Chattanooga’s pets (and their humans) are loving their CHAI, says Chattanooga Holistic Animal Institute founder Dr. Colleen Smith.
CHAI, which opened on the Southside’s Main Street in 2012, last weekend celebrated its two-year birthday (or 21-year birthday in dog years) with an open house featuring facility tours, refreshments, games, prizes, area vendors, and rescue groups offering information about ways to adopt or foster animals.
The event also marked the addition of a new holistic vet, Dr. Katie Smithson, also a certified animal acupuncturist and an expert in nutrition and stem cell research.
Other new members have joined the CHAI staff as well, including CHAI’s house call veterinarian, Dr. Shannon Dawkins, who has a special interest in exotics. She services the Chattanooga and North Georgia areas and performs surgeries weekly at CHAI.
CHAI also announced new operating hours. To better accommodate its growing clientele, the institute is now open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
One of the stops on the tour included the recently renovated holistic grooming studio, staffed by Jo Mills, the “doggy whisperer.” Mills has the advantage, said Dr. Smith, of also being a licensed veterinary technician, knowledge she uses to monitor for possible health issues. She is also a Reiki master, which she utilizes to keep her grooming patients relaxed.
CHAI offers veterinary acupuncture, veterinary chiropractic, nutrition therapy, laser therapy, green grooming, awake dental procedures, surgery, stem cell, prolotherapy, digital X-ray, vaccinations and vaccine titers, general medicine, canine Tui-na massage, Reiki, and nutritional supplements.
“Holistic veterinary medicine is the art and science of healing that addresses care of the whole animal: body, mind, and spirit,” said Dr. Smith. “The practice of holistic veterinary medicine integrates conventional and complementary therapies to promote optimal health, and prevent and treat disease by addressing contributing factors. Each animal is seen as a unique individual rather than an example of a particular disease.”
Kaitlin Hyma became interested in holistic pet care after utilizing CHAI’s grooming services. She says the approach has done “tremendous things” for her seven dogs. “I now feed them raw food. Their coats and teeth are in much better shape, and their stool disappears in my yard without me having to pick it up. There are no fillers in the food to keep it solid,” she says.
Hyma also appreciates the institute’s three-year, rather than annual, vaccinations. “Dogs don’t need to be vaccinated every year,” she says. “Instead, CHAI does blood tests to see if an animal even needs a vaccination. With seven dogs, three-year vaccinations are good on my wallet.”
Dr. Smith graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. She is a certified veterinary acupuncturist from the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society and a certified veterinary chiropractitioner in Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation. She also trained in nutrition therapy, using traditional Chinese veterinary medicine diagnosis and treatments.
CHAI is located at 918 E. Main Street in downtown Chattanooga. For more information, call (423) 531-8899 or visit www.chattanoogaholisticvet.com.