Homeopathic Nosodes

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Complementary Healthcare Products
Homeopathic Pharmacies
Vaccination

The use of homeopathic nosodes - providing protection

Nosodes are small pills that have been potentised with minute doses of the diseases we would otherwise vaccinate against.  They are not vaccines, and they do not generate measurable antibodies in the blood.  Rather, they provide the body with the energetic imprint of disease, so that should a challenge come along, the body will energetically recognise the virus or bacteria, and mount a healthy immune response. 

There are two schools of thought about nosodes. One says that nosodes should only be used to treat an illness. The other, which is the main school of thought in the UK, is that nosodes can be used as a preventative.

Puppies initially have the full course of nosodes, and the dosing regime is specified by the supplier, which can be a homoeopathic vet or a homoeopathic pharmacy. After the initial course it is a matter of choice and susceptibility.

Some people re-administer nosodes every six months or year to try to alleviate any risk at all. However, if you are in an area where there is no direct risk (no parvo etc around, for example), then some do not continue using nosodes - other than if there is a potential risk or simply to treat the disease if it occurs.

As an extra help you can also get a titer test to check for antibodies. The science from Dr Ron Schultz in America say that if any antibodies (as opposed to a set limit used in the UK) at all are present, then immunity exists. He also goes on to say that once any levels have been shown to exist, then even if at a later date another test is done and there are none showing, then the cells will have that in memory - so that if the animal comes into contact with a virus the antibodies will still be stimulated to do their job.

Permanent immunity to bacteria (as in leptospirosis) of course cannot be attained. Therefore using nosodes as a preventative or to treat is again a matter of choice whether to regularly dose, or only when there is an actual threat in the area, or only when treating the illness.
There is one other point that applies (even if you have previously vaccinated). Viruses (or bacteria) mutate, and therefore it is crucial that the immune system is strong enough to fight the challenge. This is why the natural diet works so well - as one of the most important things for a dog is to boost the immune system and avoid unnecessary stresses on it.

And to do this? Of course, a biologically appropriate diet, immune boosting agents (such as transfer factor, and garlic etc), a peaceful and happy environment, fun and exercise, the avoidance of unnecessary drugs (like boosters, antibiotics etc), and the use of natural alternatives that do not have adverse effects. A dog under this system is unlikely to succumb to disease.

There’s a great deal of controversy surrounding the homoeopathic nosode, which is used by people who do not wish to risk the danger of vaccinating their dogs, but who nevertheless wish to offer their dogs protection against viral and bacterial diseases otherwise covered by vaccines.


A nosode (from nosos, the Greek word meaning disease) is a homeopathic preparation made from matter from a sick animal or person. Substances such as respiratory discharges or diseased tissues are used. It sounds repulsive, but the preparation, using alcohol, as well as the repeated dilution and succussion, essentially renders the substances harmless, while producing a powerful remedy. The use of nosodes in a prophylactic manner, for preventing disease, has been employed in veterinary and human homeopathy for many years. It is supported by various holistic veterinarians and authors.

However, champions of conventional medicine can get themselves into quite a rage about using nosodes to prevent disease.  They say that there is absolutely no scientific evidence to say that nosodes work.  Even some homoeopathic vets won’t advocate nosode use. 

Alternative Vaccines in Veterinary Medicine

In the 1830s the vet Wilhelm Lux was treated a flock of sheep dying of Anthrax. This German scientist had previously experienced success using nosodes to prevent and treat other diseases in livestock.[J. H. Clarke, M.D. Dictionary of Materia Medica, Vol.. pg. 118-119] Dr. Lux prepared an alcoholic extract from the spleen of the sheep that had just died. Soon a number of physicians and veterinarians were employing this new homeopathic medicine for their patients who were suffering with serious illnesses. The lives of both sheep and their shepherds were being spared by Anthracinum. [C. Hering, M. D., The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica, Vol. 1, pg. 299]

In veterinary medicine, probably the best known study was conducted by Dr. Christopher Day of England involving kennel cough in a boarding kennel. At the time he was called in, there were 40 dogs in the kennel with 35 that had kennel cough. About half had been vaccinated for this malady. He gave a nosode to all the animals that were there and all the dogs that came in through the rest of the summer (another 214 dogs). He successfully reduced the incidence of kennel cough from over 90% to less than 2%.

Nosodes have been developed and – some will say - used successfully for almost all animal disease and more recently for heartworm.

Nosodes appear to stimulate the immune system to react against a specific disease. One of the many reasons that they have not been accepted in the orthodox medical community, is that they do not produce specific, measurable antibodies! This `titer testing' is of little value in measuring effective immunity from nosode usage. Again, because the mechanism of action is poorly understood, the orthodox reaction is to reject all evidence as merely anecdotal.

In the human field, some 52 years before Koch first isolated the tubercle bacillus for the tuberculosis vaccine, nosodes were commonly used as just in case measures against a wide variety of diseases.

According to government statistics, the use of these homeopathic vaccines was accompanied by an amazing drop in the incidence of whooping cough, diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles in children. In all groups, the numbers of people of all ages contracting TB, dysentery, typhoid fever and Asiatic cholera plummeted (Gaier, Thorsons Encyclopaedic Dict of Hom, Harper-Collins, London, 1991).

The few published studies to have looked at this area suggest that nosodes are effective at preventing specific diseases (Alternatives, WDDTY, February 1995; 5 (11): 9). In one large scale study, more than 18,000 children were successfully protected with a homeopathic remedy (Meningococcinum IICH) against meningitis, with no side effects (BMJ, 1987; 294: 294-6).

Nosode Schedule

Puppies can be given homeopathic nosodes beginning at three weeks of age.

The suggested dosage for dogs of all ages irrespective of previous orthodox vaccinations is the same.

One tablet to be given twice daily by mouth for the first three days then…
One tablet to be given once a week for six weeks then…
One tablet to be given once a month continually. 

Nosodes are prepared from sterilized vaccines by the traditional process of sequential dilution and succession employed in homoeopathic manufacture. They are designed to be administered by mouth rather than by injection. Since the micro doses of the remedy are embedded on the tablet surface you are advised not to handle them. To administer a dose simply tip the tablet into the cap of the vial and from there onto your dogs tongue. If necessary crush a tablet between two clean spoons and dissolve the powder in water. This can then be syringed into the mouth or deposited in the water bowl.

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