Cure is possible
Healing takes time.
It seems we are so used to instant results in a modern world that perhaps we forget how to assess normal clinical improvement. We are inclined to be impatient as veterinarians and animal owners alike, in a world where instant results have become the norm.
The main thing is to help the animal feel better in itself, in its energy and demeanour and then other symptoms can improve over time. This is the objective of treating animals with integrative medicine and homeopathy.
Suppressing symptoms is not curing.
When faced with a serious disease diagnosis it is understandably difficult to not panic about treatment options but time has taught me that healing takes longer than we often expect for a number of reasons, some of which I will outline.
With the over reliance on allopathic or ‘reductionist’ medicines, we have come to expect instantaneous responses and we are misled into believing that this is to be expected. It is not necessarily true when treating chronic disease properly. We can get fast responses when treating acute or sudden trauma and illness but with time and an integrative approach we can also cure chronic disease with homeopathy, targeted nutritional therapy and other non-pharmaceutical medicines.
It may surprise many veterinarians that a large number of animals walking into the consultation room on first presentation do not actually need anything more than a thorough physical examination and a gentle touch to reassure them that they are being heard and helped. Help comes in assessing the options for why the owners may worry that their animal is unwell. If an owner feels there is a problem then there always is; it is often just not as serious as we are primed to expect, except in true medical emergencies.
This does not mean that we do nothing for chronic cases but within the confines of a standard veterinary consultation, which is probably ten to fifteen minutes, there is not a lot of time to get the animal and the owner into a position conducive to gleaning any accurate information regarding the true health disturbance.
I encourage all veterinarians therefore to take more time to make animals and clients comfortable and observe all the time what the animal is doing. Make appointments longer even if that means charging more since people want value for money rather than just a list of expensive options. Animals will be trying to tell you what is wrong if you cultivate the art of listening.
You can also learn to listen through touch.
As a referral practice, many of my clients come to me dismayed by the range of expensive options outlined to them in the name of best practice. Best practice has become a bit of a threat to many of us in as much as we worry that if we do not offer imaging or pathology tests that we will be considered professionally negligent. I am not diminishing the importance of these practices in cases where there is a demonstrated need. Our job is to diagnose and treat disease and these two skills are intimately dependent upon each other when we are employing conventional medicines because a wrongly prescribed pharmaceutical can indeed be very dangerous. With the professional practice of homeopathy, where the threat of ‘wrong medicine’ no longer exists, we have a safer, effective and complete healing option at our disposal in cases where cure is possible. Holistic medicine originates from the ‘whole’ picture approach to disease and treatment options as we peel back the layers of influence that have contributed to maintaining a picture of ill health.
It is a false premise that many diseases are incurable and this seriously needs addressing so that my colleagues can regain their power as healers, strengthen their skills as physicians and feel happier about their abilities and the outcome and cost of their treatment options.
It is normal for animals changing from conventional medicines to natural medicines to experience what appears to be a worsening of disease symptoms. Misunderstanding this process accounts for a lot of the criticism directed towards the natural medicine approach.
The animal must learn how to use medicines differently and detoxify from the chemicals present in drugs. This can make them appear worse for a while and this is where the clinical skills of the veterinarian are crucial in identifying the strength and direction of the animal’s true response to therapy.
A homeopathic approach to disease treatment involves adding strength to the animal’s natural healing force and gentling or supporting them to cure. Years of vaccinations, antibiotics and chemicals need time to clear from the body.
My simple advice to my veterinary colleagues is as follows;
Vaccinate less, minimize the prescription of antimicrobials and other chemicals and recommend species appropriate raw foods that improve the gut microbiota as an essential healing tool.
Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, describes cure as “The physicians highest and only calling…” but also as the “….rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health…”
We should all continue to strive for this highest ideal in our calling as Veterinary Physicians.
28120
Do not give up!
Do not give up —Never!
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 29, Agni Press, 2002
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“Never give up”
Is the only secret
To achieve fulfilment
In life.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 38, Agni Press, 2004