This month, I'll be attending an advanced homotoxicology seminar in Denver, where some of the most skilled homotoxicologists and veterinarians in the country will be presenting lectures and practical applications of the use of this modality for the treatment of cancer and endocrine disease (diabetes, thyroid disease, and adrenal disease). These diseases represent some of the biggest challenges to veterinarians.

As vets, we all learn one of the cardinal rules of medicine - "First do no harm" - but so many of us seem to forget it when we are faced with an extremely ill pet and a desperate owner. Often, treatments are prescribed with the goal of extending a pet's life with little regard to how good the quality of that life is going to be. We need to remember that pets live in the here and now. They don't know that a treatment that makes them feel terribly sick now might help them later - they just know that they feel awful. They might not agree that developing a terrible, untreatable bladder infection - or heart failure - or kidney failure - from chemotherapy was a good trade-off for another month of life. And, for living beings that are so highly tied to the taste of their food as are our pets, is eating a horrible tasting prescription diet that hasn't even been proven to work, really a good idea in all cases of kidney, liver, and heart disease?

As veterinarians and as pet owners, we need to look - really look - at what we are asking our pets to tolerate, in the interests of extending their lives. Therapies can help or hurt, depending on how they are applied, how carefully they are monitored, and how carefully the known side effects from such treatments are proactively recognized and treated.

Newer therapies are being developed all the time, that offer the advantages of fewer side effects with greater health benefits. Homotoxicology is such a therapy. I'll be taking to the Denver seminar some client files - pets that have just been diagnosed with cancer and pets that have some of the other diseases mentioned above. Next month, I'll be reporting back what I have learned.