In homeopathy, especially constitutional homeopathy, we consider the “totality of symptoms” of the patient. This includes personality, temperament, emotional state, and how that may or may not change during the course of the disease process over time. Many of these changes, how the pet parent perceives the pet, behavioral nuances, sleep patterns, appetite shifts, amount of water intake, appetite changes, can actually be communicated more effectively verbally than in a rushed in-person exam room.
Pets typically act differently in a clinic setting due to stress, fear or excitement. Phone consultations capture information in the animal’s natural environment, giving a more accurate picture of the animal’s usual behaviors, responses and routines over time. Comparing how the pet acted prior to the disorder and how he/she acts now is very important in the homeopathic interview.
In homeopathy, the pet parent’s observations are central to how we analyze the case. If the pet has lived with you or you’ve known the pet for at least a couple of weeks, you know him or her well enough to describe behaviors. I’ve even had a case or two where the owner of the pet was “mentally challenged”. He was able to observe and perfectly describe behaviors and symptoms to me.
Homeopathy teaches us to be good observers, the “eyes and ears” in your companion’s real-life environment. After two or three sessions with the homeopathic vet, you easily know what to look for and observe. The pet parent becomes more engaged and responsible, which is vital for long term care.
Every pet parent I’ve spoken to prefers a phone consultation over an in person consult because of the stress and burden of travel that some pets endure. The scheduling of appointments is more flexible, giving us more time for detailed conversations. Phone consultations avoid unnecessary exposure to other animals, which can be important for immunocompromised patients.
Of course, many times an exam is needed by the conventional allopathic vet when there is trauma, neurological issues, or a surgery is necessary. For chronic conditions and behavioral issues, phone consultations are informative and efficient.
Homeopathic history taking has been done extremely effectively over the phone for decades.
What would you like the homeopathic remedy to do for your pet?
Of course, as a homeopathic vet, I have already acquired the medical records from the conventional vet, studied them in detail, and know from an allopathic/drug history/vaccine perspective what has occurred with the pet.
Have there been any vaccine reactions—even “minor” reactions?
What does your pet eat? How is his appetite? Has it changed?
If you were to let your pet eat anything and everything, would they become overweight?
Is there any vomiting or diarrhea? Hard stool? If so, we go into much detail about that. When the vomiting happens, retching or not, related to eating or not. How long after eating? We also go into much detail about the normal stool.
Is your pet experiencing a cough? Is there a time of the day or night it occurs? Can you send a video or recording of it? Is there anything you’ve done that makes it better or worse?
Does your pet have any cravings? Certain foods, ice cubes, wood, clay, dirt, poop, other inedible items?
What is your pet’s thirst level? Just like people, some pets drink more water than others—which is perfectly normal. Some pets drink less—which is also perfectly normal. Thirst level is a “constitutional symptom”. However, you should not see your cat go to the water bowl often like a dog does. If you notice much water drinking in a cat, he is already dehydrated and may have some kidney compromise.
Does your pet itch? If so, everywhere or more so on one side vs the other? Are there bare spots now or in the past? We also look at and discuss any previous treatments and how that affected the pet positively or negatively. The history of skin could be pages long.
Ear problems? A normal healthy animal might have a slight oiliness to the ear. In the past and now, do you see black or brown discharge in the ear? Does it bother the pet? Some pets don’t seem to notice. Others do notice. That’s an important point. It’s also very important if the discharge is in one ear vs the other ear. Unfortunately, previous drug treatments can change the picture.
Eye problems and discharges? Any chronic discharge over the years? Is it clear, yellow, brown, green? Is it typically in one eye vs the other eye? Many of these questions will be written in the medical chart from previous years, but sometimes we don’t have that history.
Urinations? Is your pet needing to urinate more volume of urine or possibly small amounts more frequently? Is there straining? Any blood that you can see?
How about limping any time in the past or now? Can you tell which leg it is? Is she having difficulty getting up and down?
Behaviors? How is your pet with other animals in the household? Is he the boss or is she low on the totem pole of animals and specifically why? How is she with strange dogs when you take her on a walk? How is he when a stranger comes into your house? Would he kill a small animal like a squirrel, if allowed?
We go into so much detail about every possible symptom and body part. It takes at least an hour or many times longer, unless we are starting with a new puppy.
I do encourage pet parents to start treating homeopathically just a couple weeks after acquiring the pet even though the pet may not be showing any pathological symptoms. It’s the best time to start preventing issues before they happen. Homeopathy doesn’t prevent every “chronic disease” from occurring.
Generation upon generation of poor quality food, over vaccination, drug suppression, and toxic flea and tick chemicals have built up in their bodies. Each generation of humans and animals continues to get sicker and sicker.
If everyone treated homeopathically while supporting the body with a good diet, a few herbs and supplements, balancing the microbiome and appropriate exercise, it would only take several generations to become healthy again. Please start treating homeopathically for your puppy, kitten, new foal or baby so that good health and a strong immune system can be built up over time.
Give your pet the benefit of a calm, thorough, and individualized approach.
