Alternative medicine for pets: holistic remedies make headway into veterinary medicine

Animals, May-June, 1997 by Pamela H. Sacks

Overall, Rotner estimates her success rate at 80 percent. "It has been surprising, the range of effects," she says. "In some cases you are sure it will work and it doesn't. Other times I'm pessimistic and the animal has done great."

Rotner initially was skeptical, for instance, about whether she could help Carrie, a 10-year-old Irish setter. The dog came in with severe pain from degenerative joint disease and an arthritic stiffening of the lower spinal column and tail, known as spondylosis, that caused her to fall over when she tried to walk. After one treatment, Carrie's gait improved and her spirits lifted. Two more visits eliminated any sign of lameness. She continues to see Rotner every four to five weeks, and on the days in between she romps with the other canine member of her family, a 2-year-old of the same breed.

Although Rotner limits her use of holistic medicine to acupuncture, many veterinarians use two or more approaches on their patients. Veterinarian Bud Allen, who practices with his wife, Robin Karlin, in Haydenville, Massachusetts, found he was having a 60 to 70 percent success rate with acupuncture. He suspected that rate could be improved with the addition of chiropractic treatment, a manipulation of the vertebrae and the joints that is intended to restore normal blood flow and nerve function.

The experience of Cecily Bastedo's cairn terrier, Duncan, helps Allen make his case. Duncan had been violently shaken by a larger dog and left in severe pain from an injured neck. Bastedo made the rounds, trying steroids and other medications, which did little to ease her pet's agony. When she learned about Allen, she and Duncan made the 90-minute trip from her home in Dublin, New Hampshire, each week for a time. Today, the dog continues to have acupuncture and a chiropractic session once a month. "The effect is so remarkable," Bastedo says. "I sleep a whole lot better at night now that he's not in pain."

While her husband, Allen, practices acupuncture and gives his patients chiropractic treatment, Karlin works to find the correct homeopathic remedy. She recounts good results in both dogs and cats with skin problems or behavioral disorders, such as repetitive chewing. "Five years ago I would have laughed," says Karlin. "Now I don't laugh anymore." She and Allen share a philosophy: if it works and it does no harm, give it a whirl.

Veterinarian William Pollak's Fairfield, Iowa, practice is based on the holistic approach. He begins treating any malady by setting out to correct nutritional deficiencies, then moves on to spinal manipulation, calling such therapy particularly effective in treating musculoskeletal conditions. Pollak believes that emotional disturbances are responsive to regimens known as Bach flower remedies. The infusions of diluted flowers and tree buds are said to act on the psychological state, which, in turn, can have a positive effect on an animal's physical condition.

These approaches, like chiropractic treatment for animals, have yet to win acceptance at Angell and the rest of the mainstream veterinary community, but time and testing may change that. Richard Pitcairn, veterinarian and coauthor of a well-known guide to natural health for dogs and cats, has pioneered the holistic approach for the past 19 years at his clinic in Eugene, Oregon. The method is based on the theory that "like cures like"--that a patient with a particular sickness is very sensitive to a medicine that produces the same symptoms and that, when given in a highly diluted form, the treatment boosts the healing process. There are 1,300 remedies, resulting from the work of German physician Samuel Hahnemann, who created the system two centuries ago.