Holistic Prevention the natural way!!!!

[MajesticCollies]

Just for all of you that have many problems with your fur babies. I just want you to all know an alternative to those vet visits and chemical meds out there if your interested. Here is a very good sight to read. There's alot there and if your looking for a paticular preventative just keep searching. I read more and more of this sight every day. The key to your fur babies health is thier immune system. You boost thier immune system in thier life and there's a great chance that even the hereditary health problems that seem to sneak out of them later in life will stay dormit with use of holistic alternatives in thier daily diet. Check it out people, I can't stress this enough for your pets health. It may seem costly at first but may save you a lot of costly vet bills in the future. Here is a great sight to get you all started on.

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/

[dragondawg]

You cannot poison your animal into health with drugs, chemo or radiation.

False statement.

Give flax seed oil plus cottage cheese to a dog with Lymphoma and it will be dead in 4-6 weeks as the disease runs its course.

It's one thing to supplement the diet of a dog that has cancer with vitamins and cofactors that might augment Chemotherapy. It's another to give testimonials about quack cures such as cottage cheese plus flax oil guaranteed to lead to the death of the dog. But then again it's the Internet and anything goes including testimonials. Sites like that make me cringe.

[JenBKR]

You cannot poison your animal into health with drugs, chemo or radiation.

False statement.

Give flax seed oil plus cottage cheese to a dog with Lymphoma and it will be dead in 4-6 weeks as the disease runs its course.

It's one thing to supplement the diet of a dog that has cancer with vitamins and cofactors that might augment Chemotherapy. It's another to give testimonials about quack cures such as cottage cheese plus flax oil guaranteed to lead to the death of the dog. But then again it's the Internet and anything goes including testimonials. Sites like that make me cringe.

Have to agree with this

[VTJess03]

I assume that dragondawg quoted something on the website the link is to? This is an issue for human health and pet health....I think it's great to try to use holistic/natural/etc. stuff to help boost the immune system and try to prevent diseases, but they are not a substitute for the vet, any more than an all-natural, organic diet guarantees that you will stay out of the doctor's office. Hopefully, it can reduce the number of visits, but I wouldn't count on it.

I would suggest that if you want to try any of these measures, consult with a vet about it first just like you would your doctor before you start taking supplements for yourself, just to make sure you're not wasting money on preventatives that are worthless. If they work, great, but a lot of these companies that advertise such products are playing on the fears that we have about strong medicines, etc. Remember, they are in business to sell a product, and I don't think it's against advertising law to scare you into buying something.

Also, a lot of people get caught up in the myth that 'all-natural' means it's 100% safe and won't have reactions with other substances....please make sure you check that your supplements (regardless of whether it's your pet's or your own) will not react with other medications or supplements to cause more problems than if you didn't buy any. There are plenty of 'all-natural' things that can cause problems if not dosed correctly.

[CathyBogart]

I do like the idea of using holistic medicine as a preventative and even a treatment for a lot of things, but western medicine is here for a reason too, and something like cancer NEEDS to be seen by a vet. That doesn't mean you can't augment the treatment from the vet with reiki, homeopathy, supplements, or herbal therapy, I think it could be very helpful. (As long as you discuss things like herbs and supplements with the vet to make sure it won't mess with the treatments the nimal is already recieving.

As we all know, an ounce of prevention is worth 100 pounds of cure, and I personally think holistic medicine is a great way to prevent a lot of common ailments.

Case in point: My parents' dog Star suffers from separation anxiety in the extreme. She's been medicated for it for years and her personality has been permanently changed. Just this week I discovered that if I wrap her body snugly (but not tightly) in an ace bandage, we can leave her alone without her destroying the house. It hasn't totally gotten rid of the anxiety, but she copes with it much better now. I'm going to do the same thing during fireworks holidays and thunderstorms from now on.

[dragondawg]

I do like the idea of using holistic medicine as a preventative and even a treatment for a lot of things, but western medicine is here for a reason too, and something like cancer NEEDS to be seen by a vet. That doesn't mean you can't augment the treatment from the vet with reiki, homeopathy, supplements, or herbal therapy, I think it could be very helpful. (As long as you discuss things like herbs and supplements with the vet to make sure it won't mess with the treatments the nimal is already recieving.

As we all know, an ounce of prevention is worth 100 pounds of cure, and I personally think holistic medicine is a great way to prevent a lot of common ailments.

Case in point: My parents' dog Star suffers from separation anxiety in the extreme. She's been medicated for it for years and her personality has been permanently changed. Just this week I discovered that if I wrap her body snugly (but not tightly) in an ace bandage, we can leave her alone without her destroying the house. It hasn't totally gotten rid of the anxiety, but she copes with it much better now. I'm going to do the same thing during fireworks holidays and thunderstorms from now on.

Sounds like wrapping it you are preventing hyperventilation. My Clover dog who I got at 3 months of age was scared of any loud sound except- thunder and lightening. She still gets spooked by unusual sounds, but now pseudo-tolerates the vacumn sweeper instead of trying to jump onto the kitchen counters and climb the kitchen cabinets. Which is just as well as I don't believe the cabinets could hold up to a 74 lb dog trying to climb up on top of them. :O

When dealing with cancer there is some evidence that Omega-3s might help. There is weak evidence that certain Vitamins may act as agonists for certain Chemo agents. Likewise there is strong evidence that Coenzyme-Q will help guard the heart muscle against the toxic effects of doxirubicin. It should be easy enough for a site to advocate supplements citing references to scientific publications to lend some credence to the usefulness of the supplements. Put in the disclaimer that the supplements may help but are not meant as a cure or even as a major treatment.

Unfortunately there are many sites out there that prey on the fears of the desperate, and if you ever have a dog with cancer, then by definition one becomes desperate. There seems to be common themes in these sites:

1. The very first statement is the declaration of war against conventional medicine. There is usually included a vague reference or inference to a conspiracy by modern medicine where big Pharma plus the AMA are suppressing real cures. The Shirley site started with I was once a victim of the never-ending flow of propaganda from the medical establishment . Victim, propaganda of the medical establishment- close enuff.

2. The second theme is justification of the position by association of weak evidence or past antidotal stories. The ShirleysWellnessCafe site really jumped off the deep end with the following passage: From 1851 to 1863 there were 413 cases of cancer operated on at the Cancer Hospital, London,England. The everage time before the cancer returned was only 6 1/2 months. The leap of faith here is that based on surgery results of over 100 years ago, that cancer surgery is worthless or not a cure today. That is clearly not the case with many cancers, and especially if you put things into the context of the year 2006 instead of 1851.

3. The third theme are testimonials. By the time the reader has gotten to the testimonials they are suppose to be conditioned to the idea everything being presented is fact. Thus one encounters off hand statements like Numerous studies conducted on animals and humans show that flax has powerful anti-tumor properties and may reduce tumor size by 50%. Why no references to scientific journals such as the Journal of Oncology? Because no such studies exist. Sometimes the more clever sites will give references to non-scientific journals of their own authoring.

In summary supplements can be used to augment health in certain circumstances. There are many sites who peddle supplements that keep their claims within the bound of reason, and can cite weak or even strong references for their use in a given health area. But one should guard against going off the deep end of holistic medicine, and in particular holistic sites that border on a religious zeal against the medical establishment. If you ever have a dog that comes down with cancer, you will be very disappointed with holistic medicine, even if it involves a so called holistic Vet.

[.sarah]

I am switching my dogs to homeopathic treatment. We'll see how things go. I've heard wonderful things about it.

I believe there is still a place for allopathic medicine, but I'm no longer going to make it the first choice, except for certain things that I wouldn't trust homeopathy to cure or treat.