At his booming 15-year-old clinic, the Cornell University vet-school grad and 24 staffers employ therapies such as acupuncture and herbs as well as conventional medicine. Other vets dispute some of Goldstein's stances—"The vaccines and medications we give as traditional practitioners are of great benefit to the majority of pets," says vet Charles Duffy, owner of a Norwalk, Conn., clinic—but hundreds of clients think he's barking up the right tree. The twice-divorced veterinarian spoke with PEOPLE contributor Debbie Seaman in the cottage he shares with Pomeranians Kooper and Nina, poodle Clayton, grey mixed-breed cat Squeaky and Siamese Jasmine.
What's your beef with packaged pet foods?
Many contain meat byproducts, which are not what I would consider food. And many have chemicals in them—preservatives, coloring agents—that studies have shown can cause bladder cancer and liver disease. They're not what an animal is intended to eat by nature.
What should pets eat instead?
For mine, I'll put a free-range chicken or turkey in a pot of filtered water and cook that up with brown rice or millet—whole grains are good for the digestive system—and put in some broccoli, frozen peas or carrots. I use that as a basic meal over the week. Or I'll make a pasta and pesto dish with vegetables and put down the leftovers.
Are there foods pets should avoid?
Probably tomatoes because of their high acidity. And poor-grade human food, like bologna. What humans should avoid, pets should avoid. My guys never get candy—it's so high in refined sugars it overtaxes the pancreas and can be a precursor to diabetes. I throw them grapes instead. But I like giving them treats once in a while, like pizza.
Why do you object to treatments like flea collars and heartworm pills?
Heartworm is not a good disease, but to prevent it, you're giving your dog liver-toxic chemicals that can suppress the immune system. Alternatives are available. Flea collars can contain nerve-gas derivatives or other chemicals that warn: "If swallowed, contact a poison control center." So why are you putting it on your dog?
Are we harming our pets' health?
What we're doing is literally poisoning them. It's astounding how many animals under 3 years of age I see with cancer. It used to be a disease of old animals.
What are the causes?
Many factors contribute, but at the top of my list is vaccinations. Conventional vaccines—especially if administered year after year in combinations and high potencies—are totally detrimental to the immune system. How would you feel if you got a polio, chicken pox, measles, mumps, flu and smallpox shot at the same time every single year?
Some vaccines are required by law. How do you deal with that?
It's tough. Some laws and recommendations are being changed. What's being proven now is that a puppyhood and kittenhood vaccine, like a human vaccine, can last a lifetime. I give animals only the few vaccines I think are necessary, unbundled from the standard combo vaccine. I may revaccinate after three to five years, but only after testing to see if the antibodies generated by the original vaccines are no longer active. I never vaccinate pets that are sick or old if I can help it.
Some vets now prescribe drugs like Prozac for anxious pets. Are there alternatives?
Absolutely. We do a lot of work with medicinal herbs like valerian, which is tranquilizing, and homeopathic remedies that can calm animals and even help them handle grief, stress and separation anxiety. When we try to take a blood sample from a jumpy cat, I'll just put a couple of drops of flower extracts in his mouth, wait 30 seconds, and the cat is calm and ready.
What is your approach to pets seriously ailing with diseases like cancer?
We analyze the immune and metabolic systems of each animal and design regimens of supplements accordingly. I also use conventional medicine when need be. To me, holistic medicine is not the antithesis of conventional medicine—it's whatever is best for the patient. I give the body tools, but the body must heal itself.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
