So found some disturbing information…MOST garlic as a supplement in cat, dog and horse feeds/supplement products is from CHINA. MOST synthetic supplements and herbs are from China as well (this includes your culinary herbs)…ALL CAT, DOG AND HORSE FOOD HAVE INGREDIENTS FROM CHINA! This is the reason why I make my own food for my animals as much as I possibly can…and try and source organic ingredients…
This is one of the major reasons my job can get very difficult. I may tell a client please put your dog or horse on garlic for a while as it is a fantastic natural antibiotic, antioxidant and has so many wonderful nutrients but if the garlic is Chinese we can actually be hurting the animal especially if the animal is already compromised! The list of benefits of organic locally sourced Garlic is very long…but if you buy a product (either fresh, minced packaged in oil or dry granules of garlic) that is from China you may be unknowingly harming your companion animal.

I remember the first few times I ate Chinese garlic…I literally felt sick. Got colic cramp symptoms and felt horrible. I tested my theory 3 times to make sure it was the garlic and lo and behold it was. I did some research and found some scary stuff. The Chinese garlic is sprayed and treated with tons of pesticides and chemicals – the product is no longer a health food but the opposite.

People often ask me why their pet is sick when they think they are doing everything right…well sadly even if you think you are giving something natural it may still be bad depending on where it came from! This is why I do tons of research and try to bring things back to basics so there is less room for errors.

Sadly, keeping an animal healthy is a full time job just doing research on what is safe and what isn’t. This is one of the main reasons I have devoted myself to animals’ health…my animals are my babies…there is nothing more frustrating and confusing when you think you are doing something right by giving a health food/ingredient/supplement and it is actually a poison…makes me very upset to say the least.

Ask many questions when you buy any product…maybe if we all do they will be afraid to source garbage because they will lose business.

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As most of you know I am a big proponent of feeding animals raw specie appropriate foods. HOWEVER…there are many things even a raw food diet won’t and can’t fix. Here’s a list of some of them:

1. Allergies – some will respond to changing the diet to raw especially if you remove the exciting cause ingredients and address some of the nutrient imbalances some will not. This is because allergies are not as simple to get rid of as one would want to think. You need to balance missing nutrients, detoxify toxins and treat underlying issues. Raw can sometimes help but not always…
2. Chronic disease conditions – again if the disease was caused by a particular diet issue that was addressed with the raw food – the animal will get better but if is more complicated than that…the issue will not resolve. Proper Homeopathic prescribing to get to the root of the problem is needed.
3. Bad nutritional imbalances – need time, need larger amounts of specific nutrients over a longer period of time to bring levels back to normal. Often times help from whole food supplements, individual supplements and herbs are needed in proper doses to address this.
4. If you feed non-organic, raw foods that contain hormones/antibiotics – chances are these diets can still pose problems. Regular commercial fed livestock DOES NOT GET THE BEST NUTRITION. In fact they are only fed to get them fat and big as quickly as possible – these animals are NOT healthy…yes it is still far better feeding raw food diets than processed kibble but if your pet isn’t responding as you would have hoped please realize that commercially raised chicken, beef, pork etc. is deficient in nutrients already…so these animals used for food for your cat or dog can not pass on important nutrients they themselves never had…something to keep in mind.
5. Toxic overload, vaccine or medication damage…need proper holistic treatment. Raw food diet is but one piece of the puzzle.

Recently had a case where owner had tried switching her epileptic cat from raw food to cooked and commercial processed food…along with a Vet approved herbal blend to help her with her seizures. Unfortunately the cat did not respond well from the combination and went from having one seizures every 1-2 months to every 2 hours non-stop for a few days. The cat is responding to Homeopathy and being put back on a raw food diet…having no more seizures for almost 2 days now she’s starting to calm down…with relief beginning almost immediately upon the Homeopathic medicine being administered. Seizures in cats and dogs seem to be on the rise and even natural attempts at trying to treat them can go wrong very quickly. Every animal is different. Each one responds to foods, herbs, medications and remedies uniquely. Even natural products can potentially do harm and great care must be taken to try and get to the bottom of the condition as soon as possible.

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Did you know that Hair Testing can show you if your horse is tolerating sugars/carbohydrates?

You can see if that feed program you have your horse on is making your horse healthy or sick…This interesting part of the test can show if your cat/horse is possibly going into Diabetes or other blood sugar related problems (Metabolic disorders, Insulin resistance, Hypoglycemia etc.). There are patterns on a hair test that are very valuable. I have had instances where it showed Pre-Diabetic pattern even before blood tests. Months later the blood tests confirmed but how great is it to be able to do something before it gets really serious? Or if your cat, dog or horse is already showing blood sugar or Insulin problems…a proper look at the Nutritional imbalances can help solve the issue. After all…most the problems are diet related but most people have no idea where to start and are really only guessing. Hair tests take the guess work out…this is why I find them indispensable. They give me information blood work can’t. It can show me a road map of where a pet is headed months if not years earlier than what will occur on a blood test with certain conditions. Or it can fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle as to why an animal is sick in the first place.

For more information go to hair testing horses or contact us here

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Wanted to share quickly another example of the Power of Homeopathy on things we may not think it is suited for. Had one of my horses get injured today. There was a lot of bleeding, almost like a tap turned on and I thought this may be the work for a Veterinary Surgeon as the bleeding was soaking through the bandaging, in fact it was pouring out of the bandaging.  I had to run to the store to pick up more supplies for the wound and decided to give Homeopathy a turn to help coagulate and stop the bleeding.  I administered the remedy – and left.

By the time I came back I was worried because the dressing was sopping with blood. I unraveled it to find a huge new clot of blood only and no new bleeding. The bleeding had stopped within the time I had to get back…so about an hour or so. Homeopathy – when we have the right remedy can even act like the hands of a surgeon.  I’ve had the pleasure of giving remedies to horses that were choking (while I had the Vet on call) and they too helped loosen the horses throat muscles and help them relax enough for the food to get soft enough to pass. I have been doing this for almost two decades and I am always pleasantly surprised when I am able to do with Homeopathy what I thought it may not be able to do…

I honestly believe the only time Homeopathy fails is either when the remedy isn’t right (sometimes we don’t get the right or enough symptoms or we just choose wrong) or the case is too far advanced – but even in these cases when I think something may be past the point of no return more than 80% of the time Homeopathy proves me wrong.  I love this modality of medicine…it is truly a gift…wish more people would be familiar with it and rely on it more fully!  How many lives would be saved and made better…one can only imagine.

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What is a good indicator for Impaction Colic in horses before you may have major symptoms? Here’s what to watch for…

Dry Manure

When I muck my horses stall or pick manure outside I look for moisture content in their manure. The balls should have enough moisture in them that when you step on them…a bit of water should come out and they shouldn’t be overly hard to separate with a fork for example. They shouldn’t feel hard under your foot there should be some give – not like a hard ball…too mushy not good either but if you do this daily you will know what a harder one looks and feels like. Hard dry manure usually means your horse isn’t get enough water or something is going on. This is where you act now – you can give a Homeopathic medicine (based on totality of symptoms) and give a very soupy meal (I like hay cubes with lots of warm water). And see next steps…

Less WATER consumption

Water is critical any time of year but when it gets colder we have to make sure of a few things. Firstly, is EACH horse drinking enough. Even in winter a 1000 lb horse should drink almost the same amount as in summer. Close to 1.5 to 2 (5 gallon) buckets a day. Sometimes a bit less sometimes more. Some horses bully others so they don’t have proper access. Some horses won’t drink if water is too cold. Others will get picky if it is dirty in some way. Water troughs/buckets need to be cleaned daily even in winter. Fresh water is important to horses. I offer luke warm water buckets to each of my horses a couple of times a day at least (this is in addition to their regular heated bucket they already have) to make sure the temperature is what they feel comfortable drinking. Better a bit more work now…then dealing with Colic later. We must make sure they are drinking!

Not enough salt or no access to salt

Don’t forget the SALT! Make sure you provide free choice sea salt LOOSE! If you want to use a natural Himalayan Salt lick in addition to the loose salt that is fine but don’t use only a lick. Sometimes your horse may need up to the equivalent of 2-5 TBS of salt and how much licking would they have to do before their poor tongue gets raw? Too much work and it hurts – so they’d end up getting less than they need. Better to offer free choice loose sea salt that is unprocessed (not white). And as far as regular salt licks go please do not use them. The lovely Blue, Red, Brown and White salt licks are full of Aluminum (all processed table salt has it) and the few synthetic minerals that some have actually cause nutritional imbalances more than they fix. So better stick to what mother nature provided in perfection already – unprocessed salt.

HAY…hay is fiber…

Horses are essentially fiber eaters. This is what they live on. If horses don’t get enough hay (that means access to it 24/7) and 2-3% (I prefer 3%) in body weight of consumption we are going to have problems. Any disruption to the hind gut bacteria means you can cause colic. Horses may reject certain hays for several reasons so watch for body condition – if your horse is starting to drop weight or looks nervous looking for food but only takes a nibble. You may have mold or a quality of hay that your horse doesn’t like. Very fibrous hay (stalky) is hard on horses with ulcers. Imagine your throat and tummy having inflamed ulcers what would you prefer softer or rougher hay? If you have a horse with possible ulcers you may have to watch them carefully that they are actually eating the stuff and not taking a few strands here and there. Remember you will spend way more on Vet bills later than finding a good hay.  I once had to get hay from 5 different providers one year because my mare refused to eat it. They aren’t stupid animals. Their bodies are very sophisticated and they know what is good and not good for them. We want to make sure there is always a steady supply of good hay going into them close to 18-20 hrs a day.

So to recap.

We make sure that the manure coming out of them is not too dry and in sufficient quantity. We also make sure the horse is drinking, consuming salt and eating lots of hay. More often than not if you watch these things carefully you can prevent Colic from occurring in the first place. Horses have a delicate gastro-intestinal system. In the wild they’d take care of themselves quite well but in our care they rely on us 100% so making sure their needs are met is very important if we want to prevent Colic.

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I read an interesting article on how we give choices to our pets…Do you give your horse a choice not to work one day if he’s emotionally not there? Do you let your cat walk away from you when she doesn’t want to petted? How about when your dog doesn’t want to go in his crate that night?

Choices are very important to companion animals…without ANY choice they are no more than slaves really…If we think about it no one likes to HAVE TO do everything all the time according to someone else. Pets are no different. Giving pets some choices (within reason of course we don’t want them running into traffic for example) is an important way to give our pets a voice and a better quality of life.

I have noticed the importance of choices with my dogs. My dog Monty quickly learned how to say yes or no…in the morning I ask him if he’s hungry – if he is he licks his lips to say ‘yes’ he wants his morning meal…if he’s not he turns his head in a very obvious manner to say ‘no’. This is because some days he’s hungry enough for Breakfast others he only wants his Dinner…I give him choices through out the day. Even when he’s outside running around and I think it may be a bit chilly I ask if he wants to come in – when he’s cold he comes right away…if he’s not and still wants to stay out he turns his head away from me…we have extended this for many things. Giving him the ability to show me yes or no – has given him more freedom. In turn he is happier for it. And he is still VERY obedient. When I say come when there is danger or it is important he comes right away.

Our horses are no different. they really do have good days and bad days. Some they really don’t want to work – I can always tell when my horse is not interested in playing with me or will not focus on a lesson. His mind is not in it…so I let him be. It is better to work with a calm animal that is a willing partner than to force through something and get them agitated. With horses that could mean a day of spooking, bucking and rearing perhaps…not worth it for any involved.

No animal should be forced to be petted and cuddled. When I approach a new animal I wait for them to make the first move towards me…I watch for cues that the animal wants to be handled or petted. I never do it without their consent. This is how bites and kicks happen and it again teaches animals that they can’t fully trust us or we don’t really understand them communicating with us.

I believe giving a companion animal choices throughout the day is an important way to give them a better quality of life. They will in turn be willing partners and friends in our lives more than something we micro-manage and rule over. I prefer a happy animal…and I get so much more in return. 

http://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2015/03/the-right-to-walk-away.html

First Aid Cats Dogs: WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IN A FIRST AID SITUATION WITH YOUR CAT OR DOG? Food poisoning, insect bites (bee, tick, spider), leg injury with lameness, acute diarrhea or constipation, acute allergic reaction with facial swelling, shock, frost bite, heat stroke, puncture wounds – these are all things that can benefit greatly from Homeopathic medicines in a First Aid situation.

Fact is when something happens to your cat or dog – you may not be able to get them to a Vet within minutes and sometimes seconds are critical so while you get your pet ready to get to the Vet – you can learn how to give life-saving Homeopathic medicines so you DON’T LOSE TIME!  And the bonus is most of the time you will be able to nip the problem in the bud and not need much Veterinary intervention if at all in some circumstances. I use Homeopathy for acute and chronic health issues.  The great thing is in acute cases the reaction is usually quite fast (sometimes immediate) and very successful. BUT you have to know what to do.

So, I’m doing another LEARNING CALL for those interested in learning about First Aid for their Cats or Dogs. It is a 45 minute call going over my top 10 homeopathic remedies for basic first aid.  I literally carry these guys in my purse so I am never left without them.  This call will give you a good over-view and with it I’ll mail you copies of illustrated easy to interpret remedy pictures (cartoons) that make super easy to pick the remedy you need in a pinch.  So for only $135 you will get a 45 minute lesson, pictures for easy remedy reference and the actual homeopathic medicines mailed to your door.
Here are just some situations Homeopathy has helped in First Aid situations…

• Vomiting after eating or drinking bad food/substance
• Dog or cat got a tick bite. Giving this remedy may even help prevent Lyme disease…important to have in your medicine cabinet.
• Your pet is suddenly limping – no apparent bone breaks – you can give these remedies to help. I’d say 90% of my lameness cases get better with these remedies.
• Your dog eats a plant and now their face is swollen. It’s Sunday night and the Vet is far away. There’s possibility of throat swelling with asphyxiation. This remedy will buy you time if not stop the swelling all together. A MUST in anyone’s first aid Kit.
• Cat got out and a bit lost…comes back with frost bite. Do you know what to do?
• Cats and dogs do get into scuffles sometimes especially those barn cats. Hard to even catch them sometimes to treat wounds. You can try these remedies first.

Please note… This does not eliminate the need for a Vet, for any First Aid situation I think you should have someone look at your pet. I’m not suggesting you will be a professional after this, however I am saying that you can do A LOT in the seconds and minutes following an injury or incident where you may only have a few minutes. So, while you call your holistic and traditional vet…you can already be proactive and dosing your pet.  I can’t tell you how many times Homeopathic medicines saved the lives of countless animals simply because they were available right away and proper ones were used.

Animals get into trouble just like children – and we have to be prepared.

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Does your pet have any lumps bumps or warts? Have you been thinking of having them surgically removed? If you are I’m here to tell you to please don’t. There are two main reasons for that. If something grows on or in the body it is THERE FOR A REASON. Every wart, lump, cyst and fibroid has a reason for being there. Usually it is to show you what you need to work on with your pet. Is it the immune system? does diet need to be changed? Is the pet toxic or been exposed to toxic agents? You see the body is always telling a story.

Skin tags in people are often associated with hormone problems and diabetes development. Warts mean your pet’s immune system is weakening hence we find them in old age mostly.  Sarcoids in horses are best treated from the inside out.

Cysts/tumors/fibroids – sometimes wall off excess toxins that are harmful to the body – they act like small pockets or holding areas if you will…imagine that…the body is trying to protect by forming these mini storage areas and what do we do? We cut them out! So what happens – the body goes into panic mode…and if it has enough time or energy it forms NEW bumps and lumps…if it is too weak the animal goes down hill because we just took away it’s protective mechanism.

The only time I agree with surgery is if a lump or growth is interfering with breathing or about to cut off something important…otherwise we LEAVE IT ALONE! You see the other reason we don’t want to cut into benign growths is as soon as you go in surgically you now can have a pretty good chance of it turning cancerous. So maybe something may look unsightly because your pet has a lipoma, wart, cyst or other growth but I say look deeper. Look at what caused it and treat it from the inside out. It is the only safe and permanent way of doing so.

We need to start following the laws of nature and ask more questions. We have to ask a lot of why’s…So we can come up with good answers and not just be tempted to cut it out. This only shuts off your animal’s ability to deal with the problem it is trying to deal with…it is not a solution.

Homeopathy provides a wonderful solution. With proper Homeopathic prescribing sarcoids, limpomas, warts, tumors and other unsightly skin symptoms go away…so don’t take away the body’s ability to detoxify…just help it by giving it what it needs. Then the need for these skin manifestations goes away for good!

Rawhide deadly?  I know some of you may have gotten ‘rawhide’ bones for your dog this Christmas or someone else bought it for them…please throw them out right away. The name implies a natural product but it is far from it. Not only are they FULL of chemicals and heavy metals – the processing is horrendous for these things but they are also a major choking hazard. I made this mistake once too…someone bought a rawhide for my dog many years ago…as a gift…I felt bad taking it away because my dog had already started eating it so I figured let him chew for a bit then I take it away so I don’t hurt the feelings of the person that didn’t know . Thought was nice yes but my dog started to choke – luckily I was able to pull it out of his mouth in time – threw it out right away and never allowed one near my dogs again. Always follow your gut…mine said don’t do it…but I didn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings…but in reality they didn’t know either…no one’s fault except my own at the time for not speaking up. I’ve gotten a lot more vocal since then mainly because I realized many people just don’t know…and giving information to others is important that is how we learn.

MOST dog food/toys/treats you buy are not good sadly…it starts out with a food or non-food item that is left over from human industry and the desire to re-purpose it. Great sentiment but feeding garbage to our ‘animal babies’ is out of the question…at least in my house.

Home made treats in my home only…besides…most dogs are happiest getting a real raw dog bone and actual meat.  It is easy to make them happy…