More Americans are discovering the benefits of alternative medicine, rejecting conventional antibiotics and steroids in favor of herbal and homeopathic treatments. And many are taking the same approach when their pets need medical attention.
Case in point: New York animal lover Valerie Cates, who credits her own improved health to her concern for her dogs.
"I discovered homeopathy through my dogs," says Cates. It started when her Bichon Frise, Junior, was suffering from a urinary-tract infection and Cates consulted the health-conscious animal lover’s bible, Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM, PhD (Rodale Books).
"The homeopathic remedy recommended in the book worked like a dream," Cates recalls. "So I figured I’d find a homeopathic vet – and go see a homeopath for myself, too."
Ever since, Cates’ dogs – her current pet is a lab-spaniel mix named Lola - have been lifelong patients of Dr. Michele Yasson, who practices in Kingston, N.Y. "There are many different titles for what I do: holistic vet, natural vet, homeopathic vet," Yasson explains. "I’m all of the above!"
That means she employs herbs and other natural remedies to strengthen her patients’ own defense systems. The goal of natural healing, Yasson explains, is to get to the root of the health problem, instead of just easing or covering up the symptoms.
Yasson admits that initially, when she began practicing animal medicine as a conventionally-trained vet, she greeted alternative veterinary medicine with a strong dose of skepticism. "I thought all this was quackery when I started," she says. Then, encouraged by a colleague, Yasson attended an acupuncture course certified by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society.
"I went in with a great prejudice to acupuncture," she admits. "Then a woman who looked as conventional and conservative as my mother started talking about homeopathy. She seemed very reasonable, mature, and intelligent."
Today, Yasson says she not only respects acupuncture, she’s used homeopathy to successfully treat and cure ailments ranging from skin troubles to a crooked leg to chronic liver failure.
And many other vets are seeing alternative medicine’s potential in a new light.
"A recent survey showed that one-third of all vets are using some form of holistic or natural medicine, and another third are interested in starting," Yasson points out. "It’s a grass-roots movement. The demand is there from the public, and the veterinary profession is trying to respond to that."
Holistic vets, Yasson included, are working in tandem with their conventional counterparts, consulting on a case-by-case basis to help their animal patients get the best of both modalities. And while few vets – or human doctors, for that matter – will prescribe treatments over the phone, "many homeopathic vets will do phone consultations," Yasson says, "so you can get help for your pet wherever you are."
Yasson cautions that "none of this stuff is magic or perfect. Just like any conventional approach, it has its limits." But she hastens to add that homeopathy "tends to be less invasive and safer, and it also tends to be curative. With conventional treatment, we virtually never cure because we palliate the symptoms, rarely getting to the original cause of the problem."
She cites diabetes as an example. "Diabetes is generally thought of as an incurable disease," Yasson says. "But it is curable. I work with a lot of diabetic animals. In conventional medicine, the treatment is insulin. That’s a palliative – it helps the individual to tolerate his symptoms. But we aim to resolve the diabetes, to get the pancreas healthier so the pet can start making his own insulin again."
Classical homeopathy involves a series of drugs used on the basis of "like cures like." "The medicines given to a diabetic dog work very much like a vaccine," Yasson says. "If you’d give the medicine to a healthy dog, he’d develop diabetes."
Yasson estimates that a third of her patients come to her for cancer treatment. "With classical homeopathy, I find that in the majority of cases – 90 percent – I get an improvement in the well-being of the individual animal. Even if we can’t cure the cancer, we can have little-old-man dogs running around like they did when they were puppies."
