October 09, 2019

The Research Evidence for Homeopathy

There have been many research studies looking at the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of animal diseases.

Here we will summarize just a few.

In the largest-ever study of dogs and cats¹, a 2010 Clinical Outcomes survey identified many clinical conditions where homeopathy showed real promise – warranting still further research.

In this study, 21 homeopathic veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom recorded data from their patients over 12 months and collected information from a total of 1,500 dogs and 400 cats. By owners’ assessments, moderate or major improvement was reported overall for 68% of dogs and 63% of cats.

Data from 400 cats comprised a total of 372 individual chronic problems, of which 270 had a follow-up assessment. Data from 1,504 dogs comprised a total of 1,408 individual chronic problems, of which 1,070 had a follow-up assessment. In both species, 22% of the follow-ups in chronic cases received conventional medicines concurrently.

In cats, 117 different chronic medical conditions in total were treated with homeopathy. Five of those conditions included 20 or more cases, in which owner-reported outcomes (in decreasing rank order of frequency) were as follows:

Chronic Condition in Cats	Favorable Outcome (% patients)	Unfavorable Outcome (% patients)
Dermatitis	69.6%	0%
Renal Failure	57.1%	14.3%
Overgrooming	57.1%	7.2%
Arthritis	80%	0%
Hyperthyroidism	66.7%	0%

In dogs, of 301 different chronic medical conditions treated in total, those most commonly recorded (20 or more cases) were:

Chronic Condition in Dogs	Favorable Outcome (% patients)	Unfavorable Outcomes (% patients)
Dermatitis	66.2%	5.4%
Arthritis	80.2%	0.8%
Pyoderma	75.8%	0%
Colitis	85.2%	0%
Fear	31.6%	0%
Epilepsy	63.6%	4.5%
Otitis externa	72.7%	0%
Diarrhoea	68.2%	0%
Urinary incontinence	73.7%	0%
Aggression	57.1%	0%
Spondylosis	81%	0%
Lymphoma	40%	6.7%

What about farm animals?

There’s a growing volume of research here as well and much of it centers on the care of cows and pigs which are the two major categories in commercial animal farming.

An example of that research is work that’s been done to reduce the need for antibiotics in the treatment of mastitis in cows (infected udders).

In one German study², researchers examined the effectiveness of classical homeopathic treatment in cases of mild and moderate bovine clinical mastitis in comparison with antibiotic and placebo treatments.

A total of 136 lactating dairy cows with 147 affected quarters from four herds in Germany were randomly allocated to three treatment groups.

Their findings? In cases of pathogen-positive mastitis, the cure rate after four and eight weeks was similar between the two treatment strategies, homeopathy and antibiotic treatment, but the difference between the homeopathic and the placebo treatment at day 56 was significant. According to the study authors, these results indicate a therapeutic effect of homeopathic treatment in cases of mild and moderate clinical mastitis.

Interested in learning more about the research available on homeopathy for pets and farm animals? These resources are excellent: International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy & Animal/Lab Studies by Name of Lead Author from Homeopathicvet.org.

Sources:

1. Mathie RT, Baitson ES, Hansen L, Elliott MF, Hoare J. "Homeopathic prescribing for chronic conditions in feline and canine veterinary practice." Homeopathy. 2010 Oct: 99(4):243-8.

2. Spranger J. "Testing the Effectiveness of Antibiotic and Homeopathic Medication in the Frame of Herd Reorganisation of Subclinical Mastitis in Milk Cows". British Homeopathic Journal, 2000, 89, Supplement 1, S62

What about farm animals?

Sources:

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