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When and why did you decide to start
practising homeopathy?
I had been in regular veterinary practice for
ten years and was becoming increasingly frustrated
on several fronts e.g. I was learning more and
more names of diseases but with the same limited
options for treatment; I was hearing so many
pieces of information from clients describing
symptoms that I could do nothing with which
seemed wrong.
An example of this would be someone who described
their animal having sickness at 5.00 a.m. every
morning. To me there had to be significance
in this specific time but in conventional terms
it made no difference at all to the limited
number of treatments on offer. I also started
to see clear patterns of progression of diseases
in an animal’s lifetime which again was
of little relevance to what I was able to do
conventionally.
Can you tell us about one of your most
challenging cases to date?
All chronic disease cases are challenging as
each animal is an individual with a complex
history. There are so many cases and to choose
one is almost impossible. One case that does
stand out and is as much about the human endeavour
to stand by an animal and see it through, as
it is about homeopathy, is a horse who was poisoned
by cyanide producing organisms on clover. This
young horse was partially paralysed and lost
the control of her bladder function. This was
a case where it called on moral and ethical
decisions as well as the constant need to adapt
our remedy choices for whatever new situation
she threw up for us such as deep ulcers in her
skin when the urine had scalded, despite the
rigorous care and attention of her owner. After
years of work she is now ready to be backed
and is a happy well-adjusted young horse. She
has gone through some incredibly difficult times
but is a testament to what can be achieved.
This was a case where there was no conventional
treatment possible other than antibiotics for
when she had urinary infections so homeopathy
stood alone as the only thing to help her and
help her it did.
What would you say to people who are
sceptical about the effectiveness of homeopathy?
I was one such person. I was in a practice where
I saw very ill animals in the waiting room waiting
to see the veterinary homeopath. I naively judged
homeopathy to be useless as why should they
all look sicker than my patients if it was so
good? The answer was of course that in those
days people only came to homeopathy as a last
resort when nothing else had worked and in fact
minor miracles were being performed under my
nose but I didn’t recognise it. There
is only one way to overcome the scepticism and
that is to experience it first hand.
What is the most unusual animal you have treated
using homeopathy?
Because anything that lives can be treated homeopathically
there is no limit to what animals can be treated.
For me the most unusual animal was a racoon
I treated in Canada.
Have you ever used homeopathy on yourself?
Yes of course. Homeopathy is a system of medicine
with a complete underpinning philosophy and
understanding of health and disease. Whilst
there are times when conventional medicine and
surgery is not only necessary and lifesaving
I live my life following homeopathic principles
and using homeopathy as my primary care system
for myself.
What would be the next step for anyone
that is interested in finding out more about
homeopathy?
There are some excellent books out there and
introductory courses for those who are interested,
but experiencing it and having yourself or one
of your animals treated by a qualified homeopath
is the ideal way to start to open your mind
to the possibility and potential of homeopathy.
By this I don’t mean go and buy a remedy
off the shelf and try it at home, as unless
it is arnica for a bruise you will undoubtedly
select a remedy and use it in a conventional
medicine way, which despite it being called
a homeopathic remedy will not be selected and
given according to the principles of homeopathy
and may fail because of that.
Are there any significant research studies
in the field of homeopathy that you would urge
people to read?
There is a large and ever growing body of research
studies both in human and veterinary homeopathy
from all around the world. The Faculty of Homeopathy
provides an excellent listing of published research
papers for those who are interested. Look also
on the BAHVS website: www.bahvs.com
for information about both research papers and
listings of qualified veterinary homeopaths.
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