Many of us, sick of popping pills to cure our ills, are turning to more experimental remedies. It now seems our furry friends are obediently following the lead.

Holistic vet Peter Gregory is doing a roaring trade offering natural treatments to everything from horses to iguanas and budgies to tortoises.

His Holistic Veterinary Centre in East Hoathly, East Sussex, has become so popular it has had to expand.

Peter said: "One dramatic case was a horse which could not be ridden because it was not able to cope with having a bridle on due to a problem with its neck. So I decided to use acupuncture on it.

"After I had stuck a needle in, it refused to have any more. It was kicking and rearing, so I had to leave it. I was a bit worried that the acupuncture hadn't worked.

"But the owner rang up five days later and said the horse was completely better. This sort of thing will happen with certain animals. If they get the right remedy and the right potency it can be like a miracle."

The centre was opened five years ago by Peter's vet colleague, Tim Couzens. It has had some staggering results.

Jacqueline Suckling's two collies are clients. One of them, nine-year-old Coryphe, has received acupuncture for hip problems since 1998.

Ms Suckling said: "She used to run around but then suddenly stop and hop. I took her to a conventional vet and she was given a drug called Metacalm. It worked wonderfully at first, but after the ninth day it was as if she had not taken it at all.

"Because I had started getting into alternative medicine myself, I found out about this place. I brought her down and it has changed her life really.

"Not only has it balanced her hips it has also helped her stomach problems and calmed her nerves."

After the acupuncture, Coryphe's posture appeared more upright than before and Ms Suckling said it was noticeably better.

Natural medicines are also used to treat the animal. Owners are given a liquid remedy to give their pets orally.

Aromatherapy is also used, mainly for behavioural problems, skin problems and arthritis. It can be prescribed as a cream, massage oil, bath wash or a vapouriser.

One of Peter's students, vet Jon Lumley, only got into alternative veterinary medicine after his daughter was cured of a fever by a homeopathic remedy. Like Peter, Jon was legally required to be a fully-qualified vet before turning to holistic care.

The basic philosophy is, according to Peter, "not so much to deal with the disease, as the individual, or animal, as a whole".

The most common conditions he treats are chronic arthritis and chronic skin disease, often in cats, dogs and horses.

Many of the creams and lotions he uses are also prescribed by holistic doctors for humans.