Comments on How to Stand Up to Your Veterinarian’s Bad Advice

Standing up to any Dr. is hard great article. I recently had my own experience my pup lost her pups, my vet told me it was because I feed raw they probably had no bone structure to survive . Its so hard to say anything while your getting scolded why don't you listen I'm only the vet she says. I just believe different, but feeling alone.

My longhaired dachshund is now 9 years young and a picture of health.
When he was 1 1/2 ys he had surgery for a small oxtail bone he had swallowed, it had apparently got stuck in his duodenum. The procedure of course included all sorts of medications. About a month or so later he had strange swallowing or breathing problems, as if something was stuck in his throat. In panic I raced to the vet who diagnosed tonsillitis and (mis)treated him with antibiotics and cortisone. On the way home, still in the car, Joe had glassy eyes, developed a temperature and only then appeared to be really ill for a few days. Well, that passed. A few weeks later his head swelled up & he developed incredible itchiness after we had been for a walk. Again I raced to the vet, Joe got prednisone injected and tablets to take home. About a month later the same thing happened. Thinking this might be an allergy, I asked the vet for an allergy test, but he quickly gave the little guy a shot of cortisone and then told me, he couldn’t do a test once cortisone had been given. He suggested I buy an exclusion diet that he sold in his practice. I made an appointment for an allergy test in a few weeks time. It turned out that Joe was allergic to all sorts of grasses, house dust mites etc. The vet informed me that Joe would have to be on prednisone for the rest of his life, as allergies in dogs are not curable.
No way! I took the prednisone tablets and had them in my pocket for the next year, just in case.
As I live in Ireland and am not aware of any holistic vets here, I started to read about homeopathy - I got hooked as we were successful right away. The next time when Joe’s head swelled up and he became itchy all over, he was given a remedy, and after a few repeats his symptoms disappeared. In the last 8 years we have been to the vet once for teeth cleaning, a check on a sore knee and for a wrong diagnosis about a deathly heart condition - which was not confirmed by a canine cardiologist a few days later, after I had spent almost a whole weekend in tears. Remedy for that was Lachesis 6C in 1000 ml water, 2 drops once a week for a while. Three years ago Joe got a rabies vaccination, so that we may travel off this island. Six weeks after the shot he developed greeny yellow discharge & sheath inflammation. Ailments from vaccination? Mercury cured it quickly. The rabies vaccine is due this week, and although not compulsory here, he has to get it so we can travel to Europe. I will ask if perhaps less can be injected.
When pressured about neutering, I nowadays say that he is a stud dog (he isn’t), so no more pressure there.
When asked about vaccinations, I say that his vaccinations are up to date and that my daughter took him to another vet for his shots & I don’t know where the papers are.
The proposed knee surgery - I will think about (another vet told me no surgery is necessary).
All in all we are doing very well with lots of walks, good raw food which is mostly organic, good fresh well water, the occasional organic raw milk & homeopathy.

The best I have been able to find is a vet who respects my views when it comes to treatment. I went to see several vets when I first rescued my dog - she wasn't sick but I booked her in for a check up - this allowed me to get a sense of their 'philosophy' without the pressure of a sick dog in front of me. It took me six visits to find a vet who did not pressure me into vaccination. The vet I ended up with while not a holistic vet respects my opinion and I can work with him if Cara needs his help.

When trying to find a holistic or homeopathic vet, what are some good questions to ask the clinic prior to making the appointment? I'm worried that the vets in my area are "fauxlistic" vets, and I would like to winnow them out. Thanks!

I had a Lg Haired Dachshund develop a large mass on her neck below one ear. I took her to a conventional Vet & his diagnosis was cancer. Even though the lab results from a needle aspiration stated that no cancerous cells were detected but, cancer could not be ruled out. Which sounded strange to me, probably a CYA move on Lab Tech's part.
This Vet said he could do a more in depth tissue biopsy but, if he was going to sedate & make an incision it would be better to go ahead & remove the mass & be done with it.
Well, I did not have a warm fuzzy about this expensive procedure & told him I would think about it. He became irate that I would not immediately concede to his authority.
I left with my companion & found a homeopathic Vet. Took her in the next day & after an exam she was given one dose of a homeopathic treatment & was informed she had a swollen lymph gland. Within 36 hours the gland had returned to it normal size & never flared again.
I called the allopathic Vet to report what had transpired & how my Girl was doing fine. He refused to believe me, so I pick my Girl up, put her in the car & went to see Dr Whitecoat.
Even after examining her, he refused to admit he was wrong about the cancer diagnosis.

My husband and I have had similar experiences, too many times to count! We just use Dr. White Coat's diagnostics, and then usually use homeopathy and herbs. We just quietly tell the veterinarians "not now, maybe later". For years they have noticed how well our cats and dogs are doing, and how well they have healed from diseases, or had their lives extended with great quality...but they will not "see", they just won't!
Tommy was a very special cocker spaniel who owned my heart. He was lethargic so I took him in for testing. He had pretty serious renal failure. I asked the vet what we could do, and he said, "bring him back when he is worse." REALLY!!!!! As soon as I got home, I made an appointment with our veterinary homeopath, and as soon as the remedy arrived, I gave it to Tommy, and 20 minutes later he as chasing his beloved ball. He lived, I mean, really LIVED for 5 more years! We had to repeat the remedy a few times, supported him with supplements and herbs, and subcutaneous fluids. The conventional vets never responded when they saw his improved renal numbers and quality of life....they refused to "see".
There are two things that really bother me about this.
1. The other pets who go to these vets and get the same diagnosis will get a death sentence, with a crumby quality of life, and much distress and sadness for their people. That's unacceptable.
2. Veterinarians are intelligent people who worked really hard to get through all of their expensive training. Clearly they had some curiosity and passion for caring for animals...what happened? Where did that curiosity, intelligence, and passion go?

Homeopathy is the only way we fly here, me AND my dog. I won't set foot in an allopathic vet's office.

My dog also tested positive for Anaplasmosis. Dr Falconer is looking after her and she is doing just fine. The Dr. (WhiteCoat) did say, upon looking at the results..."see thats why we like to give the heart worm drugs" Me..Ahhhh!!!!!!!! Ya that would have been better. (sarcasm) He wanted to treat her allopathically but I chose Homeopathy. I'm not sorry. Great blog again Dr. Falconer.

Excellent article! I have stories,too, about using homeopathy on farm animals. A pig once got something icky (starts with an 'e' but I can't remember the full name) from eating wild turkey poop. He had a fever and broke out into a rash. I called the vet, but gave the porker Belladonna 30c before the vet got there.
By the time the vet showed up the fever broke. (Yes, I was taking the pig's temperature). Told the vet what I had done and he went off on me, lecturing me about the dangers of digitalis. He didn't get it about the homeopathic Belladonna.
The vet was sure the pig had mange, just positive about it. So positive that he came back the next day as a welfare check. Of course by that time I'd done my own research and found out what the pig was sick with.
I figure that if animals, with no preconceived notions about anything, get better using homeopathy, it is proof that it works. I've used various remedies on pig, dogs, my horse, and sheep, besides the humans in my life.