Find out what sounded too good to be true for the Yorkshire Vet this week

There have been a number of these “breakthrough” products during my time in veterinary practice. The first was back in the 90s, when a miraculous new antibiotic for curing calves of pneumonia appeared. Previously moribund cattle would rise like Lazarus after an injection of just a couple of millilitres of this elixir, called Micotil. The fact that it could cause heart attacks or limbs to fall off if accidentally injected into humans added to its mystery. That some older farmers would mispronounce the drug as “micro-kill” added to its aura. The latest generation of ectoparasiticides bring another seismic shift, in my opinion- highly efficacious and extremely safe. And as for the new monoclonal antibodies that counteract joint pain in stiff geriatric dogs and cats, they are nothing short of wonder-drugs. They have improved and extended the lives of so many pets previously struggling along on a combination of anti-inflammatories and fortitude.

All of these have earned their place as excellent drugs. So, for Anne and me, as we prepared our first patient for this novel therapy, mixed up the clear gel and orange potion (aka chromophore gel), put on our goggles and fired up the gun, it was a step into the unknown. I felt like Jamie, from Jamie and the Magic Torch. Anne applied the now-orange gel then fired the bright blue light at the dog. This was when we realised the importance of the special goggles.

Two treatments of two minutes each with a minute in between. It was simple. Seth, the stoic Labrador, patient number one, looked the same afterwards as he did prior to the torch treatment. His swollen lower limbs were just as ulcerated and sore afterwards as before, but obviously, results weren’t going to be instantaneous. The leggy Great Dane who came to us all the way from near Doncaster was next. We could almost imagine an immediate improvement.

The regime demanded a follow up zapping a week later. Today, I’ve seen both dogs again. Of course, I checked the photos taken before the first treatment and compared them to today, asking the requisite question: How is he getting on?

“Much better” was the reply from both. The improvement was hard to deny, and it seemed like the early stages of our novel therapy had been efficacious. The theory of the coloured gel, defracting light into different wavelengths seemed to have worked. Blue light killed bacteria and reduced microbe-induced epidermal inflammation, whereas green modified dermal fibroblasts. Other colours did other things, just as miraculous.

I still maintain a healthy scepticism, but the proof of the pudding is that both dogs are coming back next week for a third zapping. On telly, I’d seen Siegfried Farnon work his magic using pluming purple powder and smoke to mesmerize a horse owner. Was this treatment along similar lines? Or was this new light therapy shining the way forward for skin disease? As always, time will tell, but it’s looking good so far…