Clementine – boxer kisses fully intact

August 12th, 2013

clemEvery month Clementine and her sister Maggie would come rushing into my office for their monthly acupuncture. Clem is great at wagging her whole body in excitement and giving boxer kisses and Maggie would run around looking for the treats.

After I had handed out treats and let them get some of the bounces out, I would hold my breathe as I would lift up Clementine’s upper lip and inspect the area underneath. Every month I would smile at their human Wendy and say, “looks good” and then we would move into putting the small acupuncture needles into the spots on her body that help to boost immunity and control cancer. For 12 months I did this and the finally time she came I smiled even more than normal. Clem had been in remission for twelve months – the oncologist had said that the cancer would come back in that time. It hadn’t, she had beat it with the herbal and natural treatments we had used to help her body fight back.

I had worked with Clementine or Clem as she was often called, for many years to treat a horrible skin condition that had made her hair fall out and her skin as thick as an elephants. She had responded wonderfully to herbs and a diet shift and now her skin looked almost normal. She had a small lump on her upper lip and when it suddenly grew larger we discovered it was a mast cell tumor. Boxers are pretty prone to these but it made sense to remove it and figure out how aggressive it was. Of all the cancers I treat mast cells are often the least invasive and the easiest to deal with but some can be highly aggressive so it is good to know what grade they are.

Clem came through the surgery wonderfully but when the biopsy results came back it was discovered that the cancer cells went to the edges of the tissue removed, in other words we had not gotten all the cancer. We also learned that the tumor was a grade 2 mast cell, which is not the most aggressive, but not the least either. Her veterinarian went back to do surgery a second time, taking more tissue and once again was not able to get all the cancer. Because of the location he was afraid to do a third surgery and referred her to one of the local oncologists. If we did nothing this tumor would definitely come back again but further surgery would probably involve having to reconstruct her lip area which for a boxer who likes to kiss is a big deal.

The oncologist recommended full diagnostics to make sure the cancer had not spread. After getting a clean ultrasound and lymph node aspirate we felt pretty certain we were just dealing with the one spot, good news!

The oncologist gave Clem and her family a few options

  • Do nothing and it will come back within the year, probably much sooner than that
  • Further surgery, which would involve reconstructing her lip, would be expensive and held no guarantee that we would get all the cancer.
  • A series of 15 radiation treatments that would risk burning the healthy tissue, would require anesthesia and would cost over $5000. This gave us the best chance of remission, 95% but also held the most risk especially for a cancer that was not very aggressive. It also could leave her permanently scared and there was a risk of damaging her eyes as well.
  • Chemotherapy, which only held about a 60% chance of preventing reoccurrence, would be expensive and potentially have side effects.

To her family and me none of these sounded that promising. I also felt like we had a really good chance to get remission without using anything toxic or harmful. I find that if we can get cancer down to a microscopic level that natural therapies can very often take care of the small amount of cancer cells that are remaining. Clem’s family agreed that natural options held a better chance of remission without risking hurting her body and we began treating her.

Clem was already on a raw high protein diet but her family started growing their own broccoli sprouts to add to that. Wendy did some online research and found that the broccoli sprouts were higher in the cancer fighting ingredients than mature broccoli was. In addition she was put on one of my main cancer formulas for mast cell tumors, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang in addition to Coenzyme Q10, IP6 and medicinal mushrooms. We also started her on monthly acupuncture treatments to booster her immune system and help her body to fight the cancer.

clem2It has been a few months since I have seen Clem and I miss her bouncy Boxer ways. She has that sly way of boxer kissing that would knock you over if you were not careful. And these days she looks beautiful – she has a shiny coat, an extra bounce in her step and a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. You wouldn’t believe that this is a dog who is not only a cancer survivor but also was half hairless before. As much as I miss seeing her and her sister Maggie I’m happy that we reached that point where she doesn’t need my treatments anymore. And a while back the two dog sisters got to move to one of our northwest islands where they have more space to play and run through the fields and on the beaches. I often picture her and Maggie, two happy dogs running into the wind down a long stretch of beach without a care in the world.

Return to Integrative and Holistic Methods for Treating Cancer in Cats and Dogs

Transitional Cell Carcinoma – holistic and integrative medicine to support peeing

August 11th, 2013

A dog named Rooney started it all. Path With Paws would not exist without Rooney, this book would not exist and I don’t know if I would have begun by quest into treating animals with cancer without Rooney. See Rooney’s wisdom.

Rooney had transitional cell carcinoma, I was new to acupuncture having just got my certification, knew a little about herbs but not much, and was excited to have a new patient to treat and of course a bit nervous about making that first house call. Rooney had been getting acupuncture for a couple months from another veterinary acupuncturist who had suddenly passed away and so I was called in to take over. I expected to meet a dog on death’s doorstep instead I meet a happy fluffy chow mix full of life. Rooney went on to live for almost three years with transitional cell carcinoma. And I realized that cancer was really not a death sentence for Rooney but just another bump along the road of life.

In Rooney’s case we combined weekly acupuncture with monthly chemotherapy. This worked well for Rooney. Since gaining the herb knowledge I now have I would have probably also done some herbal work with Rooney and I have found that usually with herbal work we do not need to do the acupuncture every week. So here are some thoughts on TCC.

Unfortunately Traditional Cell carcinoma almost always occurs at the trigone of the bladder where the urethra exits the bladder and the ureters enter the bladder. Because of this surgery to remove the tumor is almost always not an option. While it is a slower cancer to spread, the location of the tumor makes it so that it quickly obstructs the urethra making it so a dog can not pee.

  • Peeing is the most important. In Rooney’s case her people choose to put in a port to drain her urine because she could not pee when she was diagnosed. This can be a difficult decision. For most of Rooney’s illness she did not need the port and could pee on her own within a month of starting chemotherapy and acupuncture. It is a big surgery for a cancer that often takes animals within months. However the reason most dogs are euthanized is that they can’t pee. I don’t think it is the right option for every dog, especially a dog who is very sick or old but something to consider if they can’t pee. It is a lot of care on the part of the humans involved. Your dog will be dependent on you draining the port three times a day if they can not pee on their own. It is a big decision.
  • Talk to an oncologist – this disease can sometimes be successfully treated with chemotherapy. Usually there is not a cure, but chemotherapy can keep things in check in some dogs. Chemotherapy is not the right option for every dog but get all your facts and then make the decision that is right for your companion.
  • Piroxicam is a drug similar to rimadyl that can slow TCC’s progression. Usually there are few side effects and a great improvement in quality of life at least for a short time. I highly recommend talking to your vet about using this drug.
  • Acupuncture – I can not say enough about acupuncture for this form of cancer. It is a safe and effective treatment and if harsher drugs like some of the chemotherapeutics are used it can help with side effects also.

In all truth I have not had a transitional cell carcinoma to treat since Rooney. However these are some of the herbal treatments that are widely used in our community and I would reach for if I did.

  1. Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang is one of the best herbals for both TTC, prostate and kidney tumors. It can slow the growth of tumors in the lower abdomen.
  2. Vit A/D in high doses may be a good option for this cancer if you are working with a holistic vet. These high dose therapies can hurt or destroy the kidneys so make sure you have a vet on board that can help make sure this doesn’t happen.
  3. Artemisinin can help to slow this and many other cancers down.
  4. Xiao Chai Hu Tang can also be a good herbal for slowing this type of cancer. In addition this formula can help with some of the side effects of chemotherapy and/or piroxicam.

As always please check with your animal’s regular vet before using this formula.

Return to Integrative and Holistic Methods for Treating Cancer in Cats and Dogs.

Saying goodbye to our animal friends – how to decide when it is time to help them die

August 4th, 2013

Our animal companion become so much a part of our lives but their lives are shorter than ours and at one point comes the time we need to say goodbye and make the decision to let them go. It seems to be rare to have our dog and cat friends pass on their own easily so many times the decision must be made by us. As difficult as it can be to make the decision to let our best friend go, it is an amazing gift of kindness we can make to decide to let them go peacefully when they reach a point of suffering.

How do we decide when it is time?

There is no right answer to that question and I think we all need to look into our own hearts and decide when that is right. I often find that when people are very close to their animals they know when that time is but there is also often a period of questioning that comes before then. Is it time, is it not time? Are they happy at all anymore? Will they get better? I also find that animals often go through ups and downs when they are getting close to dying. Two good days, two bad ones, going down hill and then having a day where they connect again with us.

That other thing I think we need to consider is that our animals sometimes need time to make their own peace with leaving us. They may realize that their bodies are wearing out but they love us so much that they aren’t sure if they can leave or even if we will be ok with their passing.

I often remind people, who have animals approaching death, to do their own work to come to terms with their animal passing. And it is important when you reach that place, to make sure that you tell your animal friend that it is ok to die, that they are loved but that their human (you) will be ok when they leave. This doesn’t mean that we will not be sad or it will not be hard. Believe me it sometimes feels like a giant hole has been torn in the universe, they leave a large space. But if you truly love someone and they are suffering and there is not a hope that they will get better, I find we want them to be able to pass on and not have to suffer anymore.

Because we do not have nursing homes for our animal friends we become the main caregivers. Depending on your animal’s condition, how available we are can make a large difference. If you work from home you may be able to do more hospice care than someone who is gone eight hours a day. It isn’t far to keep an animal here who cannot move and will be sitting in urine for an eight-hour day. However if they are not in pain and you can be home with them during the day and make sure they can be turned and any accidents get cleaned up immediately there is nothing wrong with taking care of a severely disabled animal. It is completely acceptable to decide to let an animal pass on because we can not properly care for them or give them what they need.

We also need to think about our own care and sanity. I choose to let my own dog Melbrey go when he was still having pretty good days because he would be up all night and anxious and I couldn’t sleep, nor could he. Without sleep I could not care for him. We tried drugs, herbs and putting him in a different room. All caused him to be more anxious and the drugs made him pee all over himself. I made the decision that I would care for him the best I could but when I felt my sanity slipping I would have to let him go. It was difficult but I followed through on that decision. I felt like we may have shortened his life by a few weeks but he was loved and cared for well when he was here. Shortly after I let him go he returned to me in spirit to let me know what he could jump and bounce again (two activities he had not been able to do in his older years). While I had a lot of doubts about letting him go, I have come to peace with the decision.

Sometimes reaching out to a vet, a hospice group or other people who are skilled in working with death will help. I have worked with my friend Rose DeDan with almost all my animals surrounding death. She is a local shaman and has helped to make my animal companions’ passing easier and has been able to facilitate communication between us so that I could say goodbye at the end. Many of my clients have also worked with her.

Some things I tell people to watch for are the following
Is your cat or dog eating?
Do they still enjoy pets and affection? Do they make eye contact?
What is their pain level? Can medication take away most of their pain?
Is there a chance that things will turn around and they will get better? Or is what they have terminal and will continue to get worse?
How is your health? Are you able to take care of yourself well enough to be a good caregiver to your animal companion?

I also have the three-day rule I often follow, many older animals seem to have stretches of one or two bad days but when they reach three they are much less likely to bounce back. Three days without eating or connecting is often a sign they are ready to pass on if they have a terminal disease.

No situation is the same. We must all find our own peace. And when we truly love there is no bad decision when it is made with the heart. Follow your heart, love them while they are here, and remember that they will forever live on in own hearts because love never dies. We lose a friend but gain a furry guardian angel.

Supporting Radiation Treatments Naturally in Dogs and Cats with cancer

July 25th, 2013

Radiation can be a very effective treatment for certain types of cancer, especially the tumors that are very locally invasive but slow to spread to other regions of the body. However it is also one of the hardest on our animal friends. Not only is there a risk of damaging healthy tissue but the largest issue is that full anesthesia is required for every treatment and often times treatments are required at least weekly and many times daily or multiple times a week. That is a lot of anesthesia for an animal who is already fighting cancer.

So should we completely run out doing radiation? I don’t think so. There are certain cancers that you can get a cure from it and in the case of bone cancer sometimes one or two treatments can significantly help with pain. And the machines used to deliver radiation are getting better and more exact. There are now linear accelerators that have built in CAT scan capabilities so that the technician can see exactly where the tumor is while they are dosing it with radiation.

Is there things we can do to support our animal companions when they are going through radiation? You bet there is!

So if you haven’t already caught on to it, I’m a large supporter of acupuncture. Here is somewhere that it can be very important. Not only to help our animals fight the cancer but to promote helping from radiation damaged tissue and help clear the anesthesia and its side effects from the body. See Acupuncture for animals – stoking the healing power within.

There are also some very important herbs that can help not just with healing and supporting the body but also with enhancing the effects of the radiation treatments. Here’s some herbals to consider during radiation treatment.

  • Milk Thistle is a wonderful herbal for preventing and repairing chemotherapy and radiation damage to tissues through its antioxidant effects. It also helps support the liver which processes some of the anesthesia drugs. It has been shown that milk thistle enhances the effects of both radiation and chemo, making them work better to destroy cancer cells.
  • Ginkgo has actually been shown to sensitive cancer cells to radiation. In addition it helps support blood flow which can aid in healing damaged tissue and helps to support the brain by increasing blood flow. I use a mixture of ginkgo and hawthorn called heart and brain support
  • Formulas that contain Tao Ren or Xing Ren also have been shown to enhance radiations effects in killing cancer cells. These formulas including Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang, Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang or Sanshedan Chuanbeiye. Generally for animals undergoing radiation I use Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang for tumors in the front half of the body and Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang for tumors in the back half. Sanshedan Chuanbeiye can be used for any tumor. See Herbal treatments holding cancer at bay for more about these herbal formulas

One more thing to note. Artemisinin absolutely should not be used if radiation therapy is being done. It should be stopped three days before the first treatment and not restarted for a month after the last radiation treatment. Radiation blasts iron from cancer cells into the surrounding healthy tissue and artemisinin can damage healthy cells if used with radiation.

As with all article in this book and on this blog please check with your animals primary care veterinarian before making any changes in their protocol.

Back to Integrative and Holistic Approaches for treating cancer in animals.

Kingdom of Basil – a healing clinic for animals and their people

July 21st, 2013

I have long dreamed of having a healing clinic filled with many different skilled holistic practitioners for both humans and animals and a small retail herbal shop. A couple of weeks ago I began looking for the space to finally bring my dream to life. And so Kingdom of Basil is in the first stages of being born.

I picture a little brick storefront with large front windows full of plants. When you walk in the smell of herbs meets you at the door. For those of you who have never walked into a Chinese pharmacy it is hard to explain the wonderful delight of so many flavors mingling together.

Behind the herb shop will be a healing practice full of wonderful acupuncturists, naturopathic physicians, massage practitioners, and other healing workers for animals and their people. Maybe a massage therapist who can massage a sick older dog and then ease the tension in the shoulders of his caregiver who has been worried and having to carry him up and down the stairs. Somewhere that a cat can get acupuncture as her human sits with her and then she can sit on the comfortable couch as her human companion gets a treatment also.

If I can find a large enough space I would love to have classes in the evenings on herbs and different types of healing and support groups for those who have recently lost animal companions or are working with an animal with illness. Maybe a lending library for those who want to come in and look through books on holistic health.

Let me tell you a little more about the herb shop. As many of you know herbs are one of my true loves. My pharmacy has grown to almost 300 herbs over the years and I would love to have a place to show them off. Can you imagine dog treats infused with herbs for health? Chocolates for humans with calming herbs such as lavender in them? Tinctures for when our animal friends have to go under anesthesia. Ground herbs to mix in homemade food of older dogs. Herbs to ease some of the pain and discomfort of growing old. If I can get a human practitioner involved I could also expand more of this out to humans. I started my online herbal shop Kingdom of Basil late last year; this would give it a home and bring it to life.

I picture this clinic as a kind of third place for those with companion animals. Somewhere that folks could meet up and get care and knowledge and share experience. Somewhere that brings to life the idea that we live in a system, that treating the dog or cat is treating the family and that treating the humans is treating the animals. We are all connected and care should not be separated by species. I want to bring this idea to life!

I know that it may take awhile to be able to do all this fully, but I am ready to begin. If you are in the Seattle area and are interested in joining us please let me know. I am looking for practitioners who would want to run their own businesses but share space and resources. kingdomofbasil (at) gmail (dot) com .

Fibrosarcoma – how to treat with surgery and holistic medicine in cats and dogs

June 30th, 2013

Lucy was a beautiful black cat, her full name being Lucy Furr. She wasn’t very old and had quite a bit of spunk. Most of her acupuncture treatment involved putting her in a small bathroom and trying my best to keep the needles in for at least 20 minutes as she bounced around. She didn’t mind the little pokes but she sure did mind me thinking she should stay still. I took over her care from my acupuncture teacher when she was about eight months out from having a fibrosarcoma removed from her shoulder. Her vets hadn’t hadn’t been able to get clean margins, which isn’t unusual for this type of cancer, so had told her human mom that 100% it would come back. Lucy wasn’t very old however and the recommendation of multiple radiation treatments did not sit well with her human mom so she had explored other options of trying to fight this cancer.

A little over a year later when Lucy reached the two year mark from her surgery, I said goodbye to her and her mom hoping I never had to see them again but with a promise to call me if anything did happen. The tumor had not returned and the likelihood it would at that point was very, very slim. Seven years later I have not heard from them.

As many of you may know, fibrosarcoma is a cancer we see mainly in cats and almost always it is induced by either a rabies or feline leukemia vaccination. These days most of these vaccinations are given down the leg, so if a tumor develops the whole leg can be removed which is most often curative although harsh. There was a recent study that looked at the idea of giving the vaccine in the end of the tail and if this comes into practice removing a tail is obviously better than a leg. Lucy had vaccinations before this practice was used by most vets so full removal of a limb was not an option. Fibrosarcomas are very locally aggressive and while they do not spread to other areas of the body quickly they do usually cause death if not addressed.

I should add that we do see fibrosarcoma in dogs and also in cats unrelated to vaccination.

So what are my recommendation for fibrosarcoma?

  • If at all possible these tumors need to be removed. It is almost impossible to treat without bringing them down to a microscopic level. If they are at a microscopic level either herbal medicine or radiation becomes an option for treatment. If it is impossible to remove these tumors either because of health issues or because of location then herbal medicine can be used to slow down growth. At this point there is no way to have remission if the tumor is not surgically removed.
  • Sanshedan Chuan Bei Ye seems to have a good result against these tumors – For Lucy we actually got this compounded into a transdermal that could be rubbed on her ear. In addition the apricot seed in SSD helps to enhance the effects of radiation if this treatments are used.
  • Medical Mushrooms to include maitake, shiitake, reishi, turkey tail and/or cordyceps. – this is one place where strengthening the immune system really comes in, if you can make them part of the food all the better. I am able to add glycerin mushroom tincture to my homemade cat food, it generally tastes ok and cats tolerate it.
  • Hoxsey like formula or Cancer Detox Formula can help to shrink down these tumors. This is an especially good formula if margins are not gotten from surgery or if surgery is not an option because of health or location. Hoxsey works especially well when tumors are very hot and inflamed.
  • Artemisinin – can be used if there is no radiation treatments and can help to keep cancer from returned, slow down tumor growth and in some cases shrink the size of tumors.
  • Acupuncture – this is a must to strengthen the immune system and is something cats tolerate well.
  • Cancer Diet – yes, using food to fight cancer is very important and especially in cats who can get sick from too many supplements. See You are what you eat – a fighting cancer machine.
  • Talk to an oncologist. This is one of those cancers that often occurs in young animals and because they have their whole life ahead of them I think it is very important to seek all the possible options. There are no machines for radiation treatments that combine a particle accelerator (what delivers the radiation) with a CAT scan machine. These machines are able to target radiation to the tumor disease much more accurately than our old machines could and are much safer to use. Radiation still requires anesthetic and often daily or multiple time a week treatments for between 2-4 weeks. The new machines are expensive but often you can get full remissions if most of the tumor can be removed first.

As with all articles on this site please check with your animal’s primary veterinarian before starting any supplements or herbs.

Back to Holistic and Integrative Approaches to Cancer

InteroSTOP – help for calming dogs and cats too

June 18th, 2013

I recently attended the ACVIM veterinary conference for internal medicine specialists. This is by far my favorite mainstream medicine conference because there are always many lectures on the new cutting edge medicine being developed.

This conference I was able to attend lectures on using stem cells to regrow and repair damaged and failing kidneys, using modified viruses to target cancer, using proton pump inhibitors to help chemotherapy work in resistant patients, and some of the new cancer drugs that are safer to use and target cancer cells better without as many of the side effects of traditional chemotherapy. It is all very cool stuff and while more study and development needs to be done it is clear to me that medicine is going to be moving and changing in the next 10-20 years.

At any big conference there is always a large exhibition hall with vendors showing off their latest drugs and products, many of them I walk by as they are not things that I actively use in practice. However a new product called InteroSTOP caught my eye this year with its claim to help calm dogs and cats with a synthesized pig pheromone. I have long been a fan of Feliway and DAP that work in the same way but have found less success with DAP. The company that makes InteroSTOP happily gave me a free product to try.

My own dog Alli is very reactive to the UPS trucks that come to our house on a daily basis (both my husband and I have businesses from home). We have done quite a bit of behavior modification but unless we have treats in front of her the whole time the truck is parked she is jumping up and down and barking. I thought this is the perfect place to try this new product.

The InteroSTOP spray combines a loud sound with the pheromone. The sound interupts the behavior and the pheromone calms. The pheromone they use is something released during pig mating. The first time I used the spray Alli jumped a little but stopped barking, she then run to the window and woofed again but not as loud. I sprayed the InteroSTOP a second time and she stopped barking and sat watching the UPS truck calmly. She has never watched a UPS truck calmly. Wow! We have since repeated this and are hoping with time she will associate the UPS truck with the calm she feels from the pheromone.

While this product is synthesized and not completely natural I like that it is based on a natural pheromone and is not a drug. It seems like a wonderful aid in behavior training especially in dogs that can be reactive. The company also sells a collar called Nurturecalm for both dogs and cats which I have not tried but I imagine would also be helpful. I will definitely be recommending InteroSTOP to clients.

(Just in case you are wondering I haven’t gotten anything from the company beyond my one free sample, just am impressed with this product and think it could help others)

Medical marijuana for pets

June 17th, 2013

I have had so many questions about medical marijuana in animals lately, especially with it becoming legal in Washington state where I practice. This is probably one of the best articles out there about medical marijuana use in pets and the legal issues that come up with it. See Veterinary Marijuana in the recent JAVMA journal.

Marijuana may become something we reach for often in the future for chronic disease, cancer, and pain in both our dogs and cat. The largest issue now is that it is a federal crime for me to talk to clients about how to use it, because as veterinarians we are regulated by the federal government and the state protections that extend to MDs do not apply to use. However it is legal in Washington state for people to buy and use marijuana in their companion animals without our guidance. Go figure. I am hoping that the laws soon change so we can offer guidance and even prescribe it. Meanwhile if anyone has a good article or wants to write one on the proper use of marijuana in dogs and cats I would be happy to publish or share it here.

Why we should open up information and find common ground with herbal use in animals

June 17th, 2013

When I did shelter work years ago we hated pet stores, absolutely hated them. Pet stores sold animals, many from puppy mills and sometimes sick animals. They didn’t spay or neuter. They sold animals to people without any guidance, often these animals had worms or even worse broke with distemper or parvovirus when people would get them home. People would get these animals and not be able to deal with them and drop them at the shelter and we would kill them because there were too many. You can see why we hated them so much.

We talked about getting the legislator to ban the sale of animals in store, we tried to get people to boycott these stores and we told them how wrong and bad they were and nothing changed. People still bought animals from pet stores and we still killed them when they were brought to us.

But one day someone asked what if we figured out a way to partner with them and in doing so either increase their profits or at least not hurt them. We figured out that the best way to do that was by approaching them and talking to them, figuring out what they wanted and what we wanted and finding common ground. Instead of seeing them as evil we joined forces.

Today in Seattle there are very few pet stores that sell animals but many pet stores have cages that are used by local rescue groups and shelters to showcase animals up for adoption. People adopt animals in the pet stores but from the rescue groups and then buy their new pet supplies from the store. Who does want a new color and bowl for their new little love? The stores makes money, fewer animals die. Everyone wins.

On to herbs and animals –

In the veterinary community there is a huge concern about people treating their animals with supplements and herbs without the guidance of a practitioner. This is not because we do not want people’s animals to do well but for the exact opposite reason, that we fear that harm will be done that hurts these animals.

The truth is there are plenty of people giving out information that are not trained in herbal medicine or veterinary medicine. It makes me cringe to think of some of the things I have read online that are simply not true and even worse, harmful. If we as the veterinary community do not share information on the safe use of herbs and supplements someone else will and the chance of harm or the wrong supplements/herbs being used for the wrong conditions goes way up.

There are many places where there are simply no holistic vets. Do we insist that someone drive a sick animal 4-5 hours each way to see one? Move to a larger city? Not have access to something that could help their animal?

We need to realize that people self diagnosing and treating animals with herbs is not going to go away no matter how much we fight it. So let’s stop fighting.

What if we tried a different approach by making sure that people have access to safe herbs and good information about how to use them? What if we gave them, with that, references to vets in their area who worked with herbs and supplements?

There is a fear if we “give out free information” people will not come and see us, our business will die out. I view this as sharing not giving. When I have people contact me through my herb store with questions about using herbs I always recommend they find a holistic vet – if they don’t have one close I try to help as much as I can without crossing the line of treating without seeing an animal. But what I have found is that about 50% of those people I talk to go out and find a holistic vet to work with, even if they order herbs through my store. People want someone to trust, they want safe access to herbs, and they want someone to guide them. Just like with the shelters and pet stores, we are on the same side, we want people’s animals to do well, and people want their animals to do well. When we freely share information we are introducing more people to our holistic veterinary community and bringing in more business not turning it away. We share information and people share their animals with us.

Most of our best herbal mixtures are restricted to veterinary or practitioner use only, yet formulas that have the same herbs but are maybe contaminated with pesticides or have other purity issues are readily available. Why are we complaining about herbs not being safe let making it so the safest ones are not readily available to everyone? What would happen if we made access to herbs open to everyone (except very dangerous herbs like the aconites and ephreda)? What if we developed herb formulas that were similar to the formulas with potentially dangerous herbs that could be used without toxicity?

What if we became one group with one goal? What if we followed the lead of the shelters and opened up communication with the places selling herbs for pets? What if veterinarians, herbal companies and people with animals they love worked together, sharing information? What if we made it our mission to make sure our animal companions and their people had the best access possible to information and safe herbs? What if we shared what we know so that it can expand out beyond the few animals we can see, beyond our local community and out into the world?

Off to Qi Gong – I’m away for awhile

May 21st, 2013

I’m off to my every two year Qi Gong retreat at Karme Choling in the hills of Vermont. I’m looking forward to long days of Qi Gong and good home cooked food.

Qi Gong has been an amazing thing for me. I discovered Eva Wong, my qi gong teacher, when she came to Seattle to teach a weekend workshop about seven years ago. At the time I had some major health problems that were making it so I could only work about 20 hours a week. I was exhausted, couldn’t sleep, my digestion was a mess and nothing seemed to be helping. I left that weekend feeling better than I had in a couple years. The more I did Qi Gong the better my health became.

I’ve made sure to do a program with her every year since and my health has greatly benefited. As I have moved through some of the more advanced levels of qi gong and talked to other people who have been practicing this art, I’m heard some amazing stories. There was one woman who was so crippled with rheumatoid arthritis that she could barely walk. After about a year of qi gong she was not only better but the blood tests for this disease were coming back almost normal. She could walk, move her hands again and function like a normal person without pain. Other people with chronic injuries or illness also had seen great improvements in health.

Qi Gong works similarly to acupuncture with the energy or qi that flows through our body. It helps to align and remove blockages in this system of energy. In addition it helps to align the body with the mind. Also see What is Daoist Qigong?

Eva teaches all over the world. She now has a few other teachers that also teach the style of qi gong she practices. Here is her website if you are interested, Shambhala Centers, to find one near you use this tool Find a shambhala center. You do not have to be a member of shambhala to take her classes. I have found that about half her students are not.

I’ll be on my way early the morning of the 23rd and back in Seattle a little over a week later. My etsy store will be closed while I am away.