Category Archives: Topic-Based Summaries

Collections of posts pertaining to specific topics.

Alternative & Integrative Medicine Revealed

Alternative medicine practitioners have had a lot of success marketing their methods to the mainstream veterinary profession by obscuring or downplaying the most egregiously unscientific and ridiculous of their beliefs and practices when speaking outside of their own groups. They … Continue reading

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Overview of the Evidence for Probiotics in Cats and Dogs

I have written about the subject of probiotics several times before, and this is one of the most interesting and active areas of research in scientific veterinary medicine. Unfortunately, probiotics are also illustrative of the unreliability of unregulated veterinary health … Continue reading

Posted in Herbs and Supplements, Topic-Based Summaries | 17 Comments

Why Anecdotes & Testimonials Can’t Be Trusted

By far the most frequent response I get to any article critical of claims for an alternative therapy or focused  on the lack of good evidence for such claims is an appeal to anecdotal evidence.  Some variation on “I tried it … Continue reading

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Skeptvet’s Acupuncture Adventure

I have collected here the various posts written about my experiences taking the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians training course. This provided an opportunity to take a detailed look at the claims and evidence made for acupuncture outside of the realm … Continue reading

Posted in Acupuncture, Topic-Based Summaries | 3 Comments

Antioxidants for Pets- It’s Complicated

The subject of anti-oxidants comes up fairly often on this blog. This is largely because the oxidation and free-radicals are often viewed as fundamentally destructive forces responsible for aging and many types of illness, and preventing the malign effects of … Continue reading

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American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA) & its Foundation (AHVMF)

I recently received a registration packet for the 2014 Annual Conference of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. This seemed a good reminder to pull together some of the information and observations concerning organized alternative veterinary medicine I have posted … Continue reading

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Evidence Concerning Vitamin and Mineral Supplements- Safety and Efficacy

Introduction I have discussed a number of studies and reviews of the value and risks of vitamin and mineral supplements in humans. While these studies can only be considered supportive, not definitive, in terms of the risks and benefits of … Continue reading

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Raw Diets for Pets

I have covered the raw diet debate since the beginning of this blog, and the evidence has been remarkably consistent: There is no evidence to support claims that raw diets are healthier than cooked commercial foods. There is consistent evidence … Continue reading

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Benefits and Risks of Neutering–An Evidence-Based Approach

In 2010 I published an extensive narrative review of the research concerning the benefits and risks of neutering. Since then, there has been a proliferation of studies and reviews attempting to refine and strengthen the evidence and allow better individualized … Continue reading

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The Harm Complementary and Alternative Medicine Can Do

What’s the Harm I have written often about ways in which complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can be harmful. This is not because I believe CAM is necessarily always unsafe, or that I think conventional medicine doesn’t have significant risks … Continue reading

Posted in Topic-Based Summaries | 13 Comments