There has been a lot of recent news coverage of homeopathy in veterinary practice.
Last year, an open letter signed by 3000 vets asked the RCVS to blacklist homeopathy from available veterinary treatments. As a result, a lot of people are expressing concerns surrounding its practice, but what exactly is veterinary homeopathy and why should we be avoiding it?
Homeopathy in veterinary practice is an alternative method of treating illnesses using “extreme dilutions of substances which, in higher quantities, would cause the signs of illness being shown in the animal” (Source). This is done in the hope that these substances stimulate the immune system to fight the illness. Homeopathy’s effectiveness has never been scientifically proven, however, some vets and pet owners strongly believe it works.
There are anecdotal stories of pets being effectively treated, but there is never substantial proof and many sceptics think these stories can be explained by placebo effect and coincidence. A recent study by RCV showed definitively that homeopathy only works because of perpetual errors and coincidence rather than effectiveness.
Regardless of homeopathy’s lack of evidence, many owners still want to pursue this avenue of treatment with their pets. Some vets think that homeopathy in veterinary practice should still be offered, because if it isn’t available, owners will stop coming to established practices and will attempt to treat their pets themselves instead.
Homeopathy in veterinary practice has yet to be banned outright because there have been no documented cases where it has directly caused harm to an animal. The most pressing issue here is that vets take extreme caution with homeopathy and don’t use it as a treatment method when there is no visible sign of it working, or when they know a more conventional method would work.