Author Archives: skeptvet

No Vet for My Pet? Veterinary Nurses Can Sell Woo Too!

Despite the real harm unproven or bogus alternative therapies can cause, I get a lot of flak here for being critical of alternative practitioners. Some of that stems from the natural resentment of having one’s beliefs questioned. Alternative medicine is … Continue reading

Posted in General | 15 Comments

Evidence Update: Old Tricks Used to Massage Neutricks Study Data

A few years ago, I reviewed a nutritional supplement called Neutricks which is marketed to “support brain health.” The company is careful not to make any specific claims about prevention or treatment of disease, which would be illegal, but the … Continue reading

Posted in Herbs and Supplements | 3 Comments

California Passes Science-based School Vaccination Law (SB277)

A while ago, I wrote about a bill in the California legislature intended to remove non-medical exemptions to vaccination requirements for children in the state. Despite often vicious and irrational opposition, science and reason and public health have won the day! … Continue reading

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Canine Nutrigenomics by Dr. Jean Dodds: Science as Windowdressing

Introduction A number of readers have asked me to review a recent book on canine nutrition: Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health The book has two authors. One is Diana Laverdure, a self-described “canine … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | 63 Comments

Why We’re Often Wrong: Can We Trust Clinical Experience?

This is an article I originally posted on a preliminary SkeptVet website which I no longer update since it has been replaced by this blog. I have copied it here since the links to the prior site no longer function. … Continue reading

Posted in General | 4 Comments

Dr. Nancy Scanlan Shows us How to Talk Sciency Without Actually Accepting Science

I have written frequently about the tendency of leaders in the alternative veterinary medicine community to talk about science as if they valued it while really either not understanding how science actually works or simply rejecting its basic principles (e.g. … Continue reading

Posted in General | 2 Comments

Canine Influenza and Quack Vets

The recent canine influenza outbreak in the Chicago has generated a lot of anxiety among dog owners around the country. Unfortunately, the understandable and appropriate stream of questions from dog owners about this disease has generated a great deal of … Continue reading

Posted in General | 14 Comments

The Rise (and Fall?) of Alternative Medicine Terminology

As I’ve discussed before, the terminology associated with alternative medicine is complex and inconsistent, so it makes discussing and debating the subject that much more challenging. Terms like “alternative,” “holistic,” “integrative,” “natural,” etc. are often used interchangeably, but they tend … Continue reading

Posted in General | 2 Comments

Evidence Update: Cold Laser Therapy for Dogs & Cats

I first summarized the scant evidence concerning low-level or “cold” laser therapy in companion animals in 2010, and I reviewed a couple of small studies in 2011. A recent checked showed only a couple of studies looking at cold laser … Continue reading

Posted in General, Science-Based Veterinary Medicine | 33 Comments

Faces of Vaccine Denialism

Been seeing a lot of these folks lately….  

Posted in Humor | 1 Comment