Health & Longevity School for Dogs
Natural approach to treatment and prevention of arthritis in dogs
A Quick and Easy Raw and Cooked Natural Diet for Dogs
Diarrhea, IBS, and Leaky Gut Syndrome
How natural healing can prevent serious illness
Today I am going to touch on a tough topic. How do you recognize if your dog is healthy and why do dogs that have never had any problems before often end up with cancer?
The reason for this is the mysterious energy that holistic practitioners often call the life force.
When I consult about a patient that has been diagnosed with cancer, I hear one question more often than any other. Why my dog? He has been so healthy and has never had any problems and suddenly this!
However, from the holistic point of view, this situation makes c
omplete sense and I imagine that you may be puzzled as to why a symptom free, seemingly healthy dog would have a higher propensity to cancer.
What is life force?
To understand this, we have to look closely at life-force - the energy that keeps us, our dogs and other animals safe, healthy and alive.
If a dog or a person has a strong life force, he or she will respond to bacteria, viruses, bad food, physical or emotional injury strongly to prevent disease. On the other hand, an individual with a weakened or suppressed life force will not be as strong which can result in more serious problems such as cancer or chronic organ disease.
Fever, diarrhea, skin rashes and ear problems may sometimes be part of healing
The biggest problem is that western medicine sees some of the healing reactions as the disease itself. There is a general perception that symptoms such as skin eruptions, diarrhea, fever or inflammation have to be stopped. Not many doctors understand that these symptoms may in fact be a sign of a positive development and a strong vital (healing) force. Here are some examples:
Fever
The purpose of fever is to increase the body’s temperature, mobilize the immune system and making the body less hospitable to pathogens.
Diarrhea
is most commonly a part of a healing response - it is the body’s way of getting rid of impurities, toxins and pathogens especially if it lasts only a day or two. Dogs love to eat what they find and naturally, their system is designed to get rid of bad food and pathogens efficiently.
However, one must recognize a cleansing reaction from a chronic condition this does not include chronic recurrent diarrhea which is a sign of a deeper imbalance.
Skin eruptions and rashes
are the one of the most misperceived health problems. If you see teenagers with acne, a large majority of them could be totally symptom-free if they just stopped eating junk food, pop drinks, wheat and dairy. In other words, the acne is the body’s reaction to imbalances and impurities and so are skin problems in dogs.
Skin is the largest ‘organ’ in the body and one of its functions is to detoxify which happens through skin eruptions and cysts. Skin problems are often the signals that the body is out of balance. From the holistic point of view, this is much better, than if the body does nothing.
Obviously, there may be some exceptions such as hormonal conditions, skin parasites or bacteria but these usually come as secondary problems when the body’s signals are not seen and ignored.
Ear problems
I have written much about ear problems in a separate blog on Natural treatment of ear conditions in dogs. However, the most important part to know is that ears are seldom where the primary problem is. More often, they just signal through inflammation, itching and redness that there are other problems usually in the region of the neck, liver, digestive system or lumbar spine.Support, not suppress
The next natural question is. Should we just let these “healing reactions be” and watch our dogs having diarrhea and skin problems? Of course not! The main role of a practitioner is in supporting the body while not suppressing cleansing and healing reactions.
If you see a house on fire and someone stopped you from dialing 911, you would likely think that they have lost their mind or are right down crazy. Well brace yourself for my comment here because this is what western medicine is mostly about! Stopping the defences and putting them to sleep.Fever is another example. People are so often obsessed with “suppressing fever” without thinking what its purpose is.
Low vitality increases the chances of cancer
I trust that now it makes more sense that frequently, the flaccid, passive, low energy dogs such as Labradors, Bernese Mountain Dogs or Golden Retrievers are statistically more likely to be affected by problems such as cancer.
Their external expression is a reflection of their body’s tendency to be more sluggish and less effective in eliminating toxins, correcting imbalances and removing abnormal cancerous cells. If you love these breeds, and many people do, I would choose a more feisty and less placid puppy or a dog. Remember that puppies that are too mellow have a tendency to have less feisty immune systems. Healthy and vital puppies should be alive and naughty and not acting like a five-year-old dog.
On the other hand, a strong and vital breeds are often, not always more likely to be over-reactive, allergic and much less prone to cancer.
Steroid and pain control drugs lower your dog’s vital force.
Naturally, the next question one must ask is: What happens if these cleansing and self-tuning and adjusting reactions are suppressed by drugs?
This is where the divide between holistic and conventional medicine is the widest.
The conventional perception is that the absence of symptoms means that the patient is better. In holistic medicine, the absence of symptoms may mean that the patient is either better or the disease was driven deeper in the body and the vital force is so weak and is unable to put up the fight. Logically, the patient can’t be considered better if deeper more serious disease arises.
This is a critical point between recovery and causing long standing chronic disease induced by suppressive drugs such as steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs. The reality is that some healing can’t happen without “agitation and aggravation. Every time suppressive drugs such as corticosteroids and NSAIDs are used, this depletes the vital force and, in my opinion, sets back the healing process.
I compare the use suppressive drugs to credit card debt with high interest. If we rake up debt, we need to pay for it later.
The role of a true healer
is to support the patient during the healing process, increase the vital force and speed up recovery to prevent secondary problems - for example dehydration or secondary bacterial infections. Yes, I am fine with the occasional use of antibiotics because they can make a huge difference if use carefully and infrequently. I compare them to a crutch that the body may need at the beginning.What to do when one is tempted to use suppressive drugs.
I still see many dog guardians and veterinarians sitting on the fence. They love holistic treatment principles but as soon as something dramatic and significant happens, they reach for drugs and suppress the symptoms.The key to making the right decision is to answer a few questions:
- Is the condition life threatening at this point
- Is it reasonable to wait and see if the body can heal and restore balance?
- Can I consult an experienced homeopath that can alleviate the symptoms?
- Have we given our dog enough time to recover?
- Have we applied all the healing cycle steps including detox, giving the essential supplements and are balancing the body’s spine through chiropractic, physiotherapy, homeopathy and other holistic methods?
- Are all the supportive treatments in place to reduce the risks of the patient getting worse?
- Have you tried natural products that reduce inflammation through promoting healthy inflammatory response?
- Are you working with the right practitioner who is open to holistic medicine?
The reality is that a majority of all medical conditions can be solved without the use of suppressive drugs such as steroid and anti-inflammatory medication that suppress your dog’s immune system.
In my opinion, the use of western drugs can be reduced down to five percent of the original average usage. Now, imagine a world where the drug companies revenues from selling licensed and patented prescription drugs would fall by a whopping 95 five percent! They would be forced to change.
Wondering if it is realistic? I think so because I took the last prescription of antibiotics in 1994 and have not had a drug of any kind since then, not even aspirin or ibuprofen.
The truth is that drug companies can't make us do anything, we are free and the choice is ours.
We just have to learn how!
Additional recommended reading:
- How to choose the right practitioner
- Holistic Approach to Ear Infections
- Holistic Approach to Diarrhea
- Holistic Approach to Allergies
© Dr. Peter Dobias, DVM
