Mamen Muñoz is an integrative veterinarian from Cádiz with a very clear mission: to improve the quality of life of animals through emotional well-being, nutrition and complementary therapies. A few years ago she created the project Bivet. We have chatted with her to learn more about her work.

You graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Córdoba in 2016, how has your evolution been until you created Bivet?

After finishing my degree, I did an internship in England and worked in clinics in various parts of Spain, gaining experience and discovering my path.

During my time at the clinics, something in me was not consistent: express consultations, inhumane schedules, company philosophies that did not coincide with my way of working, treatment of the animal through a symptom and not as a whole... etc.

To discover my way of seeing veterinary medicine, I was taking courses thinking about what I liked most and not so much about a professional future that would be profitable: natural nutrition, complementary therapies (Bach Flowers, CBD, homeopathy, aromatherapy...) and my great passion, ethology and animal-human bond.

In the clinic I felt that a large part of the illnesses came from a base that was not well formulated: insecure bonds, low-quality diet, stress, excessive use of medications...etc.

And that's how after several years of study, I launched my own Bivet project, where I feel more coherent than ever and from here I know that I can help many animals with a more integrative point of view.

Our Herbalist for animals Animals turned nine years old in 2023 and in all these years we have seen how there are more and more integrative veterinarians. This may be the result of the fact that there is more and more training in therapies and natural nutrition in Spain, do you think this is the case? Or what is your impression about it?

Well, I think that many veterinarians are no longer satisfied with the 2+2=4, working systematically giving vaccines in abundance, selling feed or castrating without questioning anything.

I think we have a broader vision of animal health and there is more demand in discovering this world. That is why now more training on nutrition, ethology, rehabilitation, acupuncture, natural therapies... etc. is appearing.

I also think that the relationship we have with technology has had a lot of influence because we can open ourselves to the world in a more fluid way and connect with tutors who are more similar to our approach.

In integrative and holistic veterinary medicine, the emotional well-being of the animal plays a prominent role and you have trained in ethology, which we think is fantastic. Issues such as separation anxiety, reactivity, etc. They cause great suffering to both animals and human guardians and are also the cause of many abandonments. How do you deal with these types of problems?

When I start with a patient and their family, we begin an adventure together. I try to build strong foundations of well-being, work very well on the bond, the foundations of coexistence, create a coherent communication channel and from there we work on the problem in question.

The problem is that many times we see the tip of the iceberg without having worked on that important foundation. I'll give you an example, if a dog barks at home, I don't go directly to work on that barking because it wouldn't make sense without first starting to deepen all the bases of well-being.

I give the example of a movie, when I start working with a family, they show me a part of the movie, but little by little I will watch the entire movie and this way I will be able to understand and work on the entire situation better. I love discovering those layers and working on them.

In this sense, although we defend that each animal is unique and that its personality depends on many factors, it is true that there are breeds like Border Collies that present many challenges (and are also being abandoned) such as "herding" cars, motorcycles. , cyclists, runners... Can you give us your vision on the matter and how you usually approach the treatment of this type of dog?

The ideal would be to inform ourselves and be aware of the dog with which we would like to share our lives before adoption, since it can be a suffering for the animal and the family in the future.

Many times we have the limitation that genetics, individual factors and environment are very important for the improvement of a case.

In the example of Border Collies, which are so sensitive and are selected for herding, it can be a very expensive problem to work on when they are in cities with so many noises and stimuli “to stop”.

I would recommend putting yourself in the hands of a professional as a puppy and, if possible, before adoption to assess whether this type of breed is appropriate for your life.

Among the treatments you use is Natural Medicine, with natural therapies such as Phytotherapy, Aromatherapy, Bach Flowers and Homeopathy. How do you integrate them into diagnoses and treatments? In which cases are they most useful in your experience?

I feel that I have all the tools I use like in a backpack in my head, and depending on each case I use the ones I see as necessary, normally I make a mix according to the needs of each case.

I'll give you an example, in kidney disease I can use a change in diet, herbal medicine, Bach flowers and homeopathy. For this, a history, a diagnosis and a treatment plan have previously been made.

In my experience, in cases of insecurity-fear in dogs and cats, Bach flowers work very well.

In our Herbalist for animals animals We speak with many dog ​​and cat guardians and we realize that the ease of administration in the treatments and the palatability of the supplements are key for people to be consistent in the treatment, what do you think about this? 

Yes, it is a very interesting topic, since sometimes I have withdrawn some medication because I was not able to offer it well, the stress they go through at that moment can be worse than not offering the effect of the treatment.

In the case of cats, especially, I see it as super important, because they are more complicated to offer medication and it can become a struggle that they will tolerate less and less if we force them to.

We would like to know your opinion about some of our best-selling products in our Herbalist for Animals.:

• Artemisia Anua: I use it in cases of Leishmania, along with an improvement in diet.
• CBD: I love it, especially in cases of older animals or those with anxiety and pain.
• Turmeric: It is an ally for inflammation and pain problems, I use it a lot in cases of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease).
• medicinal mushrooms: I use them more and more, for example, for kidney disease, in senior animals, infectious diseases and cancer.

Could you briefly highlight one or two dog/cat cases in which an integrative treatment has given particularly good results?

The most recent one I have is a cat with feline hyperesthesia syndrome (a disorder that causes muscle contractions, nervousness, and emotional-based vocalizations), which every time his guardian has an emotional change greatly affects his well-being. With Bach Flowers only these small “attacks” are reversed.

Finally, we wanted to highlight that you also offer training. What type and who are you targeting?

It is one of the services that I like the most, because my knowledge can reach more people and thus, more animals.

For now I turn to tutors and the training is aimed at ethology, nutrition and complementary therapies. Many times I also do solidarity training with shelters to support the feral cats in my area and sometimes for colleagues who want to start in this world, we have done some private ones.

Currently I offer a program called Comprehensive Wellbeing, where I teach tutors to work on those bases of canine education, bonding, communication, we also explain the types of diets, supplements and alternative therapies that exist to have all the tools you can offer to your dog to achieve more complete well-being.

Anything else you want to comment on?

Thank you very much for this space, I am a big fan of yours Herbalist for Animals. 😊