Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the best food to feed my pet?

It might be difficult to imagine a pack of Chihuahuas taking down a deer in the backyard, but they are natural carnivores just the same. Raw meat is what the dog and cats digestive tract has evolved to digest. The closer you come to a diet of raw whole prey for them, the less likely it is for poor nutrition to be a potential obstacle to their cure.

Cats especially are carnivores. One of the objections people come up with for not feeding "home made food" is- "I don't want to have meat in my house and I don't want to touch it". You have to have meat in your house if you have a cat or dog. That is just part of owning a cat or dog. Again, their digestive tract has evolved over eons to
digest meats, grains, and vegetables. If you don't want to touch it, just wear gloves.

The best book for full detail recipes is "Natural Nutrition for dogs and cats" by Kymythy Schultze.

Many people say they do not have enough time to "prepare" foods for their animals.

It does not really take much time to prepare these foods. They are mostly raw except for the grains of course which need to be fully cooked and the vegetables which typically need to be lightly steamed. Some people make up a batch once a week and freeze it in small containers to be used during the rest of the week.

What about canned foods? This the minimal level of quality for healthy maintenance and for animals that need to do some healing. For dog owners with some financial restrictions, feeding half dry and half canned might do if the dog is already fairly healthy and if the food is a good quality natural type.

The same cannot be said for cats. Cats evolved as a desert species. The have evolved water metabolism needs that are met by the bodily fluids of their prey. They cannot seem to drink enough water to maintain proper hydration while being on dry food. When cats are healthy and on a healthy diet (no dry food) they stop drinking water outside of a sip or two a week. They actually stop drinking water!

Dry foods? Sort of OK for dogs, but again, not for cats. All mammals are meant to eat fresh, whole, natural foods, not dehydrated foods. Beef jerky doesn't have the nutrition of fresh meat. Think of dry food for dogs as being on the level of pizza and beer. Occasionally it is OK, but not on a daily basis. Semi moist foods? Might as well give a twinkie with a vitamin on it.

2. What are "obstacles to cure" in homeopathy?

-poor nutrition
-vaccines
-suppression or palliation of a chronic illness by conventional treatment (drugs)

There are other "obstacles to cure" but the above are the main ones. These are the three areas where pet owners can do much to contribute to the healing of their pet. Not only can they do it, but they must in many cases to get any degree of success.

3. Should I vaccinate my pet?

This is entirely an individual decision. Rabies vaccine, by law, is required for dogs, not cats. I do not recommend the Distemper/Parvo for dogs and FVRCP/Feline Leukemia for cats when they are under homeopathic care. The vaccines not only antidote or partially antidote homeopathic remedies, but also contribute to "chronic disease" in our animals.

Some of my clients have many cats or dogs who are just with them temporarily. They may adopt stray animals only to keep them for a few months before finding a new home. In this case, vaccines such as the FVRCP or DA2LPP might be recommended due to the constant exposure to animals who who are not being treated homeopathically coming in and out of the household frequently.

4. Why should my animal not be treated by drugs when on a homeopathic remedy?

I frequently use the analogy of an iceberg. The top of the iceberg sticking out of the water is the symptoms we see. Each jagged edge of the iceberg represents a symptom such as a seizure, itching, coughing, vomiting, etc.

Under the water level is a huge part of the iceberg we don't see. This includes symptoms that may show up in the future, symptoms that have been suppressed by drugs- only to show up again later, genetic susceptibilities, etc.

The goal of curing our patient is to dissolve the whole iceberg at once. This could take a long time- maybe years- but what else is there that cures totally? Nothing that I know of.

Drugs on the other hand, and some herbs by the way, just chop off part of the iceberg sticking out on the top. For example, if a dog has seizures and is put on Phenobarbital, the seizures "go away". Maybe we don't see the seizures as often as we used to, but they are still there. The jagged edge of the iceberg has been cut off, only to reappear somewhere else underneath the water.

Another example would be removing superficial lesions from the surface of the body i.e. warts or other growths. These are the body's outlet. When you remove them surgically, they will either come right back on the surface or appear somewhere else in the body in a different deeper and more serious location such as a nodule on the liver.

This is why it is so important to use as few drugs as possible when on homeopathic treatment. Some drugs are very important and we continue them while on the homeopathic remedy, but most are not.

5. What homeopathic remedy would you use for (fill in the blank----------)?

This is probably my most frequently asked question and the one for which there is no answer. There is no such thing as a remedy for seizures, a remedy for itching, a remedy for eye discharge, or a remedy for any one symptom. There is a remedy for the whole patient who just might have seizures or who might just have an eye
discharge. That remedy is different for every patient depending on everything about them- their mental state, their habits, behavior, physical problems and other history.

That is what makes the practice of homeopathy very unique. Western medicine spends millions of dollars on the diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is made- meaning that they find a name to attach to the problem- then the treatment is clear! Antibiotics and steroids- very robotic.

In homeopathy we really don't care what the name of the the disease is. We care about the symptoms the patient is having. One dog with skin problems might be aggravated by water, one by heat, one by getting emotionally upset. They are all different and require a different remedy.