CVMG
COMPLEMENTARY VETERINARY MEDICINE GROUP
Cape Town was the beautiful backdrop to the 30th World Veterinary Congress which took place there
from the 10th – 14th October 2011.
The Complementary Veterinary Medicine Group had been invited by the SAVA to present two days of
parallel sessions which were held on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th. This wonderful opportunity
allowed us to attract some very prestigious lecturers from the United States and Europe.
Together with local lecturers and colleagues a program was compiled that attracted not only interest
from our own group but also colleagues from both home and abroad.
We started our CVM parallel sessions on Wednesday morning with Dr Rick
Palmquist. Dr Palmquist is currently head of medicine at Centinela Animal Hospital
in Inglewood, California and is one the main protagonists of Integrative Veterinary
Medicine in the States where complementary therapies such as Acupuncture,
Homeopathy and Homotoxicology among others are integrated into conventional
practice.
Over two days, in his own dynamic style, he kept us riveted to our seats while he
took us through the basic tenets of bio regulatory medicine and therapeutic approaches followed by
some specific cases which have been formally published. The first day of his lecture ended with a
summary of some basic evidence for the developing branch of Homotoxicology.
The second day, more cases from his practice in California illustrated how Integrative medicine has
many techniques that may prove of assistance in managing chronic diseases. Modified hospice
involves working to improve quality of life and integrative aspects of Homotoxicology can aid in the
management of cats infected by FIV or FeLV virus.
Prof Ron Schultz who is Professor of Pathobiological Sciences at University of
Wisconsin-Madison Veterinary School was, unfortunately, unable to travel to South
Africa due to ill health but kindly provided us with DVDs of his presentation which he
prepared especially for us. Prof Schultz is also on the Committee for the World
Vaccination Guidelines and his subject “What every veterinarian needs to know about
canine vaccination” attracted many of our colleagues. His message to us all was that
our canine and feline population were over vaccinated as all of today’s core vaccines
whether modified live or killed give protection of over 3 years. The following day he
addressed the incidence of adverse reactions following vaccination and the use of antibody titre to
measure immune response
Our third overseas lecturer was Dr Liesbeth Ellinger who is a qualified veterinary homeopath and
experienced lecturer. Since 1987 she has her own mixed practice and now lives
and works alongside her husband and associate homeopathic physicians at their
Homeopathic centre in Holland.
Dr Ellinger’s presentation was a well-documented random placebo controlled
study on using homeopathy instead of antibiotics in the treatment of neonatal
diarrhoea in piglets. The success of this trial raises the possibility of replacing
the use of antibiotics in some circumstances with homeopathy.
Our South African lecturers were headed by Prof Patrick Bouic, an old friend of the
CVMG. Prof Bouic is an extremely well respected immunologist in international
circles and is now head of Synexa Life Sciences, a Private Biotechnology company
in Cape Town where he also lectures to pre and post graduate students. His lecture
outlined how inflammation and the immune response are interlinked
Dr Patrick Masika is the present Director of the Agricultural and Rural Development Research
Institute (ARDRI) and Part-time Lecturer at Fort Hare University. Dr Masika presented the results of
some fascinating research that he has been conducting in the Eastern Cape. Gathering information
from the local farming communities of certain herbs and plants that have been used by previous
generations of farmers for their anthelmintic and insecticide properties, he performed trials to extract
the active ingredients and compare their efficacy against commercial products with the view to
providing a cheaper viable product for the local farmer.
Our colleagues Dr Karin Behrens, Dr Megan Kelly and Dr Tanya Grantham each gave a
presentation on how they successfully use complementary therapy in their practice.
Dr Behrens with the aid of some interesting videos demonstrated how chiropractic is particularly
useful in the treatment of equine back and gait problems. Dr Grantham with some case presentations
demonstrated the effective use of acupuncture, hydrotherapy and homeopathy in the treatment of
intervertebral disc disease and Dr Kelly highlighted the added benefits of underwater treadmills in
muscular toning in rehabilitation.
The standard of all our lecturers was extremely high and it was gratifying to have an excellent
attendance rate at each presentation. It was also an opportunity to meet colleagues from other
countries who share a common interest.
Sheila Clow
Secretary CVMG