E88: Animal Healing Now - Working with Vets to Enhance Quality of Care Naturally

What makes Dr. Michael Savko with Animal Healing NOW a good neighbor?  

Could your furry friend benefit from a different kind of healing? Dr. Michael Savko brings 25 years of experience in holistic animal therapy to this eye-opening conversation about the power of complementary veterinary care.

What sets Animal Healing Now apart isn't just their expertise in animal chiropractic and bodywork, but their unique collaborative approach. Working directly within four veterinary hospitals across the Pittsburgh area, Dr. Michael and his team bridge the gap between conventional medicine and holistic therapies. Rather than functioning as separate entities, they create a seamless experience where both approaches enhance each other.

The results speak for themselves. From limping legs to digestive issues, Animal Healing Now achieves positive outcomes in approximately 90% of cases. Dr. Michael dispels common misconceptions about animal chiropractic care, explaining how their gentle trigger point therapy differs from the adjustments people might imagine. This approach focuses on unlocking the body's natural healing potential, helping pets overcome issues that might otherwise require more invasive interventions.

What truly distinguishes this practice is their dedication to personalized care. When pet owners call, they speak directly with a doctor who takes time to understand their concerns and coordinate with their veterinarian. This extraordinary level of attention extends beyond business hours, with Dr. Michael sometimes fielding calls on weekends and holidays. "We care just as much as you do about your critters," he explains, and that compassion shines through every aspect of their service.

Ready to explore whether holistic therapy could help your pet? Visit animalhealingnow.com or call 724-261-7915 to speak directly with Dr. Michael or his team. Your animal companion deserves care that addresses not just their symptoms, but their whole being.

To learn more about Animal Healing NOW go to: 

http://www.animalhealingnow.com/

Animal Healing NOW

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lila Carter.

SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Is your animal in need of someholistic animal therapy?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Dr.
Michael Southcoe with AnimalHealing Now.
Dr.
Michael, how's it going?

SPEAKER_03 (00:33):
It's going great.
I'm very excited to be here.
Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
Thank you for being here.
Yeah, we're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
So please tell us more aboutyour company.

SPEAKER_03 (00:44):
Well, we are chiropractors.
We work with veterinarians inveterinary hospitals, and we
provide like a holistic bodyworktrigger point sort of therapy,
working with the vets to try tohelp the animals do as good as
they possibly can.
We can treat all sorts ofconditions for everything from

(01:07):
limpy legs to sore necks togoopy eyes to stomach aches.
Essentially, we're trying tohelp the body do a better job
and dealing with it withwhatever it's dealing with.
We have 25 years experience.
We work out of four localveterinary hospitals.

(01:27):
We have set hours weekly there.
And instead of it being vetchiropractor or vet therapy,
different, we're together.
So I think it provides a betteruh continuity of care for the
patient and the clients.
Absolutely.
Usually we get pretty goodresults.

SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
Very good.
And how did you get into thisbusiness?
It's very unique.

SPEAKER_03 (01:53):
I've always been an animal lover.
And you know, I was the guywhere it was like, oh, this this
uh cat doesn't like guys, andthen the cat was uh crawling on
me, you know, kind of thing.
Or I remember my mom telling methat you know, would we go see
the movies as a kid that I wasalways very uh sensitive about
the like Bambi's mom and stufflike that, you know.
So I've just always had aninnate connection to animals.

(02:19):
And I uh when I decided to gothe holistic route uh and I
found out that you could work onanimals being a chiropractor, I
uh immediately kind ofgravitated towards that.
And um, here we are 25 yearslater.

SPEAKER_00 (02:36):
Awesome.
Well, 25 years, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 (02:40):
Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Are there any myths or maybe misconceptions in this
industry that you'd like to talkabout today?

SPEAKER_03 (02:48):
Sure.
That it can't help.
Uh it's it the bottom line is itcan't hurt.
If we take a case, uh, we aregenerally helpful about 90% of
the time in some way.
It doesn't mean that we're gonnasave the day, even though
sometimes we do or we help doingthat.

(03:08):
But it it it it with ourapproach, it's more like a
trigger point therapy body workversus an adjustment, which is
what most people think of aschiropractic.
So it's very safe, it's verycomfortable for the animal.
We have a long-standingreputation of being good humans
and doing good work.
Um, we have a huge network ofveterinarians that we work with,

(03:32):
in addition to the four that wepractice out of.
So I think um uh, you know, themisconceptions that it might not
work or that it it may hurt.
Uh if you take a look at our uhreputation and our results, you
can see that most of the time itdoes do something and it never

(03:53):
really hurts.
Uh just like anything else.
If you start a new exercise, ifyou start a new therapy, if you
start a new medication, ifyou're at the vet office and
you're getting poked, prodded alittle too much, you might be a
little sore afterwards.
But in holistic medicine, wecall that a healing reaction.
So we're trying to kind ofunlock the body so that we can

(04:14):
get the body better instead ofbeing stuck, you know, with
where it is currently.

SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
Sure.
And so are your target customersanyone with a pet who might seem
like they could need somebalancing, or who who are these
people and these animals?
And how are you currentlyattracting um the owners to the
business?

SPEAKER_03 (04:36):
Oh, luckily at this point, um, with all the years
and the reputation, it's it's alot of word of mouth.
And then the veterinarians thatwe work with in-house, like I
said, we have four locationskind of around the Pittsburgh
area, they'll send us uh casesalso.
But it's mainly word of mouth,or people will find us through

(04:58):
online, they go searching,they're getting uh
recommendations that don't sitwell with them, or maybe their
vet you know doesn't know abouteverything.
So they start looking for thingsand um they contact us.
And really, we the doctors, wehave a very unique approach
here.
So our technique isn't unique.
And when somebody calls thephone number, they eventually

(05:21):
talk to a doctor first.
So it's not like they're talkingto an office manager or a
receptionist.
We want to make sure that numberone, the person understands who
we are and what we do and how wedo things.
And we don't like surprises forpeople.
So we we talk to them, we makesure that also that their vet is
on board with uh what they'redoing or that their vet knows

(05:44):
who we are.
So we're big fans of, we want towork together.
And both of us doctors have uh alot of experience in
multidisciplinary.
So we're used to working with uhthe medical side or traditional
doctor, if you want to call itthat way.
So it's it's a lot of word ofmouth, online, direct referral
from the veterinarian, or theycall it a consultation, really,

(06:07):
with what we're doing.
So the state looks at it likewe're consulting with the vet on
the case, which is kind of likewhat happens with most therapy,
physical therapy, that kind ofthing.
In the state of Pennsylvania,the state looks at it like the
person's veterinarian or aveterinarian is kind of the hub
that everything comes out of,which is good.
That way, there's always theirvet is involved, the vet knows

(06:29):
what's going on, we send the veta report.
So it's about as uh, you know,keep it in the family and
everybody's kind of on the samepage as possible.
And like I said, we usually getpretty good results.

SPEAKER_00 (06:41):
Very good.
Yeah, I love that you guys getto work together to heal the
animal in a holistic way that'sall-encompassing.
Um, so have you ever thoughtabout maybe starting your own
podcasts to talk to the animals'owners about maybe some of the
concerns that they're wanting toaddress and how to address them

(07:02):
in a way that would be kind ofunique to them?

SPEAKER_03 (07:05):
It's crossed my mind, and usually we're kind of
in the trenches working uh alot, and luckily we've been busy
enough and we don't have tons oftime to do like videos or things
while we're working, but doingthis has definitely um sparked
uh I it's been in my mind, butwho knows?
You may you may get me on abetter path here to get the word

(07:26):
out a little bit more, and Iwon't I won't forget about you
if that happens.
Very sweet.

SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
So outside of work, what do you do for fun?

SPEAKER_02 (07:35):
Um, I like music, I like sports, I like uh putzing
around the house, I like doingyard work, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 (07:42):
Outside, um my wife and I we live uh outside of the
city, so we like doing yardwork.
We like spending time at thepool.
We kind of keep it simple.
Uh, we have a nice and simple,uh nice relationship and uh
makes things easy.

SPEAKER_00 (07:58):
Oh, very nice.
Yeah, we love our homeimprovement projects around here
too.

SPEAKER_03 (08:02):
Yes, yes.
I I hopefully I'll have enoughtime to do a little bit today
now that it uh stopped rainingaround here in Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_00 (08:09):
Yeah, exactly.
We've gotten quite the downpourin these last couple days after
a long drought.
So my garden's probably veryhappy about it.
Yes, Dr.
Michael, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should remember about animalhealing now.

SPEAKER_03 (08:29):
Unique, one-of-a-kind experience,
excellent results, uh, can't getbetter quality customer service.
Uh, with the doctors are readilyavailable for people.
I've talked to people onSundays, on holidays.
We care just as much as you douh about your critters, and we

(08:50):
want to help.

SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
Yeah, I can feel that energy even through the
call that you really this is thebest job for you to be in.
Just something, yeah, whereyou're showing your care and
compassion for animals.
How can our listeners learn moreabout Animal Healing Now?

SPEAKER_03 (09:08):
Our website is www.animalhealingnow.com.
So animalhealingnow.com.
From there, you can go toFacebook, you can go to YouTube,
uh, the phone number724-261-7915, which I'm sure
you'll put up somewhere here.
Um that is direct to us, andyou're either speaking to a

(09:32):
doctor or the office managerwhen you contact that number.
So, again, very, very close-knitgroup here.
We get back to people.
If we're busy, we get back topeople immediately.
Most people are shocked that weget back to them so fast and
that they're speaking with thedoctor right away, and that
we'll take the time to talk tothem and all those sorts of
things.

(09:52):
So it really blows people away.
The kindness, the compassion.
And then when you add on theresults, it's um it's been a
fantastic journey, and we wewant to continue helping more
and more and more.

SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
Oh, very sweet.
Yeah, a lot of times wheneveryou're dealing with issues of
chronic pain or whatever they'regoing through, it is an urgent
matter to that owner.
So the fact that your responsetime is very quick, I'm sure, is
appreciated across the span ofyour customer base.

SPEAKER_03 (10:21):
Yeah, and because we're answering the phone and
talking to people, we talk to alot of people that need to go
see their vet first.

SPEAKER_02 (10:28):
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (10:28):
So we know we say, hey, uh, you know, you you if
you're having stomach issues oror the dog hasn't been eating,
and that's not where you we weappreciate the the holistic vibe
of the client that's thinkingthat, but we want to make sure
that they're where they'resupposed to be first.
So really the client sh is atthe vet or talks to the vet and

(10:49):
then comes to us.
So and and we're happy to do itthat way, and that's the way
that it should be done becausethe vet is really the main
practitioner or the or the leadkind of clinician for animals in
the state of PA.
We kind of function with them,kind of underneath that or in
conjunction, you know, together.

SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
So thank you.
Well, Dr.
Michael, I very much appreciateyour time today and having you
as a guest on the show.
We wish you and Animal HealingNow the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_03 (11:22):
Thank you very much for having me.
I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 (11:25):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnppittsburgh.com.
That's gnppittsburgh.com or call412 561 9956.