Are Garlic and Onions Really Poisons for Dogs and Cats?

Are Garlic and Onions Really Poisons for Dogs and Cats?

 

WARNING. This article discusses feeding practices that differ from those advised by the AVMA. That’s because it uses the paradigm of a non-physical energy the AVMA and most modern scientific medicine does not yet recognize. Please read it at your own risk. Talk to your vet before feeding anything new.

IN SHORT:

  1. Feeding a variety of fresh foods, including garlic and onions, can promote health and happiness for pets.
  2. Even healthful foods can be poisonous, with most pets being affected by high doses of toxins and sensitive pets being affected by low doses.

“In food, excellent medicine can be found; in food, bad medicine can be found.  Good and bad are relative.” Hippocrates made that statement in his text “De Alimento.  With some imagination, this could be read as, “some foods will cure you, other foods will make you sicker, and the same reaction is not found in all of the people (or pets) all of the time.”  In most cases, food can be medicine that helps keep pets and people well and supports healing when there is dis-ease. In all cases, fresh food is the most biologically active and supportive, in much the same way that pharmacologic medicines work best before their expiration date.

However, the current standard veterinary practice is to feed the same type of commercial ultra-processed dry and canned pet food for the duration of your pet’s life. But that’s not how animals eat in nature. Animals that are hunters and scavengers ( dogs and cats) eat a varied diet. Sticking with one professionally formulated, scientifically balanced commercial pet food is consumer-friendly and fine for most pets. However, some pets need more nutritional support.  In those cases, the pet parent may try feeding fresh, or even raw, food.

Feeding fresh food has many benefits and may extend the life of dogs and cats. Feeding a variety of foods supplies vital nutrients, and can reveal a variety of your pet’s food cravings and aversions.

This brings us to the question: “How can healthful foods such as onions, garlic, and avocados also be poisons?”

Understandably, many pet parents are fearful of offering human food to their pets because it may be poisonous to them. However, foods that are good for us are usually good for our pets, as well…. with a few exceptions.

allium species (garlic, onions, and leeks) contain a compound (N-propyl disulfide) that can be toxic and cause the destruction of red cells. However, this compound is not technically poisonous to pets.

True poisons are toxic even in small amounts like antifreeze, which contains very dangerous ingredients (ethylene glycol, methanol, and propylene glycol).

This can be confusing for some holistic-oriented pet parents who are trying to decide what’s best for their beloved companions. Fortunately, clarity comes from using just two intuitive factors.

Before I mention them, I want to remind you that the intent of this article is not to recommend feeding any specific food. My intent is to help promote pet happiness and quality of life with the Holistic Medical Decision Making (HMDM) protocol. This protocol uses both scientific and nature-based information to extract the best of both worlds.

Considering both types of information often highlights the disconnect between medicine and healing. Fortunately, we are able to re-connect these areas with just two pieces of information (“intuitive factors”) about food that can help you decide what is best for your pet.

Intuitive Factor #1: some foods contain potentially toxic ingredients. I use the term “potentially toxic” because the same food may trigger an adverse reaction in one pet but not in another.

Consider this: even water in large enough doses can be toxic.

It’s possible for any food to contain tiny amounts of a potential toxin. However, sizeable amounts would need to be fed to reach a toxic level. Generally, most pets will never eat enough of the food or substance to cause a problem.

Contrast this with foods like chocolate, which can be toxic even in small amounts. That’s because the potential toxin in chocolate  (theobromine) is more potent and can trigger more problems. However, even this is dose-related, with dark and bittersweet chocolate containing higher doses of problematic ingredients than milk chocolate.

Archie (my beloved dog) ate a plate of milk chocolate cookies and didn’t get sick at all. However, this “dietary indiscretion” could have triggered big problems for another pet.

Unlike chocolate, most other foods do not contain substances that can cause strong adverse reactions. Ask the folks at Earth Animal or the manufacturers of Bug Off Garlic about the safety of garlic for pets, as an example.  Many thousands of pets have safely eaten their garlic products to ward off fleas and ticks.

(Click/tap here for the forum thread where the Holistic Actions! community is discussing garlic and toxicity.)

That’s because of Intuitive Factor #2: individuality.  We’ll discuss “individuality” and food sensitivities more below, but there are many other resources available about Individuality throughout the resources on this site.

Individuality and Food Sensitivity

Some pets are super-sensitive to garlic. One dog might develop life-threatening immune-mediated anemia just from eating a slice of pizza with added garlic powder. Some cats might have a reaction to small amounts of baby food flavored with garlic.

The difference between pets with “iron stomachs” who can eat anything and those who are super sensitive to many foods is individual susceptibility.

Susceptibility is also called sensitivity and it is why one pet reacts to a food that does not affect another. Recognizing and respecting this can help pets have happier lives with fewer trips to the vet.

exposome, individuality, pet, garlic, onionIndividual susceptibility is being described in scientific terms using the growing understanding of the exposome. Molecular biologists define it as the total of all molecular processes in the body in response to exposure to potential triggers like toxins in food.

However, to fully understand susceptibility requires a leap beyond the current “flat earth” medical model of Western veterinary medicine. Before people knew that the earth was round, it was foolhardy to sail beyond the horizon. Similarly, the goals of personalized medicine (matching treatments to each individual) or safely feeding a varied fresh-food diet might seem like unattainable goals.  

Now is the best time in history to sail beyond the horizon –  in deciding how to feed pets, reducing individual susceptibility, or increasing resistance to infections such as SARS-CoV-2.

It’s All About Energy

There’s a small problem with this journey around the globe, however.  Scientists can not fully utilize susceptibility or individuality, partially because the current understanding of life is based on physical energy. Energy, like ATP molecules made by mitochondria, lets cells do jobs like not being over-sensitive to foods.

This limits scientists to only treating patients using “flat earth medicine” that portends that one size (or food) fits all.

Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic, and homeopathic doctors use a paradigm of non-physical energy (called chi, prana, or the vital force) in addition to the physical energy paradigm. This gentle and effective medical system that is based on non-physical energy allows veterinarians and human physicians that use both paradigms to understand and use individuality and susceptibility when working with their patients to explain why one individual gets sick or has an adverse reaction, and another does not.

Without complete knowledge of susceptibility and energy, it’s impossible to fully understand dis-ease.

For example, using the “flat earth” medical modal, it’s impossible to explain why two pets in the same run at a kennel but only one gets sick.  Understanding susceptibility and energy allows us to comprehend why garlic and onions are toxic to one pet but not another.

Grapes and raisins are two more examples of this individual sensitivity. They don’t contain any known toxins and are safely eaten, sometimes in large amounts, by pets around the world.

However, conventional veterinary science cannot explain why one individual may develop kidney failure from eating just one grape while many others like Lola (identifier) can eat many grapes and not get sick.

Disclaimer:  It’s safest not to feed grapes or raisins in any amount.

Personalized medicine is based on individualized responses like these, and is a current hot topic in modern medicine. Modern medicine is just now beginning to tailor food and drugs for the individual. Susceptibility and sensitivity can be difficult to understand in detail, but just knowing that they exist might be enough for now.

When considering food variety and choices, knowledge of potentially toxic ingredients, as well as individual sensitivities, using HMDM will help clarify your decisions.

Ask your vet about your pets’ individual susceptibility and if there could be potential problems with every drug s/he wants to prescribe.

 

Holistic Help for Dogs and Cats With Cystitis Symptoms

Holistic Help for Dogs and Cats With Cystitis Symptoms

The problem? Cystitis (Urinary Tract “Infection” or UTI).

Solution and take home? An easy process to resolve and prevent it.

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You come home to a puddle of urine on the kitchen floor or outside the litter box. Or maybe your previously well housebroken 5 month old puppy wakes you up overnight with a urgent request to go outside to pee.

“Inappropriate” (to you, but not your pet) urination, frequent, urgent, painful and otherwise abnormal urinations are common clues that your pet may have cystitis (UTI). What does that really mean?

Any “itis” is an irritation. That’s it. Not infection. A healthy and natural response by the body. Cystitis (bladder irritation), or enteritis (intestinal irritation), dermatitis (skin irritation) are clues that there is an internal imbalance causing an irritation and inflammatory response.

Inflammation is the body’s natural healing mechanism. Cystitis does not mean the there is an infection. The symptoms that you see are clues to what is going on internally.

Your working with the body to help these symptom clues has two effects:

  1. Gradually resolve symptoms by treating the underlying imbalance (better known as “dis-ease”).
  2. Improve overall health which reduces the chances for relapse.

Bacterial infections do not usually cause cystitis. Most commonly, the bacteria are only secondary invaders. Like a one-two punch. Inflammation causes the tissue irritation which sets the stage for bacterial overgrowth.

Healthy bladders (and other parts of the body) have built-in very strong protection against infection. These include physical barriers, natural anti-biotic properties of urine, and a powerful immune system.

Understanding the physiologic changes that occur in cystitis can help you decide how to help your pet. In cats (and some dogs) the most common causes are related to the environmental-emotional-physical connection. They trigger the inflammatory response and cystitis symptoms. Not an infection.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Evaluate the environment and litter box hygiene. Any change can trigger these symptoms. Especially in cats. If there are no obvious trigger that you can modify (like feeding dry food, a dirty litter box, new litter, a new pet) then go to step two.

2. Bring a urine sample (or your pet) to your veterinarian. The vet’s diagnosis and treatment recommendations add reliable information to your Holistic Medical Decision Making (HMDM Step 2). You can use of this information both for treatment decisions as well as for monitoring.

  • Try not to let any urinalysis findings (like crystals, white cells, blood, etc.) scare you into treating any way that you’re not comfortable. These abnormalities can resolve as the underlying dis-ease is treated.
  • What you do now will have a direct effect on persistence, recurrence and progression of the dis-ease.

3. Increase fluid intake and fresh food feeding. Stop any dry food. This is critical. Especially for cats. Adding organic chicken broth to the food is one great way to increase fluid intake. Make the food as soupy as your pet will accept.

4. Monitor both the urinary as well as the BEAM (Behavior, Energy, Appetite, Mood) symptoms. These will help you decide if your pet is improving overall. In addition to just urinary symptom improvement. Record them in your journal to decide your next step.

5. Re-evaluate the treatment. Is it holistic? Does it take all of the different factors, like environment and stress, into consideration? If there is no improvement or if only the urinary symptoms improve while overall health is declining (maybe your pet’s urinary symptoms are better but now s/he is lethargic, getting pickier, having diarrhea or vomiting, etc.) then move to step 6.

6. Discuss treating the underlying internal imbalance with your vet. If she says to just continue the anti-biotic, or rolls her eyes, then consider consulting with a truly holistic vet. Even if your vet calls herself “holistic”. You can find one on theavh.org

7. Now’s also a great time to increase holistic support to promote natural healing. Homeopathic medicines, flower essences (especially those that help reduce fear and anxiety), Reiki, loving, soothing massages and T-Touch, play and other forms of environmental enrichment will help.

8. Congratulations! You did a great job. Your patience and perseverance with working through your pet’s symptoms has paid off with a happier cat who will have fewer problems in the future.

Holistic Actions! will always improve your pet’s quality of life and overall happiness.

Join us as at Holistic Actions! Academy to have our faculty help you to help your pets.

Holistic Actions When You Have an Emergency with Your Pet

Holistic Actions When You Have an Emergency with Your Pet

Here’s what you can do if you see emergency symptoms in your animal:

  1. pet emergencySafety first. If an animal is in pain, she may bite you. Even if she loves you dearly and is a super sweet dog or cat. Covering her head with a towel or wrapping a leash or soft cord around her mouth is helpful.
  2. Assess her visually. Is she breathing, is there bleeding, is she moving?
  3. Carefully examine. Gently feel for swellings, pain on moving joints, gum color and capillary refill time (which is explained below).
  4. If time allows, a complete TPR (temperature, pulse and respiration) is useful to help the assessment.

Rush right to ER if:

There is any major trauma such as being hit by a car or falling from a height. Bring her for professional evaluation even if she seems OK after these injuries.

Do not wait if you see:

  • Abdominal bloating, multiple episodes in an hour of retching or vomiting.
  • Continued or large amounts of bright red bleeding.
  • Inability to urinate in any animal but especially male cats.
  • Collapse, difficulty breathing or blue tongue or gums.

Call and email your veterinarian if there is time.

  • If you go to the ER or your local conventional veterinarian and they determine that the problem is life-threatening, you should just let the emergency vet and critical care specialist start any indicated life-saving treatment (including hospitalization, IV fluids,  testing, further supportive medications, etc.).
  • If the veterinarian says that your pet’s problem is not life-threatening, now’s a great time to breathe and reassess. Take a moment to think before you act.  Does the ER or referral hospital vet now want to pursue further diagnostic testing to reach a diagnosis? If so, and if cost is not a concern, or if you have a pet insurance policy, then now might indeed be a great time to do these tests.

However, if you don’t have pet insurance or are watching your budget, ask the ER vet if there is a problem with having your regular doctor do the work up tomorrow (or after the weekend). The same tests may cost a lot less when run by your regular vet.

If you do have pet insurance, the expense of the ER tests should be partially (up to 80-90%) covered. This is another big benefit of working with a quality insurance company like Nationwide (VPI), Embrace or Pet Plan.

Even if you go ahead with the tests, ask what they may show and whether the results would change the treatment approach?

  • Avoid non-essential drugs prescribed by the ER veterinarian. For example, if your pup suffers a trauma and is prescribed anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories “just in case”. Many drugs decrease the energy needed to heal.
  • Dose Arnica in water (use the highest potency you have) as soon possible after trauma. Add 1 large or 1-3 smaller pellets into one cup of water and give 1 tsp. You can then easily succuss and redose whenever you would have otherwise have given pain medications like Rimadyl or Tramadol.

If the Arnica improves the B.E.A.M. symptoms (Behavior, Energy, Appetite or Mood) but then they worsen, this is the time to redose. Restlessness, panting, isolating (important BEAM symptoms) and overt pain symptoms like lifting up a leg when walking, licking the injured area, are also indications to repeat the Arnica.

If symptoms persist after three doses of the Arnica, it is the incorrect remedy, so do not repeat.

  • Hands on healing (massage, T-Touch,  etc.), Reiki and flower essences like Rescue Remedy can help in the face of any emergency. Research has shown that therapeutic touch stimulates bone formation, decreases wound healing and helps human patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
  • When you return home, BREATHE and just sit for a time with your companion. Time for a sacred paws. You can now take the time to start putting the symptoms into context. What really happened? For example, was this truly acute, or an acute flare-up of an already existing dis-ease state?
  • Now is also the time to assess and address lifestyle and contributing factors. For example, a therapeutic fast is indicated if she is vomiting from overeating or getting into the garbage. Another preventive Holistic Action! in this situation is to use a latch to prevent access to garbage, the kitty box, etc.
  • If continued treatment is needed, educate yourself about both the conventional and the holistic options. Find out more about our A.S.C. (Avoid, Support, Cure) method treatment approach.
  • Schedule your appointment with your regular vet. Be sure that any ER notes or test results have been faxed or emailed to them. Your appointment with a trained medical professional is the perfect time to continue interpreting symptoms in context.

Remember, an emergency symptom is just another bump in the road to better health. So don’t despair.

Our faculty and community members will help support you.

Stay well.

Dr. Jeff

*Capillary refill time (CRT) is a great way to quickly evaluate for shock, heart and lung troubles. Press your finger firmly against the gums. This will blanch the pink color. When you stop pressing, the gum color should return within a second or two. If it takes much longer this is another indication to head right to the ER.

If however your animal is not acting sick and this test seems abnormal, ask your veterinarian or another educated animal guardian if you are doing it correctly.

You Can Learn Your Pet’s Language

Nature can be seen expressing herself just by looking.

Symptoms are the natural language of your pet’s body.

It seems intuitive to work with nature and in accord with the body.

So why don’t more people listen to symptoms and work with them?

Once we learn about the exquisite effectiveness and elegance of doing so we don’t want to stop.

But there’s a problem.

It’s not easy at first. No one likes something different or difficult.

But the learning curve is short.

At first, learning to recognize and use symptoms is like a foreign language.

But it gets much easier. And natural.

Speaking the native language is always the most effective way to communicate. You can give your pet a better life by communicating more effectively. Better communication usually equates to better treatment outcomes.

Recognizing, respecting and using the language of symptoms allows you to understand your pet’s health better than any laboratory test.

In the US and some other younger cultures, Vitality (aka Chi, Prana, the Life Force) is seen as an old and out dated concept. But adopting it can transform health care. And save you thousands of dollars.

Vitalism in medicine was discarded along with the advent of the modern scientific methods. But holistic veterinarians understand that the vital force allows the body to function.

So how effective could this old concept really be?

Some of the cultures that still use this concept are among the most long-lived around the world. Recognizing and working through symptoms is what allows the traditional (but not the “modern”) doctors in China to only charge patients for keeping you healthy. Wellness care. Not dis-ease treatment.

If you get sick, traditional doctors in China feel they have failed at their job. They only get paid if they keep you healthy.

You too can become more effective in your wellness care and dis-ease management. Listen to and respect your pet’s symptoms. Help your pets today by learning the language of their bodies. You don’t need medical training to listen to it. Read this article for the exact ways to understand and record your pet’s symptoms.

Stay balanced and connected.

Dr. Jeff

Symptoms Are The Path To Healing

Symptoms Are The Path To Healing

Main take home message:Acute symptoms reflect internal health. How you treat them really matters.


Let’s look at one of the very best ways to help your companion animals today while improving their overall health.

That is – understanding signs and symptoms. You do not need to be a doctor to do this.

All you need to do is to learn how to describe symptom details. Working with the clues that your pets bodies are giving you will help them get better. Without the frequent relapses that are so common nowadays!

Here’s a real life situation to better understand the Holistic Actions! approach to treating symptoms while improving health. This one happens to be in a human animal.

Amy’s Case

Amy (Dr. Jeff’s wife) woke up with a badly swollen lip. Her lower lip was twice its usual size. This sudden odd symptom was doubly strange because only half of it was swollen.

  • She was fine when she went to sleep.
  • She hadn’t eaten any unusual foods.
  • Maybe something bit her overnight?
  • What did Amy’s swollen lip symptom mean? And what should be done about it?

Amy’s swollen lip was a fabulous observable sign. Her body was saying something. That’s the simple message that signs and symptoms convey.

Simple?

Anyone that can communicate can do it!

You don’t need a doctorate to understand the symptom language of the body. Don’t worry about all of the internal physiologic complexity. It is however helpful to know that the physiologic changes that result in symptoms are secondary to an underlying cause. The primary abnormality is simple and can be understood by all.

Conventional medicine either ignores the underlying cause or calls them “triggers”. Triggers are things like foods, pollens, stress, etc.

Holistically however we look at all of the underlying causes. We see that most dis-ease symptoms are caused by an energetic imbalance. This knowledge is thousands of years old. It is the basis for modern medicine in India, China, and many other countries.

The energetic basis for dis-ease is not considered at this time in most of the U.S or Canada. Despite this, many MDs and veterinarians understand dis-ease as an imbalance.

Symptoms are our best way to see, understand and fix that imbalance.

Amy’s swollen lip is observable evidence of an internal imbalance – what MDs would call a symptom. In non-verbal species it is called a sign (so your vet might look at you funny if you tell her about your pet’s symptoms).

The body’s symptomatic response to its’ environment is more important than the trigger. The way any symptom looks is a direct reflection of the individual.

Start Today

Use this important concept by observing and describing symptoms. Doing so will help you resolve them permanently. And at the same time improve health and resistance to all dis-eases.

Correctly interpreting signs and symptoms allows proper treatment of the underlying problem. Long-term health is improved when we treat this underlying tendency to produce specific symptoms. Treating this tendency helps reduce recurrence of the problem. Drug treatment can not help in this way.

For example, many pets are prone to hot spots in one specific location. And what do you mean by a “hot spot” anyway? Is it oozing (yellow, green, clear), is it red, hairless, smelly, etc.

Or maybe the ear “infection” is in one ear but not the other.

The way symptoms look help you put them into context of longer term health.

Back to Amy’s fat lip and why neither of us were too alarmed by it. We both knew that even symptoms that look bad usually are not. As long as B.E.A.M. is normal.

Amy received a single dose of a homeopathic medicine. It was chosen based on all of her symptoms. Not only the swelling. After the dose her lip quickly improved. The swelling symptom was gone altogether after the second dose.

Signs and symptoms should not inspire fear. Instead, they should be understood. Your vet homeopath can help you understand them in the bigger picture of helping your pets have happier and longer lives.

Be well. Keep your pets balanced.

Dr. Jeff

Does Your Dog Really Have Lyme Or Need Anti-biotics?

Does Your Dog Really Have Lyme Or Need Anti-biotics?

lyme in petsDoes Your Lyme Positive Dog REALLY Need to be Treated for Lyme?

You’re probably familiar with the increase in Lyme disease and ticks. You probably also know that Lyme is a tick-borne illness.

But did you know that Lyme disease is often over diagnosed and over treated? Your pet may test positive, get treated, but not have the disease.

In this post, we’ll cover why that’s common as well as what to do and natural ways to prevent Lyme disease. Let’s first lay things out more clearly.

Why is Lyme a Disease But Not a Dis-ease?

My name is Jeff Feinman. I’m a traditionally trained holistic veterinarian who understands most health problems to actually be imbalances (or dis-eases) in the vital force. However, Lyme and other bacterial and viral diseases are different. They are not just physiologic imbalances.

Infectious diseases like Lyme, Parvo, Distemper, etc. have readily identifiable and transmissible triggers. The Lyme spirochete (a bacteria) can be isolated, grown, cultured, and transmitted. It’s a true dises-causing agent. Non-infectious health challenges like most kidney, liver and hormone dis-eases are not like this.

Natural resistance prevents illness from infectious diseases. Healthy animals with vigorous vitality get sick from Lyme less often.

You may know that dogs are much more likely to develop Lyme disease than cats. Even though some outside cats pick up loads of ticks. Why might that be? Well, cats are generally vaccinated and suppressed less than dogs. They seem to have a more robust immune system and natural resistance to Lyme.

Research studies have shown that vaccination is related to (and can cause) immune dys-function. A strong immune system is the best protector against Lyme and other infections.

The Truth About the Lyme “Epidemic”

The epidemic of Lyme positive animals started around the same time that the in-clinic test for Lyme became popular. A screening test for Lyme started to be included along with routine heartworm testing. In some (“endemic”) areas over 90 percent of all dogs were coming up positive on this test.

When the diagnostic testing became more readily accessible, and more frequently used, the Lyme epidemic began. In reality, Lyme detection became widespread. Not a disease epidemic.

Almost all Lyme tests only show antibody production. Not Lyme infection. A positive test shows exposure to the ticks that carry Lyme. That’s it. The test is great for proving exposure from but it doesn’t translate into there being an infection.

These Lyme tests are very similar to the familiar Parvo and Distemper titers. They help you decide if your pet is protected from these infections. A positive titer is good. It shows that the immune system is doing its’ job (making antibodies).

But a positive Lyme titer we’re not so happy about. Why? Because we are told that this means disease and the need for anti-biotics. Not true. Just like a positive Parvo titer does not mean that immediate Parvo treatment is needed.

The main difference between Lyme and other titers is that the Lyme titer antibodies are not protective. A positive titer does not translate to protection (unfortunately).

However, when interpreted using the Context and Interpretation method, Lyme titers and other diagnostic testing is useful. It helps make up part of the whole and facilitates good holistic medical decisions. So do the test, but don’t treat based only on the test results. Is your pet showing symptoms of Lyme disease (context!)? Maybe all s/he needs is following up with a more accurate test.

Lyme Testing and The Best (and Worst) Lyme Tests

Few tests actually look for Lyme organisms. Even when one does, the bacteria are rarely found. They hide.

Most tests are only for the antibodies against Lyme. These show an immune response. The most common, “SNAP”, tests are often run in the vet hospital. But these are subjective qualitative tests. Not quantitative (where the result is a definite number). SNAP tests are therefore not as helpful. They are useful for screening but not for deciding whether to treat an asymptomatic positive pup.

If the subjective screening test is positive you should get more definitive information. You need the number. It reflects the number of antibodies. You can currently (2017) do this two ways. There’s one test that gives just one number. That is the Idexx C6 test. Even better is the newer Cornell University Multiplex which reveals multiple numbers.

The Cornell Multiplex is especially useful for monitoring. The multiple immune parameters it measures can better help guide your treatment decisions. But like any test, it needs to be interpreted in context (test result + clinical scenario = context).

In addition to natural exposure, vaccination is the other way to get a positive titer test.
This artificial immune stimulation may or may not be effective. Like the flu shot. Either way, it is scientifically known that vaccination can damage the immune system.

This lack of effectiveness along with the known immune damage from every vaccine, makes vaccination for Lyme less than desirable.

Even the veterinary Lyme specialist Dr. Meryl Littman of the University of Pennsylvania says about Lyme vaccination (when talking about Lyme nephritis and kidney failure in Golden Retrievers and Labradors): “These patients are most likely the very ones we should NOT vaccinate lest we add more complexes or sensitize them for a more intense immune-mediated reaction when they are boostered or exposed naturally.”

Dr. Littman is saying that even though these pups are those most likely to get Lyme-associated kidney failure, we still should not vaccinate them. It’s dangerous.

She says, rather than risk immune damage from vaccinating, focus on promoting vigorous vitality. Vital dogs are less likely to contract Lyme disease.

We therefore see that:

  1. a positive Lyme titer does not equal Lyme Disease and
  2. the Cornell Multiplex is the best test for diagnosis and monitoring.

If you want access to a full course on how to prevent and treat Lyme, buy it here or join Premium or All-Access memberships.

Holistically yours,

Dr. Jeff

 

There Are Risks from Suppressing Skin Dis-eases So Learn Your Holistic Options

There Are Risks from Suppressing Skin Dis-eases So Learn Your Holistic Options

Antibiotics Can’t Hurt. Right?

Sarah was a sweet Maltese. Everyone loved her. She loved everyone and everything. And everyone loved Sarah. Even dog-hating people and anti-social dogs. Her sociability and energy allowed her to have a great life.

Sarah enjoyed long daily walk and playtime. She went to doggy daycare almost every day. She was physically healthy overall. Like her health conscious guardians, she ate a fresh diet and went for routine wellness checks.

The only problem was that she’d periodically develop itchy skin, rashes and red, smelly ears.

Whenever she was not acting “right” in any way, she was rushed to the veterinarian. Anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories were usually prescribed.

After all, they couldn’t hurt, right?

One morning, Sarah’s guardians saw a few itchy pimples on her skin. Sarah was acting fine otherwise so they went to the vet after work that night. Just to be safe. An anti-biotic was again prescribed. Sarah’s pimples vanished within a few days.

A few weeks later after work, Sarah started twitching and developed a vacant stare. After lots of tests at the ER and consultation with a neurologist, Sarah was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and idiopathic epilepsy.

This abnormal behavior continued almost every day so Sarah was started on anti-convulsants.The drugs made her pretty lethargic for a few weeks but then she seemed fine. Sarah’s life returned pretty much to normal.

Sarah was lucky. Her health challenge was successfully treated. But could it have been prevented? Many similar stories end badly.

Here’s something simple you can do that can save your beloved companion animal’s life. Try not to suppress skin symptoms. Like Sarah’s pimples.

Are these Skin Symptoms Just the Tip of the Iceberg?

Why not? Because every sign and symptom (see below for the difference between them) has a relative degree of importance. For example, it’s better to have an external symptom such as a skin or ear problem rather than an internal one such as a brain or liver dis-order, e.g. causing seizures.

This seems obvious, right? Uh, uh. Not in today’s reductionistic (where dis-ease is reduced to one part) and mechanistic (the living body is seen like a machine with separate moving parts) medical mindset.

Our common sense, intuition and scientific studies say that, unlike reductionism, life is a connected continuum. Everything is connected. Whole-istically.

Holistic understanding and evaluation of life’s decisions leads to better outcomes. Both for health maintenance as well as dis-ease treatment. After all, you don’t buy a car without exploring your available options. You look at the bigger picture. You collect information, read reviews, and get opinions from others.

Don’t our beloved companion animals deserve the same?

You Can Learn To Make the Best Decisions

(and do what feels right when treating your dogs and cats)

The most effective decisions are made this way. By evaluating all of the available information. Medically speaking, you (and your holistically-oriented doctor) weigh all of the benefits and risks.

In Sarah’s situation for example, was her overall and longer term health considered when treating her skin pimples? Was anti-biotic disruption of her body’s delicate bacterial balance even considered? How about the potential immune and other imbalances secondary to the drug use?

Was a holistic or reductionistic decision made?

Enter Holistic Medical Decision Making (HMDM) and Holistic Options courses and school. You’ll learn the simple framework that will allow you to help decide what is best for your animal companion.

You can do it!

The best decisions are those you make when you have all of the information and consider it holistically.

Holistic medical decisions can lead to better quality and longer lives for our pets.

You don’t need to be medically trained to effectively use this method. There’s only a few things to learn. The relative importance of the symptoms (like skin pimples vs. seizures) is just one of them.

Learn to holistically promote wellness. Not treat isolated symptoms reductionistically.

How you approach and treat symptoms is critical to the quality and length of life. For all beings.

Know Your Treatment Options

Unfortunately, you can’t always rely on your conventionally-oriented family veterinarian or MD to see the bigger picture of health or present them all to you. Especially when it comes to gentle holistic and natural treatments.

But how do you know what to do?

That’s why the Holistic Actions! for Companion Animals Academy and resources are here!

Our online resources are highly reliable and well researched. They will help you make the best holistic medical decisions.

Here you’ll find online courses, audio and video seminars, access to cutting edge research, analysis, etc. available 24/7. They’ll show you the gentle and effective methods that can be used to holistically help . Best of all, at the live group classes and discussion groups, you can ask your specific questions about holistic and homeopathic preservation of health.

Find out more about the Holistic Actions! Academy and Holistic Medical Decision Making method.

Or start by taking the Holistic Essentials course which goes over the five essential parts of the holistic life.

Be well.

Dr. Jeff

PS-A sign is an objective measure of dis-ease, like a blood test result (yes, diagnostic test results are also important when making holistic decisions). A symptom is subjective. Pre-verbal children and non-verbal animals only have signs. Using this definition that is. But is that really the way that life works?

Your child may not yet speak but she sure can still communicate. The same is true for animals.

For simplicity sake, signs and symptoms can be considered together.