ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE EMPOWERS you to become an active partner in the health of your animals. Part 1 tells you why you need to become more active—and how. As revealed in chapter 2, there is a disturbing rise of serious illnesses among dogs. You must get more involved to protect your animals.
Among the major reasons for a genuine epidemic of unwellness is the general poor quality of commercial pet food. Pet food advertising is unadulterated spin for the most adulterated food product on the planet, holistic veterinarians say. You may think you are feeding prime cuts, but chapter 3 tells you otherwise.
You can’t build a house on quicksand, and you can’t build a healthy body—yours or your pet’s—on poor-quality, highly processed food. Chapter 4 gives you the general guidelines on shifting to a better diet no matter how busy you are. Here you will also find a checklist that can tell you whether your dog is eating a healthy—or not so healthy—diet. In chapters 5, 6, and 7 you will find detailed, practical information on how and what to feed your animal depending on the time you have to do it. The options range from feeding a high-quality commercial food to creating home-prepared meals.
Part 1 also acquaints you with some of the major holistic approaches available to pet owners—such as acupuncture and homeopathy—and basics on vitamins, herbs, homeopathy, and flower essences. Some of the veterinarians have also shared wonderful healing massages that you can easily administer to your animals. Those are described in chapter 14.
Chapter 15 covers vaccinations. Guidelines are changing. Annual revaccinations are now in disfavor with researchers. Holistic veterinarians think too many vaccinations are administered to animals and their health suffers as a result. This chapter will review the changing vaccination scene and include recommendations on how to prevent or minimize vaccination reactions.
What if nothing you read in this book, and nothing your veterinarian tries, helps a suffering animal? Many dogs are so badly flawed because of horrendous breeding practices that they succumb to sickness early in life. In chapter 16 you will find information about two important tests that offer vital clues—and hope—for dealing with resistant, heartbreak cases.
Part 2, the main section of the book, covers many common conditions affecting dogs and gives you dozens of veterinarians’ recommendations for natural remedies.
The section begins with general guidelines on dosages and other important points. Please read this section before looking up specific conditions.
Conditions are listed alphabetically. For each condition you will find individual recommendations grouped under the following categories: flower essences, herbs, homeopathic remedies, nutritional supplements, multiple approaches, and food and special diets. The nutritional supplement category includes vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, glandulars, and “whole food” products.
The variety of recommendations for each condition gives you options for safe, nontoxic remedies that veterinarians have used repeatedly and successfully over many years. The recommendations include product names, where to obtain the products, and specific instructions for dosages. As a consumer you are exposed to many advertising claims. The broadside of information can be confusing. When I set out to write this book my goal was to help steer pet owners to effective natural remedies. I asked each of the veterinarians I interviewed: “What are the remedies you use that work well repeatedly?” You will find their answers in part 2. Each recommendation that appears is listed with the name of the veterinarian who has used it successfully in practice.
You will have choices. It is not possible to say which one of the several or more remedies listed under any given condition is the most effective. Each remedy or approach, however, has been used successfully by a veterinarian. Choose the option that fits your situation best. Keep in mind that each animal is an individual and may not respond to one particular remedy. That is why I included a variety of options for each condition. If one doesn’t help, try another.