March 2013 Healthy Animal Update

THE HEALTHY ANIMAL UPDATE

March 2013

The purpose of this newsletter is to empower you to keep your animals healthy – and yourselves healthy, too.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT?

I would love to print letters that you would like to share with other holistically oriented animal partners.  Send what has worked for you, what you have done that did not work as well, and wonderful stories about your animal family.

If you wish me to use a different email address or to not receive attachments, please email HealthyAnimals@aol.com

March 2013 index

1. 1.      Classes
2. 2.      Holistic Perspectives
3. 3.      News
4. 4.      Monthly case

CLASSES

May Homeopathy
Finally I am teaching a completely series of homeopathy for animals classes – on the West Coast. Mark your calendar, even though the details are not yet in place.

1. Where? Vancouver,British Columbia.
2. When? May 2013
   1. 11 – 12 – Introduction to True Health for Your Animals & Homeopathy
      1.                                                     i.     7 Keys to health
      2.                                                    ii.     Feeding the best
      3.                                                   iii.     Vaccination issues
      4.                                                  iv.     Evaluation of response to any treatments
      5.                                                    v.     Healing modalities you can do yourself, including homeopathy
      6.                                                  vi.     Creating a healing team to add in other modalities
      7.                                                 vii.     History of homeopathy
      8.                                                viii.     Preparation of homeopathic remedies
      9.                                                  ix.     Basic principles of homeopathy that apply to any treatments
      10.                                                    x.     Overview of case taking, case analysis, potency selection, evaluation of response.
      11.                                                  xi.     First aid remedies
      12. 13-17 – Beginning Homeopathy for Animals
          1.                                                     i.     13 – case taking,
          2.                                                    ii.     14 – Repertory study – how to use this human oriented book for animals.
          3.                                                   iii.     15 – case analysis, remedy selection, material medica & potency selection,
          4.                                                  iv.     16 – evaluation of response
          5.                                                    v.     17 – Review the whole process – with your cases
      13. 20 – 24 Advanced Homeopathy for Animals
          1.                                                     i.     Still to be determined. This course will be tailored to the people who register for it. We will work with your cases, and with the areas of trouble you have. We will review all the basic steps. Dr. Willow Moore, a Naturopathic Doctor and Chiropractor, will teach a few days, bringing an entirely new depth to the class.

Please contact the course organizer, wonderful Jane Bowers, at jebowers@dccnet.com
Or email or call me.

June – Carroll County Kennel Club Summer Expo – Saturday, June 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 706 Agriculture Center Shipley Arena, Westminster, MD 21157 There will be holistic lectures all day sponsored by the Animal Reiki Alliance. For more information contact Helen Dagilis at 410-857-7869 or helen.dagilis@carrollcountytimes.co

June – Baltimore area holistic classes – June 22, Hamden in Baltimore – Treating your animals holistically – 7 Keys to great health. http://animalreikialliance.com/ara_training_events?eventId=653274&EventViewMode=EventDetails

Future: Homeopathy classes to be hosted in the DC area. Email me if you have an interest in studying homeopathy for your animals.

2. HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVES –

Key to health – Feeding the best diet

1. Each dog, cat, person, horse, is an individual, so may need different diets
2. Fresh or processed?
3. Purchased raw diets
4. Ease of feeding
5. Source of ingredients
6. Track changes in a journal to know what works the best
7. Books & resources
8. Holistic veterinary conversation about commercial foods.

I have spoken frequently about feeding the best foods to your animals, so I will briefly cover the basics and include new information. Please read the articles on my site and previous newsletters for more basic information.

Most importantly, remember that every living being is unique. Some dogs thrive on a raw meaty bone diet with no vegetables and no grain; some do fine on a carefully formulated grain, meat and vegetable diet; others thrive on a high quality dry food. Some cats even seem to thrive on a dry food diet, though I would never take that risk, since most stay slightly dehydrated on dry food.

Common sense tells us that eating the same canned meal every day is not the healthiest approach to diet, even if we drank the completely balanced drinks used for people with stomach tubes. Basic nutrition for short term – yes; best nutrition for long life – probably not. One problem with any processed foods, even the highest quality is that you do not know when the company is sold, or when a boss said to cut costs, or when they are using old packaging…you just do not know. The environmental footprint is also higher due to shipping and manufacturing.

If you buy your ingredients from a store, you face many of the same questions, but at least you know it is a chicken leg, or a chuck steak, not a tumor or ground up poor quality trimmings. One health store had 10 feet of one brand and 2 feet of another. The first cost 25% more. Both were organic, cage free, antibiotic free. My assumption, which had to be checked out, is that the first was pasture reared. The store did not know. I went on line and saw pictures of the first farm, then later a client confirmed they were pasture reared. At least if you are purchasing the ingredients, you can research how they are raised.

Buying from a local farm makes it easier to ask the questions. How are the chicks raised? How long are the chickens in the pasture?  Are organo-phosphate ear tags used in the cows for pest control? Fertilizer, pesticides, humane treatment can all be observed or asked about from a local source – and you are supporting land around you being healthier.

Purchased raw diets do save you the food preparation time – sort of like always buying organic prepared meals for yourself. The same concerns about sourcing apply here, as well as if the foods (with pressure from FDA) are HHP – … Packaging is also a question to ask about your raw food diets (Answers is probably the leader in environmental raw food packaging.)

Whatever diet you choose must fit your schedule and be easy. Here are some options:

1. Buy dry food – open bag (worry about sourcing, contamination and stability of vitamins after opening), scoop and feed. Canned food – can opener, scoop out, wash up.
2. Purchase raw diet – thaw serving, cut open and serve, wash up.
3. Make raw diet as part of your meal. Put the parts of the vegetables you would discard into a food processor (FP). Cut off part of the meat you are eating and save. Cook your vegetables and pour the cooking water into the FP. Eat your vegetables and pour the leftovers into the FP. Now the extra time – turn on FP. Mix the pureed vegetables with supplements and the reserved meat (or unwrap meat from fridge). Serve. Clean up.
4. Make raw diet for cats and small dogs in batches. Every 4-6 weeks I spend 3-4 hours cutting up chicken parts, mixing with ground beef heart and other meats, as well as liver and vegetables. I put into freezer containers and thaw as needed. Meal time, then, is opening a container, scooping out a serving and putting container back in fridge.
5. Make cooked and/or raw diet weekly.
6. In NYC where many people have no kitchen and eat out for all meals, a raw diet can still be fed. Order your dinner. Order a steak to go – raw. Order a salad or vegetables to go and puree them in the FP when you return home.
7. Follow specific recipes from the many good books or feed a variety of fresh foods.
8. For horses and livestock feed as close to the range as possible (hay net with tiny holes, free choice minerals…) and source locally and sustainably.
9. Do the best you can and never feel guilty.

Choices to help the environment:

1. Support local farms (even if you are eating out in restaurants).
2. Bring your own containers to purchase ingredients.
3. Purchase parts of the livestock that Americans do not usually eat – organs, trimmings, tails, chicken feet, etc.
4. Purchase vegetable trimmings from the markets – nutrition is equal in the crumpled and torn outer cabbage leaves; the carrot tops and peeling; as it is in the pretty parts. Get the internal organs that hunters discard.
5. Support raw food companies using more sustainable packaging.
6. Do the best you can, and that will change over time.

How do you know what is best for your animals?  Since every animal is unique, and have their own preferences, how do you know they are getting the best nutrition? How do you know if your children or you are getting the best nutrition? By how you feel. Keeping a journal that tracks the Early Warning Signs of Internal Imbalance, any illnesses and most importantly the emotions and exuberance of your animals will tell you how they are doing with your diet choices. If tarter is appearing you could try bigger pieces of meat or meaty bones so they can “sink their teeth” into it. There are some basic guidelines that you will find in all the books – calcium needs to balance the phosphorus (feed bones or a supplement), cats need the taurine( found in raw meats or supplement).

There are many great books on diet ranging from the classics by Dr. Pitcairn and Anitra Frazier to many new ones. I particularly like ones by Beth Taylor, Steve Brown and Karen Becker. Celeste Yarnell and Dr. Jean Hofve will be bringing out a new book soon, and Dr. Hofve has worked for years evaluating foods and diets. List serves on feeding raw, or fresh, give great support once you have decided on your approach. Some are rather judgmental about their approach being the best, but as a subscriber to the Healthy Animal Update you know one size does not fit all. A great group can be reached from www.aunaturelK9s.com. They know there are many avenues to feeding the best diet and are less “dog”matic than some of the other groups.

Recently a client in the DC area asked which of the raw foods carried by her local store were the best, so I polled the homeopathic veterinary list serve. The following notes are from conversations held in mid March, 2013, with attributions to various veterinarians. Recommended was http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/ for recall updates.

1. Much of the conversation was about recalls. G: good summary: I think most companies end up having recalls at some point.  Voluntary or otherwise. I guess the best way to go is to source local companies or buy meat from reputable sources and put the diet together yourself.
2. Rad Cat –A: Local company inSeattle. Clients of mine. Great product. Very “clean”.  B:  loves it, but says $.
3. K-9 Cravings – C: localMarylandcompany. Uses grains. Mixed reviews from dogs.
4. Pawgevity.com – K: localVirginiacompany – Carole King was helped by Carol Lundquist to design raw food for the VA/DC area. she even looked in farm sheds for bad fertilizers and pesticides on the farms where she sources her meats.
5. Honest Kitchen (dehydrated) & Grandma Lucy’s (dehydrated): D: Dehydrated foods need to be carefully rehydrated or health issues can occur (usually intestinal upsets).  G: The dehydrated foods, may be great nutritionally, but they are MUSH. OK for traveling.
6. Bravo – G: the brand I recommend the most is Bravo.  J: I really love Bravo’s single protein source diets, which is great for my dog cases with food sensitivities.
7. Darwins- J: good and I love their green tripe. I routinely recommend that for many cases- allergies/skin cases, inflammations, intestinal problems, etc. Stinks to high heaven, tho, so certainly not something you’d want to feed on a day that guests are coming over.Darwinsis moderately priced.
8. Green Earth Pet Food and Local Earth Fare’s – F: they are doing grinds of chicken backs and they get fresh livers in. We get some Bison from Carolina Bison who is also looking at making local raw foods, they won’t even have to be frozen. There is no irradiation or HPP with any of these.Asheville,NC
9. Topqualitydogfood.com- J:  fromMaryland& has good prices, and the client places an order on line and then meets them at the local huge mall once a month. They also carry goat meat, a good novel protein. I know nothing about the quality control of this product.  Dr. C – I had not heard of it – will check it out.
10. Answers Pet food – K, L, E and more: is excellent and uses sustainable packaging, too. K has seen health problems resolve on their goat milk diet.
11. Raw Advantage – H:  is a west coast organic raw frozen diet.   Expensive but excellent.
12. Nature’s Variety – E: buying some of their proteins fromChina, and were possibly just purchased by Purina. Many were unaware of this, and I was unable to confirm, but it underlines the reason to buy locally.
13. High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP) – F: Nature’s Variety, Stella and Chewy’s and Primal are all sterilized by HPP. Therefore, only recommended for intermittent feeding since HPP could potentially really alter the products. One raw food producer said it takes meat that has the consistency of hamburger and turns it to the consistency of bologna.  G: thumbs down on any HPP. I & J: Where is HPP listed on the label or elsewhere, about this HPP process?  Go to their websites, talk to reps or call the company. A good company should tell you what measures they take for insuring that enteric pathogens are not in their diets. (Not that the dogs/cats care, but this is a public health concern.)
14. F: What about “meal” versus “meat”? Here are 2 good sites to read: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=meat-meal; naturesvariety.com. From these 2 websites it would appear that in the dry foods, the water content of the “meats” would be too high to provide an end product that is high enough in protein, so the “meals” are used to achieve a higher concentration. Meals can vary according to manufacturer, so you have to be sure that the company uses high quality meals. Nature’s Varity uses the higher quality. Their protein contents are very high. Note that NV uses “meats” in their raw diets (and dehydrated raw products). theoretically they can heat the food up to about 90 degrees, but they don’t always have to go this high. It supposedly destroys about 10% of the nutrients. This still leaves 90% raw and a very high protein diet, which is always a plus for cats. I have to say that I’ve been very happy with Nature’s Variety’s Instinct line. I did not notice any changes in my pets when they initiated the HPP several years ago. And, because so many clients are reluctant to start a raw diet b/c of “germs,” I think the HPP and all the other measures they take to try to prevent the presence of enteric pathogens are great selling points to introduce raw diets to clients (for their pets, of course). I also like the components of the diet. They include montomorillenite clay, apple cider vinegar, salmon or salmon oil, and a token % of fruits/ veggies.

Well, are you confused yet?  You were concerned that your conventional veterinarian really knew little about what was best to feed your animals, and now you see that even very experiences homeopathic veterinarians are challenged by this issue. You are in charge. You can tell what works best in your family. Finally, email me your questions about feeding and I will answer at least 10 of them in the next newsletter.

3. NEWS

Smart meters may be causing harm to animals as well as people. While there are over 2,000 studies documenting problems from the electric companies attempt to collect information from our electric usage and decrease their costs to read our meters, only a few people have been reporting problems with their animals. My recent trip to Kauai made me aware that each of needs to opt-out so we can keep our analog meters. Wonderful holistic veterinarian and philosopher from Connecticut, Dr. Allen Schoen, shares stories of harmed animals on his site, http://www.kindredspiritsproject.com/2011/09/01/animal-health-alert-dogs-reaction-to-smart-meters/

Flea tag trick: Nirado wrote in her newsletter a trick to keep flea and tick tags (like “Shoo-Tags”) from getting torn off. “I like to sew them in the inside of the collar next to the neck because my kids love to play and wrestle and this way they won’t pull them off each other.”  She also reminds us it is time, if we lived where there was a warm winter, to order shoo-tags and flea combs. Maybe it is time to look for a refurbished water vacuum since then you do not have to discard vacuum bags if there are a lot of fleas around. Nirado also has a slightly different way than I for a “flea trap”. I suggest putting out a saucer of soapy water; she uses “

adhesive boards”. Subscribe to her updates by emailing nirado@charter.net. Her website is www.interdimensionalhealing.com.

4. CASES

Answer to February Case
Baby was a 9 year old cat who licked her belly raw. Each time she was given a long acting steroid injection it would heal and the hair grow back. At first it happened once a year, then more frequently until now she needed injections every 6 weeks. She had no other major illnesses, though was beginning to act her age, having less energy.

1. Is this cure, palliation or suppression?
   1.  Palliation – no evidence of improved health and treatment had to be repeated.
2. What would you have done the first time she licked herself raw?
   1. There are many possible answers here. Find a healer, use Reiki, change the diet, add flower essences or supplements for the skin. Start a journal.
3. Could you have done something to prevent even the first occurrence?
   1. Start to follow the 7 Keys to Health and keep a Journal.

Result of homeopathic treatment – Baby was treated for about 6 months with several different remedies and the diet was changed. She lived to 17 and never licked her stomach raw again. She had 2 minor illnesses with quick recoveries. She stayed on a fresh food/canned food diet.

March Cases
A.  Judy has 5 large breed dogs. One of them, Joey, will begin to get tarter on his teeth even on a commercial raw food diet.

1. Does this mean Joey has a disease that needs veterinary care?
2. What could Judy do to prevent or remove the tarter? Hint – we are speaking about diet this month.

B.  Jane had read about the benefits of feeding a fresh food diet for her cats, but it just seemed too hard. Now she just filled the feeder weekly and the water bowls daily. Then 2 of her 3 cats started having bladder problems, so she switched to a prescription canned food from the veterinarian. Though a little more work, she was willing to do this. All 3 cats were willing to eat the canned food, though she had to sprinkle some dry food “powder” on top for one cat. Ed had no more bladder problems, but Molly continued to have recurrences, so Jane explored homeopathic treatment, switched to a natural brand of canned cat food and used some supplements. By this time she was noticing that many of the Early Warning Signs were resolving in the cats – no more hairball vomiting, no more junk in the eye corners and one cat stopped licking plastic bags. After a few months, the homeopath convinced Jane to try a raw food diet. She saw no changes in the cat who had never had bladder problems and realized he had always been healthier. Molly had a dramatic improvement in energy, hair condition and many of the Early Warning Signs and all problems with the bladder stopped. Ed continued to have no bladder problems, but showed no overall improvement, indicating he still needs something more to become totally happy.

Next topics:
April: Homeopathy – the power to deeply heal – and a reminder to come to Vancouver BC for great classes in May.
May: End of life – death can be a wonderful new door; hospice care
June: Parasites – benefits of them as a clue to health; Heartworm, fleas, ticks
July: Preventing future health issues by using the early warning signs
August:  Vaccine update
September: Dental health – multiple approaches
October: Chinese Food therapy – individualizing your animal’s diet
November : New technologies – ozone, hyperbaric chambers, laser, stem cell therapy
December: Detoxification for horses, dogs, cats and people.

Einstein:
“The (energy) field is the sole governing agency of the particle.” That is, the atom and all its components are determined by the energetic, non-physical influences that come from the quantum vacuum — a dimension that physicists say is outside the time-space continuum.

I am meditating on this for a few months. Think about its application to the health of your family.