This comprehensive 60-minute Q&A session featured Drs. Christina Chambreau and Jeff Feinman answering live questions from pet parents dealing with a wide range of health challenges. The central theme: symptoms are clues, not enemies—and true healing comes from restoring balance to your pet’s vital force rather than suppressing individual problems.
They addressed eight diverse cases, from flea allergies and fabric-eating anxiety to senior cat cancer and eye inflammation, demonstrating how the holistic framework applies across all conditions and life stages. Each answer emphasized the importance of fresh food, building a holistic veterinary team, maintaining symptom logs, and staying focused on happiness and quality of life.
Key Takeaways
- Prioritize Foundational Health: Symptoms are clues to an imbalance in the animal’s “vital force.” The core strategy is restoring balance through a species-appropriate diet, exercise, and a low-stress environment, not just treating symptoms.
- Build Your Holistic Team: For persistent issues, find a homeopathic or Chinese medicine vet. These specialists treat the whole animal, not just the disease, and can often work virtually. Use the
holisticactions.com/selectguide. - Leverage Holistic Actions Resources: The free “101 Course” is the essential starting point for all attendees. Members gain access to a supportive forum, a 7-year webinar archive, and exclusive consultations.
- Manage Expectations: Holistic healing requires patience and experimentation. There are no magic bullets; the goal is to support the body’s natural healing process.
Topics
Foundational Health & Diet
- Species-Appropriate Diet: A fresh, species-appropriate diet is the cornerstone of health.
- Raw food is ideal but not required. Freshly cooked meat from the grocery store is a valid, cost-effective alternative.
- Resource: Dr. Hovey’s site,
littlebigcat.com, offers free articles on cat nutrition.
- Supplements: Supplements support the body’s natural functions.
- General Detox: A few annual courses of antioxidants (e.g., Adored Beast’s Vital Defense, C60, Q-Max) are beneficial in a toxic world.
- Key Detoxifiers: High-dose Vitamin C combined with fiber is a top method for colon-based detoxification.
- Vitamin C for Cancer: IV Vitamin C is used for osteosarcoma. The key difference from oral is the achievable dose (e.g., 4–7g oral max vs. much higher IV), not the form.
Behavioral & Emotional Issues
- Separation Anxiety (Shadow, 2-yr-old Shepherd Mix):
- Context: A new rescue with severe panic when left alone. Daycare is a temporary solution.
- Strategy: Patience is critical. The dog’s ability to cope at daycare with an adult present is a positive sign.
- Resources:
- Dr. Feinman’s article on his anxious dog, Maya.
- Holistic Actions webinars on anxiety (Brendan Goya, Read Bloom).
- Elizabeth Johnson’s book, She Spoke, for understanding dog personality types.
- Flower essences like Rescue Remedy or Stress Stopper (
jacksongalaxy.com).
- Fabric Eating (8-yr-old Havanese):
- Context: A new rescue eats fabric, a behavior linked to separation anxiety.
- Strategy: Focus on the anxiety’s root cause. Mitigate toxin exposure from fabric with a clean diet, filtered water, and microbiome support (e.g., Adored Beast products).
- Excessive Vocalizing (17-yr-old Cat):
- Context: A healthy cat vocalizes intensely post-move. The owner, an animal communicator, is struggling to find the cause.
- Strategy:
- Get an Outside Perspective: A colleague’s clear perspective is often needed for one’s own animals.
- Rule Out Medical Causes: Request a free T4 thyroid test. A marginal screening T4 can miss hyperthyroidism, a common cause of vocalizing in older cats.
- Observe Triggers: Log events before vocalization to identify patterns.
- Explore Spiritual Tools: Research the Perelandra Medical Assistance Program (MAP) for muscle testing.
Chronic Physical Conditions
- Chronic Flea Sensitivity (Cat):
- Context: A cat is hypersensitive to fleas despite no visible fleas for weeks, suggesting a deeper skin imbalance.
- Strategy:
- Take the “101 Course”: Provides foundational knowledge for restoring balance.
- Improve Diet: Transition to fresh, cooked meat.
- Distraction: Use play and Rescue Remedy to manage itching.
- Severe Eye Inflammation (Dog):
- Context: A dog’s eye inflammation worsened on prednisone; the vet suggested eye removal.
- Strategy: This is a critical situation requiring a holistic vet.
- Referral: Mount Airy Veterinary Clinic (MD) was suggested.
- Immediate Support: Use Rescue Remedy and the “Happiness Protocol” to reduce stress.
- Vaginitis (12-yr-old Dog):
- Context: A chronic issue that improved with a Calendula compress.
- Strategy: This is a “wake-up call” for a holistic approach.
- Find a Holistic Vet: To treat the whole animal, not just the symptom.
- Continue Symptom Relief: Use the Calendula compress as needed.
- Persistent Fleas (4-yr-old Dog):
- Context: A healthy dog has a sudden, severe flea infestation despite natural remedies.
- Strategy:
- Environmental Control: Try beneficial nematodes for the yard and ultrasonic flea tags.
- Energetic Support: Use Green Hope Essences “Flea-Free” essence.
- Chemical Options (Last Resort):
- Lufenuron: A flea birth control that prevents reproduction.
- Capstar: A one-time-use pill that kills all fleas on the animal within hours.
End-of-Life Care
- Suspected Colon Cancer (18-yr-old Cat):
- Context: An 18-year-old cat with suspected colon cancer and peritonitis. The vet advised against surgery.
- Strategy: Focus on quality of life.
- Prioritize Happiness: Provide comfort and favorite activities.
- Consult a Homeopathic Vet: To explore options for pain management and support.
- Avoid Further Diagnostics: Save funds for care, not more tests.
Embrace a whole-istic mindset based on vitality, balance, and your pet’s individuality
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Dr. Christina
Christina Chambreau, DVM, is an internationally known homeopathic veterinarian and associate editor of the Integrative Veterinary Care Journal, she’s written several books on animal healthcare.
After opening her own homeopathy veterinary practice in 1983, she founded the Academy Of Veterinary Homeopathy and was on the faculty of the National Center for Homeopathy Summer School for ten years.
Dr. Christina is also an integrative medicine adjunct faculty liaison for the Maryland Veterinary Technician Program and lectures on a wide array of topics including integrating holistic options into veterinary practices, as well as guidance on how to choose the best approaches to heal animals and sustainability.
Dr. Jeff
Jeffrey Feinman, BA, VMD, CVH, graduated in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania and was Penn’s first veterinary dual-degree University Scholar, holding both molecular biology and veterinary degrees. He is the founder of HolisticActions.com and dedicated to pet parent empowerment.
Dr. Jeff is devoted to researching about how to harness the innate power of the individual using Vitality and Balance. He and his wonderful wife Amy live with Archie, a rescue pup, and a Rex cat named Tigger.