Caring for Pets, Homeopathic Medications for Disc Disease

Disc disease is one of the most common serious, painful back problems of dogs. In the last few blogs we discussed how to encourage dogs that are in pain to eat and how to medicate them. We considered the importance of Omega 3 fatty acids in returning the discs to health and in benefiting other areas of the body, including the heart, kidney, liver, and brain. Now, let’s discuss homeopathic medications for disc disease.

There are two schools of thought in veterinary homeopathy: classical and clinical. Those practicing classical homeopathy prescribe remedies with only a single ingredient and will choose the ingredient as much for a dog’s personality as for the nature of the illness. Thus, classical homeopathy is a bit like psychotherapy because it delves into the pet’s likes and dislikes, behaviors, and preferences. One of the classical homeopathic remedies for disc disease is Calc Carb.

In contrast, veterinarians practicing clinical homeopathy do not delve as much into a dog’s personality, but prescribe homeopathic medications that contain several ingredients and cover a range of personality types. Clinical homeopathic remedies for disc disease can include Bryonia, Symphytum, Eupatorium, Chelidonium, Phytolacca, Hypericum, etc.

Our goal when prescribing medication for a dog with disc disease is to

• relieve pain, inflammation and muscle spasm and
• promote growth of healthy vertebral joints with plenty of moisture and cushioning power.

Homeopathic medications help accomplish these goals so that pets with disc disease are more comfortable and more likely to develop a healthy spine.

In our next blog, we’ll discuss using Western herbs and Chinese herbs to help dogs with disc disease.