Pets - Alternative Medicine

Yes that's right, Alternative Medicine for Pets....read on and find out more !

You may be pleased to hear that pets, including cats and dogs, often respond well to Alternative medicine. This is because natural medicine stimulates the healing process in a subtle way, so results can often be quite remarkable and sometimes unexpected. There are generally no guarantees of success with this type of treatment, and this is also true for humans, however, pets can often make excellent progress even after a recent poor prognosis has been given.

Canine & Feline Diseases

It should come as no surprise that cats and dogs can suffer from similar diseases to humans. Unfortunately they too have to deal with Arthritis, Back Problems, Cystitis, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, Allergies, Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, IBS, Eczema, Canine Epilepsy, to name just a few.
This may be due to a number of factors including poor diet, stress (yes pets get stressed too !), lack of exercise, and environmental issues.

People sometimes laugh when I mention using natural remedies on Pets, but I think we are all becoming much more open to alternative ways of treating ourselves and our loved ones, which these days definitely includes our Pets. Alternative treatments may be quite rare but lets look at one common treatment which is available and make a few recommendations from there.

Homeopathy

For almost 200 years Homeopathy has been used to treat all types of animals including pets, birds, horses, and even fish. A homeopathic consultation can be given by a traditional homeopath or sometimes by a suitably qualified veterinarian, and occasionally by other Alternative Health practitioners (for example kenesiolgy practitioners). The right medicine is normally selected after consultation with the owner to find out more about the animals condition. Though it is a gentle form of treatment, its not uncommon for the symptoms to worsen slightly before improvement is seen.

The beauty of Homeopathy is that is lacks the side-effects of conventional drugs, so it can be used quite safely to treat dogs, cats, farm animals, sheep and even birds (including caged birds). Common treatments using Homeopathy include: allergies, arthritis, auto-immune disorders, diarrhoea, dermatitis, eczema moonblindness, COPD, corneal ulcer, chlamydia, pneumonia, meningitis, mastitis, ringworm, epilepsy, kidney problems, liver problems, cystitis.

Many pets present with serious behavioural and physical health concerns, they are often stressed by the actual process of being taken to see a health professional. Its best to try to keep your pet calm, and not expose it to any undue pressures whist treatment is being assessed. The good news is, homeopathy can help all animals to alleviate their health problems. Home treatment, however, may not be suitable for many of the presenting problems, so we recommend you seek the advice of a qualified veterinary homeopath where possible. Working through one remedy after another by yourself could have negative effects on your pet. Each cat, dog or bird, is unique and should be treated as such, individual treatment lies at the heart of homeopathy and I hope you will agree they deserve professional treatment as much as we do.

In summary

• In the first instance - take your pet to a qualified vet.
• Homeopathy is a safe alternative to conventional treatment
• Try to find a veterinarian who is also qualified to use homeopathy
• Don't ignore your pets symptoms
• Check our links and recommended books below for more advice.
  
  Useful links:
  The American Institute of Homeopathy
  The British Homeopathic Association
  The British Institute of Homeopathy USA division
  The Society of Homeopaths
  
  Recommended reading
  
  This is an excellent book for the Pet owner and the Veterinarian alike...
  "This is a wonderful and informative book, I can't praise it highly enough for its brilliant information on homeopathy and pets."
   

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