Naturopathic animal health care
An experienced animal naturopath determines the underlying cause(s) of the animal’s symptoms or illness and seeks to restore balance through the use of dietary changes, individually-prescribed nutrient therapy, herbal or homoeopathic medicines. Animal naturopaths also consider prevention to be an integral part of their work with animals – and educating pet owners about correct diets, nutrient supplementation and healthy environments is an important aspect of their profession. In addition, race horse and performance horse owners are increasingly seeking the services of well-qualified animal naturopaths in order to give them the edge over their competitors.

Increase in natural animal health care
There has been an increase in consumer demand for qualified natural animal therapists to treat animals. I believe this is due to the growing popularity of natural therapies in general and the increasing realisation that mainstream treatments do not always succeed. In addition, people usually want to try to identify the underlying cause of their pet’s health problems – not just treat the symptoms. Furthermore, people are becoming more educated in their own health and are realising that many pharmaceutical drug treatments can cause serious side effects and long-term effects. Consequently, more people are seeking natural therapies for themselves – often with great success. Therefore, it is only natural that many people also seek them for their animals.

Qualifications of natural animal therapists
There are vast differences in qualifications between natural animal health practitioners. Many practitioners only have a diploma in (human) herbal medicine or homoeopathy whereas many are fully qualified naturopaths with additional qualifications in animal health. This is important as there are so many herbal remedies, nutrients and other naturopathic treatments that should never be given to certain species of animals. In addition, due to the unique anatomy of each of the animal species, dosages of herbal medicines and nutrient supplements can vary significantly from the dosage given to humans.

Studying to be an animal naturopath
Regarding degree courses, a university degree in either Animal science or Zoology, for example, is usually 4 years of full-time study. These courses often include subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, animal anatomy & physiology, reproduction, animal nutrition & metabolism, genetics, animal behaviour & other related subjects. A university degree in Naturopathy is a minimum of 4 to 5 years of full-time study. Besides the core biological & medical science subjects, these courses usually involve subjects such as nutritional science, herbal medicine, homoeopathy, pathology and many other health related subjects. To complete degrees in both human naturopathy and animal science or a similar course would involve a minimum of 8 years of full-time study. However, this would allow the qualified animal naturopath to have a comprehensive knowledge of the anatomy & physiology of most animals as well as the wisdom regarding safe and effective treatments for individual animal species. On the other hand, this length of study would not be necessary for those only wanting to perform manual therapies on animals and not wanting to prescribe naturopathic medicines. Consequently, there seems to be an increase in people enrolling in the massage-related animal courses, especially those specialised for dogs and horses. Therefore, courses in Bowen therapy and remedial massage for animals are increasing in popularity.

Why are natural animal therapy careers so rewarding?
Well-trained practitioners gain a lot of satisfaction using natural therapies on animals as they can be just as effective as most mainstream treatments but without the potential side effects. Not only that, an experienced practitioner will have the ability to identify the underlying cause of the disorder and treat it accordingly – not just treat the superficial symptoms. A large number of people seek naturopathic treatments for their pets when all else has failed. Therefore, it gives you a huge amount of satisfaction when you can help an animal, particularly when there is a history of a long-term illness, when no-one else achieved an effective cure. My personal experience has included success with previously unresponsive inflammatory skin conditions, degenerative joint conditions, recurrent ear infections in dogs, laminitis in horses, and many other conditions, including many being diagnosed as ‘untreatable’.

The future of natural animal health care
Having been in the natural health field for over 17 years, I have seen a dramatic increase in people seeking advice from professionals in the natural animal health field. Many people are realising that qualified animal naturopaths can help them achieve their goals regarding their pet or livestock’s health - without the need for invasive surgery, toxic drugs or other potentially harmful treatments. This is why the natural animal field is growing so quickly and this is why it is really important for practitioners to be well-trained.