Homeopathy is a system of medicine that is over 200 years old. It was first discovered by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in the late 1700's when he became disenchanted with the current medical practices which he felt caused more harm than good. He began to seek a better, more natural method of curing disease. His studies revealed that symptoms are merely an expression of underlying disease and not the disease itself and that treating the symptoms alone does not cure the disease.
Homeopathy is a type of
holistic medicine which considers all of the symptoms which the patient expresses. This includes physical, emotional and mental symptoms. The environment of the pet may also be an important part of the cause of the disease.
The basic principal of homeopathy is called the law of similars or "like cures like". This means that a substance that would cause symptoms of disease at normal doses, can help the body fight disease at homeopathic doses. This homeopathic medication helps the Life Force return to a state of balance. A diseased state reflects an imbalance in the Life Force.
The Life Force or Vital Force is responsible for maintaining a state of health in the body. It is constantly under assault by poor
nutrition, toxins, vaccines, allopathic medications such as antibiotics and steroids, pollution and emotional stress. The Vital Force protects the body from disorder. Signs of this battle to maintain order are the SYMPTOMS of disease. These symptoms may be expressed in many ways but, often begin as a skin or ear problem. If the disease is not stopped at this point by the Life Force, or worse, it is supressed with allopathic medications, it will progress deeper into the body. This could be signs as diverse as asthma, ligament injury, hip dysplasia, arthritis, organ disease and finally cancer and emotional or mental disorders. The usual progression of disease is from exterior to interior.
The Vital Force always tries to put the disease in a place where it can do the least harm. This would be on the outside of the body. Skin disease is a sign that the Life Force is trying to keep the disease on the exterior. If the skin or ear disease is supressed with allopathic medications, such as steroids and/or antibiotics, the life force will be forced to isolate the disease in a more internal location which could result in symptoms such as incontinence, asthma, arthritis or weak ligaments.
If this expression of disease is further suppressed with medications, the Vital Force will be forced to move the disease even deeper, resulting in mental and emotional disorders and/or cancer.
The depth and strength of the symptoms is related to the strength of the Vital Force.
The stronger the life force, the stronger the symptoms which will be seen on the exterior of the body. Therefore, a young animal which has a strong reaction to a vaccination with a skin rash and/or fever has a strong life force. Conversely, an older pet which has seemed to be healthy throughout their life, but now has cancer, has a weak life force. They never made an attempt to move the disease to the surface where it would be less dangerous.
In conventional allopathic medicine, the symptom is viewed as the entire disease.
The goal of treatment is to eliminate the symptom. This approach often does not address the underlying cause of the symptom. The medicine given to eliminate the symptom will cause the disease to be pushed deeper into the body, potentially causing a more serious disorder. A strong vital force will fight this suppression and the original symptom may return. However, a weak life force may allow the disease to move deeper.
A typical example of this suppression is the pet that presents with itchy skin or ear infections for the first few years of life. These are treated with steroids and the symptoms finally resolve. The conventional veterinarian would declare the case "cured" when it has just been suppressed to a different level. Now the pet may present with asthma or a bladder infection. They are then treated with antibiotics or steroids which appear to control or eliminate the problem. Then the pet develops arthritis which is treated with pain medication. Finally, they develop kidney or liver disease or cancer. Of course, these were just the progression of the disease as it was forced to move deeper in the body by the medications which appeared to cure the problem. The homeopathic doctor recognizes the progression of disease and attempts to help the life force keep the symptoms on the outside of the body until they can be completely cured by the proper use of homeopathic remedies. The allopathic doctor doesn't realize all of the symptoms were related to one disease and lament, "the patient was always sick but, I was successful in curing all of his problems until he came down with cancer and then there was nothing to do".
In summary, there is a major difference between Conventional Medicine and Homeopathic Medicine. Homeopathic seeks to cure by the use of carefully selected homeopathic remedies and conventional treatment suppresses disease and never cures the disease.
Treating With Homeopathy:
Choosing to treat your pet with homeopathy requires a commitment to the process. While homeopathy is clearly a superior means of treating disease, it takes time and patience. Determining the correct remedy requires a very detailed history of the pet from birth until the present. Sometimes the smallest detail is the guide to the cure. The most important symptoms are the ones that are unusual, not the ones which are common. An example would be the itchy patient. The symptom itching would be too general to select a remedy.
Because of the extensive patient history which is required to determine a proper remedy, the first appointment will be at least 1 hour. The office call fee will reflect this time requirement.
However, the office call is only the beginning. After a careful review of all history, the symptoms or rubrics are placed into a computer program and the most suitable remedies are determined. These remedies must then be reviewed individually to find the one that most completely matches the case. The only remedy which can cure the case is the one which is most similar to the disease. If the remedy is not close enough, it will either not have any effect or will have a partial result. The key is the history. If it is not complete, proper remedy selection may not be possible. Providing the peculiar symptoms of the case is up to the client because many of these are observed at home.
Fees for homeopathic treatment are based on the time required to research the case. The cost of the remedies is very inexpensive. Some cases are more difficult than other so, a definite charge for each case is not possible. In general, most research will require 1 hour to determine the best remedy. Most cases are very chronic and require administering more than one remedy. Each remedy must be thoroughly researched because each case is different. This is in direct opposition with allopathic medicine where all animals with a skin infection or urinary infection are treated the same. Very little thought or research is required and the cost of these drugs could be hundreds of dollars. If that treatment doesn't work, another treatment is tried until finally the disease is suppressed, potentially to a deeper, more serious level.
Follow-ups may be done by telephone unless there is a new physical symptom which needs to be examined. These are charged as a phone consultation and fees are based on the length of the consult.
Due to the length of time reserved for the initial consultation, a non-refundable deposit is required.