I have always known that dogs are smart but there is another characteristic that is deeply seeded in the canine soul – compassion.

I know no other animal than a dog to jump to the rescue of his friends so selflessly and without thinking twice if their life is in danger.

My dog  Skai regularly jumps to my rescue when I am swimming despite the fact that he much prefers a pasture to the ocean.   I have seen dogs grieving their best friends,  I have seen them protecting or saving  children and I have  also heard of stories where a dog ran to get help when their friends were injured.

As I am thinking of all the different situations,  I can’t  help myself  thinking that dogs are in fact the most evolved life form on this planet.   They without  a doubt are the masters  in showing us what love and compassion really is as you can see from the videos bellow.

All I  want to do today is to say one big  thank you to those dogs and humans who care… and make the lives of others safer and better.

With gratitude,

Dr. Peter Dobias, DVM

I have just come across the response of a Victoria veterinarian, Dr. Chris Collis in regard to the article “This raw deal is a good one from Dec. 10 of  Times Colonist ,(posted at the end of this blog)  and feel obligated to respond.

I too am a veterinarian licensed and practicing in British Columbia, with 24 years of clinical experience. In the early days, I also believed what I was taught by processed pet food companies that their food was the best.

However, as years progressed, I observed an alarming trend where feeding processed food and even special diets was not enough to keep my patients healthy. I continued to see a rising number of patients suffering from allergies, obesity, diabetes, pancreatitis, and a variety of organ dysfunctions and cancer. The paradox was, that even though I knew that eating processed food is not good for people, I somehow blindly believed what I was told. Kibble was the best.
In the mid 90’s, I started to see a few of my clients switching their pets to raw or cooked natural diets. First, I was concerned but when I started to see some dramatic recoveries and general improvement in most, I started to question commercial diet companies and their intentions.

After 15 years, I have no doubt that the pets eating wholesome food live longer, look younger, move better and need to see a vet less frequently. In fact, my own cat Mina has been on raw food since she was eight years old is now 21. My dog Skai, who has turned 10 years in August 2011, has never been on processed food and doing very well. ( I have enclosed a brief video of him and his sister who is also fed raw. It  was shot  a few months after his 10th birthday.)

It is not my intention to get into a lengthy debate about who is right or wrong because diversity of opinions is a good thing.

However, I cannot agree that commercial diets are the safest because we all know about the hundreds of cats and dogs that were irreversibly damaged or died from the effects of tainted commercial pet food. Sadly, melamine has been also found in baby formulas made by companies who often blow the horn of “excellent quality control”.

It is true that the quality of any pet food is important and that it may vary depending on the knowledge, skills and integrity of the manufacturer. However, unlike processed kibble manufacturers who, as my colleague mentioned, use second grade ingredients, raw food companies frequently use first grade, human quality, non-medicated meat and organic vegetables in their products.

I completely agree that it is important to feed a balanced diet to our dogs and cats and ideally it should be us veterinarians who help pet guardians to do so. Strangely, we appear to have abandoned our common sense of what healthy food is and blindly follow the pet food companies, while some of our clients know better.

According to the statistics of recent years, veterinary visits and processed pet food sales are in decline despite the rise in the number of dogs and cats. It is possible that the pets of people who have embraced the feeding of wholesome fresh diets are healthier. And that some people may be afraid to see their vets and tell them they feed raw.

When it comes to bacteria, I have not seen one single client to have reported salmonelosis when feeding raw meat. I have also come to accept that dogs and cats are naturally resistant to intestinal pathogens and that they are not humans. Cats often eat mice that are frequent carriers of salmonella and other bacteriae without any ill effect and lets be real, dogs sniff and eat worse things than a piece of raw meat.

With respect and gratitude,

Dr. Peter Dobias, DVM, North Vancouver, BC

_________________________________________________________________

Re: “This raw deal is a good one,” Dec. 10 by Dr. Chris Collis, DVM

I have been a veterinarian for 22 years. The article on the pet food venture has me profoundly concerned. I’m a big advocate of small business, but the raw pet food business is fraught with substantial risk.
The article neglected the dangers associated with feeding raw meat to our pets. A nutritionally balanced, consistent quality and biologically safe food requires an understanding of biology, nutrition, biochemistry, disease and quality control. There is no routine standard testing of pet food by government agencies.
All pet foods are made from the discarded waste of the human food industry, including those contaminated with salmonella, e.coli and campylobacter. Commercial diet “cooking” destroys the infectious diseases and additional testing ensures the freedom of foreign material, mould and chemical toxins.
An ill pet fed a raw diet entering our hospitals would be handled as a potentially infectious communicable disease risk and a quarantine protocol would likely be instituted for the protection of our staff.
The use of commercial diets are the safest, most complete and balanced way to feed 99 per cent of our pets. I wait in anticipation to see the end of this fad and can only hope that the catalyst for its inevitable demise is not the death of a toddler from a raw food feeding pet owner who thought they were doing the right thing.
Who would want this type of risk on their conscience?
Chris Collis B.Sc.(Agr.), DVM
Victoria

Read there original article here: http://www.timescolonist.com/business/This+deal+good/5839618/story.html

<a href=”http://growlies.ca/2011/12/response-dr-chris-collis-veterinarian-victoria-b-c/”>A response to Dr. Chris Collis a Veterinarian in Victoria B.C.</a>

Another article:  Is pet food actually poisoning our dogs?

Learn about weaning, feeding, supplements and natural approach to vaccination

While one could think that puppies are born with a clean slate, the reality is that they often carry “a baggage full of problems” from previous generations.  These problems are not just genetic. It appears that puppies are also burdened by the imbalances and health issues  of their parents that were exposed to excessive vaccination, poor nutrition, stress and the use of immune-suppressive drugs such as anti-inflammatory and corticosteroids .

I am saying this because many people who get a new dog question what they have done wrong while they really have done everything right.

STEP 1 – BEWARE OF PUPPY MILLS

If you are planning to get a puppy, the most generous way is to choose one from a rescue shelter.   Not only will you feel great about your decision but you will also give a home to a dog that would otherwise continue to suffer or be euthanized if a suitable home is not found.

If you would rather get a puppy from a breeder, just promise that you will stay away from puppy mills, suspicious ads and pet store bought puppies.

Puppy mill owners (ab)use dogs as breeding machines. They lock them in cages, rarely walk them and most of them suffer tremendously.  Beside the endless suffering, puppies of these dogs often end up with serious irreversible health issues that even a miracle healer or a vet will not be able to solve.  I am warning you right here that treating these problems will suck your pocket dry and break your heart.

If you feel the urge to “rescue” a puppy mill puppy, buying one creates more demand which is exactly what the puppy broker or puppy mill owner wants.  Not buying one will make them go bankrupt and hopefully they will surrender the dogs to authorities.

I suggest that if you can’t find the dog of your liking in your area, there are many homeless dogs in “kill shelters” all over the US or in third world countries.

STEP 2 NURSING AND FOOD

Feeding dogs is another fiery topic and writing about it is like poking in a wasp nest.  I am planning to right on food more in the next issue and will only mention that good puppy nutrition starts with a well fed mother.

After more than a decade of feeding and recommending a raw, species appropriate diet, my clients and I have witnessed a huge difference between dogs fed processed and raw food.  Because I have repeatedly seen longer lives, less medical issues, shinier and healthier coats, better mobility, less chronic disease and cancer there is no way I would switch back to kibble.

Do you too wonder why processed pet food companies making kibble offer retailes and vet a wholesome fresh food at their lectures?

STEP 3 SUPPLEMENTS

Most people understand the role of vitamins and perhaps omega oils are in health.  However, many are unaware that the most common causes of disease and premature aging are mineral deficiencies.

Not one single mineral can be manufactured by the body and minerals are severely depleted in even in organic foods.  The main reason is intensive agriculture and excessive soil exploitation and fatigue.

That is why any pregnant or lactating mother should be getting these basic supplements:

Essential minerals and heavy metal detox,for example GreenMin

Multi-vitamins (Whole food probiotic based supplement)

High quality Omega Oils.

Non-dairy based live Probiotics to promote good digestion and proper immune system function.

The most well known issue of mineral deficiency in pregnant and nursing bitches is lack of blood calcium in pregnant or nursing bitches – eclampsia. One of the causes of postpartum eclampsia is under functioning parathyroid gland which leads to slower release of calcium.  However, proper function of the pituitary gland also depends on the presence of other minerals and nutrients.

Feeding lactating bitches balanced diet and supplements is equally essential for the well being of puppies and their development.  If you are tempted to purchase cheap synthetic vitamins, just remember that because there is a difference between a plastic orange, orange juice and a wholesome orange, there is also a difference between synthetically made vitamins, natural extracts or whole food based vitamins.  Because we can’t make food in a chemical lab, synthetic supplements are always going to be “the plastic” orange of nutrition.

STEP 4 WEANING PUPPIES

Just recently, I saw a mother at Wholefoods feeding her baby by squeezing baby food from a tube. I watched her and wondered if she knew that this “baby food” ha a fraction of the nutritional value of fresh food that she could blend and prepare fresh at home.

It is an example of how blinded we have been by marketing and advertising. Many people are convinced that feeding sterilized, pasteurized food is somehow better.  Nature doesn’t make baby or puppy food and that is why I recommend feeding puppies the same high quality raw food as you would feed an adult.

Starting 3 – 4 weeks of age, you can introduce high quality raw food by  feeding the mothers in the pen with puppies that will gradually start eating it.  By the time puppies are 8 weeks old and ready to come home, they should be eating a variety of meats, veggies, eggs and  chewing on raw bones to massage their gums and promote healthy teeth and bone development.

I am not a big fan of giving milk products mainly because in nature, milk is not a part of the canine diet as soon as puppies are weaned.

Just don’t forget to give your puppy vitamins, omega oils, minerals and probiotics to keep it strong and healthy.

STEP 5 VACCINES

I am relieved that there are now research studies available that confirm that the practice of yearly dog vaccination has absolutely no scientific basis and that most dogs immunity lasts at least 8 years and possibly even a lifetime.

Vaccines are another fiery topic. All I can do is to give you my humble opinion and suggestions.

• Natural immunity obtain from the milk of mothers persist in most puppies until 12 – 16 weeks of age.
• Vaccinating puppies before 12 weeks will “wipe” out the maternal antibodies which leaves puppies more vulnerable to infections.
• Vaccines contain serious carcinogens such as “thimerosal” (that contains mercury),  formaldehyde and other chemicals.
• Most people are unaware that vaccines are often produced by infecting and sacrificing healthy animals.   To me, the notion of killing one to save another is insane and I feel obligated to inform you about this practice.
• Vaccines can also cause chronic often life long disease that resembles the disease that they are supposed to prevent.  Some good examples are digestive problems, skin issue or mental and behavioral changes that disappear after neutralizing the effects vaccines have with homeopathic remedies.
• Most vaccines bypass the natural entry gates of infection such as mouth or the airways and this is a severe shock to the immune system.  How would you feel if a person entered your house through breaking the windows (the analogy for an injection) as opposed to ringing the bell?
• The administration of multiple antigen vaccines is also a very unnatural way of creating immunity. In nature, usually only one serious disease pathogen would be present at the time allowing the body to fully focus on one pathogen.  Giving combination vaccines makes the immune system overwhelmed the same way you would if you are working on several major projects at the same time.

Here is an immunity protocol that I have been using in my practice for years.

• Never vaccinate your puppy before 12 weeks of age if you have the choice
• If your puppy has been vaccinated early, any medical condition may or may not be a vaccine side effect. I recommend consulting an open minded holistic practitioner who knows how to recognize vaccine related issues.
• If you suspect vaccination side-effects you can safely administer a homeopathic  remedy Thuja 30 C or Thuja 200 C – 1 dose to neutralize vaccination side effects.
• Maternal antibodies protect puppies fully until 12 – 16 weeks. When your puppy is 12 weeks old get a parvovirus and distemper “antibody titer test” done.
• If any antibody level is present, retest at the age of 5 months and socialize your puppy on a moderate basis with other dogs. Your puppy will learn the “ropes” by being in the company of other canines and its exposure to pathogens while it is protected will stimulate the production of their own antibodies. This is in fact natures “way of vaccination” and this is exactly what vaccine companies don’t want you to know.
• To me, any level of antibodies suggests protection despite some labs reporting low titers as insufficient. In fact, no one can say what levels are or aren’t low.  I have never seen parvo or distemper in dogs that have had even a low positive titer.
• If your puppy tested negative for antibodies consider vaccination with one antigen of parvovirus (not a combination) at 12  weeks and distemper 4 weeks later.
• Retest for antibodies 1 month and then 2-3 months after the vaccine and then 2 – 3 months later.
• If your puppy’s titer continues to be negative, you will have to make a decision about   which risk is higher – boosters or the incidence of an infectious disease.
• Never use vaccines for Kennel Cough, Lymes disease and Giardia as they have the highest side-effect causing properties.
• If you live in an area with rabies, the vaccine may need to be given, however, give it at least 4 weeks from other vaccination and talk to your veterinarian about the rabies incidence in your area.

It may be shock to you but many healthy puppies maintain lifetime antibodies with zero vaccination except for rabies.

To summarize, no one can give you 100% guarantee that your puppy will not get infected with or without vaccines.  In my practice, I always try to avoid them whenever possible.

With gratitude,

After 2 years of preparation,  trials and adjustments,  we  will be  soon launching  our new all natural plant based mineral supplement.

We have been seeing some very positive changes in the animals who take it and it has become very obvious that our pets’ diet is not complete and  that some  minerals are  generally missing.

So many of you are asking, when is Green Min coming to retail and I have good news.  GreenMin has already been added into two brands of premium natural foods:

“Natural Instincts” and “3P Naturals.” Just look for the green min sticker in the freezers of your pet store. The retail version packaged in jars is coming soon along with our new GreenMin webpage that is being prepared as we speak.

For  more information on Green Min you can view our temporary Green Min page – Click here.

With gratitude,

forget to keep your mind open.

Just  click  to play!

The truth is that your  animal friends  can’t  have a  good life without you   being healthy.

That  is  why this blog very much belongs on the holistic animal healing blog.  So many animals  lose their  humans    to cancer and here is  what you  can  do to prevent it.

With gratitude,

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to  10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing the diet to eat more adequately and healthy, (4-5 times/day) and by including supplements, it will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7.Radiation, while destroying cancer cells,  but also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc . These are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. A better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruit helps put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to

cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at

temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..

e. Avoid coffee and black tea which have high caffeine.  Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water, it is best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Florescence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s

normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

For more on cancer  prevention, read here…

I simply do not like infusing my brain  with the negativity of morning news and prefer  to start my day on a good note.

I sometimes  spend 5 – 10 minutes waking up, reading my friends’  posts on Facebook which is a great  antidote to the  stale and entrenched negativity of TV news.

This morning,   I  found a YouTube video on my niece’s  site.  It shows a Jack Russell  that  was taught to do dozens  of  house  chores. What a dream! Our dogs doing our housework!  I hope that you will laugh as  loud and hard  as  I  did.  From making coffee to putting away laundry,  closing  cabinets and  undressing the owner,  this little dog  is  obviously  passionate about  his job.

What  is the message in this video?

Don’t  forget  to have fun with your dog,  put him or  her to work because dogs love it.

If passion is missing , you may think of  and plan a gradual shift towards something that rocks  your heart and warms your soul. I know it is not easy to change our habits but it is definitely worth it.  That is one of the secrets of health and  longevity for you and your animal friend.

Have  fun watching!

Hi Peter

Thank you for teaching us to be more proactive with our pets and ourselves. It suddenly occurs to me that the reason for a lot of our problems is that we want that “magic pill”.

If someone is told they have high cholesterol, they want a pill to make it go down so they can continue to fuel their bodies with the junk that caused it.

When they have a sore joint, they want a pill to dull the pain, instead of curing the cause of the pain.

When they cough, they want something to stop the cough.  (isn’t a cough a normal way of clearing the passage?)

When we have a fever, we immediately want to get it down. (Isn’t fever natures way of fighting something bad in our bodies?)

If we are overweight, we want a magic pill to shed the pounds because it is easier than proper diet and exercise.

Allergies are a natural defense.  Unless it is extreme, as all the above mentioned ailments) why do we want to put a blanket over them.

The pharmaceutical companies are rich because they have convinced us that this is the answer to everything.  Shame on us for believing it.
Thanks for listening.

Michelle Saari

Drug  Companies  are predominantly are not  in the business healing  but  disease maintenance .  Just  check this  video out ….

Chronic kidney disease or chronic renal insufficiency is one of the most common conditions of cats and slightly less common in dogs. Symptoms include increased drinking and urination often followed by lack of appetite, vomiting, and muscle loss and general deterioration.

Kidney tissue is composed of very fine and sensitive kidney units that filtrate the blood, eliminate toxins and regulate water balance in the body. These units are highly prone to damage due to toxins or immune system dysfunction.

The conventional belief is that kidney disease is genetically predisposed and that other causes such as bacterial infections, poor diet and toxins, compromise the very fine and easily affected kidney tissue. While all these are true, the kidneys’ health mainly depends on the general health and harmony of the whole body. Back issues, muscles spasm, injury and stress especially in the region around the third lumbar vertebra appear to be especially connected to kidney health. The immune system plays an important role in protecting the kidneys, however, if not finely tuned, it starts creating antibodies against still functional kidney units and destroys these along with tissue that is inflamed. This leads to irreversible and often serious damage.The clinical signs such as increased drinking, urination and increased levels of kidney toxins, start showing up only after 75% of the kidney tissue is destroyed.

However, I have seen animals living good lives years after they reach this stage if treated properly. The damaged kidney units can never be regenerated and the main goal of the treatment is to stop the kidney destruction and preserve the remaining kidney tissue.

When I started practicing, I saw many cats looking like walking skeletons, wasting muscle mass and not doing well at all. I was taught that this is caused by the kidney disease itself however, I was not convinced.

I suspected that the low protein prescription diet was the main cause of weight loss. We were told by the pet food companies that low protein diets are important in reducing the kidney toxin levels. However, I could see that animals fed this food were showing signs of protein starvation and deteriorated fast.

It took me a few years to dare to go against the conventional recommendations and started suggesting high quality raw protein diets for patients with kidney disease. In addition to glandular supplements supporting the kidneys and homeopathic remedy individually selected for each patient.

The results were surprisingly encouraging. Most patients with mild or moderate kidney disease maintained good body weight, showed great energy and didn’t seem to deteriorate as fast as patients on low protein food. They appeared to live longer than expected.

My own cat Mina was diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of 10 years. When I adopted her in 1991, I did everything according to the book . I fed her dry processed food and administered yearly vaccines until I woke up and realized what was happening.

Mina was my great teacher and one of the first cats I have used my new treatment protocol on. She is 18 years old still enjoying her retirement.

Over the years, I have finely tuned my treatment protocol and despite the need for individual assessment of each patient, I would like to provide you with:

General guidelines for holistic approach to treatment of chronic kidney disease

DIET

• Feed a good variety of high quality protein diet, ideally raw.
• Do not feed beef , buffalo or bison as they have a higher content of inflammatory factors which affect the immune system function.
• Avoid so called low protein kidney or senior diets.
• Dry food especially stresses the kidneys by “absorbing” water creating a persistent state of dehydration.
• If you do not want to feed raw, canned diet is better however canned food can never measure up to what nature intended.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

• Homeopathic remedies bring stability and neutralize the body’s energetic state that leads to the disease itself. It is important to work with an experienced animal homeopath to use this form of treatment.
• In my experience, internet reference is not a sufficient basis for homeopathic prescription and often leads to confusing the situation.

GLANDULAR SUPPLEMENTS

• Renafood* for dogs or Feline Renal Support* for cats protects the kidney tissue by neutralizing undesirable antibodies against the body’s own kidneys and provides necessary nutrients specific to the kidneys.

PROBIOTICS

• The beneficial bacteria from the right probiotics is capable of using excess kidney toxin called urea for their own growth. My favorite brand is Immunity Probiotic by New Chapter Organics. You may click here for prices 20% lower than suggested retail.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS

• GreenMin is a new generation of whole food, certified organic mineral supplement containing 20 essential trace minerals. Unlike many synthetic supplements, GreenMin is algae based, USDA certified organic product. It replenishes minerals lost through excessive urine production.
• Tiny Tabs by New Chapter (Dogs) and Feline Whole Body Support*(cats) are my favorite vitamin supplements. They too are whole food based and I use them for my own pets and patients.

* Please note that  supplements marked by * are available only by contacting us at contact@peterdobias.com   The manufacturer – Standard Process doesn’t  not  allow  any online sales as per their policy. However, you can  obtain these products by  contacting us directly.

HYDRATION

• If you pull the skin on the neck and it stays up for longer than 1 second, your pet may be dehydrated. Simple administration of electrolyte solutions under the skin such as Lactated Ringers or Sodium Chloride (0.9%) will help pets in more advanced stages of kidney disease.

BACK HEALTH

• Check your pets spine especially around the 3rd-4th lumbar vertebra. This region directly supplies energy meridian flow to the kidneys. Increased heat, inflammation, muscle pain, spasm and sensitivity of this area will compromise the kidneys.
• The best techniques for treating the back are physiotherapy, intramuscular needle stimulation ( a form of acupuncture technique ), gentle chiropractic treatment and massage.
• Ideally, do not use any anti-inflammatory drugs such as Aspirin or Metacam as it is contraindicated in patients with kidney disease.
• I have neither seen any clear benefit of Enalapril, a drug that modulates the blood pressure. It is my experience that these drugs are detrimental to the long term prognosis.

WELL BEING AND FAMILY

• Don’t forget to do all you can to look after your own needs. I see direct correlation between the degree of health of people and their pets.
• Good exercise, at least 2 walks a day for dogs and access to the outdoors or the balcony for cats makes a big difference.
• Pets who spend a lot of time alone, do not get walks , play time and attention are more disease prone in general.

FURTHER SUPPORT AND RECHECKS

• If your pets condition is stable, a quarterly or semi annual recheck is highly recommended. This way, you can adjust the treatment and supplements as needed and avoid unnecessary complications.
• If your pet is vomiting, lethargic and has no appetite, hospitalization and further diagnostics may be needed.

If you are unsure what the best treatment decision is, especially because of the pressure from a conventional practitioner to follow the conventional drug and processed food route, you may be interested . If you are interested in how to choose the right vet click here to read my blog post.