Bryonia alba
A last minute invitation took me to supper with friends and a group of smallholders from across the county. Between them, they owned cats, dogs, horses, pigs, sheep, cattle, goats, parrots, a macaw and a ferret. And probably more, which I've forgotten. My friends are great hosts and, after an excellent supper, we sat back to listen to a talk by homeopathic vet, Geoff Johnson.
OK, so I'm a qualified homeopath, I know it works and I don't need convincing but listening to Geoff, who is so knowledgeable and so passionate about his subject, took me right back to my college days, when inspirational lecturers enabled us, their students, to look at and understand health and disease in a different way. As it happens, Geoff studied veterinary science at Cambridge, so went through one of the most rigorous systems of conventional veterinary education and training. You can read about his own transition to homeopathy
here. (He is currently looking at the links between quantum physics, Eastern philosophies and homeopathy - think Fritjof Capra's
The Tao of Physics.)
We were all more than happy for Geoff to over-run his 45-minute slot, his topics ranging from the roots of disease to the origins of homeopathy and the properties of homeopathic remedies, via a range of case histories, one of which was that of Rachel, the arthritic sheep. Listening to Geoff explain how he reached the heart of the case was compelling, as was his description of the remedy that made all the difference to Rachel -
Bryonia Alba, the wild hop. Rachel, by the way, is continuing in good health.
As it happens, Geoff treated one of my cats - the surviving Black Stripe - about three years ago and I was struck then by the observations he made about Black Stripe Two and by the time and care he took with the consultation. The symptoms were a stubborn and troublesome rash that had defied all conventional treatment. The first remedy Geoff prescribed brought about an almost immediate improvement; the second cleared the rash completely. It has never returned. And for those who think that the successful outcome was simply the placebo effect, try explaining how placebo works with a cat - or with any animal, come to that.
There are those who are scornful of homeopathy, primarily because it has not yet been fully demonstrated how it works. But as far as many of us are concerned, absence of proof is not proof of absence. After all, the world was not flat before it was discovered to be round; the land mass we know as Australia existed before it was 'discovered'. For those of us who see homeopathy's efficacy in our daily lives and in those of our animals, it's the fact that it works that is paramount.
The medical and veterinary establishment, driven these days by the powerful global pharmaceutical companies, doesn't care for homeopathy and would like to see it brought to its knees. But then, homeopathic remedies cost very little to produce, so there are no big bucks to be made in their manufacture.
I am not anti-conventional medical and veterinary treatment and there are numerous occasions when it is life-saving but as Hamlet observed:
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
And an open mind will, after all, always be of more value to this planet than a closed one.
I agree that while we should accept conventional medicine - for ourselves and our animals - it would be narrow minded and defeatist to rule out alternative approaches. I've just read 'The Horse Boy: A Father’s Miraculous Journey to Heal His Son' by Rupert Isaacson.
The child who is autistic showed an affinity with horses so his parents, unable to get satisfactory help through normal channels, took him to Outer Mongolia to be healed by Shamans.
There is an informative review here -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/4943287/Triumph-of-the-human-spirit.html
Posted by: Janet | 14 March 2009 at 10:02 AM
I'm with you on that. And good homeopaths are worth their weight in gold.
Posted by: colleen | 14 March 2009 at 11:39 PM
I have no problem with proven alternative medicine therapies, and would have been fascinated by Geoff's talk. I wish I could have been there.
Sadly, I myself have tried homeopathy on two occasions and found absolutely no benefit at all. I'd be willing to try it again, but so far, no luck.
Posted by: jay | 15 March 2009 at 12:51 AM
My beautiful chocolate lab had a traumatic collapse in November. She couldn't walk and was in a lot of pain.
After spending £800 the vet couldn't/wouldn't give a diagnosis (he was heading the euthanasia route)so the insurance company won't pay. He prescribed all manner of outrageously expensive drugs that seemed only to make her sick and tired.
I want her to have a doggy life, a happy life, so decided to stop giving them (what are they for exactly, anyway!?!). My friend's husband is a registered homeopath and got me some drops, and we went back to the glucosamine tablets.
She'll never be the same but she's happy. I'm happy. She potters now rather than roars about but, hey, she's 10.
I haven't been back to the vet again since, fortunately haven't needed to. Dawn.
Posted by: Rattling On | 16 March 2009 at 06:12 PM
Couldn't agree with your post more. An interesting read, thank-you.
Posted by: Pam | 16 March 2009 at 10:34 PM
Thank you for all your thoughtful comments. I think Colleen is spot on about good homeopaths being worth their weight in gold (ditto good doctors, of course).
Jay, speaking as a patient rather than as a practitioner, I would say that it's the practitioner who makes the difference - some are much, much better than others at tuning in to what is happening with a patient. Over the years, I've consulted six homeopaths, of whom three prescribed remedies that really helped and it was with those three that I felt the greatest sense of rapport. One is now in South Africa and another in San Francisco but the third, thankfully, stayed in the London! And it's a tribute to my current homeopath that, despite having various auto-immune conditions, I am in much better general health in my sixties than I was when I was younger. So much so that I can't remember when I last went to see him . . . or a GP, come to that.
Posted by: 60 Going On 16 | 19 March 2009 at 05:12 PM