Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A letter from a Sunday Times reader...

Dear Andrew
I have just read the above letter in today's Sunday Times, and I just have to respond with the following account of my dog. Please feel free to forward to Mr Reinhard.

My heinz 57 dog, (looked like a cross between a small German Shepherd and a fox!) developed a hacking cough. My first thought: kennel cough, the  vet thought the same. A month later, still had a cough so he said lets try more antibiotics, then, when still had a cough: anti-inflammatories etc etc. Lets check for a foreign body lodged in his throat. Nope, not that. During the course of the next 8 months,  I changed vets 3 times, as no one was coming up with a suitable diagnosis or treatment. The dog had x-rays and even a scan. Cost a fortune. Meanwhile the dog still suffering with a dreadful cough.   

So a friend said try a homeopathic approach. I thought a bit ridiculous, but friend explained what the vet had done for her dog. I was a bit reassured when I checked the vet out to discover that homeopathy is an additional certification undertaken by a conventionally qualified vet. So went to said vet. He took a long history of the dog, which took over an hour. He learned much more about the dog and his personality than any other vet I've been to. I asked a lot of questions about homeopathy and what 'medicines' would be best. Vet said it sometimes takes several goes to get the 'treatment' exactly right, "but when it's right, the results are really dramatic". He then came up with a plan and I went off, more than a little skeptically, I have to say, with a couple of small bottles of hocus-pocus. 

Well, within 24 hours, the dog stopped coughing. It was dramatic alright. Now, I don't know whether the dog would've stopped coughing spontaneously anyway, but I do know the dog doesn't know what a placebo is.

Oh and by the way - I have a first class honours degree in Chemistry and a MA by research, so I know all about scientific method; but I have no idea how homeopathy works or if it does. I only know 3 conventional vets failed to cure my dog in 8 months and one trip to a homeopathic vet cured the dog in 24 hours.

Sincerely, Sam Ray

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