Foreword by Andrew Prentis	6
Introduction	9


PART ONE: A healthy life	10

The beginning	11
The new puppy	14
The new kitten	20
Puppy and kitten health	21
The first visit to the vet	22

Diet	24
Feeding a feline – the meat eater who
	forgets to drink	25
A dog’s dinner – able to adapt but still a
	carnivore at heart	27
The options	27
• Processed factory food	27
• Homemade food	29
• Raw food	30
• Making the change	34
• Final words on feeding – whichever method
	you choose	35

Who’s your vet?	37

Vaccination	42
Vaccination of dogs	54
Recommended vaccination programme for
	dogs	56
Vaccination of cats	56
Recommended vaccination programme
	for cats	57

Parasites	58
Worms, fleas and ticks	58
Worms	60
• Intestinal roundworms (Toxocara canis and
	Toxocara cati)	60
• Angiostrongylus vasorum
	(French heartworm)	63
Fleas	66
Ticks	69

Neutering	76
Spaying, castration, and all things sexual	76
Dogs	77
• The female dog	78
• False pregnancy	84
• The male dog	86
Cats	89
• The female cat	90
• The male cat	91

The final stage: old age, natural death or
	euthanasia	93
Birth and death	93


PART TWO: From herbs to homeopathy	97

What does it mean to be holistic?	98

Holistic treatment methods	102
• Herbal medicine	103
• Examples of commonly used Western
	herbs	104
• Acupuncture	106
• Manual therapies	109
• Bach flower remedies	110
• Bach’s 7 reactions and 38 remedies	114
• Homeopathy	117
• Cases from my homeopathic practice	131


PART THREE: Dealing with disease	141

Treat the patient; not the disease	143

Decisions at the vet’s: the right decision is
	the one you won’t regret	143
• Firefighting	144

Common conditions in dogs and cats	147
Focus on allergy	148
Skin	151
• Wounds	151
• Bite wounds and abscesses	152
• Homeopathic treatment of wounds and
	abscesses	153
• Allergic skin disease	154
• Allergy testing: what it can and can’t do	155
• Hotspots	162
• Ear infections	162
• Eosinophilic granuloma complex	164
• Psychogenic over-grooming	164
• Lumps and bumps	165

The digestive system	166
• Open wide	166
• Diarrhoea and vomiting	167
• Constipation	170
• Anal sacs	172
Heart and airways	174
• Kennel cough	174
• Viral disease in cats	175
• Asthma	176

Heart disease	177

Thyroid disease	177

The urinary system	178
• Cystitis	178
• Urinary crystals and stones	182
• Incontinence	183
• Chronic kidney disease	184

The reproductive system	187
• Pyometra	187
• Cryptorchidism	187

The nervous sytem	188
• Seizures	188
• Epilepsy	189

The locomotor system	190
• Sprains and strains	190
• Fractures	191
• Cruciate ligament rupture	191
• Dysplasia	193
• Osteoarthritis	197

Surgery	199

Behavioural problems	201
• Aggression	203
• Anxiety	204
• Behavioural problems in cats	207

Appendices	211
Supplements	211
Useful contacts	215
References and further reading	216

Index	220