About

About

Purple Moon Herbs & Studies' Mission

Our mission is to educate veterinarians and pet-lovers on Western Herbal Medicine, Nutrition and Food Therapy, and Bach Flower Essences. We are well-versed in the use of over 400 herbs, administered by tinctures and extracts (concentrated oral formulas), capsules and tablets, teas, lozenges, ointments and salves, and aromatherapy (inhaled essential oils in baths, candles, etc.). Dr. Laurie Dohmen provides instruction for both veterinarians and pet lovers through seminars at conferences and in our own structured classes. We provide a more wholistic approach to veterinary medicine and nutrition with our homecooking recipes and alternative treatment modalities for your pets.

Western Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine is the use of herbs as drugs. Most drugs are derived originally from plants, but just the desired chemical is extracted for use as medication. Herbal medicine uses the actual plant - for some, the roots, leaves and/or flowers. This is much better because many plants when used in their entirety do not have the irritating or even dangerous side effect of the one active chemical. Other chemicals in the plant work symbiotically to make the whole herb a safer and better way to get the needed medication. There are many ways to use herbs: tinctures and extracts (concentrated oral formulas), capsules and tablets, teas, lozenges, ointments and salves, and aromatherapy (inhaled or topical essential oils or hydrosols in baths, candles, etc.).

Nutrition

Simply, this is adjusting the diet to relieve or prevent a disease process or enhance optimal health. A common example of this is removing a food from the diet that a dog is allergic to in order to relieve skin and ear infections. Underlying nutritional imbalances are subtle changes that veterinarians are trained to notice. Owners usually see dramatic improvement when dietary changes are made.  We always recommend homecooking for pets.

Bach Flower Remedies

Dr. Bach believed that all physical problems were actually just physical manifestations of emotional problems or personality disorders. He tried to fix the underlying emotional distress with preparations of flower essences. There are 38 flower essences for 38 different "personality disorders." Each individual animal gets their own specifically tailored combination of 6-7 flower essences suited to its personality. There is also one general remedy called "Rescue Remedy" that is good for any stressful situation for an individual. We recommend everyone have a bottle of this on hand at all times.

About Dr. Laurie Dohmen

Growing up, Dr. Dohmen always wanted to be a veterinarian.  She grew up in a time where pharmaceutical medicine was considered the zenith of all medicine.  All her schooling was in pharmaceutical medicine, but she started feeling that there was something more.  In her personal life, she had been a vegetarian for years; she wanted to help animals, not eat them.  She began to use organic food and alternative medicine modalities for herself and her family.  Her family thrived on this more wholistic lifestyle, and she realized that if these things were better for her family, they would be better for her patients also.

At the same time, more and more research became available which indicated that allopathic medicine was not the be-all-end-all that western doctors had always believed.  There was even research that vaccines and medicines that had been used and prescribed for years actually do more harm than good.  Becoming disillusioned with some areas of pharmaceutical medicine, Dr. Dohmen began studying alternative modalities.

Dr. Dohmen has received training in Acupuncture, Food Therapy, Bach Flower Essences, and most extensively Western Herbs.   She has studied with Dr. Steve Marsden, Dr.Huisheng Xie, Registered Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, and many others. She received her Masters of Therapeutic Herbalism from Maryland University of Integrative Health in 2014.  IN 2013, she down-sized her integrative mixed animal practice in southern Delaware.  She is now a full-time continuing educator and lectures regularly on Western Herbal Veterinary Medicine, and other wholistic topics.  She is published frequently in journals such as JAHVMA and IVC (Integrative Veterinary Care Journal).

Dr. Dohmen is the Past President of the Veterinary Botanical Medical Association; as well as a member of American Herbalists Guild, International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture, American Holistic VMA and AVMA.  She is on the Editorial Board of the AHVMA Journal.  Dr. Dohmen lives on a 72 acre farm with her husband, 2 sons, and many four-legged animals.  She has her own organic herb and vegetable gardens.  She also owns Lowood Educational Center in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

About

Purple Moon Herbs & Studies' Mission

Our mission is to educate veterinarians and pet-lovers on Western Herbal Medicine, Nutrition and Food Therapy, and Bach Flower Essences. We are well-versed in the use of over 400 herbs, administered by tinctures and extracts (concentrated oral formulas), capsules and tablets, teas, lozenges, ointments and salves, and aromatherapy (inhaled essential oils in baths, candles, etc.). Dr. Laurie Dohmen provides instruction for both veterinarians and pet lovers through seminars at conferences and in our own structured classes. We provide a more wholistic approach to veterinary medicine and nutrition with our homecooking recipes and alternative treatment modalities for your pets.

Western Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine is the use of herbs as drugs. Most drugs are derived originally from plants, but just the desired chemical is extracted for use as medication. Herbal medicine uses the actual plant - for some, the roots, leaves and/or flowers. This is much better because many plants when used in their entirety do not have the irritating or even dangerous side effect of the one active chemical. Other chemicals in the plant work symbiotically to make the whole herb a safer and better way to get the needed medication. There are many ways to use herbs: tinctures and extracts (concentrated oral formulas), capsules and tablets, teas, lozenges, ointments and salves, and aromatherapy (inhaled or topical essential oils or hydrosols in baths, candles, etc.).

Nutrition

Simply, this is adjusting the diet to relieve or prevent a disease process or enhance optimal health. A common example of this is removing a food from the diet that a dog is allergic to in order to relieve skin and ear infections. Underlying nutritional imbalances are subtle changes that veterinarians are trained to notice. Owners usually see dramatic improvement when dietary changes are made.  We always recommend homecooking for pets.

Bach Flower Remedies

Dr. Bach believed that all physical problems were actually just physical manifestations of emotional problems or personality disorders. He tried to fix the underlying emotional distress with preparations of flower essences. There are 38 flower essences for 38 different "personality disorders." Each individual animal gets their own specifically tailored combination of 6-7 flower essences suited to its personality. There is also one general remedy called "Rescue Remedy" that is good for any stressful situation for an individual. We recommend everyone have a bottle of this on hand at all times.

About Dr. Laurie Dohmen

Growing up, Dr. Dohmen always wanted to be a veterinarian.  She grew up in a time where pharmaceutical medicine was considered the zenith of all medicine.  All her schooling was in pharmaceutical medicine, but she started feeling that there was something more.  In her personal life, she had been a vegetarian for years; she wanted to help animals, not eat them.  She began to use organic food and alternative medicine modalities for herself and her family.  Her family thrived on this more wholistic lifestyle, and she realized that if these things were better for her family, they would be better for her patients also.

At the same time, more and more research became available which indicated that allopathic medicine was not the be-all-end-all that western doctors had always believed.  There was even research that vaccines and medicines that had been used and prescribed for years actually do more harm than good.  Becoming disillusioned with some areas of pharmaceutical medicine, Dr. Dohmen began studying alternative modalities.

Dr. Dohmen has received training in Acupuncture, Food Therapy, Bach Flower Essences, and most extensively Western Herbs.   She has studied with Dr. Steve Marsden, Dr.Huisheng Xie, Registered Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, and many others. She received her Masters of Therapeutic Herbalism from Maryland University of Integrative Health in 2014.  IN 2013, she down-sized her integrative mixed animal practice in southern Delaware.  She is now a full-time continuing educator and lectures regularly on Western Herbal Veterinary Medicine, and other wholistic topics.  She is published frequently in journals such as JAHVMA and IVC (Integrative Veterinary Care Journal).

Dr. Dohmen is the Past President of the Veterinary Botanical Medical Association; as well as a member of American Herbalists Guild, International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture, American Holistic VMA and AVMA.  She is on the Editorial Board of the AHVMA Journal.  Dr. Dohmen lives on a 72 acre farm with her husband, 2 sons, and many four-legged animals.  She has her own organic herb and vegetable gardens.  She also owns Lowood Educational Center in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.