I used to have similar conversations with a lady who was using 'special water'
to cure her dog's cancer. She'd opted for it instead of the traditional route of chemo because she was still using her as a show dog and planned to still breed from her. Nice lady.

Now I just get suspicion aroused from clients who are wary of changing their pet's diet to a veterinary diet because "We're just out to make money off them/it'll kill them faster/it will cause more illnesses".

Yup, that's why Hills and Royal Canin have spent untold millions in research to make the food have the right nutritional balance to serve as a complete food as a maintenance diet or spent years developing a special diet which should be used in conjunction with veterinary visits to see how your pet is doing so that we don't have to put them to sleep earlier than necessary as we'd quite like to prolong their life and have it be a comfortable one. Nope, we just want your money.
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Tue 1 Sep 2009, 17:18, 1 reply)

Don't get me started on the whole
"but animals don't experience the placebo effect, so magic water must work, explain THAT, skeptic..." rant as well.

I give you a) regression to the mean and b) the owner's perception of whether their animal is getting better or not. The dog can't tell you whether the sugar pills work, the owner can. Placebo by proxy.

:)
(Rakky (forgot her password) The muffin maverick, Tue 1 Sep 2009, 17:26, closed)