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Author Archives: skeptvet
Cupping for Animals- Yes, Apparently that Really is a Thing!
I’ve written before about so-called Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). It is the adaptation for veterinary patients of a hodgepodge of pre-scientific folk theories and practices cobbled together for largely political reasons by Mao in the 20th century. The most … Continue reading
Posted in General
17 Comments
Tellington TTouch- How to Sell Petting and Magic Rituals as a Powerful Healing Practice
Tellington TTouch is a subject I have long avoided, as I tried to avoid talking about pet psychics, because it is such vapid nonsense that there is really very little to discuss. As Thomas Jefferson once said, in another context, … Continue reading
Posted in General
23 Comments
Surgical Checklists Reduce Complications for Veterinary Surgery Patients
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a useful set of principles and tools that can help improve patient care. Unfortunately, there is little that is sexy and dramatic about EBM. Science in general tries to avoid the grandiose generalities that make for … Continue reading
More Nonsense from Holistic Vets about Commercial Therapeutic Diets
One of the subjects that holistic vets and other advocates of alternative practices get really passionate about is the evils of commercial and conventional diets. They promote a laundry list of myths about pet food, many of which I’ve addressed … Continue reading
Posted in Nutrition
180 Comments
Anti-Medicine Vets: Should Rejection of Scientific Medicine Disqualify One from Practicing as a Licensed Veterinarian?
There is a wide range of opinions about most medical topics in veterinary medicine, and rarely sufficient evidence to definitively establish who’s right and who’s wrong. For better or worse, we have tremendous individual latitude in deciding what treatments to … Continue reading
Posted in General
14 Comments
Things Holistic Vets Say About Cancer that Should Make Pet Owners Run the Other Way
Cancer is a common and frightening disease, and many pet owners will have to face making decisions about cancer care for their pets at some point. While there are many therapies that can improve quality of life for a veterinary … Continue reading
Posted in General
9 Comments
Selected Effects of Neutering in German Shepherd Dogs
As part of my ongoing surveillance of evidence concerning the benefits and risks of neutering, I have identified a new study on the subject. Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A., Thigpen, A. P. and Willits, N. H. (2016). Neutering of … Continue reading
Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
7 Comments
How to Prove a Therapy is Effective Even When its Not
Over the years, I have written a lot about how we come to hold and maintain false beliefs in medicine. Perhaps the lion’s share of this lies in anecdotes, which are powerfully persuasive despite all the sources of bias and … Continue reading
Neutering and Cancer Risk In Cats
I have written extensively about the scientific evidence concerning the benefits and risks of neutering. Overall, the data is complex, and significant effects of neutering on specific health risks are rarely definitively demonstrated. One of the most controversial issues, the … Continue reading
Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
8 Comments
The Unfortunate Role of Alternative Medicine in the Animal Hospice Movement
I first wrote about the subject of hospice care for animals in the first year of this blog, 2009. I feel strongly that there is a need to adapt the concepts of hospice and palliative care developed in human medicine … Continue reading
Posted in General
5 Comments
