You can do an immense amount of good for your animals by reading and applying what's in this site, even without me taking your animal on personally as a patient. If you start with Nutrition, and really do the best you can in this area, many, many problems will either be eliminated or greatly lessened. If you're animal is "due" for more vaccinations, read that section of the site thoroughly, and don't feel rushed to get more shots. And, if your animal has any disease involving the immune system, read and apply the principals and protocols outlined in Immunity, and you will likely see further improvement of a substantial nature.

My goal in sharing all of this information is to really give animal caregivers the best tools possible, so they can take excellent care of their animals and PREVENT illness. This is the ideal, and the need for doctoring lessens to a great degree when you act proactively and raise really healthy animals. If I do my job well, you don't need a veterinarian much at all, and your animals live to ripe old ages in shiny health!

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Please visit the Contact page to see how you can enroll a new patient.

Distemper Outbreak in Central Texas: 4/28/2010
There are other options besides vaccination

The news is that dogs in the Austin area and other parts of central Texas are showing up with distemper, an often fatal, viral disease. Veterinarians who commented said they haven’t seen this much distemper in many years, so it has the look of an epidemic. Apparently even some vaccinated dogs have died of distemper in this outbreak.

This corroborates my seeing an outbreak from South Texas, where I recently successfully treated a dog with canine distemper who was exposed to several others who died of the disease. This dog had the classic snotty nose and eyes, cough, and fever, though hadn’t progressed to the central nervous system signs like “chewing gum fits,” where the jaw spasmodically chews involuntarily.

Several other housemates of this dog were successfully prevented from becoming infected with the same homeopathic medicine that cured the sick dog: distemperinum, a remedy known in homeopathic terminology as a nosode. A nosode is a remedy made from the disease discharge of a sick animal or person, and through homeopathic preparation in a pharmacy, is rendered safe and protective to another who’s been exposed to the disease. Nosodes have been used to both treat diseases and prevent them, the latter being the more common use, and this more common in England than here in the U.S.

The evidence for the efficacy of distemper nosode in canine distemper is found in a monograph published in 1929 by a veterinarian named Dr. Horace Jervis. His work in saving dogs with distemper is a landmark in veterinary medicine, yet often unknown or ignored by conventional veterinarians. Dr. Richard Pitcairn has a nice explanation and several examples of nosode use, including some quotes from Dr. Jervis’ work here.

We also gave the exposed dogs and the sick one hefty doses of Transfer Factor Canine Complete and capsules of Transfer Factor Plus Tri-Factor, both advanced immune support supplements that have far surpassed the efficacy of the immune boosters they were compared to, including echinacea, aloe derivatives, IP-6, shiitake, etc. In in vitro studies, the 4Life Research Transfer Factor products were able to increase the Natural Killer cell response a remarkable 437% over controls.

Distemper is caused by a virus, so it’s ultimately the immune system we’re counting on to withstand it, and there are no effective anti-viral drugs with established records of withstanding viral infection. The TF products and the nosode aim at this immune strengthening through different pathways, and, as such, make sense to use together.

A Lakeway, Texas hospital is offering an “experimental treatment” by injecting the Newcastle Virus into healthy dogs and harvesting their serum to treat the dogs affected with distemper. Readers of this site will know the shortcomings and risks to the dogs injected with vaccines, and the expense of this treatment is very high as well, on the order of $1400 per dog, with no guarantees it will work. The cost of nosodes is extremely low ($12 for the average dog), and the evidence of efficacy goes back to 1929! When Dr. Jervis turned to homeopathy so long ago, he stopped a large percentage of dogs incubating the disease, and many in even the advanced stages, from succumbing to the virus.

If you have dogs exposed to shelter dogs or day care dogs, it may be a good time to use the nosodes in your own dog. Probably not a bad idea in general, if you are in Texas. Homeopathic prophylaxis has a long and solid history, costs very little, and carries no risk. What’s not to like about that?

H1N1 Influenza -- Mandatory Vaccinations?? July 29, 2009
Don't buy it. Make your voice heard!

Now that the pandemic of Novel H1N1 flu has been declared, it's quite likely the vaccines that are being fast tracked for Fall 2009 will be mandatory for all Americans. The manufacturers, in an unprecedented move, will be shielded from any responsibility should vaccinated people fall ill, unlike the last time when I was in vet school and the Swine Flu shots caused paralysis in thousands of people. For some scary propaganda, and a look at how 60 Minutes shined a light on the scandal in 1979, visit here. We can see in hindsight that the vaccine was far more damaging than the flu. If we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

Now, if you, like I, think there are far safer means to protect yourself, and even treat yourself, should you get the flu, it's time to make your voices heard. We must not give up our rights as individuals or parents to choose our means of health care nor succumb to a government with vested interests in the profitable pharmaceutical industry who would have us all roll up our sleeves this Fall. Here is a very quick and easy way to alert your government representatives that you oppose mandatory vaccinations and will not stand for internment camps for those who refuse to get vaccinated. If enough of us refuse and make our voices heard, we can take the teeth out of this ridiculous governmental notion that we are sheep, ready to risk our health and that of our children and loved ones for some perceived societal benefit from mass vaccination. Please take action right now, right here.

The Good News About Swine Flu: 4/29/09
Entirely Preventable, Homeopathically Treatable

So, the flu scare is upon us once more.  Though the bird flu didn’t pan out, now the media can jump on the swine flu and really fan the fears of the public.  If you’d like to drop out of that fearful climate, you can.  It’s not only not useful to partake in it, it can’t be doing your immune system any good! Here’s the good news: you can prevent it by giving your immune system extra intelligence via the well proven, well researched molecules called Transfer Factors.  These tiny peptide chains from natural sources like colostrum and egg yolk confer heightened immune recognition (“this is a virus, it doesn’t belong in this body”), increased immune responsiveness (“get to this job now,
immediate need apparent”), and modulation when the job is finished (“OK, it’s over, settle back to watchful alertness, stop fighting so hard”).  Efficacy has been proven over and over again in research spanning more than 50 years, and safety is extremely high. Even in very high doses and prolonged use, no toxicity has been reported from any species using the Transfer Factors.

Here’s the trick, though: it’s best to use them before you start to feel sick. I learned this myself, and have since seen it borne out by research in calves.  If you are primed with TF before an infectious or stressful impact comes your way, you are far more likely to withstand it and beat the challenge.  So, I’ve starting taking 2 TF Plus Tri-Factor capsules twice a day now that swine flu appears to be a real risk.  If I find myself in the early stages of getting ill (chills, body ache, feeling run down, or a sore throat starting), I’ll bump that up to 5-8 capsules 4-6 times a day.  I’ve beaten previous flus this way, and don’t expect this one to be any different.

There’s TF Kids for the chewable version that children can enjoy, and there’s a delicious drink version called RioVida that packs an immune helping wallop while being refreshingly sweet and pleasant to ingest.  And, of course, though the animals aren’t likely to be affected, with the exception perhaps of miniature pigs or farm swine, there’s a very potent Animal Health line of
Transfer Factors that I use with my patients regularly. The Animal Stress Pack would confer rapid immune boosting to any animal exposed or acutely ill. Next up: homeopathic treatment and prevention, which has withstood the test of past flu pandemics with flying colors!

So, fear not, and be proactive.  Experience has shown it’s entirely possible to beat Swine Flu or any other flu that has people running scared at present.

Your Very Own Vaccination Waiver: 1/14/08
Put the FDA to work for you

If you've ever felt that your animal just really shouldn't receive another vaccination, but the office staff and your veterinarian have not been receptive to that idea, please read my latest thoughts on Waiver. More times than not, many animals have a built-in waiver that many veterinarians overlook. And ignoring this waiver can be very costly to health. I can't count the number of times animals have come to me having been vaccinated while they were ill with some disease. This is a dangerous practice, and the FDA is on your side on this one.

Dangerous Pet Foods Recalled: 3/16/07
Check Your Labels

Some pretty familiar brands here, associated with vomiting and kidney failure and death in a number of animals eating them.  I've often been asked if several of these brands aren't pretty good, and I know a lot of vets sell IAMS and Eukanuba.  Looks like the vets' favorite Hill's (of k/d, r/d, i/d, etc/d fame) has food made for them by this same company, as they've recalled some of their products as well.  I've never thought much of any of them, as even the better known are often what I'd refer to as "expensive junk food."  Buyer beware.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17650075/

The Cats Are Shouting! 7/6/05
9-Month-Old Cat Diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism

As I've written elsewhere online ("The Cats are Talking...About Chronic Disease"), the incidence of chronic, lingering, degenerative diseases has steadily grown from when I was in vet school some 25 years ago. That's not a very long time, in the big picture of how long wolves and bobcats and their ancestors and cousins we have in our homes have been on the planet. And today, across my desk comes a copy of a veterinary journal called Veterinary Forum, with a case report entitled, "Hyperthyroidism in a 9-Month-Old Cat." In it, the author, a veterinarian in Portage, Michigan, describes the classic signs of this "new" disease (unheard of in the 70's, and probably 80's), in a kitten, not yet even a year old: extreme hyperactivity, inability to sleep, and, a bit unusual in my experience, aggressive behavior. It's common to also see the symptoms of unending hunger, weight loss, and crying out in hyperthyroidism, but this guy wasn't showing these signs. With blood tests both in-house and at Michigan State University, the lab results were confirmative: the little guy had hyperthyroidism! His bodily "thermostat" was racing, due to a tumor on his thyroid gland.

The treatments laid out were to include radioactive iodine administration, touted to be the best of the options, though it's expensive and so obviously dangerous (the cats' urine must be disposed of as a radioactive substance for many days after treatment, hence the need for specialized hospitalization for those cats undergoing treatment). The kitten in the report was "lost to follow-up," meaning he didn't return for treatment and further diagnostic tests. (Maybe his owner sought holistic care and he's now cured; one can hope.)

Well, the point of my including this in here is simple: preventative medicine, in the conventional sense (yearly vaccines, toxic, lifeless commercial mono-diets, and flea poisons) has failed us miserably. One only needs to look at how the chronic diseases have become so prevalent today to understand this. And these are not trifling diseases that resolve on their own, or with a bit of help from your local veterinarian. These are serious, deep-seated, degenerative illnesses that undermine the animal's well being for the rest of its life. Examples are allergies, Cushing's disease, Addison's disease, cancer, kidney failure, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, etc, etc, etc.

So, it really pays to be open-minded, explore alternatives, and prevent, yes, please prevent illness, but not in the model offered for the last several decades by the white coats. You'll have to do better than that if you want your animal to stay healthy and vigorous and alive to a ripe old age. Hopefully, you'll find some good ideas within these pages.

Optimizing Health vs. "Getting By" 2/3/05

We just had an excellent veterinary conference call tonight on how to think about the use of nutrition and supplementation. I'd like to share some of these thoughts and hope this will be useful to help you chart the course for your animals.

In veterinary medicine, as in human medicine, the emphasis has historically been on treatment of disease. We have become quite good at measuring disease even: high white blood cell counts, high cholesterol, or liver enzymes, or BUN if the kidneys are failing, but we have almost no clue when it comes to measuring wellness. Consequent with that focus has been a "get by" approach, where we emphasize what levels of nutrients prevent deficiency diseases, or what amount of drugs will keep away heartworm, or what amount of poisons will kill fleas without killing the dog they live on.

What we need to focus on is "optimization" instead: how can we affect our animals in such a way that they don't just get by (which nowadays usually means succumbing to some chronic disease like allergies or eventually cancer), but rather THRIVE? What can we do so that we are not chasing disease with treatments, even natural, non-toxic treatments, but rather making our animals so healthy that they naturally resist disease and live long, robust, resilient lives. This optimal state of health and its resiliency allows them to withstand the stressors that inevitably come along, be they weather changes, or travel, or kenneling, or infectious disease.

A great example is the use of probiotics as a means of enhancing health. It's been proven that animals can live without these "friendly bacteria" in the lower gut, as can people, but they live a tenuous existence. A small input of some disease causing organism will throw these unfortunates into frank illness, like diarrhea or even death from salmonella, for example. But the animal getting regular doses of probiotics will be able to withstand a large number of the same pathogens and not get ill. Why? The immunity enhancing effects of the probiotics make it impossible for the pathogens to take hold -- they are out-competed by the good guys.

Similarly, there's immune enhancement with things like transfer factor. We know these are present in the first milk or colostrum, and these "immune intelligence" proteins make the difference between life and death in the newborn. But we also now know that we can optimize an immune system by giving regular doses of transfer factor to any age of animal. This is not necessary to "get by," but is getting by good enough? Certainly not for me and the majority of my clients!

The whole approach of holistic health is really this: taking those measures that act on the whole organism for the betterment of health, optimizing all systems, to not only prevent illness but to effect maximum length and quality of life. Proactive prevention is a big key to health. How we do this is not as simple as vaccinating yearly and feeding Science Diet, two practices I've seen cause more problems than they prevented! And remember, optimization, or gaining peak efficiency in your animal, does not happen by accident. You, as the main caregiver, have to do some things to achieve and maintain optimal health and wellness. One of the absolute easiest things is to incorporate the TF Complete formulas into your daily regime: Canine, Feline, or for the horse, Performance and Show. Read more about this approach here: Immunity

Whew, I never guessed how long it would take to get this all into print. This site has all the information I've shared with clients in my consultations for the last nearly 18 years as a holistic veterinarian, so I just assumed it would flow out and get up there on the web. Wrong. It took a lot of writing, finding the right way to say things in print, proof reading, making navigation smooth and non-redundant, in short, a lot more than I expected. But, it's finally here, and I hope it can be of service to you in making choices for your animals' health care. Because, ultimately, it's the choices we make in day to day care that most affects our animals' health.

My goal has always been to be a provider of sound information, and to allow my clients to make their best choices. What's been rewarding of late is seeing a few clients coming who have already made the choices I have been hoping for for these last many years. (OK, so I'm not unbiased!) A few dogs have come with no vaccination history what so ever, not because they were ill, but just to establish a working relationship with me should they need homeopathic prescribing in the future. "Not ill" is a gross understatement -- they have been extraordinarily healthy, in fact! A few youngsters have come from breeders who've raised parent dogs with natural diets, no or very few vaccines, and natural health care. Again, the pups didn't come ill. They were exuberantly healthy! Their owners were wanting to have a preventative approach to raising these guys that didn't include vaccines (or minimized them), that had natural options for heartworm prevention, and diet? I hardly had to say anything, as they were already on balanced raw food, like BARF.

That's really rewarding after years of offering alternatives and answering questions (and raised eyebrows) on my views that may have been heard for the very first time. It tells me that the movement towards natural health has been progressing, and those who feed raw food, and choose not to vaccinate annually, or not give drugs to suppress symptoms are in a growing number now. Maybe not yet a majority, but substantially more than even 10 years ago.

Looking Ahead
I'm most excited about the potential for making immune based diseases a thing of history, with the tiny molecules named transfer factors (see Immunity). The ability to pass on immunologic competence, no longer just from dam to offspring, but from dam to adults of different species, is truly a remarkable achievement. When we are beset as a society with so many immunological challenges, from infectious diseases that circle the globe with airlines, to over reactive immune systems in allergies, to immune breakdown in cancer, the simplicity and depth of immune support offered by these molecules is truly heartening. When animals too old for surgery and its anesthetic risks can be given oral immune support and have eyelid or other tumors shrink away and disappear; when Russian scientists, studying interleukin for years, but frustrated by it's toxicity and high cost, excitedly return home after seeing transfer factors increase Natural Killer cell activation by 437%; when the Navy Seals program, whose special op forces lead highly stressful and rigorous missions, begins studying transfer factor as a means of optimizing their mens' health, we are really seeing a paradigm shift in health care.

This is really the right use of technology. But nature's technology. Learning to harness what nature has created for the good of man and animals is far superior to trying to create new, more toxic drugs with side effects that may be more serious than the diseases they treat. This is what 4Life Research is doing in their work with transfer factors. They have unlocked something extremely useful in the form of molecules that have been there all along, in colostrum, egg yolk, and white blood cells, among other tissues. Purifying these molecules in a patented process that preserves efficacy across species lines, and making them available world wide has been the company's forte. I am glad to be part of that effort, and will be conducting my own research on the use of transfer factors to cure heartworm disease. If you are interested in being part of this research, click here. I will publish the results of this study here, so stay tuned, and check back periodically.

Short Course
I know there's a lot here, so, if you want a ranking of the most important information in this site, I would put the top three areas as:

1. Vaccinations, both safety and efficacy
2. Nutrition
3. Immunity
   

The decisions you make in these areas are the ones the have the greatest long term impact, for good or ill.