Working with Animals

Besides working with humans, a good portion of my work involves helping domesticated animals with physical and emotional/behavioral problems. As mentioned earlier, my interest in using holistic medicine on animals stems from the time I was the Feline Medical Director of the Evanston Animal Shelter (1990-1992). There were a number of very ill animals that were not being helped by allopathic medicine. Even though I was a novice, I began studying and using homeopathy on these creatures. The results were astounding: those who had no options except euthanasia, were brought back to health, with gentle, non-intrusive, and inexpensive means. Currently I maintain a private feline sanctuary in So. California for special needs cats. Homeopathy and other forms of holistic medicine are integral to their maintenance and health.

My holistic healing animal practice in So. California mainly deals with dogs and cats (I will occasionally treat rabbits, birds and horses). I have successfully treated physical conditions such as cancer, auto-immune disease, digestive problems, kidney disease, heart conditions, urinary tract conditions, skin problems, arthritis, Lyme's disease, kennel cough, vaccinosis (an ALL TOO COMMON PROBLEM, ill health, and chronic problems caused by over -vaccination!), and trauma, injury or post-surgical problems. In addition, I do treat animals' emotional problems: sometimes with homeopathy and sometimes with flower essence therapy. In the case of physical ailments, I also use herbs, diet and nutritional supplements as part of the treatment plan.

A great deal of my animal consultations are done by phone. I find that many conditions do not necessarily "show up" while the animal is in my office. Often, the pet owner's observations are much more important to finding the right homeopathic remedy, than what I can see in a 45 minute in-office consult. However, if you are local, certain conditions are served better when I can see the animal: skin conditions, neurological, respiratory problems. However, some of my most successful cases, even including treating cancer , have been done by phone.

As with humans, it is desirable that you have some sort of diagnosis by a licensed veterinarian before you see me. (I will want to see any lab reports, or pertinent test results). In some cases, if the situation is obvious you may want to proceed with homeopathic treatment first. For instance, I had one case, where a cat was never well after a four-paw, de-claw operation. The animal was sullen and limped on one of the feet. The vet who had performed the surgery could not find any thing wrong and the animal was sent home to continue suffering. I did not need further diagnostics. Homeopathic treatment was started and within 3 weeks the animal was back to normal and has remained so, ever since.

Testimonial

"Our dog, Bugsy, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and given one to six months to live. Traditional veterinary treatments offered were painful (such as removing the affected leg), short term and expensive. We started working with Kim Rockshaw using homeopathic remedies and other natural remedies. We were able to keep Bugsy pain free and active for two years. Even his death was gentle , we believe as a result of the homeopathic treatment he received. We also learned a tremendous amount about improving our own health in the process of working with Kim. I cannot recommend Kim's homeopathic approach highly enough."

C.A., Irvine, CA

The Story of “Colonel”, the cat

It was a February morning in 2002. A call came in from my vet's office that they had taken in a young stray male cat, who had tested positive for the FIV (FelineImmunoDeficiency Virus). Since these cats usually live long lives, with very few complications, I instructed them not to euthanize him, as I would take him. When I arrived at the vet's office, I was told that the cat had some pretty serious injuries. My wonderful vet Dr. Tom Saunders informed me that the cat had suffered a traumatic injury to his spine, and the injury was not recent. His bladder was atonic (unresponsive), large and he was unable to void urine on his own. Because of this, urine slowly leaked down his back legs and the skin had become corroded. He also had diarrhea. His tail was flacid and hanging down without reponse. My vet said there was nothing he, or any surgeon could do, to fix this nerve damage caused by the spinal injury. The injury appeared to be old, so there was no hope of the cat recovering nerve function on his own. He suggested euthanasia. I looked at an otherwise, happy, friendly cat who seemed to be experiencing no pain. Unsure of what the outcome would be I took him home to try homeopathy.

Once home, I found Colonel (he had been found behind a Kentucky Fried Chicken shop), to be a very outgoing cat, with a cute voice and a big appetite! I started homeopathic treatment on him immediately, first focusing on general past trauma. Three times a day, I expressed his bladder. After two weeks, I then used another homeopathic treatment to specifically treat the bladder paralysis. And slowly but surely Colonel made progress. During this time I took him back to my vet for X-rays, who once again suggested euthanasia. Colonel was happy, pain free and ate very well. I persisted with the homeopathic treatment. After six weeks Colonel was able to urinate on his own and his stools were normal. The tail never recovered it's complete use, and this was amputated at the same time of his castration surgery. He was now a cute, charming member of my cat household! For five years, he remained happy, well, and except for occasional constipation, very healthy.

Then in 2007, Colonel's old injuries came back to haunt him. He started developing mega colon, a condition where due to chronic constipation and straining, the colon becomes enlarged and loses its ability to contract and push out feces. Colonel became very ill and developed a systemic infection. I was taking him back and forth to the vet for enemas on a regular basis. But he just couldn't defecate on his own. I knew that only homeopathy would save this guy. The antibiotics cleared up the infection, the liquid stool softener, call Lactulose, (commonly used in mega-colon cats) was softening the stool, but there was no nerve impulse to help Colonel push out the impacted feces. So once again, homeopathy was employed and after trying two remedies, found success. Between a combination of the homeopathy, Lactulose and subcutaneous fluids Colonel recovered and is still living a normal healthy life.

I'm sure that Colonel and I will have many more challenges ahead of us. And every step of the way homeopathy will be involved.