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Our Holistic Journey

It doesn't have to be one way or the other. It's a delicate balance of the wisdom of ancient cultures and the miracle of modern medicine.

I wish to begin this topic by saying that I am not a professional in animal healthcare nor am I a holistic practitioner. While I am studying these interesting topics, I am not an expert. I am simply sharing my experiences and the information I have received from the professionals I have worked with. My purpose in sharing this information is to raise your interest so that you might consider implementing some complementary therapies where possible for restoring your pet to health. Please consult with your holistic veterinarian or with a practitioner such as Marina Zacharias ( naturalrearing.com). The information presented on this website does not take the place of a veterinarian's advice. I have not been compensated in any way by any of the companies or people that I mention on this website.

Itchy, Scratchy and Stinky - not a new comedy act!

With those pretty
colors came itchy feet!

In the fall of Nigel's 2nd year, he began to lick and chew his paws intensely. I took him to our vet and was told that he had seasonal (fall) allergies. I was unaware that an animal could suffer with seasonal allergies. His vet suggested that he be put on an antihistamine and an EFA. This produced no results and Nigel continued to chew his paws and be miserable. We returned to the vet and a different antihistamine was prescribed along with a topical spray and anti-itch shampoo, but still, no results. I was told Prednisone would work. I was reluctant to try this because I'd heard so many bad things about it. I had serious concerns about the effects of Prednisone on his liver, but I didn't think I had a choice so I tried it. It did work. The main problem (besides the unseen long-term effects on his liver) was that it made poor Nigel incredibly thirsty. He drank so much water that he even had trouble holding his bladder because he was drinking constantly, sometimes consuming almost a whole bowl of water in one drink. I felt constantly uneasy about having him on Prednisone, even for the short course of the fall season, but I didn't know what else to do. I had tried everything hadn't I?

A couple of years passed and every year at the end of August, the Michigan ragweed bloomed and Nigel's feet started to itch. Each year (a total of 3) with a heavy heart, I went to refill his prescription for Prednisone. I needed some alternatives but what was out there? Keep reading!

How could one so cute
smell so bad?

When Nigel was 3 years old, we brought our little girl Divot home. Divot was sweet, charming and so cuddly, but she had an oily, flakey coat and if not bathed every 3 or 4 weeks, she started to smell bad, like a dirty gym sock (and Norwich should not be bathed often!). She also seemed to scratch herself a lot. I tried shampoos, sprays and adding EFA's to her food but nothing worked. I was upset that there weren't any answers out there for my suffering dogs. I began to wonder if my approach was wrong. Clearly what I was doing wasn't working.

I started reading some information about dogs and allergies and some of the things I read were from a "holistic" perspective. I had never heard that term before but what these practitioners said was intriguing: These problems needed to be addressed from the inside of the dog, not just the outside. For example, some of the symptoms of a poor diet were oily skin and coat, itchiness and a not-so-pleasant odor. In fact, one source I read specifically said the oder was "like a dirty gym sock." I discovered that my big name dog food might be the culprit. A friend of mine told me about a natural home made diet that she was trying for her dog and I thought I'd give it a try. I had never considered cooking for my dog and in fact I had always said, "Oh, I would never feed my dogs people food!" In hindsight, I'm so embarrassed for making such a ridiculous statement! I had nothing to lose so I tried the homemade diet. Within about a month, I saw changes in both of my dogs. Nigel, always the more nervous of the two, seemed more relaxed and soon after, Divot was no longer oily, flaky, itchy or stinky! It was an amazing turn of events. What was it that caused these changes? The chemical preservatives had been removed, thus calming Nigel and the cheap fillers had been removed, thus Divot's skin was no longer having to filter them out. I was excited and wanted to learn more. If a simple diet change made this much difference, what else didn't I know?

A lot as it turns out. In my research, I started hearing the name of a holistic practitioner, Marina Zacharias. I heard of how she had taught people about the holistic approach and offered them alternative therapies for their dogs, and they were having success! I contacted her to find out what we could do for Nigel's fall allergies. She started out by explaining to me how the body works in reaction to an allergy, and how conventional medicine treats only the symptoms by suppressing the immune system (covering them up), but the holistic approach treats the dog from the inside. Covering up the symptoms does make it appear that the problem has been "cured," but suppressing the symptoms only serves to drive them deeper into the body, causing illness to come up somewhere else. Marina endorsed a natural diet and suggested that we offer nutrients in the form of herbs and vitamin supplements to support the body so that it can do what it's supposed to do. We also tried a natural cortisone product along with a homeopathic remedy called "Grass & Weed," basically what Nigel is allergic to, therefore desensitizing him over time. The idea is "like cures like," sort of how allergy shots work.

What one must keep in mind is that the holistic approach is not a "quick fix" like many of the conventional approaches offer. If the body's immune system has been weakened due to genetics, and unhealthy diet, over-use of vaccinations, or even environmental toxins, it's going to take time to gain strength. Over the past 6 years, I have seen vast improvements in both dogs' overall health. Best of all, no itchy feet (or Prednisone) for Nigel, and Divot has healthy skin and coat. No more dirty gym sock smell for this beautiful little girl!

The Saga of Divot's Wart

Divot's wart pre-surgery

This is the story about how an alternative approach saved Divot from needing a second surgery for the same problem. In the fall of 2003, while grooming Divot, I discovered a lump on her right paw. It had suddenly appeared and seemed to have grown very quickly. I took her to the vet and they were unable to extract any material from it to determine what it was. Due to the seemingly aggressive nature of this lump, and the inability to determine the nature of the cells it contained, we decided that surgery was needed to determine exactly what we were dealing with. The lump was successfully removed and Divot healed nicely. It was determined that the lump was a viral papilloma - basically a wart. But a little more than a month later, the wart came back. It was growing faster than before and was even worse looking. I sought out several opinions and I was told that the options were another surgery, cryogenics, or laser removal. None of those sounded good to me simply because removing it from the outside of the body did not work the first time. A dermatologist was consulted and some human topical medications were proposed but I was concerned about Divot licking the medication off and again, this was treatment from the outside. I called Marina and asked if she could help. She suggested 3 products: One was a product called Bioprin (Chinese name Bao Xing). This is a concoction of Chinese herbs all possessing anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. Another product was a homeopathic specifically for warts, simply called "Wart." The third product was colostrum. Colostrum is the mother's first milk and it's packed with all sorts of natural immune strengthening nutrients. I began by giving Divot 2 Bioprin and 2 colostrum capsules per day, and also administering the homeopathic drops (orally) 3 times per day. A couple of days into the treatment I asked Marina about applying some of the Bioprin directly to the wart and she said I could certainly try that. I must admit that I was hopeful but honestly, I was very skeptical. It just sounded too easy but I knew that if this didn't work, some sort of surgical procedure was on the horizon for Divot. But it did work! Within 7 days the wart had simply vanished. As I write this story, it has been over 5 years since the treatment and the wart has not come back. You're probably thinking that it was just luck and it was going to fall off anyway right? I have a friend (formerly of Chicago) who also has a Norwich and about a month after Divot's wart was surgically removed, her dog was diagnosed with the same type of wart, only this wart was between the pads of the foot. She knew of my experience with Divot because I had shared the information with my Norwich Terrier discussion group. Her dog had the surgery to remove the wart but about several weeks later, it too reappeared. My friend called and asked for more details about Divot's alternative treatment and she promptly called Marina. Because the diagnosis was the same, the same treatment was given and the same results occurred. Rather than cutting the wart off, and leaving the offending virus intact within the dog's body, the offending virus was eradicated and could not continue to exist and grow. By strengthening the immune system, the dog's body became inhospitable to the virus.

Leaky Divot

As can sometimes happen with a spayed female, Divot began to leak small amounts of urine while sleeping. It didn't happen often but I was told this would get worse. I took her to the vet and had tests run to make sure that she didn't have an infection or anything of that nature. All tests came back fine as far as bladder and kidney function. I was told that there was a prescription drug that she would need to be on for the rest of her life to keep her from leaking. I called Marina and she had an alternative to offer. We put Divot on a homeopathic and a glandular therapy and she stopped leaking. She is now only on a maintenance dose of the glandular. She gets one capsule about every 5 days.

Muzzle Mystery Solved

This is a case where I learned just how important it is for an owner to be as tenacious as our terriers. For several years we had been having an on again / off again issue with Divot having an "itchy muzzle." The problem began (very slightly) in Michigan but was not consistent so it was not deemed a serious problem, but it did escalate noticeably when we moved to Arizona. Once here, Divot began to scratch and rub her face until most of the hair had come off of her muzzle (end of the muzzle, just under the nostrils) leaving red, irritated skin exposed sometimes even bleeding slightly.

Divot in October of 2006.
Note the redness and loss
of hair just below her nose.

My vet in Michigan had looked at it when it first appeared and didn't know what it was from just a surface exam. He said we could do a skin scraping but since it wasn't an emergency, perhaps we should wait until she was in for a dental appointment and save her the pain of doing the scraping and I agreed. Shortly after that we moved out of state so it wasn't done. Once settled in Arizona, my regular vet in Sedona said it was most likely some sort of allergy and offered no suggestions outside of one of the prescription diets sold in the office. I didn't bother to try that. My holistic vet said that it appeared to her to be a condition that was most likely a reaction to the sun. Sort of like "doggie sunburn" and she suggested a couple of supplements but they didn't help. I had heard that some dogs can have sensitivities to certain proteins and chicken was one of those foods mentioned. It was also the protein in the food I was feeding Nigel and Divot. I changed the protein source in Divot's diet from poultry to red meats and within just a few weeks, she had stopped itching and a few weeks later, the hair began to grow back on her muzzle. I was thrilled with this turn of events. But that lasted for just a few months and then the problem returned. I was so frustrated!

At the end of April 2007 we moved closer to Phoenix and I had a much bigger pool of vets to choose from. I found a vet I really liked and when I had Nigel and Divot in for their initial check-ups with him I asked him what he thought might be going on with Divot's muzzle. He had a few ideas but said that since we had tried a few things with no success, we should do a skin biopsy since that's the only way to get real answers. Divot was in need of a dental appointment by this time so he did the biopsy while she was under anesthesia. It was much like a tiny punch into the skin and required two small stitches afterward.

Divot September 2007.
Healed, happy and
hairy once again!

The biopsy came back and it was determined that she has a condition called Discoid Lupus Erythematosis (DLE), or sometimes called Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosis (CLE), an auto-immune disease that happens to be exacerbated by exposure to the sun. This explains why the problem was inconsistent in Michigan where it's not very sunny but Arizona's got plenty of sunshine and thus the immediate worsening of the symptoms upon our arrival. Divot's problem isn't as bad as some so the vet prescribed a topical ointment. Within just a week of starting the use of the topical, the itching really lessened and a few weeks later, the hair began to grow back. She looks completely normal once again and I know she feels much better. In some cases dogs will require the use of steroids if they don't respond to the topical treatment. Since Divot's case isn't terribly bad and she's responded so well we don't see any need for that course of action. I apply the topical gel and try to limit her exposure to the sun to the least harmful times of the day.

I have done a little research on the topic and have found that it is most common in GSD's and Collies. I can't tell you how relieved I was to finally get a clear answer and get some relief for Divot - it took nearly 4 years but we have an answer. It's a good reminder and hopefully an encouragement to never stop looking for answers on behalf of your pet. They deserve it!

The Vaccine Debate

The debate over vaccines continues to be a hot topic. I'm only going to touch on it here because frankly, it's a complicated issue that involves medicine, politics and the law. I am not alone in having concerns about the need for most of these annual vaccines.

Thankfully, in the past year most veterinary schools and finally the AAHA are releasing statements that suggest that annual vaccination is not necessary. This is good news! The problem is that some veterinarians will continue to administer them annually as a way to get people to bring their dogs in for an annual exam. I believe that all pets should be examined at least annually but I think that it's unethical for them to be given vaccinations they don't need. Research suggests that unnecessary vaccines can actually weaken a dog's immune system, leaving them more susceptible to disease. Some dogs have serious reactions to the adjuvants used in the vaccines. These reactions can range from irritation at the vaccine injection site, sores in the ears (see the "Recommended Reading" section on RVI-ID) to other infections in the body. The method most often used for vaccinating your pet is the "combo vaccine." This cocktail of vaccines can be overwhelming to your dog's immune system and is done only for convenience and financial reasons. There are few things less natural than a dog's immune system being assaulted by 3 or 4 diseases at once. Sure, in nature they might be exposed to things like parvovirus, or distemper but never all within the same second!

I have Nigel and Divot titer tested (a blood test to determine level of immunity at that time) and they haven't needed vaccines. This test tells me that my dog's antibodies are sufficient. The only problem is that a titer is like a snapshot in time. Titering a week later could provide a different result. The best thing to do is to keep your dog's immune system as strong as possible. Since a vaccine works only to stimulate the immune system, without following it with a titer test (and nobody does) you are simply assuming that the vaccine has done it's job. But what if it hasn't? All these years we have needlessly vaccinated our dogs annually but only with the assumption that the vaccine really did it's job.

I am also concerned about the need for rabies vaccine. It is the law however and as much as I don't like government mandating things that concern my dogs' health, I do comply. As we discuss in "Interview With Marina" there is good news on the rabies vaccine front too. Dr. Jean Dodds has begun to gather funding for a study on the effects and necessity of the rabies vaccine. This 7 year study could lead to an exciting new chapter in pet health care.

Final Thoughts...

The holistic approach has in large part been working for us. I believe that in the future, more conventional veterinarians will begin to embrace complimentary care as you the pet owner look for healthy, less invasive alternatives for common problems.

Through this discussion, I am in no way suggesting that you no longer consult with your veterinarian and try to do this on your own. I am not anti-vet nor am I anti-Western medicine. There is a time and place for all approaches. Bring your ideas and suggestions to your vet. Some vets will be open to discussing new ideas and techniques and some won't. If your vet isn't open to learning or incorporating complementary care, perhaps it's time to consult with another vet. Consider looking for a holistic vet in your area and consult with both - you'll cover all your bases that way. That has been my approach - incorporating both types, and being open-minded to both has served Nigel and Divot well. Complimentary care is a fast growing idea and many vets are indeed opening their minds (and practices) to it.