Some believe in it, others do not. No matter what the case may be, alternative medicine is practiced on dogs just like it is on humans, sometimes successfully, according to the specialists. To rule it out, therefore, could seem unfair or at the very least, subjective. Moreover, veterinarians who are interested and specialized in these different fields have come together to form national and international institutions that provide the appropriate training.
The basic principle of homeopathic medicine ("simili similibus curant") is well known. It consists in treating the evil with an evil. A product or substance that causes a given disease is diluted to obtain an infinitesimally smaller dosage that then helps fight against the disease. In fact, the concept of "hahnemannian treatment" - named for its creator - has spread somewhat and although the substances and molecules in question are always diluted several hundred times, they are not always involved in the treated disease. Homeopathic medicines come in the form of drops or pills and are diluted in a centesimal (CH) or decimal (DH) manner. They are normally given at times other than mealtimes and are given several times per day. There are now several levels of homeopathic treatment available to the canine veterinarian.
Although not very developed in canine medicine, phytotherapy is beginning to take its place in alternative medicine especially as certain plants truly have medicinal qualities. Certain forms of quackery that have at times been developed or promoted by well-known personalities in the media or arts world, have led us to forget that most allopathic medicines have their origins in the plant kingdom. What could be more normal, as long as a rigorous, scientific approach is maintained and the underlying principle is not that plants can heal everything but that rather the healing properties of certain plants should be used to a benefit? These plants can be used as a whole (referred to as "simple"), in the form of essential oil extracts ("aromatherapy") or, certain parts of the plant that have higher concentrations of the active ingredient can be used (buds, roots, sprouts, etc. This is called "germinotherapy").
The same logic behind natural healing is seen in the use of certain clays such as smectite to treat simple diarrhea.
Acupuncture is derived directly from traditional Chinese medicine. It is based on the use of needles placed on perfectly defined anatomical spots on the body. It is also used on dogs. Here again, some veterinarians have specialized in this field and have obtained good results, normally in relation to certain forms of chronic lameness. The veterinarian school in Beijing even offers a complete training program in this field for its students since in certain cases, surgical anesthesia is only performed in conjunction with acupuncture.
The term osteopathy is undoubtedly not the best term to designate a medical practice, which is without a doubt highly effective when practiced by a person with an educational background in biology and medicine - a veterinarian in the case of a dog. The spinal column is the basic framework of the living organism. All nerves start here and radiate out to all points of the body. Intelligent manipulation of these vertebrae and sometimes the limbs will, in many cases (pain, lameness, neuralgia, etc.), help restore good order in cases where more traditional treatment has failed.
Log in
