10 
10
HOMEOPATHY, A POPULAR form of natural healing throughout the world, is rapidly gaining adherents in North America among health-conscious individuals interested in helping themselves and their pets as well. Serving these animals are several hundred veterinarians who use homeopathic remedies exclusively, or along with other treatment techniques, for problems ranging from trauma to chronic diseases. The veterinarians say that just about every condition encountered in a general practice can be treated wholly or in part with homeopathy. Often the animals they see have undergone conventional treatment that hasn’t worked or has caused too many side effects. Homeopathy offers a safe alternative. It is also an excellent complement to surgery and is frequently used to reduce postsurgical pain and accelerate the healing process.
Ideally, homeopathic veterinarians like to see animals treated homeopathically from early on. “Pets cared for this way live long, healthy lives and do not develop as many nagging health problems or serious illnesses,” says Christina Chambreau, DVM. “Also, many breed-related problems can be prevented. At the end of their lives, these animals tend to die from a very short-term illness. As far as treating disease is concerned, homeopathy doesn’t just relieve symptoms. It can restore health!”
In part 2 of this book you will find many recommendations for homeopathic remedies that you can safely use on your animal. These natural medicines are available at health food stores, pharmacies, and holistic pet stores.
Homeopathy utilizes remedies made from diluted amounts of natural substances—such as herbs, bark, seeds, berries, minerals, and animal matter. The remedies activate the body’s own healing mechanisms according to a principle known as “like cures like.” It works this way: If you were to give these substances in large doses to healthy individuals or animals, they would produce the same symptoms that they help heal when given in diluted homeopathic doses.
Two examples will help illustrate the point. A large amount of coffee can cause nervousness and prevent sleep. In homeopathy, a remedy made from coffee is used to calm the nerves and help promote sleep. Sulfur, in a large dose, can cause a rash. In homeopathic amounts, it helps heal rashes and skin problems and is a popular remedy for those conditions in animals.
Homeopathic remedies are so diluted that there is virtually no trace of the original substance. For this reason they are not toxic. Homeopathy works as an “energy medicine.” The healing power comes not from the substances themselves, but from matching the energy vibration of a specific remedy to the energy pattern of the patient.
“Homeopathic remedies provide information to the body,” says John Limehouse, DVM, of North Hollywood, California. “Imagine those card keys that open your hotel room. The right information on that magnetic strip will open the door. Similarly, homeopathic remedies contain magnetic resonance information. The right remedy contains the right information to stimulate the body’s vital forces to do the work of healing, repair, and maintenance in a more efficient way.”
How do homeopathic medicines compare to pharmaceutical drugs?
Powerful pharmaceutical drugs suppress symptoms and potentially lower the health status of the body by driving the disease deeper. Instead of suppressing symptoms, the correctly prescribed homeopathic remedy will safely, gently, and permanently elevate the health of the body.
Conventional veterinarians typically prescribe cortisone or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to a dog with a painful arthritic joint. The drug is meant to stop the inflammation—that is, treat the symptom. But in the process it often creates side effects and new symptoms. Frequently a second drug is prescribed to prevent the side effects of the first drug. Moreover, the underlying cause of the inflammation is not addressed in this approach. When the drug is discontinued, the original symptoms return.
Homeopathic veterinarians treat the whole animal and not just a single symptom or disease. They prescribe specific remedies based on a variety of details, such as the color of a discharge, an animal’s behavior and need for companionship or solitude, how it reacts to pain, when the pain is worse, or factors that aggravate an illness.
“We seek clues to give us the right homeopathic remedy,” explains Charles Loops, DVM, of Pittsboro, North Carolina. “If you select the correct remedy, not only do the symptoms of pain and inflammation go away in the case of arthritis, for instance, but the animal is likely to be more energetic and feel better overall. Usually, if there is not a lot of tissue damage, you need to give the remedy for only a short period of time and then go months or even years without having to use it again. Compare this to a drug that you have to use continually, running the risk of side effects and negative changes to the physiology. Basically, with homeopathy there are no side effects, only side benefits.”
Homeopathic veterinarians typically prescribe a remedy or series of remedies with a single ingredient. Over-the-counter homeopathic remedies include single remedies as well as user-friendly combination formulas for people with little knowledge of homeopathy. Such combinations include products for pets that have multiple ingredients to cover such problems as flea bite allergic reactions, scratching, stress, motion sickness, and diarrhea. If you find that a combination does not help, it should be discontinued and the right single remedy found.
To effectively deal homeopathically with serious disorders, it is advisable to consult with a knowledgeable veterinarian. That’s because it often takes skilled detective work to sort out the clues and select correct remedies. “Many conditions are aggravated by multiple, confusing factors, such as poor nutrition, vaccinations, and conventional drugs that suppress symptoms to begin with,” says Joseph Demers, DVM. In addition, expertise is often needed to prescribe different remedies or potencies for changing conditions and symptoms.
Homeopathic specialists emphasize the importance of good nutrition and say that true healing is difficult without it no matter how many remedies they prescribe. Some degree of illness is always going to be present unless an animal has a good nutritional basis.
Homeopaths also advise that it is best not to resort to quick-fix pharmaceutical treatments of a symptom while using a homeopathic remedy because you will not know if an animal is improving or not.
Homeopathic remedies are identified by a name and number, such as Arnica 6X or 30C. The number tells you the potency—that is, the strength—of the particular remedy.
Homeopathic medicines are created by a special process of consecutive dilutions in distilled water followed by succussion (vigorous shaking). X potencies refer to substances diluted 1 part to 9 parts of water. The designation 6X means the remedy was diluted and shaken 6 times. C potencies mean a substance has been diluted 1 part to 99 parts water. Thus, 30C means a remedy that underwent thirty rounds of dilution and shaking.
This process is called “potentization.” The more a substance is potentized—that is diluted and shaken—the longer and more deeply the remedy acts in the body and the fewer doses are required for treatment.
Stores generally carry potencies of 30C or less. Higher potencies should be used cautiously and, ideally, under the guidance of a professional. That’s because higher potencies are more likely to trigger what is called a “healing crisis,” in which symptoms may at first appear aggravated before they improve.
Remedies come in several forms—liquid, pellets, and hard and soft tablets. There is no difference in effectiveness.
To give liquid remedies: Pull the lower cheek away from your dog’s teeth. Using the dropper from the bottle, apply drops into the space between the gums and teeth. Do not touch the dropper to the skin or gum tissue. If you do, wash it afterward with boiling water before reusing. Liquid remedies contain a small amount of alcohol, which veterinary homeopaths say is not a problem, even for smaller animals. Occasionally the alcohol may cause a dog to foam at the mouth. If this happens, dilute the remedy until there is no foaming. Because this is an energy medicine, such dilution does not alter the effectiveness.
To give pellets and hard tablets: Spill out the pellets or tablets from the container onto a piece of white paper or an index card. Fold paper repeatedly and then crush the pellets/tablets with the back of a spoon or a glass. Sprinkle the powder into the front of your animal’s mouth or into the space between the gums and teeth.
To give soft tablets: These tablets dissolve readily and do not need to be crushed. Simply place into the mouth.
The quantity of the remedy you administer is the same regardless of the size of your dog. Give enough so that you are sure some of the remedy goes into the mouth and becomes absorbed. A general rule of thumb is several tablets, or 3 to 5 tiny pellets, or half a dropperful of liquid.
When giving remedies on a regular basis, continually evaluate how your dog is doing. Keep a record of symptoms. If most symptoms become worse, or your animal is not feeling happier and more active, then the remedies aren’t working. This is the time to consult with an experienced homeopath. A onetime single dose should always be administered directly into the mouth. For repeated doses, the remedy can be dissolved in drinking water, if it is not easy to give by mouth.
It is best, especially for single doses, to not give the remedy within an hour before or after feeding.
Unless you are being guided by a specialist, don’t give the same remedy on a daily basis for more than about two weeks. Constant administration of a remedy can create the symptoms or toxic effects you are attempting to counteract.
The Consumer’s Guide to Homeopathy, by Dana Ullman (Tarcher-Putnam), an excellent introduction to homeopathic healing. For this and other books, contact Ullman’s Homeopathic Educational Services, 2124 Kittredge St., Berkeley, CA 94704 (phone: 510-649-0294).
The following books from England, also available through the Homeopathic Educational Services, offer specific information about homeopathy and companion animals:
The Homeopathic Treatment of Small Animals by Christopher Day.
Dogs: Homeopathic Remedies, by George MacLeod.
The Treatment of Dogs by Homeopathy, by K. Sheppard.
Write to Christina Chambreau, DVM, 908 Cold Bottom Rd., Sparks, MD, 21152, for information on homeopathy seminars for pet owners.
Contact the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, 751 N.E. 168th St., N. Miami, FL 33162-2427 (phone: 305-652-5372).
Contact the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, 2214 Old Emmorton Rd., Bel Air, MD 21015 (phone: 410-569-0795). If you have Internet access, use the directory of veterinarians on the alternative veterinary medicine Web site at www.altvetmed.com.