Conventional Veterinary Surgeons

Conventional veterinary surgeons acknowledge that all side-effects are removed in extreme dilutions, and to that extent, homoeopathic medicines are safe.

Many argue that to be safe, if ineffective, by reason of the absence of any therapeutic substance is a spurious safety. Despite reservations about homoeopathy, it is almost certainly the most widely applied form of alternative therapy.

Homoeopathic remedies are invariably given by mouth, including the homoeopathic equivalent of vaccines, known as "nosodes". The medicines are either in tablet or powder form, with no unpleasant taste.

A few veterinary surgeons use homoeopathy exclusively, while a number use it regularly as part of their armoury of treatment.

They tend to select cases that they consider likely to respond better to homoeopathy than to conventional medicine, often the more chronic conditions in which conventional treatments can only suppress the symptoms, sometimes with undesirable side-effects.

Veterinary surgeons using homoeopathic medicine are usually known to their colleagues locally, who will happily refer patients to the appropriate practice on request.