How alternative health cures could work for your pet!
by CHARLOTTE HARDING, femail.co.uk

femail.co.uk - 16th April 2003

When Joyce Briveau's black and white cat Lady became so arthritic
she couldn't climb up her stairs she decided drastic action was needed.

Her vet suggested a dose of steroids, but she felt uncomfortable
about treating her elderly pet with such powerful drugs.

Instead she turned to a holistic vet in her neighbourhood.
'I thought anything was worth a try,' she says.
'Lady was in so much pain I thought she might even have to be put down.'

After a detailed examination vet Richard Allport, who runs the Natural
Medicine Centre in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, prescribed a course of
homeopathic tablets. Two weeks later Joyce could not believe her eyes.

'Lady had started to walk up the stairs again,' she says.
'I was overjoyed. She was like a completely different cat.'

Joyce is just one of a growing number of people who are now turning
to alternative medicine to improve their pets' health. In fact there
are now scores of vets administering different alternative treatments
to animals around the country.

'In the same way that interest in alternative medicine has exploded
among people in the past few years, so interest has grown in treating
animals,'says Mr Allport. 'It is a growth area and is here to stay
because it really can have great benefits.'

Treatments now available in this country range from acupuncture and
homeopathy to aromatherapy, massage and hydrotherapy. Some treatments
are more effective on certain animals than others and claim to help
everything from arthritis and skin problems to stress, fleas,
cat flu and cancer.

Pet owners are turning to natural cures for a variety of reasons.
'Some people come to us as a last resort after conventional medicine
has failed, others come to us because they use alternative treatments
on themselves,' says Mr Allport.

'Our treatments don't work for every animal we see, but
three quarters of the pets I see go away much better.'

A small, but growing number of vets are now specialising purely
in treating animals only with alternative treatments.

Many others are using alternative treatments alongside conventional
medicine. A growing number of conventional vets are also referring
their patients to holistic vets.

Research into how effective these treatments are is still very limited.
But anecdotal evidence is encouraging.

We have investigated the most popular types of alternative treatments
for animals. Click on the link below to find out what they are,
which animals they are most suited to and what is involved.
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©2003 Associated New Media
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