A Path With Paws

Did you know that we often share the same diseases and health conditions with our animal companions?

I can not count the times that I have been in a treatment room with someone and declared that their cat or dog had say asthma to have them comment, “that’s odd I also am asthmatic.”

Many times it goes beyond just two creatures. I remember telling one woman that I thought her cat had inflammatory bowel disease.

“That’s so strange, “ she said, “because my husband is in the hospital with IBD and has been for the past week and the whole time he has been in there my stomach has been bothering me also.”

Many families may not share specific diseases but related ones. I have found that people with fibromyalgia and lupus tend to have animals with inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and muscle or tendon pain (especially in the back). In Chinese medicine IBD, asthma and back tendon pain are one condition called liver qi constant. This is a disease that gets worse with stress like fibromyalgia and lupus.

When I first see an animal, I often ask their person if they have sensitivities to certain drugs or herbs because it is often the case that if the person is sensitive to something that their animal will be also. People that have strong reactions to acupuncture will often have animals with strong reactions to acupuncture. When people cannot tolerate a certain drug it is often the same for their animal.

So what is going on here?

The first response I usually get is, “Oh no! Did I make my animal sick?”

I don’t think that is the case.

And let me just add that not all people and animals share illness. Just because you had a dog die of cancer doesn’t mean you will and just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean that your cat will become diabetic.

I have definitely given this some thought over the years and have a couple theories on this strange phenomenon. These are from my own experience and I would be interested to hear other people’s ideas.

I think that we tend to attract into our lives people and animals who are like us. Because of this we also attract in animals who share the qualities that make them more prone to specific illnesses.

“But I picked my animal out, “you may say.

Did you really?

How many times was there just something about that one who caught your eye?

“He was just reaching through the bars of his cage, I couldn’t leave him there.”

“There was this one puppy who just wouldn’t leave my side.”

I think they often do as much of the choosing as we do.

I also believe that some animals choose to come to this plane of existence to help us with our experience. What I mean is that they are like our guardian angels in animal form. They come to help us work with our own health and healing and to teach us about grace and love. When an animal shares a disease condition with us they are helping us work with our own illness. In seeing how they work with disease we are able to bear the burden of ours better.

I’ve gotten in arguments with people over this idea because I’ve had people think that I was implying that animals are our servants. I believe the opposite, that they are more enlightened creatures than us and have chosen to help us.

I want to add one more important thought. Sometimes there is an environmental reason why we share disease. By all means if everyone in the house has lung conditions please make sure there isn’t a mold or toxin problems. Everyone knows about using the parakeets in the coal mines. Don’t ignore warnings that there is something wrong with your home.

When we share disease often curing ourselves helps our animals and helping our animals helps ourselves. When I began to work with my own anxiety my dog Jake became less anxious. When I am not taking good care of myself my cat Rudy will stop eating. All I have to do is look at Rudy or Jake to see where my own health is.

Often times we need to work towards healing ourselves to help our animal companions. Healing is not a journey to undertake alone. How amazing that we have these teachers and guilds right in our own homes!

The response of stroke patients to acupuncture, both human and animal, is absolutely incredible. Most of the animals I have treated usually recover or at least significantly improve after one or two treatments. And there is almost always improvement in the half hour between when the needles go in and when they come out.

I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to see an animal recover before your eyes. And all because these little acupuncture needles are stimulating their body to heal itself!

Yet most people don’t know that there is a good option for treating strokes. Western medicine has almost no answers or treatments for improving stroke symptoms and MDs and DVMs don’t often think to suggest acupuncture. Often even if it is suggested it is not right away and with strokes the less time that has passed the better. If I can see a stroke patient within the first few days I have a much better chance of bringing them back.

Please pass on this information to anyone with an older dog or cat. And also to those older human family members. You could save a life!

Just an interesting side note. The Chinese consider stroke to be a sudden rush of wind to the head which then has a hard time escaping the body and bounces around. One of the main herbs I use for stroke is an herb called Bai Ji Li or caltrop fruit. This herb helps to open up the body so the wind can escape and the body can heal. Check out the shape of the fruit. They are pointed to open up holes for the wind to escape through. I love when you can look at an herb and see it’s function!

The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
-Tao Te Ching

One of the vets I often work with has told me that the clients we share become more accepting, open, and confident as they work with me. I think half my work is helping people to accept the place their animals are at and being open to whatever happens. Sometimes I wonder how much of these animals’ healing is from this acceptance and not just the acupuncture work I do.

When animals are old and sick, that is the time to cherish them and love them. We don’t have to make everything better. There is only so long we are all given here and that is not a problem we are supposed to solve.

Take the time today to stop for a moment and look upon those you love and who mean so much to you, fuzzy or non-fuzzy. We have but this moment, everything else is just a memory or a future worry.

Much of my work is with older animals and because of this I see many animals pass on. It is always so sad when I lose an animal I have worked with. I try to appreciate the way that I have been touched by being a part of their life. For a fuzzy being to have trusted me to help and included me in their family and circle of care opens my heart.

Think of people, places you have known
Sculpted out of sand
The tide’s coming in and we’re going nowhere
– Jason Webley

From my past notes-
Treating Serena today. She was very resistant, trying to get away and glaring at me. Finally I offered to take her static head energy away but I told her it was up to her how much to give me. She began to calm down and started purring. She was ok with that as long as she was in charge. She also didn’t want me to tell her mom what I was doing. Somehow it was important to her to not only be in charge but to not have me be viewed as the healer. This was about her not me.

When I came to visit her a month ago she was ready to leave. She had this amazing headache and was very open to me removing it because she had given up and just wanted the pain to end. Many times with animals they need to feel what it feels like not to have pain before they can get there themselves. This visit she felt better and was ready to be in charge again.

A few months after I wrote this Serena passed away from complications from her brain tumor. I’ll always remember her as being the spunky blond girl she was, very confident, loving, and opinioned.

Another little dog I work with named Buddy came to see me a couple years ago, in extreme pain and desperation after re-injuring his back and becoming unable to move his back legs at all. He would have happily left this plane of existence at that point. After I was able to work with him and decrease the pain and get a little bit of sensation back in his legs he was a whole new dog. He was ready to live again and he knew he could get better. And he did in happy little steps along the path of healing until today he walks almost normally again. He believed what he felt and used that to heal himself.

Us humans are so focused on words that we don’t often pay attention to the real cues our bodies are sending us. These are the cues I work with when I do acupuncture treatments. We end up with thought patterns stuck in our heads which tell us what we should feel and believe. Many times these develop from what doctors or family members have told us and aren’t even our own thoughts. We tend to believe these thoughts more than the reality of what we are actually feeling. Often these thought patterns are harder to change than to just deal with the pain or disease. In humans, treating chronic pain involves both the body and the mind.

How many times have you been sick or hurt and not listened to your body telling you to slow down or do less? And then ended up getting sicker? Animals don’t argue with what their body is telling them, they just do it. I know I still have a lot to learn about this from the animals I work with.

With animals they believe what they feel so if you show them they can have decreased pain they will respond and believe that with their whole body and not just their minds. Animals don’t get stuck in their heads in the same way we do and because of this they can be present with the current moment and have no attachments to what the next moment will bring.

In my work, I help these animals find the healing energy that is already there. Their bodies know how to heal, but sometimes they need help in finding the way. Once they know the direction to go, they naturally travel there themselves, I just give them a hand to hold along the way.

Adam sent me this interesting article today, Communication with Cats. The guy who wrote it rigged up a special platform for his cat so they can drive around together.

I’ve often wondered why the animals I work with seem to be extra intelligent. He brings up the point that the more we communicate with our animals the more they communicate back. If we treat them like just an animal they give up on engaging with us. Makes a lot of sense. Once again they understand so much more than most people give them credit for.

I found this interesting article in the New York Times today Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You. While lately we have been hearing about how a little dirt and animal hair is actually good for us, this article goes one step further in explaining that intestine worms may also be good for our immune systems.

In fact they have found that some intestinal worms actually help people (should be the same for our animal friends) with autoimmune diseases such as asthma, allergies, or even some of the more severe ones like MS, diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease. It makes me wonder if some of the rise in autoimmune illness in animals is linked to the routine deworming some of our animals receive. I hope they do more research on this subject!

<People often ask, “Should I vaccinate my animal friend? And if so, how often?”

Many holistic veterinarians will tell you not to vaccinate. I disagree, after all vaccination can be a very good thing. After spending many years working and volunteering for shelters and rescue groups I know first hand how devastating some of these diseases can be. We have vaccines which work really well, but we give them way too often and we also vaccinate for things we don’t need to. Vaccines are not benign and not without risks.

Here is my vaccine protocol for cats who are not in kennel or shelter environments

• FVRCP (modified live without chlamydia) one vaccine at 16 weeks of age, booster at 1 year of age
• FeLV only if they go outside, use the same schedule as FVRCP. Use the vectored (recombinant) vaccine if possible. Hopefully there will be more information on how long the recombinant FeLV vaccine lasts soon. Until then, I do not offer an alternative recommendation for the recombinant form of this vaccine.
• Rabies as required by law

In this article I would like to share my thoughts on vaccination and provide some information on the different vaccines we have available for cats. I promise to share some dog vaccination information soon!

In cats we vaccinate mainly for viruses. There are three main types of virus vaccines we use

• The first is a modified live vaccine, which is made from a living virus that has been modified so it cannot cause disease. These modified vaccine viruses replicate in the body just like a normal virus does and have the advantage of creating a very strong immune response and very good protection against the virus. However because they can replicate these vaccines can induce a mild disease in normal animals and occasionally can make a debilitated animal very sick or even cause death. Because of this modified live vaccines should never be given to very sick animals or animals with severely suppressed immune systems. One interesting note on modified live vaccines is that since the vaccine virus replicates in the body it can be shed and passed on to other animals. Many times these vaccinated animals can spread immunity. However on the flip side of this, recently vaccinated animals should not be around very sick animals or animals without intact immune systems.
• The second type is a killed vaccine, which is made from real viruses that have been killed. They stimulate an immune response in the body but not as strong or long lasting a response as a modified live vaccine. The big advantage is that this type of vaccine virus cannot replicate in the body and will not make an animal sick from the killed virus itself. However this type of vaccine usually need to be given in series of two or more shots and killed vaccines are almost always adjuvanted or modified with an agent that causes a stronger immune reaction. These adjuvents can lead to strong vaccine reactions, can cause cancer and can induce autoimmune diseases. So while the virus cannot make your animal sick the adjuvant can. Many times the side effects of the vaccine adjuvant will take years to emerge.
• There is also a third type of vaccine called a vectored vaccine. This uses a virus, that we know is harmless, which has been genetically modified to have the proteins on the surface that are the same as a harmful virus. The animal is given this virus vaccine and gains immunity to the virulent virus that it is being vaccinated against. These vaccines are mainly in the development phase and we know much less about if there are any longterm side effects.

Here is a little information about the different feline vaccines out there.

• FVRCP should be given to every cat, but only once or twice. This is usually a modified live combination vaccine against Feline Panleukopenia (also called Feline Distemper), Calici Virus, and Rhinotracheitis. This combination vaccine sometimes also vaccinates against other diseases such as Chlamydia. Make sure it is just the three above. Chlamydia is something we almost never see in cats and the vaccine for Chlamydia which is added to the FVRCP has a lot of side effects.

  Panleukopenia can be a very deadly disease and cats should be vaccinated against it. It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting and death especially in young cats and brain damage to kittens in utero.

  Calicivirus and Rhinotracheitis are both upper respiratory viruses and are usually not deadly.

  This vaccine has a very high protection rate against panleukopenia approaching 100%, however recently a major problem has emerged with the vaccine. The vaccine virus is made by growing virus on feline kidney cells. The problem with this is that small amounts of kidney cells get in the vaccine and can cause not just an immune response to the vaccine but also to the cat’s own kidneys. In other words it can cause the cat’s immune system to fight against and destroy it’s own kidneys. Many of us believe that the overuse of this vaccine has created the epidemic of kidney disease that we see in cats eight year of age and older. And recent studies have shown that cats do develop antibodies against their kidney cells.

  Here are some good resources for more information on kidney disease and the link to FVRCP vaccination.
  Colorado State University Insight
  Parenteral Administration of FVRCP Vaccines Induces Antibodies Against Feline Renal Tissues

  Given correctly, I believe this vaccine is a very good vaccine. However most cats are over vaccinated, increasing their chances of having kidney related problems. One dose of FVRCP given to a cat over 16 weeks of age will usually last for the cat’s lifetime, yet it is routinely given every one to three years. Why? Because the vaccine companies have not done studies past three years. They would prefer that you buy their vaccines every one to three years and have no incentive to do these studies. Luckily some universities are doing them and so far the results are showing that FVRCP has lifetime immunity.

  I recommend people vaccinate their cats at 16 weeks of age and booster at a year to cover any chance of vaccine failure. This vaccine does not have to be given again. In shelters younger kittens should be vaccinated every couple weeks until 16 weeks of age but ideally an intra-nasal vaccine would be used. This is because of the high risk of deadly panleukopenia in this environment.



• FeLV should never be given to indoor only cats.It is an adjuvanted vaccine and has been linked to deadly fibrosarcomas in cats. FeLV is a real and deadly virus which usually causes death within 2-4 years of catching it. Something to remember however is that it is not a virus we can bring into the house. It is spread through direct contact or sharing drinking water. This virus can not live on dry surfaces. Indoor only cats not only don’t need to be vaccinated for FeLV but they shouldn’t be because the risk of them getting cancer from the vaccine is highly than the risk of them getting outside and catching FeLV. Outdoor cats should probably be vaccinated and given one booster three weeks later for this virus.

  There is a new vectored vaccine for FeLV, which should be a lot safer, however it hasn’t been out long enough for us to know for sure. We also have very little information on how long this vaccine will last.

• Rabies is required by law in most states. Because of this it is the hardest vaccine to make recommendations on because of the public health issue. The vaccine can induce fibrosarcomas like the FeLV vaccine. It also has many side effects especially in older animals and animals prone to seizures. However in many places it is required by law for animals to be vaccinated every one to three years. If your animal is not vaccinated and they bite someone and the person who was bit presses it, in most states they can have your animal killed and tested for rabies. Because of this I usually recommend that people follow the requirements of the law when it comes to this vaccine

  The rabies vaccine used to be a modified live but it was occasionally causing real rabies so now it is a killed vaccine. For some strange reason it is still given like a modified live vaccine without a booster. The recent thought and studies have shown that because of this many animals are never getting full immunity even though it is given every year. It should really be given once and then boostered three weeks later. Currently titers are not accepted as proof of immunity in the continential united states. They should be! Hopefully the laws will change to accept titers soon. This vaccine probably only needs to be given two or three times on a correct booster schedule to induce lifetime immunity.

• The FIP vaccine should never be given. Luckily it is rarely given these days. Please, please never give this vaccine and if your veterinarian recommends it, think about getting a new veterinarian. This vaccine does not protect against FIP and may actually induce it. FIP is a mutation of a corona virus that almost all cats carry. This vaccine only works if the cat has never been exposed to corona virus, which is less than 5% of the feline population. FIP is not a contagious disease. A cat with FIP can not pass FIP to another cat. In addition this vaccine can cause a higher rate of mutation to the deadly FIP in cats who have corona virus in their system. Please see FIP is not a contagious disease



• If you vaccinate your cat for FIV they may be euthanized if they end up in a shelter. I do not recommend this vaccine. FIV is not a highly contagious disease and the vaccine is a killed adjuvented vaccine which holds a risk of fibrosarcoma. Fibrosarcoma is deadly, FIV is usually not. Currently there is no test that can distinguish between a vaccinated cat and a FIV positive cat .Once you vaccine your cat with this vaccine they will always test positive for the FIV virus and if they end up in a shelter will probably be euthanized. Their offspring will also probably test positive for FIV if the mother is vaccinated. If for some reason you give this vaccine always microchip your cat so they will not be euthanized if they get lost and test positive.
  Here is a informative article on FIV written by the American Association of Feline Practitioners.

Here are a couple important last thoughts

• Never vaccinate your animal if they are sick or going under anesthesia. This makes their immune system have to do two things at once, get better from their illness or clear anesthesia and build immunity from the vaccine. It also can lead to a vaccine failure if their immune system can not mount a proper immune response against the vaccine because it is busy with other things. It is better to make a second visit in to the vet for the vaccine when your animal is well.
• Also avoid giving more then two vaccines at a time. Ideally each vaccine would be given separately but with cats because of the stress of the trip to the vet (to both them and their humans:-), sometimes it makes sense to give two and avoid trips. I highly recommend not giving more than two at once because I have seen many animals become extremely ill after getting three vaccines.

Please send me your questions on this subject!

Part 2 Dogs

I found this article today and thought it was fun to see what people are naming their pets. I’ve known many animals with the common names but none with the unusual ones. What’s the most unusually named animal you have met?

Top dog names
1. Max
2. Bailey
3. Bella
4. Molly
5. Lucy
6. Buddy
7. Maggie
8. Daisy
9. Sophie
10. Chloe

Top cat names
1. Max
2. Chloe
3. Tigger
4. Tiger
5. Lucy
6. Smokey
7. Oliver
8. Bella
9. Shadow
10. Charlie

Most unusual dog names
1. Rush Limbark
2. Sirius Lee Handsome
3. Rafikikadiki
4. Low Jack
5. Meatwad
6. Peanut Wigglebutt
7. Scuddles Unterfuss
8. Sophie Touch & Pee
9. Admiral Toot
10. Spatula

Most unusual cat names
1. Edward Scissorpaws
2. Sir Lix-a-lot
3. Optimus Prrrime
4. Buddah Pest
5. Snoop Kitty Kitty
6. Miss Fuzzbutt
7. 80 Bucks
8. Sparklemonkey
9. Rosie Posie Prozac
10. Toot Uncommon

On Mondays, I descend down into the basement to disappear into my world of herbs. Once there I spend a couple hours smelling, touching and tasting, to create formulas to help the animals I work with. As I work I can hear the ancient wisdom of the past herbal masters whispering to me and feel the vibrations of these plants, many which were on this planet before us. To me working with these herbs is like cooking, only I am making up a recipe for healing by harnessing the amazing powers of these living things.

One of my clients is a paralyzed dachshund. Making up a formula for him, I call upon four of my favorite herbs to form a blood tonic. The four are all roots – foxglove, peony, Chinese angelica, and lovage – and are earthy and strong. I love to tea these in the winter and sit on my window seat sipping the strong rich tea they make. I can feel how these herbs work to strengthen me from the inside so that I have the energy to heal. This is what I want for this little dog.

Roots are also very grounding because they come from the earth and they help to hold us to the ground so we do not float away with our thoughts. In China this herbs are cooked up with a chicken soup in the winter to help older people with aches and pains.

Most of these dachshunds have closed channels because of traumatic disc injury. I can tonify the blood all I want but it is like trying to send water down a plugged hose. I add a handful of earthworms into this formula, which the Chinese say get into the blood channels and wiggle them open like a roto rooter opening a clogged drain.

After opening and tonifying, I add a few generous pinches of the light and vibrant orange safflowers to move and lift up these heavy grounding roots. These along with peach seed will help to move the blood down this little guy’s back legs so they can work again.

Finally to work with pain, I add corydalis, which is a powerful mover of blood, and painkiller.

Chinese Herbal Medicine is all about how the herbs work together and most formulas have ten or more herbs. It is an art based on the powers that emerge when these herbs joint forces. No one herb is powerful on its own but together these amazing plants can perform miracles.

Many times I will not know what I am going to put in a formula until I am staying in front of my herbs. Then one herb will just leap out and say, “use me!” Sometimes it will be an herb I am not familiar with but when I rush to my materia medica and look it up turns out to be exactly what I need.

Plants have an energy and a power of their own and often my job is to listen more than to think. When I think too much I come up with a generic formula, which may help, but my most powerful formulas come when the herbs lead the way.

By the end of my day, I am usually covered with herb dust and my nose is full of the many smells and flavors of the herbs I have mingled with. Up the stairs I go once again out to the busy world of traffic and electronics…until next week.

This formula is now available through my etsy store Kingdom of Basil

I can upon this story today, Outlaw Bikers Rescue Orphaned Kittens, about a group of bikers, who had rescued 180 kittens about to end up on the streets. I found the group, Rescue Ink’s, website and learned that these men had committed themselves to rescuing animals and ending animal abuse. Believe me if I was an abused dog this is who I would want to come to my rescue. I don’t think these guys would be afraid of confronting anyone!

In my work I have found that animal people just have a way of coming together. It matters not how we look, our income level, our backgrounds, or our politics. There is just something about the people who speak for those who can not speak for themselves that you have to admire and love.