Wellness Brand Pet Food Warning - 1

Yesterday I had a phone consultation appointment with a client who lives in the midwest. I have been treating one of her cats since July 2009. It has been a great frustration and sorrow for me as Queen Rose "Smith" had severe symptoms that included severe pain that was poorly responsive to any treatment. It turns out she is likely a victim of the Wellness pet food thiamine deficiency. Thiamine is a member of the B vitamin complex. The deficiency disease is called Beriberi, still a common disease of impoverished countries, but not here in North America! After several months (and a significant financial investment with all her vets) Queen Rose was "cured" within days of starting vitamin B complex injections. Wow. This is yet another example of why I recommend variety as one of my primary dietary guidelines. Variety is so very important - in brands of commercial foods, in flavors within a brand, in types of meats and veggies in home prepared diets. Had Queen Rose's family been able to implement this simple principle from our very first appointment she would likely have responded very quickly. Severe oral pain and anorexia prevented any change in diet at that time. We wrongly trusted her Wellness brand diet to provide adequate nutrition for a curative response to my homeopathic treatment. Brief info on this recall and other current food recalls are listed on the AVMA website and can be viewed at http://www.avma.org/petfoodsafety/recalls/2011/default.asp. Note that the "best by" expiration-type dates listed at this site may not be accurate. This thoughtful client has been feeding Wellness almost exclusively for years to a very large, closed population of cats as she is a wonderful, big-hearted rescuer providing superb care to her crew. She has been experiencing severe problems in several individuals over several years. It has cost thousands of dollars. Many of her loved ones have improved relatively instantly with the supplemental B vitamin injections. So, the problem may be worse than Wellness knows, or worse than they are willing to admit. This is an enormous problem. More to come...

HolVet makes national news

CBS news has started airing the brief segment they produced two weeks ago at my practice. It features two of my favorite little miracles. Enzo, a very happy Yorkie who no longer seizures and a mini doxie thriving two years after a diagnosis of brain cancer (also with seizures).

You can view it here...
Holistic medicine not just for humans anymore | Eyewitness News 9

I'm very proud of the feature and I hope it will open minds and offer choices to many pet owners. Spread the word!

Arden and Wonton - Two Canine Seizure Cases, part 2

Background on our seizure cases…

Arden P.

Arden P. is a beautiful, happy, 3 yr old black lab – easy excited and restless in the office. Her photo is not quite ready, yet. I met her Jan 31st. I liked her immediately as she pounded my chest to greet me! She did a great job of self soothing by carrying and shaking a small dog bed that I have in the exam room. Her owner has done a fine job of working with her to redirect her energy. I’m so blessed to work with such wonderful clients.

Arden’s seizures are grand mals, 2 wks to 3 mos apart. A very unusual characteristic is that she does not lose consciousness completely. She is aware of her family around her and can be comforted by them during the seizure. They started in Dec of ’09.

Note, she was given routine annual vaccines 2 days after one of her seizures! This constitutes medical malpractice. No vaccine is tested or approved for use in individuals with any chronic disease. This is a very big issue with me. Most of the pets I treat have vaccine related damage. But that is a huge topic for a huge blog thread at another time. Suffice it to say, it was not in Arden’s best interest.

Also of interest as a homeopathic case, Arden used to eat clothing, once needing surgery to extract a sock that was obstructing her stomach! Can anyone relate? She has very itchy paws and tail, and a “yeast infection” that was suppressed with corticosteroids in ’08.

I assessed Arden as having vaccinosis (chronic postvaccinal disease), sub-optimal diet (a grain-based kibble), and a generalized yeast infection (not just in her ear, though that is where it showed up).

I always give two prognoses to my patients at the first appointment. For Arden, her prognosis for improvement is excellent. I have little doubt that we can make a difference in the quality of her life. Her prognosis for full cure is good. That means a better than 50% chance for full cure, which is defined as no seizures, no meds, and expires as an old lady from natural causes. After all, that is the job of all doctors – to get you to the point where you don’t need them anymore.

Her treatment started with a homeopathic drug for vaccinosis, Thuja occidentalis, in a potency high enough to stimulate a curative change in physiology without excessive aggravation. Aggravation is the phase of curative change where things look worse on their way to getting better. It is similar to the phase of an abscess coming to a head before erupting and draining, or a fever that spikes just before it breaks. Arden also received appropriate nutraceutical supplements, and started a grain-free diet.

Arden’s response to this first step in her treatment will be evaluated at her first follow up appt in early Feb. Let’s all wish her the best!

Arden and Wonton - Two Canine Seizure Cases

I have just started two cases of seizures this week – Arden, a beautiful, bouncy, active, three yr old black lab, and Wonton, a sweet, mellow six yr old Pug. I am treating both by classical homeopathy, and the generous owners have agreed to allow me to blog the cases as they progress. It is a rare opportunity to witness the unfolding of a treatment of a serious and complicated problem.

It is a professional risk for me, I suppose, to commit to documenting my work as it happens, whether I succeed or fail. However, I have given these both these critters a good prognosis, so I am confident we will have some improvement. Also, while it is not legal or ethical to make guarantees in the field of medicine, I do, always, make just two guarantees to every client. One – professionally, I will give you my best. Two – personally, I will treat you like family. On these two counts I cannot fail.

The other aspect of such an open door dynamic, an online reality show if you will, is that even if there are challenging issues, setbacks, surprises, or troubles, there will be something to learn and that is one of my main two goals. The other is to inspire.

Homeopathy is not magic. It can’t cure every patient. However, it can cure many with conditions we conventionally label as “incurable”. When it does that, it surely will seem like magic to many. Of course, those diseases we call incurable are only those which we cannot resolve by standard, popular protocols.

It is interesting to note that both these dogs were diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy. I will give a free phone consult appointment to the first responder to post the definition of idiopathic. Google it. It is very enlightening really. It is a blatant example of how the medical community gives fancy Latin descriptions to create fearful sounding medical jargon, and it can sometimes be quite meaningless, despite the professional and technical aura it creates.

Seizures are all too common in dogs. I was just filmed (do we say filmed anymore? …taped? …dvd’ed?) for CBS News. They are soon to release a series on holistic medicine. It will air nationwide. I’ll keep you posted on that date. The importance to this story is that they asked for two local, successful cases to film as part of the segment. One is a brain cancer, the other is a seizure case. It really hit me as I sat down to compile notes for this blog how horribly common are seizuring canines. It is a sad sign of the times. I want to change that.

Arden and Wonton have just had their first appointments. I will blog their intake with photos as soon as I get them. Let’s all wish them a smooth and successful journey.

Early Isagenix Results Look Promising

Early results of HolVet clients using the Isagenix system of Cleansing Nutrition are showing the expected, remarkable results. Becky H. has lost over 40 lbs and has registered to do a triathlon with me in September! Her partner, Jeannette, has lost over 40 lbs as well. Good thing, since they have just received a two year old foster child to run around after! Laurel O. had to stop using her blood pressure aids after just 2 weeks on the system as her blood pressure had normalized! She also lost 12 lbs and has the energy she used to when she ran and competed as an avid athlete.
This Isagenix Cleansing Nutrition system is more than living up to my expectations as a health care professional. I have been officially offering this service through the practice for about 2 months and the wonderful news is mounting. It is a whole new paradigm for health and weight loss. For example, a hard and fast rule of weight loss is that 1 lb per wk is safe and anything faster than that is not. This is a huge icon of “fact” in the health and weight loss industry. However, I now know this is simply not true. I have seen many people lose more than one pound per week, much more, and they are not having problems with it. In fact, those who lose weight at any pace seem to be gaining great health as they go. There is no extra “cost” to the accelerated pace. There is no loss of energy. There are no mood problems. There are no sleep troubles. Actually, all these parameters and more improve greatly as the weight is released regardless of the pace. Nor is the weight rebounding. The typical yo-yo effect of crash diets is not occurring. Of course, this way of nourishing oneself becomes part of a permanent lifestyle change. Isagenix is set up to make it easy to reach a health goal and then maintain it for the rest of your life.
I can definitely say that the launch of my long incubated dream of serving both pets and people has been a great success. I couldn’t be happier with the results. They are astounding. I now have something very powerful to offer my clients! …and their friends, and their family, and their coworkers, and their neighbors, and…..
Which brings me back to the critters. I am currently working out formulae and doses for pets for various applications – the main one being cancer, since it is what I treat most. But I suspect all pets could benefit, same as for people. My own two dogs are the first line of research always. Bless their little volunteer hearts. I have several patients as well on various products of the system currently. I will blog about the response of my patients as soon as I have results.

Meat for dogs and cats. Organic or ammonia?

I am often asked if one must feed organic meats when starting on feeding a home prepared diet for their pets. Many pet owners are reluctant to start thinking that the meat must be organic. I always reply that it is the same choice as it would be for us humans. Organic is always the better choice for the long run. If you have the room in your budget for organic, then do it. If not, certainly going from most commercial dog/cat foods to a home prep diet with conventional (non-organic) meat is still a huge leap in improvement for the nutrition of most pets. It is far better to start a superior diet that is not perfect than it is to not start at all.

That being said, the relative importance of choosing organic is underscored by the following report (from 1.6.10) on ammonia(!) in conventional ground meat. I believe it may be only one of many contaminants in non-organic foods. You may need to copy and paste into your web browser.


http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/01/04/ill-have-a-burger-and-fries-with-everything-hold-the-ammonia/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-wdl5link5http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/01/04/ill-have-a-burger-and-fries-with-everything-hold-the-ammonia/

Swine Flu found in a dog

Yesterday, the first case of swine flu was confirmed in a dog. Here's what the AVMA release said...

"December 21, 2009, IDEXX Laboratories confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in a dog in Bedford Hills, New York. A 13-year old dog became ill after its owner was ill with confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza. The dog was lethargic, coughing, not eating, and had a fever. Radiographs (x-rays) showed evidence of pneumonia. The dog was treated with intravenous fluids, antibiotics, nebulization and other supportive care, and was discharged from the hospital after 48 hours of care. It is currently recovering. Tests submitted to IDEXX Laboratories were negative for canine influenza (H3N8) but positive for 2009 H1N1 influenza."

Here's my take away on this.
• This is not cause for panic, but underscores the importance of taking pets to a veterinarian if they are showing signs of illness. This is especially important if someone in the household has recently been ill with flu-like symptoms.
• Pet owners should remain vigilant. By vigilant I mean touch your pets, palpate them, pay attention to how they eat and play and sleep, notice what they produce when they pee and poop! You are their guardians and advocates, just like parents for human children.
• So far the clinical signs include lethargy, inappetance/anorexia, coughing and difficulty breathing. Some of the animals have developed pneumonia. Any animals showing these signs of disease should be examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible.
• As always proper hygiene and sanitation measures should be followed to limit the spread of all contagious disease, including this new influenza virus.
• IMPORTANT - There is no evidence to suggest that pets have or will spread the virus to humans or other animals. To date, all of the sick pets became ill after a person in the household was ill with flu-like symptoms.

That's all the info available right now. If you have further questions call me at the office. HolVet 845.338.3300.

Blessings to all this holiday season. Hope this info helps. MY