that doing your best for your pet means focusing on connection, not perfection. Whether you identify as “holistic,” “conventional,” or somewhere in between, this episode will challenge your thinking and reignite your confidence in balanced, evidence-based pet care.

🐾 Key Takeaways

• Blanket statements in holistic veterinary medicine can be misleading and harmful.
• Vaccines do not last a lifetime for all pets; immunity varies by pathogen.
• Honest conversations about flea and tick prevention are more helpful than fear-based avoidance.
• Heartworm disease cannot be prevented through diet or immune health alone—it requires medication.
• Diet influences health but isn’t the sole cause or cure for cancer.
• Guilt and shame have no place in pet care; joy and connection matter more.
• Sweeping statements and fear-based marketing erode trust and happiness in pet guardianship.

🎧 Sound Bites

•  “You can’t compare every vaccine technology and say they all last a lifetime—it’s just not true.” ~ Dr. Angie 
• “I promise you, there’s probably corruption in the pharmaceutical industry, but it’s not at the level of your dog’s flea and tick prevention.” ~ Dr. Angie
•  “From a consumer standpoint, I’ve felt shame and guilt that I work in holistic medicine and use those medications on my dogs.” ~ JoJo
• “Fear will keep people buying.” ~ JoJo
• “Using herbs alone for itchy dogs is like pissing in the wind.” ~ Dr. Angie 
• “If your vet won’t work with you because you feed raw, or because you don’t—that’s a red flag.” ~ Dr. Angie 
•  “Anything that’s being sold in fear is probably something to look underneath.” ~ JoJo

• Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube
• Schedule your personalized one-on-one consultation with Dr. Angie
• Shop my favorite CBD.

Please subscribe and review! xoxo Dr. Angie & JoJo

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction: The Sh@! Holistic Vets Say
• 1:16 Myth #1: “Vaccines last a lifetime”
• 4:04 Myth #2: “Never use flea and tick preventives”
• 7:43 Myth #3: “Healthy pets don’t need heartworm prevention”
• 11:03 Myth #4: “Kibble or vaccines cause cancer”
• 15:31 The harm of fear-based marketing and guilt in pet care
• 18:05 Myth #5: “Herbs can cure everything” (and why experience matters)
• 23:13 Inviting dialogue: respectful disagreement and learning
• 24:00 Consultations, resources, and free courses for pet parents

Transcript

Dr. Angie Krause (00:00)
Welcome back to Tails of Truth where we tell the truth about veterinary medicine. I'm Dr. Angie and this is JoJo, veterinary nurse extraordinaire. And today I have a ranty episode and I'm going to talk about things holistic veterinarians say or do that irritate me.

JoJo (00:13)
You

topic.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:23)
I know,

and I am, I'm gonna be kind-ish, but I'm gonna let everyone know how I feel about it, and we won't name any names, but.

JoJo (00:31)
And

remember that you are in the camp of holistic veterinarian. So I mean, if we're talking about truth in veterinary medicine, this is the unveiling.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:35)
I know.

Who's the unveiling? Yeah. ⁓

JoJo (00:42)
And if you're listening

to us, probably have seen a lot of this because you probably follow the camps of holistic veterinarians on socials or wherever you find.

them trying to work on completing my sentences.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:55)
Yes, Jojo and I are both tired today, but sentence structure and formation might be lacking, but you'll get the idea. Okay, so I came prepared today. Usually we don't prepare ahead of time, but this topic bothers me so much that I wrote a list of the things that irritate me.

JoJo (01:16)
Okay, which one are you gonna, which one are you gonna kick us off with? What bothers you about holistic veterinarians and what they say or do? Number one.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:17)
Number one.

Number one, vaccines last a lifetime. I cannot stand this sentence because there's so much that gets lost here for one and it's just not even true. Some vaccines might last a lifetime sometimes.

JoJo (01:34)
Mm.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:48)
But you cannot compare every vaccine technology to the different viruses and spirochetes or bacteria that we're vaccinating against and make blanket statements like this. It irritates me. And yes, do I think historically, and maybe that's still happening present day, that we over vaccinate? Sure, that is true, but we do not need to swing the pendulum the other way and start

having all these false claims. so.

JoJo (02:20)
Right,

well, what goes beyond that, I can interrupt for a second, you're using the word irritate, but what I hear is that is a dangerous rhetoric.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:30)
Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, thank you for saying that. And so that makes me mad because then, my clients, the people that are hiring me or pet parents everywhere are under this false pretense that vaccines last forever and that veterinarians are just, you know, selling snake oil and it just creates all this mistrust.

JoJo (02:35)
There you go.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:56)
instead of just understanding what's happening. So I'm just going to give like the quick run down. The immune system often makes longer immunity like it lasts longer for viruses. Bacteria and spirochetes, the immunity, the memory does not last as long. So when people say leptospirosis is given every year, leptospirosis vaccine, needs to be given every year.

And so it's just not true that you give one and it lasts forever. Now it is possible that you could give a cat like a one or two year old cat a panleukopenia vaccine and that might truly last a lifetime. But likely the rabies vaccine you gave your two year old dog is probably not still protective at 10 years of age. And I can say that because as an integrative veterinarian, I've run so many titers.

that I feel pretty confident that the likelihood is low. If I were in Vegas, I would not bet on it. And so this idea that you vaccinate once and we're good for life is just not true. So.

JoJo (04:03)
Okay, heard.

Dr. Angie Krause (04:04)
check. Don't think that that's what's happening. It's not actually true. The second thing that people say that irritates me is not about vaccines, but it's about flea and tick prevention. And we have a newer class of flea and tick prevention, like for Bravecto, NexGuard, some Simparica Trio all of those that have a different

JoJo (04:05)
Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (04:28)
agent in them that is correlated with neurological conditions. Like some dogs will have seizures because of this medication. So that is true. But if you live in Connecticut, and you're trying to prevent your dog from having Lyme's disease from all the ticks that are I don't know, I feels like they're all carrying Lyme's disease in Connecticut, but I don't live there. So that might not be true.

JoJo (04:53)
No shade on Connecticut.

Dr. Angie Krause (04:54)
No shade on Connecticut, but you guys have so many ticks. It's ridiculous. I don't know. I don't understand why we can't have the conversation of the pros and cons. Yes, this medication might have the side effect. And here's what we know about it. And here's where I think it's safe. that is such a better conversation than never use that. Because, you know, if you're like, I'm going to go backpacking

JoJo (04:57)
So many ticks.

Dr. Angie Krause (05:19)
with my dog and I don't plan on using flea and tick prevention or I'm just going to count on some essential oils to prevent Lyme's disease, please understand, you're likely going to have a dog with Lyme's disease at the end. And if that's okay with you, then do that.

JoJo (05:33)
right? Well, and

and transferable. I mean, you're bringing those ticks in the home, you're now exposing yourself as well. Ugh.

Dr. Angie Krause (05:42)
Yeah, totally. Yes.

And so while I think it's important to talk to people about those side effects and informed consent, it's a very low percentage that happens. Knock on wood, it's never happened to me. But I think these sweeping statements are so unfair.

JoJo (06:01)
Right, and I will tell you from a consumer standpoint, I have felt shame and guilt that I work in holistic medicine and I use those medications on my dogs. So it's a very deep reaching that damage in the lack of dialogue as you said. Right, and I don't live in Connecticut or Florida or the South or,

Dr. Angie Krause (06:12)
Right?

Right. Yeah.

R.I.P.

and as the earth warms up, we have more parasites. I've seen more ticks this calendar year than I ever have in my entire life in practice. so, that hasn't, you know, that's new. And so I just feel like we need to understand that fleas and ticks mutate and they become resistant to our medications.

And I promise you there is probably corruption in the pharmaceutical industry, but it's not at the level of your dog or cat's flea intake prevention. And so.

JoJo (06:57)
And

I do think that is the one place that people are constantly looking for holistic alternatives to those medications. And it may be that there's a black box warning on it, but also just, again, sweeping statements, that's what you're calling it. When we do sweeping statements, we shut down the dialogue or the conversation.

Dr. Angie Krause (07:05)
Yes.

Right. And it's important to understand what might be right for your dog. If you have a seven-year-old golden retriever that has epilepsy, yeah, we're not going to prescribe those. We're going to use something else. But if you have a two-year-old Labrador retriever that's out with you all the time and you do live in the Northeast, I think you should know the pros and cons.

JoJo (07:37)
Right, okay, that was number two.

Dr. Angie Krause (07:38)
So, okay,

that was number two.

Number three.

JoJo (07:41)
Are you nervous about number three? Is that what the exhale was? What's happening here?

Dr. Angie Krause (07:43)
No, I just,

I can feel the rage. It's the years of rage. The idea that you're going to prevent heartworm disease by keeping your dog healthy. This is something that's been thrown out there by holistic veterinarians. And I just have to take a deep breath even saying that.

JoJo (07:59)
Ha.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:04)
The idea is if they're just healthy and their gut's healthy and their immune system's healthy, they should be able to fight it off. And ⁓ my gosh, but then we breed all these dogs that have all these problems and we're like, if we just feed them a raw diet, they won't get heartworm disease. And that...

JoJo (08:22)
Or isn't there

a stop don't they I think I've seen supplementing with garlic is it garlic I? Mean I've seen that ⁓ Across the holistic channels and like at this point we can keep away vampires. We're what else can we promise?

Dr. Angie Krause (08:28)
I probably, I don't know. Garlic's not as good.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh, I'm so irritated by this. And because heartworm disease, one is, is fatal. have, I mean, it's not uniformly fatal. I have one dog in my practice that is fighting for her life right now because a rescue organization refused, refused her treatment for heartworm disease. And now she's reached an end stage in her heartworm disease and we're trying to kill the worms before they kill her.

And it's terrifying. And heartworm disease can be prevented with ivermectin. I mean, a microdose of ivermectin. So if you live in the South, then it's so easy to prevent it. And I just, don't understand why you would die on the hill that I don't want to give my dog a microdose of ivermectin, but I'm going to leave them open.

to this nasty infection of worms living in their heart. There are actual worms in their heart.

JoJo (09:42)
clogging up their heart. Yeah, it's, it's a disgusting. Why do we have to talk about parasites? ⁓ But also just, well, I mean, if you've seen heartworm, if you've ever dissected a heart that has heartworm, it is so foul. And the idea that your dog is having to slow down in life. I mean, this happens to young dogs and they're having to be crated for months. I mean, and

Dr. Angie Krause (09:43)
clogging their hearts.

I know, I know you hate them.

Yes!

JoJo (10:08)
The treatment is so toxic, as you've said before on previous episodes. And for those who are really concerned about the heart guards and the ⁓ ivermectin plus, right? They have another ingredient typically in the preventatives. You can compound ivermectin to be a single ingredient. I mean, we can, again, dialogue.

Dr. Angie Krause (10:10)
Yeah.

Again, dialogue, yes. I wouldn't, yes, I wouldn't worry about the other ingredients because they're also extremely safe. But if you are just wanting to prevent heartworm disease, it's ivermectin and it's so easy and

JoJo (10:45)
Okay, well I felt your rage in that one. It's just so irresponsible. And ⁓ you know, yeah, I know one of your other ones on your list and I can see how all of these are gonna segue into it.

Dr. Angie Krause (10:47)
Yeah, this is an angsty episode.

Yeah.

Yes, this last one. Well, there's kind of two. The next one on my list is when veterinarians, and there are veterinarians that I know and love that say this. So I know and love you as a person, but when people say kibble or vaccines, interchangeable here, cause cancer, I want to just fall out of my chair. I'm so mad. I just want to throw myself

JoJo (11:01)
This is your last one.

Okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (11:24)
on the floor and have a tantrum for so many reasons. One, I've been practicing long enough to see dogs eating Bil Jac my gosh, no shade to Bil- Jac, but whatever the lowest, cheapest, you know, tier brand that you can find. And if that's what you're feeding, no shade to you. It's not causing your dog cancer.

and that have done every vaccine ever recommended to them and their dogs live to 15. Like if you've been practicing for any length of time you've seen that and then you've seen the dog that's fed raw that's maybe never been vaccinated or minimally vaccinated get lymphoma at two. And at the end of the day I do think diet is important. I'm a huge supporter of diet being such a pillar of health and so that is true.

But it is also true that so much of the cancer we see in cats and dogs is genetic. And you might not be able to prevent it, which people don't like to hear because we want to feel like we're in control. And when you are attracted to holistic or integrative medicine, it's because Western medicine has failed you and you want to find some kind of control. And so we all get here usually

kind of by this similar path in that we care about our animals. We've been failed. You we feel failed by the Western medical system, which I mean, I agree, like it's too limited. That's a whole nother episode. But then we think that if we make all the right decisions, we are going to, with 100 % certainty, affect the outcome of our pet's life. They're not gonna have any problems.

they're not gonna have cancer and they're never gonna die.

JoJo (13:09)
And that's

when we hear the saddest, it always breaks my heart when someone enters an appointment and their dog has cancer or their dog has some devastating diagnosis. And what comes out of their mouth is I did everything right. I thought I did everything right. And it's just, again, cloak of shame that we as an industry, when we make those statements, put on them.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:24)
Right?

Right? And it's not true. There's no one variable that's going to cause your dog to get cancer or not get cancer except for their genetics. And yes, we are like learning we can turn genes on and off and that is great. But if you have a golden retriever or a boxer, you are fighting the uphill battle of cancer.

And I think so many people blame themselves when it inevitably happens. And they think that there's something they should have done. They failed their pet. And I think it's just a fancy way for people to consume maybe different diets for, like get different diets for their pets or buy the supplement. And I think when people sell with fear and shame like that, it's just a fancy way capitalism is stealing

time you have to be happy with your dog. And as someone

JoJo (14:32)
So around

diet, knowing that you're so passionate around diet, what is the more responsible statement?

Dr. Angie Krause (14:38)
I think the more responsible statement is to feed the best diet that you can and that your dog will eat.

Picking the diet for your dog is so complicated. We don't all have the means to feed three 50 pound dogs an exclusively raw diet that has been sustainably sourced. you know, like we just, that is not, that is a mortgage payment. And some people do it and I am so happy for them and their dogs. I do think when dogs and cats are fed,

JoJo (15:00)
No, that is a mortgage payment.

Dr. Angie Krause (15:12)
a better diet, they have less health problems. And I think we see better outcomes overall, but not always, and it's not the only variable. But just because you can't feed your 50 pound dog an all raw diet, you can't afford all Stella and Chewy's every month all the time, doesn't mean that your dog is gonna die of cancer.

JoJo (15:32)
Right. But fear will keep people buying and keep people subscribing

Dr. Angie Krause (15:32)
just not how this works.

Fear will keep

And I'll tell you, after working with Stella and Chewy's, they don't want you to feel that way either. And they're so passionate about meeting people where they're at, that they've created all these lines of products. They're like, okay, you can't always feed raw, here's a raw topper. Okay, you can't, you you need some kibble, here's kibble with a little bit of raw, here's kibble with no raw. Like, it's so important to meet people where they are.

And just because you can't feed that raw diet doesn't mean you shouldn't have a dog. Or that your dog's gonna die of cancer.

JoJo (16:03)
What? Yeah.

No, no way.

No. And on top of that, think the, I mean, I keep using the word rhetoric, the, those blanket statements has created.

I say this, the keyboard warriors. So when someone maybe responds to this, this episode, there will inevitably be somebody who says, well, feeding kibble gives your cat cancer. There's an army of people saying it.

Dr. Angie Krause (16:35)
Yes.

Yeah.

And I wonder what they think they're doing to help. I mean, I hate kibble for cats for so many reasons, but I don't think that shaming people is the way to go. just...

JoJo (16:54)
No, and it starts from the top down. So that's what I hear you saying is we have a responsibility as professionals in the holistic space to be really responsible with our language.

Dr. Angie Krause (17:06)
Yes, because I think we're stealing happiness and time from people and the dogs that could be enjoying each other and not fretting. I would say after almost 20 years of practice, what I want to tell people, do the best you can, please enjoy your dog. We don't get them forever. Like this is all temporary. You don't have to worry that every decision is the right decision. Love your dog and let your dog love you.

JoJo (17:32)
Right, and

you're saying dog, and I think it really has been dog guardians, but we have moved into a space where cat guardians are now experiencing this as well.

Dr. Angie Krause (17:41)
Definitely, yes. And enjoy your cat. Your cat doesn't want you to stress out about feeding them everything perfectly. And honestly, your cat's making a lot of their own medical and life decisions. Yes.

JoJo (17:53)
Right. We always come back to that. Like you may

want to do this and your cat's going to have none of it. They are the ultimate deciders of their fate.

Dr. Angie Krause (17:59)
Yes, yes.

They really are.

JoJo (18:03)
Okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (18:04)
Okay, so this is my last one, but if you're going to follow a holistic veterinarian, if you're going to listen to a holistic veterinarian, just consider how much time in practice they have spent. How many years as a general practitioner or even, I mean, any kind of practitioner, maybe they're on an oncologist or whatever, like maybe they're a specialist.

consider that because I'll tell you that there are a lot of things that people recommend to heal the gut or to use Chinese herbs for everything or there's just a glandular supplement that that's gonna clear everything or if you just switch your pet's water to filtered water that everything's gonna be okay and this is like a massive component of your pet's disease.

in practice that just doesn't really pan out. I remember when I first learned Chinese medicine and I was learning herbs and Steve Marsden, who's a brilliant veterinarian and just the smartest person. He's also like a human, probably, I don't know if he's an osteopath, he's an acupuncturist and anyways, he's amazing. And he always made me feel like I could cure anything.

with Chinese herbs. And so I like go back into practice and it turns out you can't, you can't. Like when I have a really itchy dog that has food and environmental allergies, there's no herbal formula that's going to make that better. And raw diets don't in fact fix everything. And so really consider how long that veterinarian has spent managing case after case after case.

year after year, because I think that has helped inform my practice of what works and what doesn't work. I know for urinary incontinence, I know I'm gonna be pretty successful with my herbs. I know with my autoimmune conditions, I can be pretty successful with the way I use herbs. Of course I'm gonna use steroids too, but when I'm weaned down on steroids, I'm gonna have a better outcome when I do use my herbs.

Using herbs alone for itchy dogs is like pissing in the wind. Like it's not gonna work because you didn't take away the allergen and you didn't take away the immune response. The other thing I'll say is I don't care how much gut healing you're gonna do with probiotics and whatever. It's rarely gonna be enough. It's just.

JoJo (20:31)
Yes, that's

a good one. I'm glad you said that one. I had that one in the back of my head.

Dr. Angie Krause (20:35)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, no, we do need to heal the gut, but not necessarily in the ways you think. so anyways, just just check on that veterinarian. How many cases have they managed in person over the years?

JoJo (20:49)
Right, I like to refer to that as for my life, those are lessons in empathy. Anytime I think something so strongly and I'm shown something on the opposite side, I feel I gain a deeper empathic response for both sides of the equation. And so I feel like we can approach veterinary medicine in that way. There's always a both and. Right, it's not, there's not.

Dr. Angie Krause (21:11)
Yes.

JoJo (21:13)
one right and one wrong answer. There is a whole spectrum of fits, if you will.

Dr. Angie Krause (21:20)
Absolutely. And I will say, going back to Steve Marson, he probably can cure anything with herbs. He's probably just a way better practitioner than me. But I think overall, just keep looking for that experience. And you're right, the empathy, those sweeping statements are red flags. If your veterinarian won't work with you unless you feed or give filtered water,

JoJo (21:27)
Hehehehe

Dr. Angie Krause (21:46)
red flag.

JoJo (21:46)
right and on the flip side of that if your veterinarian won't work with you because you feed a raw food diet also red flag

Dr. Angie Krause (21:47)
That's all I'm gonna say.

also a red flag. That is so true. So those were a lot of x about holistic medicine that I've had over the years that I just had to share. Well, I know I'm gonna get some backlash and some of it's probably gonna be misunderstood. And that's okay, I can clarify. Did I say anything that you think is gonna be misunderstood?

JoJo (21:56)
Okay.

How do you feel now that you said them out loud?

No, I thought you were very ⁓ PC and really, yeah, not calculated because that feels manipulative, but very conscious in the choices of words. I didn't hear any slamming. think, yeah, no, think it's, what you're bringing to the table is important for people to look beyond what feels urgent or.

Dr. Angie Krause (22:17)
Okay.

⁓

JoJo (22:37)
Yeah, anything that's being sold in fear is probably something to look underneath.

Dr. Angie Krause (22:42)
Yes.

JoJo (22:43)
And if you did, we'll hear about it.

Dr. Angie Krause (22:45)
We'll hear about it. I'll have a chance to clear it up. I'm so sorry if I've

made any sweeping statement. You know, of course, like we don't have time to go into everything. And maybe I'll

JoJo (22:55)
Right, I'd

be curious what people have heard too in their clinics or in the, or what they've bought into that maybe they've changed their mind on as they've gone years into their pet parenting journey.

Dr. Angie Krause (23:07)
Definitely, definitely. Yeah, I think that people will have some good feedback. So we want to hear your feedback. Leave a comment, even if it's not favorable, but do give me a chance. You can come at me if you want, but like give me a chance to either clarify or explain myself, or maybe you can just come at me and there's no clarification. Maybe you'll agree with me and maybe you're a holistic veterinarian that can cure anything with herbs and you can teach me more stuff.

I'm open to that too. Maybe you're gonna come in my comments and be like, hey, actually Angie, I can cure any itchy dog with Chinese herbs and then I wanna be your best friend. I want, yeah, I wanna know it all, like give it to me. ⁓ And so we'd to hear from you. And if you're listening and you're interested in learning more about an integrative approach to various.

JoJo (23:38)
Right?

I was gonna say, then we wanna know that protocol, right?

Dr. Angie Krause (24:01)
diseases, you can go to boulderholisticvet.com. We have some prerecorded courses about vomiting cats, vaccines, itchy dogs, and you can get one for free using the code truth tales. Did I say it right? you can spell it either way. Is that still true? T-A-I-L-S or T-A-L-E-S. So.

JoJo (24:18)
You did, nicely done.

Yes, that's still true. Yeah.

And I would also like to throw in there too, this is a great time to mention that Dr. Angie does do consultations. And so if you are feeling overwhelmed by the information you've been given by your veterinarian or the information that you're seeking and not getting from your veterinarian, Dr. Angie does offer online consultations, which can be booked through our website as well. You'll see book a consultation and that's a great place to piece through

what you've been given in terms of information, where you want to go and help create a care plan that feels aligned for you and your pet.

Dr. Angie Krause (24:59)
Yes, I love consultations. I love our Zoom calls. And they're all, it's all recorded. And so you can, you can take the recording. Yes. Okay, we'll see you next time. Bye.

JoJo (25:05)
Yeah, bust some myths. Yeah, you can bust some myths in those conversations. So, okay, that is all. Bye.