Holistic animal health articles by Dr.
Christina Chambreau D.V.M.
THE HEALTHY PATH - FOR EVERY ANIMAL - HOW TO HELP YOUR
ANIMAL LIVE LONGER AND HEALTHIER
by Christina
Chambreau, DVM
Following are excerpts from Dr. Chambreau's lecture to a homeopathic/holistic-health
minded audiance
"INTEGRATING HOMEOPATHY
AND
HOLISTIC
MEDICINE INTO YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE" Part 1 of 4 - part
2 - part 3 - part
4
"Many of us, even alternative health care practitioners, take our animals
to a good veterinarian and follow implicitly their directions, even if
they contradict our personal philosophies. We do not
vaccinate our children at all, yet we vaccinate our animals for 8 diseases
yearly. We feed canned or dry food to our animals when we eat the freshest,
most organically prepared food we can afford. We treat whatever symptoms
the animal exhibits with whatever the veterinarian recommends, yet look
carefully at which approach would be the best for the particular problem
we are experiencing." Dr. Chambreau
NUTRITION
FEED THE BEST DIET This is really critical - common, commercial foods
are not adequate (see What's in Pet Food?). A
great diet will help restore health to ill pets and often prevent health
problems.
For the health of your animal and for the health of the planet, the
ingredients should be the most consciously raised - organic vegetables,
free ranging holistically treated animals. Briefly, the
best diet is raw meat including raw bones for dogs and cats, grated
raw vegetables as well as cooked vegetables, maybe some grains, seeds and
nuts, and supplements. If bones are not eaten, then a calcium supplement
is needed. There are now at least 5 good books
on
home preparing food for your animals to coach you and I offer courses to
help you transition to fresh food. Every animal needs and wants a different
combination at different times in their lives, just as we do. If you also
feed some commercial food, buy it from the health food stores. With any
food, observe each of your animals for the effect that food has on them.
You decide what is best. Experiment. Have fun. All animals need the least
processed foods. Horses need oats and other grains, fresh hay - not pelleted
food or pre-made molasses feeds. Tiny herbivores (guinea pigs, hamsters,
rabbits, etc) should have fresh vegetables and raw grains appropriate to
them rather than pellets. The best is to let them graze for themselves
when possible. Avoid chemicals and processing just like you do for yourself.
The same basic principles that guide our food selections will need to applied
to animals in our lives, adapting to the indivual physiological differences.
STEP ONE: Use the freshest, purest ingredients you can afford.
STEP TWO: Read different books about the holistic approach to animal nutrition.
As with books written for human diets, there are differences in opinion.
There are differences not yet written in books that you will find by going
to lectures, reading holistic animal magazines or consulting with a holistic
animal practitioner.
STEP THREE: Start using one nutritional approach with your animals. Evaluate
their health. You may want to start a journal that describes their current
health condition, so you can re-evaluate in the future. YOU are the one
to decide if the diet you are feeding is a good one. WARNING: Do not stray
too far from the basic guidelines you read in the books. Cats CANNOT be
vegetarians. They need at least 60% meat in their diet, and maybe 90%.
There are some healthy dogs being fed a vegetarian diet, but most of the
healthy ones self-selected a vegetarian diet rather that having their owners
impose one. Most dogs need at least 25% meat and some need up to 60% or
maybe even more. Wait, you say, what about canned and dry animal foods,
or pelleted feeds? That is the only diet my veterinarian recommends. Think
people. Would you be your best eating instant breakfasts and military K
rations as your total diet? They meet the MDRs. Dogs and cats need raw
meat to be really healthy and even the best processed foods cook their
good ingredients, and most commercially available foods, even the expensive
ones, use the cheapest ingredients (that means dead, diseased and decaying
meat and by-products).
WHAT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE INGREDIENTS?
Organic or not organic? As noted on the scale above, organic is certainly
best, but when not available or affordable, fresh is key. You can compile
a list of where is purchase meats(the most expensive item) at what prices
and quality. Remember that wild game is hormone and steroid free even when
they eat pesticide reared corn and crops. Look into meat lockers and reselling
wild meat, or finding butchers who will keep the scraps from game, or hunters
willing to bring in the organ meat they clean out in the field, and the
stores who discount their almost ready to expire meat. The more research
you can do to find inexpensive, healthy meat sources, the more likely your
patients will get to eat healthy meat. I remind people that paying extra
for organic is like making a charitable contribution to the health of our
planet, and sometimes people can afford better food if they decrease their
tithing and put some of that money into organic ingredients.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Every animal is an individual and has different requirements - you need
to find out what will satisfy their personal nutrition needs. Dogs need
25% - 50% (even up to 90%)protein, and a few can be healthy with a vegetarian
diet. I have seen dogs die who did not do well on vegetarian diets. Cats
need at least 60% protein, mostly meat, and therefore cannot be vegetarian.
(Some cats do best with up to 90% meat, even ones with kidney problems.)
Carbohydrates need to be overcooked/soggy and raw vegetables ground finely
since dogs and cats have very short digestive tracts. In the wild, the
intestinal contents of the prey are seeds, which are high fat and protein,
not our modern grains which are high carbohydrate. While many animals will
tolerate carbohydrates, others can not be fully healthy and need few ,
if any, grains. (Do dogs or cats require
grains in their diet?).
Meat should be raw. Cooking destroys their
food relatively whole) needed to digest food properly. Ground meat is passable
for most animals, occasionally, but Juliette de Bairacli Levy said that
"minced meat is lethal to animals" and we find in practice that some animals
just do not seem to be healthy until on chunks of raw meat. You can buy
in quantity and freeze in portions. (Freezing
only slightly decreases the nutritional value). An excellent meat is heart
meat (good price, too). Other organ meats are great.
Liver must be organic since it processes toxins. A must to read on the
topic of raw meat is Pottinger's Cats.
An M.D. in the 1930's kept 3 groups of cats in large outdoor enclosures.
He found that feeding raw meat, raw milk and cod liver oil produced great
health, including reproductive and off-spring health. When either the milk
or the meat was cooked, health deteriorated rapidly. We rarely see Salmonella,
E. coli, and toxoplasmosis due to the intestinal flora and short transit
time of dogs and cats. Raw bones, yes bones, are great on a regular basis.
If the animal is eating the bones, you need not
supplement with
calcium. Raw fruit and vegetables are great, but must be grated so their
short intestinal tracts can fully digest them. Milk products are fine.
Only a few animals get diarrhea from milk. As with people, some animals
do not thrive on specific food items, so individually adjust your companion's
diet.
Digestive SUPPLEMENTS
No one knows exactly which animals need which supplements, just as each
person needs different supplements. There are a basic few that follow,
and many owners give 10 to 20 different supplements they have heard of.
If an animal needs more than just a few supplements to stay healthy, more
holistic treatment is needed, as healthy animals will get the nutrients,
vitamins and minerals, from a good diet. Keep experimenting to see which
supplements are really needed for each individual. Juliette de Bairacli
Levy recommends letting animals graze and select their own herbal supplements.
Vitamins and minerals are needed, especially calcium, phosphorus, magnesium,
A, D, and E, so please follow the books' guidelines or use a commercial
source. VITAMIN C is good: 500-2,000 mg per day, especially when pets are
stressed. Ester-C is the most absorbable(C-flex is good for animals). Helpful
when the body needs acidifying is sodium ascorbate powder (or ascorbic
acid), which comes very concentrated. For young (under 12 mos.) very large
breed dogs, use calcium ascorbate. Many other supplements are available
- see the catalogs and read your mail.
I DO NOT EVEN COOK FOR MYSELF, HOW CAN I COOK FOR THEM?
This is a common response. My interaction often starts with: Do you
eat? Meals can be prepared weekly, and/or entrees and salad bars purchased
for your animals. Next best, for busy or traveling owners, or while switching
over, you can use a combination of good quality commercial food and home
prepared food. Buy Pet Guard, or Wysong, (usually available at pet food
stores or health food stores.) Then supplement with raw meat, vegetables,
starches, fruits and specific supplements. I do not recommend most foods
available in your supermarket, pet store, veterinarian's, or even health
food store. Yes, even Science diet. They usually are full of chemicals
and poor ingredients. Different animals need different foods: you will
be the judge of what foods are best for your friend by watching the effect
of the diet. Pet Guard, Wysong, PHD, and Precise are good foods
The following books are the classics and the appendix lists more books.
Dr. Pitcairn's Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, The New Natural Cat by
Anitra Frazier, Cat Care, Naturally by Celeste Yarnell, 'It's
For The Animals!Natural Care and Resources by Helen L. McKinnon and
Reigning
Cats and Dogs by Pat McKay. Some books suggest soaking the ingredients
to help purify them, others and myself feel its not needed. some suggest
grains, others do not. Find the path for each animal.
(additional links to books and video about
holisitic Animal Health - shirley)
VACCINATION
WHY DO WE VACCINATE, AND FOR WHAT? We have a fear of getting sick, and
if someone can tell us that by getting an injection we and our loved ones
will not get that disease, we want that injection. Unfortunately, we would
rather prevent one problem than take the time to slowly build up such good
health that we do not need specific disease prevention - and are much healthier
overall. Stop for a moment, and reflect on the number of vaccinations many
veterinarians now recommend for dogs and cats: Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis,
Parainfluenza, Parvovirus, Bordetella, Corona, and Lyme disease vaccines
for dogs, and Panleukopenia, Calici, Rhino, Chlamydia, Feline Leukemia,
Feline Infectious Peritonitis and now ringworm vaccine for cats. Every
year (or more frequently) animals are being injected with 4-8 viruses,
in addition to Rabies. Would you rebel if your doctor told you to now get
MMR and DPT (Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetnus), Hib,
Hepatitis, and Rabies every year of your life until you died, instead of
only a few doses as a child? The leaders in conventional veterinary medicine
are now questioning the whole vaccination protocol, but private practitioners
may be slow to respond. RABIES is required by law and because of the public
health significance, must be done with an approved vaccine by a veterinarian.
We can attempt to avoid the possible negative effects of the Rabies vaccine
by using homeopathy and good timing.
harmful to the health of susceptible animals.
The AVMA has just recommended (1/98) that cats and dogs only be vaccinated
every 3 years. They acknowledge that they do really know how long vaccines
last. Holistically, we find vaccinations one of the most harmful thing
we do to animals. I recommend no vaccines at all (except the legally required
Rabies, which is a viral vaccine and so probably protects for a lifetime).
I do not recommend using homeopathic nosodes
for protection. Experience has demonstrated that building up the overall
health of your animal and treating any illnesses holistically is the best
protection and the best way for a long, healthy life. The insert on vaccine
packages say "Give only to healthy animals", so if your animal is ill in
any way, they should not be vaccinated at that time per the manufacturers.
Poor nutrition or vaccination, of course, does not bother some animals.
WHAT IS THE HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE? A healthy animal or person is unlikely
to get sick (or very sick) even if exposed to infectious agents. Ideally
we would never vaccinate, feed wonderful fresh food and treat the early
symptoms that indicate the body is out of balance. If they do develop an
infectious disease, it can usually be treated successfully with homeopathy.
Even vaccinated animals get those diseases for which they are vaccinated,
and may or may not be cured. The unvaccinated seem to respond better to
holistic treatment.
More on vaccination:ARE
VACCINATIONS POTENTIALLY HARMFUL? - CAN
MY ANIMALS REALLY BE SAFE AND HEALTHY AND NOT VACCINATED? - VACCINATION
GUIDELINES - HOMEOPATHIC PREVENTION SCHEDULE
vaccine controversy books/library
ENVIRONMENT
What is the best environment for an animal? Again, each animal is different,
just like each child is different. Some children can go to any school and
do well, others must try out several schools before finding their ideal
learning situation. There is no right answer, only the search for the best
answer. Some horses love to race. Others, while appearing to enjoy racing,
are sick frequently. (more about environmental
toxins affecting your animal's health)
Some dogs, even when very healthy, are basically couch potatoes and
like a moderate walk or a short spell of ball chasing. To require this
dog to go on 20 mile hikes every week- end may cause physical problems,
even if mentally the dog goes to please you. A cat who really wants to
be an outside cat may need you to play for longer times and more actively
than one who is content with the indoor, more sedentary life. Maybe you
will need to build a screened in porch in your 12th floor condominium to
have a healthy cat. Even when we do not have the perfect environment for
our animals, we can try to do our best by stopping and thinking about what
they need.
The shift you have made in your own health that now has you seeking
ways to overall improve your health rather than merely getting
rid of each symptom or illness is the same philosophy you need to apply
to your animal friends. Again, there is no one right method of treatment.
Some (although very few) animals just do not like acupuncture needles,
some animals do not exhibit the characteristic idiosyncrasies we need to
best prescribed homeopathically, some need the energy support of Reike
or therapeutic touch or Zero balancing to be the most healthy. Most will
improve with any well-done treatment. You are the one responsible to decide
if your animal is being cured, palliated or suppressed by the treatment
given. A cure is when all the symptoms disappear, never to return , and
the animal is glowing with health. Healthy animals can, and should, get
sick occasionally with acute illnesses that resolve quickly with minimal
treatment. Clues that you are progressing towards a cure are that emotionally
your animal is happier and more expressive, and you sense that there is
more resilience, more health even though the symptoms may be continuing.
There will often be a brief return of old symptoms (this is good) or a
short worsening of the current symptoms (see
healing crisis). Improvement should be quick if the animal has been
sick a short time, and should take longer if the illness is longstanding.
If your cat has been itching for 5 years, it may take 5 months to completely
resolve the itching. If the itching goes away in a day, palliation or suppression
have probably occurred and that is not good in the long run. When there
is severe diarrhea for one day, you could expect it to disappear in a few
hours.
If you find you are having to re-treat frequently to keep the symptoms
in check, or your animal feels worse overall even though the main problem
is still gone, you need to talk with your practitioner or consult with
someone else. Keeping a journal is important
so you can look back and see what has gotten better and are problems getting
less frequent and less severe, which is your goal.
This journal will help you patiently wait for problems resolve because
you can see the pattern of the whole being changing for the better. Patience
is definitely an unsung virtue on the road to health. Even if the modality
you choose turns out not to be curative, your animal will be healthier
for using this approach. Finally, as you already realize, you are responsible
for your animal's health, not just your practitioner. If you feel the practitioner
you are using is palliating or suppressing, not curing, talk to them of
your concerns and suggest a referral or simply choose another one yourself.
Read, talk to other people, talk with your animal health care providers,
take courses. Pay attention to what works and what does not work (here's
that useful journal helping you keep track).
You may have a wonderful veterinary accupuncturist who thinks you should
vaccinate and feed canned food. You certainly can use her for accupuncture,
but follow your heart and feed raw meat and do not vaccinate. You stand
firm with what you feel is working. You need to be flexible enough to realize
you (or your practitioner) has made a mistake and
it is time for a change. The path to health for your animals can be fun
and challenging. Your animals will love your experimentation with all the
different forms of healing. You will learn how to be more healthy yourself.
You will eat better because you are feeding your animal better. You will
meet some other wonderful people committed to their animal's health. Have
fun. All holistic modalities treat the entire animal (or person) rather
than just trying to get rid of one symptom at the cost of weakening the
overall life force, but not every practitioner practices that way.
CHRONIC ILLNESS
Why do so many animals suffer from autoimmune diseases, cancer, short
life spans, thyroid problems, diabetes, chronic allergies and bowel problems,
behavior problems?
Diets that are lacking essential nutrients; are not prepared with
love; food raised in soils that are very nutrient deficient; over processed
and chemically preserved canned and dry foods that sap the vitality.
Drugs that are very effective at quickly making symptoms disappear
(this is often suppressive, and worsens the overall imbalance.)
Drugs that are prescribed in case a problem might occur. Drugs taken
regularly for "prevention" of heartworms, parasites, etc. "Don't" let the
body have mild symptoms to allow the vital force to re-balance and strengthen.
Overreaction by owners to symptoms - "I want the itch to stop now!"
Over treatment by drugs and pesticides.
Vaccinations. This is probably the main cause of the chronic conditions
in our animals today, and their inability to regain their health easily.
See later lectures by me, and read from bibliography.
Environmental toxins and stressors - noise, hectic pace, electric
wires, pollution of all sorts. Eradication of superficial symptoms, such
as surgical removal of tumors and warts, topical treatment to eliminate
eruptions and discharges.
SIGNS OFTEN ACCEPTED AS "NORMAL" IN DOGS AND/OR CATS
SKIN: doggy smell; attracts fleas a lot; dry, oily, lack-luster coat;
excessive shedding; not grooming, ear problems - waxy, oily, itchy, recurrent
mites; eye discharge, tearing, or matter in corner of eyes; raised third
eyelid; spots appearing on iris; "freckles" appearing on face; whiskers
falling out; fragile, thickened, distorted claws that are painful or sensitive
to trim.
BEHAVIOR: Fears(of loud noises, thunder, wind, people, animals, life);
too timid; too rough or aggressive (even at play); too hard to train; barks
too much and too long; suspicious nature; biting when petted too long;
hysteria when restrained; clumsy; indolent; licking or sucking things or
people too much; not using litter box , not covering.
DIGESTIVE: Bad breath; tarter accumulation; loss of teeth; poor appetite;
craving weird things(rubber bands, plastic, dirt, cat litter, paper, dogs
eating dog or cat stools, rocks, sticks..); sensitivity to milk; thirst
- a super healthy cat on non dry food will drink at most once a week; red
gum line; vomiting often, even hairballs more than a few times a year;
mucus on stools; tendency to diarrhea with least change of diet; obesity;
anal gland problems; recurrent parasites.
STIFFNESS when getting up, early hip dysplasia; tires easily in hot or
cold weather; can no longer jump up on counters, or go up or down steps.
TEMPERATURE: Low grade fevers - Normal for healthy cats and dogs is 100-101.5.
AGE and REPRODUCTION: Should live a long life (Shepherds 17 years, Danes
12, cats 24); should be able to conceive easily, deliver normally, and
not pass on "genetic breed" traits.Fatty tumors - Lumps,
Bumps
Often soft and squishy to the touch, benign fatty tumors are not a threat
to your dog’s health. (The exception is infiltrative lipomas, which can
invade muscle tissue, but these are relatively rare.) While lipomas can
be unsightly, many vets opt not to remove them unless they are in
a location where their growth impedes a dog’s mobility.
This middle-aged Lab has at least one lipoma (behind his elbow, on the
chest wall). Unless it grows until it impedes the free movement of his
leg or the ability of his chest to expand to breathe, veterinarians will
likely decline to remove it. But many holistic veterinarians see lipomas
as far from innocuous. Instead, they stress, lipomas are symptoms of a
bigger problem.
Holistic view
“For conventional veterinarians, lipomas are just something that happens,
just like cancer happens,” says Marty Goldstein, DVM, of Smith Ridge Veterinary
Center in South Salem, New York, author of The Nature of Animal Healing:
The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to Caring for Your Dog and Cat.
“What they don’t get is that lipomas are a result of what we’ve done to
depress the metabolic functions and immune system of the animal.”
Dr. Goldstein believes that lipomas are a sign of improper fat digestion
and a haywire metabolism, and that they often result from the unnatural
commercial dog food diets that have become the norm today. “We’ve laden
dog food with 50 to 65 percent carbohydrates, even though in nature wolves
eat perhaps 1 to 3 percent grains.”
While few (if any) conventional veterinary practitioners would agree
with this assessment (see “Conventional Medical Opinion,” next page), consider
the case of Tembo, a Rhodesian Ridgeback who had his first lipoma before
the tender age of one. Fed kibble and then a homemade diet heavy in grains
and carbs, Tembo had constant allergies – corn gave him hives, and wheat
summoned forth blistering yeast infections on his feet and in his ears.
“For the first seven years, the lipomas popped up like mushrooms,” remembers
his owner, Elizabeth Akers of Concord, California, who had about 20 lipomas
surgically removed from Tembo’s rib cage, legs, and chest. Some of the
growths were small, others were tangerine-sized. “One on his groin was
growing faster than the speed of light.”
Then, at age 7, Akers switched Tembo to a raw
diet – and the lipomas responded as if she had flipped an “off” switch.
“By the time he died at age 12, the only lipomas he had were in four places
where they had been removed and had grown back again,” she remembers. “He
had no new ones.”
Holistic veterinarians are quick to note that diet changes are not miracle
cures: As in Tembo’s case, they may slow or even stop the growth of existing
lipomas, or cause them to “organize,” or shrink. But expecting a wholesale
disappearance of them is likely unrealistic. Success is relative, Dr. Goldstein
says. “If a lump is growing three inches every six months,” and after you
make modifications in your dog’s diet and lifestyle, “it still gets bigger
but it’s only growing one inch in that time frame, then you’re moving in
the right direction.”
Holistic medicine doesn’t see diseases as unrelated entities that swoop
in to disrupt health like so many flying monkeys at Oz. Instead, disease
– or any disruption of the body’s functioning, no matter how seemingly
mild, like lipomas – is a manifestation of a weakness with the body itself.
In other words, there’s a Wicked Witch of the West lurking in the backdrop
acting as dispatcher. Simply put, lipomas are a sign that there are deeper
issues behind the scenes.
Many systems of healing have a name for the life energy that flows through
the body and maintains good health. In homeopathy, for example, it is called
the vital force. But no matter what you label it, what’s clear to holistic
vets is that lipomas are evidence of the fact that the vital force is weakened
and perhaps blocked – and likely has been for some time.
“One sign of vitality is the expression of symptoms, because that’s
the body’s attempt to bring itself into balance,” explains classically
trained homeopathic vet Michael Dym, VMD, of Morristown, New Jersey. By
contrast, “lipoma patients have very weak symptoms,” as the body struggles
to externalize its internal conflict in a kind of slow boil. In this scenario,
“the patient has been ill on a deeper level for some time – it’s just that
they don’t have adequate reactions, and have a very weak development of
symptoms.”
For that reason, lipomas are not easy to treat, because making changes
on that deep and profound a level doesn’t happen overnight. “From a homeopathic
perspective, any sort of lump or growth is generally thought to be an outcome
of vaccinosis,” or the adverse effects of vaccination on the body, Dr.
Dym continues. “Animals that are ill from prior vaccinations can have chronic
warts, skin tags – and fatty tumors and lipomas.”
That’s not to say that you will be able to draw a direct line from last
month’s rabies vaccine to your dog’s new growths. Instead, “we look at
them as an outcome of weakness in a patient who’s not in the best health,”
Dr. Dym says, because the life force has been affected by vaccines
or toxins such as pesticides. Lipomas can be
unsightly, and some owners might be tempted to remove them for pure aesthetics.
But because surgery only treats the symptom of the problem, not its root,
most holistic veterinarians avoid it, except for lipomas that are so large
or awkwardly placed that they impede a dog’s quality of life.
“The risk of removing the growth surgically is that it leaves the uncured
disease to manifest at a deeper level, in a different form,” Dr. Dym warns.
And from a homeopathic perspective, “when you remove a growth, you stimulate
the vital force to greater activity. You can’t cure an apple tree of growing
apples by cutting off its branches.” In fact, you might spur it to blossom
even more profusely. And most lipomas tend to recur anyway.
While Dr. Goldstein agrees, he has had to remove lipomas that were in
a compromising position, such as behind the nasal cavity, where they could
obstruct breathing. “Lipomas have their own finite capsule – you just scoop
them out,” he says. A technique he employs during such surgeries is to
roughen the tissue area around the lipoma, creating an inflammatory response.
“This creates scar tissue that prevents the lipoma from growing back” –
on that spot, at least.
Individualistic treatment
The classic homeopathic remedy used to treat tumors – and, while they
are benign, lipomas are tumors – is Thuja, which is also often used
for vaccine reactions. But Dr.
Dym cautions against such a paint-by-number approach: Because lipomas
are a symptom of a deep-seated imbalance in the body, he suggests a consultation
with a homeopath to find the proper constitutional remedy – one that takes
into account your dog’s own individuality – and treat the dog over time.
Taking the wrong remedy – even one that might seem to fit the picture –
“might stimulate a reaction that could highlight or activate” the very
things you are trying to resolve, he warns. Traditional Chinese medicine
has a different name for this life force that animates us all: chi. But
that ancient modality also interprets lipomas as symptoms of a deeper imbalance.
“In Traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, lipomas are a type of ‘dampness’
called ‘phlegm’ that has stagnated in a particular area, usually an acupuncture
channel such as the Gallbladder channel,” explains veterinarian Bruce Ferguson,
DVM, MS, a practitioner and instructor in traditional Chinese veterinary
medicine based in Perth, Australia. “Issues of ‘damp’ are usually, in the
case of lipomas, caused by improper diet leading to a damage to the gastrointestinal
system,” which is governed by the Spleen/Stomach meridian.
In traditional Chinese medicine, this channel “is responsible for moving
a type of post-ingestive fluid around the body,” Ferguson continues. When
a dog is fed a grain-based diet high in refined carbohydrates – as opposed
to a more natural, meat-based diet – the channel gets clogged, and “gooey.”
In addition to dietary change, Dr. Ferguson says lipomas can be addressed
with herbal formulas that tonify the spleen and resolve phlegm and dampness;
acupuncture to help restore the movement of chi through the body, particularly
the Spleen, and reverse stagnation; and occasionally gentle, non-traumatic
massage such as Tui Na. For his part, Goldstein sometimes prescribes
Chi- Ko/Curcuma, a Chinese-herb formula indicated for resolving masses,
specifically lipomas. He also considers nutritional supplements such as
L-carnitine and chromium picolinate, which assist in fat metabolism, as
well as a product called Mega Lipo-Tropic, which helps digest and burn
fat. Ditto for digestives enzymes that contain ox bile, a powerful fat
emulsifier.
Improve basic health
No matter what modality you choose to deal with the underlying imbalances
that might cause your dog’s lipomas, all dogs will benefit from these commonsense
basics: good nutrition in the form of a biologically appropriate diet;
good mental health, with a lifestyle that provides stimulating play, problem-solving,
and social interaction; and no exposure to unnecessary vaccinations or
toxins such as pesticides. And don’t forget exercise, Goldstein adds. “The
only way to burn fat is to get your body – and your dog’s – up to its aerobic
potential,” he says. In the end, then, the good news about lipomas is that
they aren’t life-threatening. But they are a signal that something is askew
in your dog’s body.
“When I was in veterinary college, lipomas were described as benign
masses that merely had a statistical rate of occurrence and did not ‘mean
anything,’ ” Dr. Ferguson says. By contrast, traditional Chinese medicine
teaches that “anything out of the ordinary has meaning, and usually indicates
some type of imbalance.” The task of the practitioner – and the observant,
committed owner – is to discover and correct it. Denise Flaim is the companion-animal
columnist at Newsday on Long Island, New York. She owns four raw-fed Rhode-sian
Ridgebacks and is the author of The Holistic Dog Book: Canine Care for
the 21st Century. See “Resources,” page 24.
Homeopathic remedies, including one often used for lipomas, are available
in health food stores – but don’t buy and administer them without the guidance
of a veterinary homeopath. your dog needs to
be properly diagnosed, treated for the totality of his symptoms as an individual,
and evaluated on an ongoing basis.
Holistic Animal Cancer
Treatments - Preventing and Healing Cancer in Dogs, Cats, Horses and Other
Animals
Cancer is now the number one killer of most domestic animals. This
fact raises a fearsome specter for those who know how confusing and painful
it can be to endure the course of this disease in their pets. Cancer
does not occur without cause - various environmental, dietetic, and vaccine-related
culprits that may cause cancer in pets. The holistic approach treats the
whole animal, ignites the body's internal healing force and stimulates
the body's natural abilities to heal itself.
Dr. Dee
Blanco, D.V.M - "You take healthy animals and often very quickly after
you vaccinate, you can see simple things like itching
of the skin or excessive licking of the paws,
sometimes even with no eruptions and licking of the
air. We see a lot of epilepsy/seizure, often
after a rabies vaccination. Or dogs or cats
can become aggressive for several days. Frequently, you'll see urinary
tract infections in cats, often within three months after their [annual]
vaccination. If you step back, open your mind and heart, you'll start to
see patterns of illness post-vaccination." learn
more
A Personal Story of a Cat, a Bat and Rabies Vaccination
by Kimberly Roush kroush@xmission.com
I had 4 cats prior to my current cat. I learned early on about cutting
back on vaccines - I think I stopped the vaccines around age 3 on my previous
cats, and I followed Dr.
Pitcairn's homemade meat/grain diets when I could (see
also sample raw cat food recipes). With my new cat, I wanted to do
give him even more of a healthy life. One of the toughest decisions was
the rabies vaccine. I got my male from a humane shelter that had only given
him 1 5-in-1. I signed a contract to give him a rabies vaccine. Yea, I
was off to a good start.
We have a very low incidence of rabies in Utah, only in bats, except
one fox this year showed up. Rabies vaccines is required by law for cats
in Utah. I did not vaccinate largely at the strong advice of Dr.
Dym, Falconer, Swift and a few others mentioned on your website,
and others not mentioned but who are well known alternative vets. I walk
my cat on a leash, he is 1/2 ocicat, and still a great hunter even on lead.
(I do not let him catch birds) I have to admit I was nervous - what if
he grabbed a bat in the grasses before I could see what he was after?
(Rabies
and bats)
This summer Sundance was with me in the living room. He then walked
into the kitchen, jumped up on the kitchen counter to eat, and I heard
him jump down. But, this time he kept jumping. I ran into the kitchen after
about 3 jumps and to my horror there was bat lying around. I grabbed Sundance,
I had no evidence he had touched the bat or vice versa, but could not prove
it. I ran into the bathroom hugging Sundance, "What am I going to do now?"
My entire concern was saving Sundance. I locked him in the bathroom
while I tried to find the bat. I could not find the bat. I kept Sundance
by my side or in my arms constantly when I moved him to the bedroom. He
was then locked in my bedroom, making sure the bat was not in the bedroom,
and we slept with the door closed the entire night. In the morning I found
the bat in the kitchen sink, as predicted by the bat websites, who
said they will frequently be found near water sources. I also learned from
my biologist friends that bats will die of starvation in 3 days if not
enough food in your house. As instructed by the bat international website,
I put on heavy gloves, and heavy sweater and took a large yogurt container,
put it over the bat which was conveniently resting on the rubbermaid mat.
I lifted the mat and dumped the poor bat out the window. I did not want
to save the bat as I could not in my panic figure out how to have the bat
tested and not have the state know about Sundance not being vaccinated.
Having had the bat tested may have saved me from going through the vaccine
series but I was only thinking of saving Sundance.
The bat did not immediately fly off. Some guessed this indicated
the bat was sick. Others said bats need to launch from a vertical surface
and I later saw it trying to climb the side of the house. I did not see
it after that. At the urging of a friend, I made the mistake of telling
my mainstream vet who said she was going to turn Sundance in to the state.
That would mean 6 months of quarantine which I am told costs about $2000.00
a month. I talked her out it, telling her I had listened to Dr. Dym's advice
not hers and she was not responsible. If she did try to turn him in I was
going to disappear to another country with him. I also told her she was
no longer my vet, relieving her of all responsibility.
Dr. Dym said we had no evidence that Sundance and the bat had contact
and no reason for a quarantine. I had to go through the rabies vaccine
series myself because, after thinking all this through, a day or two prior
to finding the bat I had awoken with an unexplained, bloody scratch on
my forehead. Sundance does not sleep with me in heat of summer, so the
bat could have been upstairs and Sundance, the hunter, would not have known.
There have been incidences of people contracting rabies from bats without
evidence of bite or barely a scratch. All the doctors I spoke with decided
it was safest for me to go through the rabies series. I was quite sick
all summer from the vaccine. The shots are not painful, I was sick sick.
I seem fine now.
Dr. Dym thought all of this was a mainstream, over-reaction. Thanks
to the woman at Brighthaven I found Dr. Diana Bochenski. Dr. Diana is a
wonderful homeopathic vet; very kind and wise. We determined how we would
handle a 6 month at home quarantine to be very safe. Sundance made it through
the quarantine just fine. I on the other hand was extremely stressed and
afraid until we got a few months past the bat in the house incidence, when
it was less and less likely he would have actually contracted rabies.
After getting started on my own vaccine program, I then quickly researched
rabies vaccines for Sundance. Almost all of the highly concerned cat friends,
breeders and vets I know recommended the Merial Purevax. The trick was
then to find a vet that had the vaccine and, most importantly, I could
not mention that he had never been vaccinated for rabies. I did make the
mistake of trusting Dr. Hanneman, a well known "alternative" vet who Dym
recommended. Henneman's office told me on the phone that they did not vaccinate
cats. So I felt safe telling the story. Their response was then that they
would have to turn Sundance in. I told them they misled me as they said
right up front they do not vaccinate cats, that Sundance did not have contact
with the bat, only I possibly did, and I quickly hung up.
I found a vet with the Merial Purevax vaccine, he never asked about
the vaccine history, as I walked in with this gorgeous, healthy, highly
loved cat that I am sure no one would question if I had "neglected" vaccines.
I never felt so happy to have my cat vaccinated. One additional note: my
mainstream vet had researched the rabies vaccines once a potential exposure
had occurred. She said there had never been an incidence of an animal contracting
rabies if they had had at least one rabies vaccine. And, she said there
was some evidence that a series of shots after an exposure for an unvaccinated
animal may prevent rabies. Dr. Diana and I decided, or betted on our hunch,
that the bat and Sundance did not have contact and we stuck to the one
vaccine.
I hope this story is helpful to those trying to make decisions on vaccines.
The risk of side effects from the vaccines is frightening, but nothing
is a scary as the state coming to confiscate your cat and possibly chop
off his head. This summer, in Utah, there were at least 3 stories in the
news of cats having had some contact with bats that were only overdue for
a rabies vaccines. All of the cats were put to sleep as no one was willing
to pay for the costof a 6 month quarantine. I believe over 300 animals
in Utah were put to sleep in 2007 because of bat encounters and lack of
or late vaccines.
The vets listed on your website are nonchalantly
recommending not to vaccinate but one needs to know the cost of a 6 month
quarantine in comparison to the risk of vaccinating. And, you know, bats
can have rabies, and the horror of contracting rabies could be the
worst scenario of all. The guilt I felt for not having protected him from
something I could have protected him from (both rabies and the law) so
easily was hard to live with. I never would have imagined a bat would have
come into my house. During my decision process prior to this incidence,
a friend tried to tell me a bat could get into my house. My response, "Yea,
sure." We rarely even see bats outside of our house.
I do not know the laws and they vary from state to state. I do not know
if some states will accept titers. I know my mainstream vet will accept
titers after the first vaccine. But, the law may not. If your animal reacts
to a vaccine, a vet can write a letter, and exempt your animal from requiring
further vaccination, I believe. I also think it is important to find the
safest form of the vaccine. When doing my research it seemed the Pfieffer"
sp? vaccine caused the most reactions. Sundance was a bit sleepy the morning
after his Merial Purevax vaccine, and that was it. Dr. Diana said that
was okay and maybe a good sign. Oh, he did get the sneezes for a week shortly
after the shot, but there were many stress factors at the time, I cannot
prove a relation to the vaccine.
On a side note, I had a tetanus titer done since I had been so sick
from the tetanus shot I had 17 years ago. My titer was high at 12.4 after
17 years!!. You are considered covered with a titer over 3. While it was
hard convincing my doctor to do the test, or even finding someone that
knew what a titer was, it was well worth it. I also know a breeder that
vaccinates with the Merial Purevax every year (I believe it is being licensed
as a 3 year vaccine) and she had not had any problems. She will not use
certain other vaccine which have caused death in some of her cats. But
she is confident with the Merial Purevax rabies vaccine. It was important
to note that when I made the decision to vaccinate for rabies the homeopathic
vets could not guide me on the safest vaccine to use. One local alternative
vets actually claimed there was not difference between the vaccines and
she used that Pfieser - what ever the name of the company is - the one
I heard is one of the worst for causing problems. Whereas, the mainstream
vets doing the vaccines regularly were able to verify they saw a lot fewer
problems with that Merial product.The
Rabies Challenge Study --- Dr.
Falconer DVM prevaccination Protection
Kimberly Roush kroush@xmission.com
Prevaccination Protection
Dr.
Falconer DVM
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