Dr. Ana Falk, DVM

The Homeopathic Perspective

Homeopathy is a gentle, deeply healing system of medicine that uses remedies that do not cause side effects like conventional pharmaceuticals. Homeopathy treats the whole pet: emotional, mental, and physical symptoms.

Homeopathy proposes that disease is a process that affects the patient as a whole and that medicines can be applied in small nontoxic doses to treat the patient directly instead of just treating the disease. This is in contrast to traditional medicine where much effort is put into finding the disease and then applying the standard treatment for the disease.

Homeopathy believes in the vital energy, a dynamic force that maintains all the parts of the material body in harmony. When the vital force is affected the body becomes susceptible to disease.

For example, have you ever bought a bag of oranges only to find that one orange in the middle of the bag is rotten? It is mushy and covered in fungus. Surprisingly, the neighboring oranges are often fine, despite the fact they are in direct contact with the fungus. The point is that the fungus does not, by itself, cause the oranges to rot. They must first be susceptible to fungal attack, which happens when they have lost vitality through aging or damage. In this degenerative state, the fungus can take hold.

In a similar way, pets can only contract diseases when they are susceptible to them. By addressing this susceptibility, homeopathic treatment allows for natural resolution of disease.


Frequently Asked Questions

How long will it take before I notice a change?
Most patients with a chronic health problem show a change in about one to four weeks.

What will I notice first?
The first change is often improved energy and disposition. Since natural healing occurs from the inside out, energy changes occur before physical changes.

Occasionally, there is an increased need for sleep in the initial stages. It is as if the body needs more downtime for repairs. This is a good sign.

How long until my pet is well?
That depends. If your pet has been sick a long time, it may take a few years before it is fully healed. However, some pets respond remarkably quickly.

How will I know if my pet is getting better?
They feel better as their problems resolve. We usually see our patients every four to eight weeks or so for rechecks. This allows us to monitor their progress and make necessary changes.

If my pet is getting better why should I follow up?
As your pet’s body heals, the response to the remedy at that potency will eventually fade. It is then necessary to gradually increase the potency of the remedy until the healing is permanent.

Knowing when to increase the potency of the remedy and by how much takes training and experience. Repeating remedies too soon or in the wrong potency can sometimes delay or disrupt healing.

If you give the same remedy over and over without changing it, it is possible to get a proving of that remedy. That is the remedy will start to give your pet symptoms. This is not dangerous – simply discontinuing the remedy will stop the process. It is another reason however, why follow-up is important.

What will get well first?
Different problems often do not heal simultaneously. The more serious problems tend to heal first, the more outer and less serious problems may follow. This is just the way the body’s wisdom works.

It may turn out that your pet’s body’s priorities are different than yours in what should heal first. For example, you may be concerned about your pet’s itching and recurrent skin rash but for your pet’s body, this is a minor superficial problem. As your pet responds to the remedy, its anxiety may be relieved, digestive problems corrected, and allergies improved before the skin fully heals.

In a situation like this, you must trust your pet’s body and allow it to heal in its own way. This aspect of healing cannot be forced. Homeopathy works with the natural recuperative processes of the body but does not control them.

What does the return of old symptoms mean?
As your pet’s body heals it will bring back some symptoms that were not actually cured but suppressed with the treatment used at the time. It is like your pet’s body was silenced to express that symptom and now, through the healing process, that barrier has been lifted and your pet can express those symptoms again. Not all the symptoms from all the medical problems that your pet has had in the past will come back, only the ones that have been suppressed. If old symptoms return you need to contact us immediately.


Modified from the book Homeopathy, beyond Flat Earth Medicine by Timothy Dooley, ND, MD. We highly recommend this book. You can get it at www.beyondflatearth.com.


Please call or text 319-382-5162 to schedule your appointment