Dana Ullman: Don’t Confuse Real Healing With Suppression Of The Disease

Nov 22

Posted by Grand_Lady in Canine, Equine, Feline, Healing Approaches, Human | Comments

I came across a excellent article/blog post today about the difference between “healing” a disease and “suppressing” symptoms.  This writer is focused on human medical approaches but the same applies for animals.

Dana Ullman: Don’t Confuse Real Healing With Suppression Of The Disease.

Be sure to read through some of the comments at the end of the article as well.  I am encouraged that people in the mainstream are beginning to “get it”.  To understand that modern medicine’s approach of suppression of symptoms is causing more problems that it may be curing.

Think of this the next time that your vet recommends steroids for allergies or long-term NSAID pain relievers for arthritis or other body pain.  Ask “Why” the body has this issue – not just how to suppress the symptom.

Namaste’

Kay

Homeopathy for Allergies: Nothing to Sneeze At

Oct 20

Posted by Grand_Lady in Canine, Equine, Feline, Homeopathics, Human, Vaccinations | Comments

Dana Ullman: Homeopathy for Allergies: Nothing to Sneeze At.

This article offers substantiation to the claims that many of us have made over the years about our experiences using homeopathy to relieve various symptoms in humans and animals.  What the article refers to – using a homeopathic preparation of the allergen that each person reacts to – is very similar to how we use homeopathic nosodes.

A nosode is prepared by using diseased tissue, blood or other material such as mucus and potentiating water with the energetic resonance of that disease.  This water is then added to inert starch pills with hold that resonance.  In the same manner that the allergy sufferers were often given relief from their symptoms by using the homeopathic remedy that matched their allergy, the person or animal given the nosode is provided relief as well.  The immune system is also stimulated to fight the specific disease in a safer (and, in my opinion, more effective) manner that if triggered by a traditional injected vaccine that carries with it harmful side effects.

It is wonderful to see actual studies about homeopathic efficacy making their way into the mainstream media – finally!  In fact, I found this link in the Huffingtonpost.com!

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Switching to Natural Worming Techniques

Sep 22

Posted by Grand_Lady in Equine, Herbs, Parasites | Comments

This post was adapted from a discussion on the hearts4horses.net member forum that sprang from a post from The Horse magazine titled “Delaying Dewormer Resistance: Advice Offered in Study”.   The article talks about how Nonchemical parasite control strategies, fecal egg count monitoring, and controlled quarantine treatments all can delay the development of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in horses.  Here was my response:

If you truly want to never develop a tolerance to paste wormers – here is a novel idea – Don’t use them!

Instead of “poisoning your way to health” with toxic and known carcinogens such as ivermectin, there are healthy and effective ways to rid the body of parasites with herbs and products such as bentonite clays, diatomaceous earth and zeolites.

We have used Dynamite’s Herbal Tonic for 15 years and have had zero fecal counts ever since. Many of the horses that come to us with melanomas around the rectum are able to eliminate the melanomas very quickly when we discontinue their paste worming programs and used herbal products and zeolites instead.

Hearts4Horses’s Administrator’s response:

Please expand on your thoughts, experiences and uses. We need to know more. Is there any regional variations in effectiveness?

How do you transition a horse from a ‘regular’ wormer? Cost questions too. Please share more info. We would love to get off the chems.

Answer:

The best defense against parasites is a strong immune system and a properly functioning elimination system. This is the same no matter where you live. Using toxic chemicals that negatively affect the liver and kidneys is the wrong approach to accomplish this. In my opinion, the increase in use of chemical toxins such as strongid and ivermectin products is directly related to the great increase in recent decades to equine cancer, cushings, and other diseases of metabolic failure.

So here at Grand Adventures Ranch we choose to make the horse a healthy and inhospitable host for parasites. A properly alkaline intestinal tract along with herbs that balance the immune system and repel parasites mean that our horses are rarely bothered by parasites – OR flies!

How do we switch our horses away from paste or feed through worming protocols? We stop using them. Period.

Then we use a process of detoxification to cleanse the chemicals from the organs of elimination (liver, kidneys, lymph system). I prefer a product called “VivoZeoCompleteEQ” ($110 for 13 lb) or Dynamite Marketing’s “Excel” ($20 per lb – feed 1 tsp per day) for about 90 days.

Every 3 to 6 months (depending upon the horse), we use Dynamite’s Herbal Tonic (about $40 per horse) for 14 days. This ramps the immune system and flushes out any parasites without poisoning the host (the horse).

There are other good herbal wormers on the market – but we have had excellent, cost effective results following the Dynamite Feeding Protocol since 1995.

Bear in mind, that as a therapeutic boarding facility, we have our own herd that has been parasite free for 18+ years and also a mix of new horses with every conceivable level of health and parasite load. We had one case of tape worm in that time with a boarded horse that was on paste wormers every 90 days. Now she is much healthier and has been on nothing but herbs for about 9 months.

At the time that she contracted the tape worm this mare had a large number of rectal melanomas. After 30 days of VivoZeolite and Herbal Tonic, she all external melanomas had dried up and fallen off. And we spent less than $50.

Please let me know if you have any more questions!

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Light Therapy and Photopuncture

Sep 22

Posted by Grand_Lady in BioScan, photopuncture | Comments

Treating GB120 years ago, few people had ever heard about Light Therapy.  When Light Therapy devices were first approved by the FDA in 2001, they had to heat up to be recognized as therapeutic – because no one at the FDA believed that light affected the body – but the warmth would at least feel good.

Infrared Light therapy has also been given the names LED therapy, infrared therapy, light therapy, phototherapy, and more recently photodynamic therapy (PDT) or Intense Pulsed Light therapy (IPL). When used in conjunction with the acupuncture meridians, we call it Photopuncture.

A study done by the Mayo Clinic in 1989 suggests that the results of light therapy are a direct effect of light itself, generated at specific wavelengths, and are not necessarily a function of the characteristics of coherency and polarization associated with lasers.

LEDs have seen a major increase in popularity and use since the early 90’s. The first LED therapy units were actually used in the equine industry.  Only recently have human medical companies jumped on the bandwagon – and most all use the patents of the original manufacturer.

What does light therapy actually do?

Put simply, it reduces pain and stimulates healing. Light Therapy has been clinically shown to accelerate healing by at least 40%. At this time, no negative side effects have been found. In fact, Russian scientists exposed healthy tissue to biophotonic energy continuously for 30 days and found no damage to the tissue. The body simply does not absorb what it cannot use.

Light therapy has unique therapeutic effects including:

  • Improves freedom of motion
  • Promotes muscle relaxation
  • Decreases inflammation
  • Promotes pain relief
  • Increases oxygen and blood flow
  • Stimulates collagen production
  • Increases lymphatic activity

I have personally used light therapy for myself, dogs, cats, horses and various other species since the mid 1990’s.  I have witnessed incredible immediate physical responses that have no explanation other than the energy of the body rebalancing quickly when light is applied.

While not everyone will want to invest in a full Photopuncture System, basic therapeutic devices are available today for almost any budget.  For those interested in training and certification to use this valuable tool in an animal wellness business, we have ongoing programs throughout the year.

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Great Resource for those looking for a holistic vet?

Sep 22

Posted by Grand_Lady in Canine, Equine, Feline, Healing Approaches | Comments

Just because a vet advertises as being “holistic” is not proof of a good vet.  But in my mind, it is a good start!  Luckily, the folks at the AHVMA (American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association) have made is easier to find a holistic vets and the specific modalities that they offer.

The Holistic Vet List site is a great resource. You can search for a new vet by state, zipcode, and by modalities. Check it out when looking for a new vet or helping a friend to find better options!

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Food Fads for Animals – Should you jump on the bandwagon?

Sep 15

Posted by grandadadmin in Canine, Equine, Equine Feeds, Feline, Foods & Feeding, Pet Foods | Comments

Look, listen, read and be cynical when being sold the latest in food fads. Every magazine and website is spouting the latest fads: “Safe” or “Low Glycemic Index” grains for horses, Low Calorie or Breed Specific foods for dogs, Gourmet Meals in sealed pouches, etc. But what are you really getting, besides a specialty price?

Could it be that there is real money to be made in convincing the public that their animals needs something different and “special”? Are the ingredients really any better? Or even any different?

The healthiest animals are those who are fed real, biologically appropriate foods. Reading labels and learning to decipher ingredient definitions is the best place to start. Don’t assume that just because Purina Mills or any other multinational food conglomerate has spent tens of thousands of dollars on research means they have the animals’ best interest at heart. They have spent that money to figure out how to sell the cheapest ingredients at the highest price to the most consumers.

Here is a tip – when you watch television or read a magazine about your favorite animal, keep an eye out for the latest food being offered. Then go to the website and look up the ingredients (if you can even find them). See if they are really any different that what is in most other foods and why. Then report back to us on the calls or the blog!

My favorite right now is the special Chef Michael commercial who loves his dog so much that he is making special meals for him (through Purina). One line on the website is “Chef Michael’s is dedicated to fulfilling dogs’ desires through offerings that will get their tails wagging and mouths watering!” Nothing about getting them healthy.

The commercial shows him cutting up filet mignon and mentions meals that “smell like” filet mignon. Here are the dry Filet Mignon variety ingredients: Beef, soybean meal, soy flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), brewers rice, soy protein concentrate, corn gluten meal, ground yellow corn, glycerin, poultry by-product meal, ground wheat, animal digest, salt, pearled barley, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, natural filet mignon flavor, dried potatoes, dried green beans, added color (Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and other color), sulfur, Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, manganese sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, Vitamin D-3 supplement, folic acid, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), biotin, sodium selenite. B-5900

I am not sure what B-5900 hundred is, but I am sure that there is no Filet Mignon in this food – just Filet Mignon flavor (MSG perhaps?). Between the by-product meals, the rice, soy, corn, corn, wheat, potatoes there is way more starch filler than digestible nutrients and nothing on the site guarantees “No chemical preservatives”. So who knows.

Pet owners are not alone in being sold “Fad Foods”. Horse owners are being convinced that they need “Safe” grains for their horses. After recent studies have shown sweet feeds with tons of sugar and processed grain parts to be a problem, the feed mills are now offering a “solution” with new, safer feeds. For instance, Nutrena’s Safe Choice. Here is the first paragraph about Safe Choice from Nutrena’s website:

Controlled starch formula: SafeChoice®, with its controlled starch, highly digestible fiber formula, aids in balancing the energy from these multiple sources in the diet. Controlled starch diets are widely recommended for use in horses that are prone to metabolic disturbances related to high starch intake.

Like many horse feed companies – you can’t get any ingredients from the site. But you can get feeding recommendations. For the average horse under light work, Nutrena recommends .5 to .75 lbs of this food per 100 lbs of horse. That means up to 7.5lbs a day of this stuff. Compare that to about a pound of a whole grain mix such as Dynamite’s Complete Pelleted Grain Ration. (3.5 cups). That would mean that Dynamite’s organic, tested chemical-free food would have to 5 to 7 times more expensive to make it a comparable financial trade off. Any nothing will convince me that it will ever be a comparable nutritional trade off.

I am off to the feed store to get the ingredient list for the Safe Choice – report back later!

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What’s in Your Medicine Cabinet? What Should Be?

Aug 25

Posted by Grand_Lady in Canine, Equine, Feline, Healing Approaches, Herbs, Homeopathics, Human, Oxygen | Comments

Whether we are talking about the cabinet in your bathroom or the emergency bucket in the tack room – being prepared for emergencies and illnesses is a must when you have kids or animals.  Having a properly stocked cabinet can save you literally $1000s of dollars in vet bills and potentially save your animal’s life.

Everyone’s Medicine Cabinet will look a little different based upon what animals they have, which products have been useful in the past, or what has been recommended by someone they trust.  But here is my starting list for my dogs, horses, cats and others:

  • Rescue Remedy (often for me!)
  • Sangre de Drago – A MUST!
  • Pain killer – Recovazon or Traumeel  (Banamine if you have horses and your vet will sell you some)
  • Grapefruit Seed Extract, Betadine & H2O2
  • Envirozon & Arcozon
  • Illumination
  • Aquazon – blue green algae
  • Dynamite Trace Minerals Concentrate
  • Dyna-Pro Probiotic
  • Treasure Tea
  • Solace Colloidal Silver (for infection)
  • Activated charcoal
  • Warrior (for instant energy)
  • Miracle Clay (for snake bites)
  • Basic Homeopathics: Arnica, Silicea, Ars. Album, Rus Tox.
  • Liquid Oxygen – Vitamin O or Aerobic Life
  • Bach Flower essences Relax & Release
  • Tea Tree Oil
  • Mag 07 powdered ozone
  • Vinegar – preferably raw
  • Zeolite – powered or liquid
  • Sore No More Liniment or Gel & clay
  • Uva Ursi (kidney flush)
  • Cleaned, boiled and bagged soft towels
  • Sterile gauze sponges & gauze pads
  • Sterile gauze roll to pad and protect the wound or polo wraps
  • Self-adhesive tape (like Vet-Rap)
  • Diapers and diaper pins
  • Adult bed-wetting pads
  • Blunt-tipped bandage scissors
  • Tweezers
  • Bulb Syringe
  • 3cc, 12cc, 60cc syringes
  • Rectal Thermometer
  • Stethoscope
  • Twitch
  • Hoof Pick
  • Non-Toxic Fly Spray
  • Leatherman tool with wire cutters
  • Flashlight
  • Medicating hoof boot

Not much, right! But believe me, having these items on hand costs less than one major vet bill and has saved multiple lives.  Bring your additions to this weeks conference call or post them here!

Namaste’

Kay

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Sangre and Recovazon take on a Rattlesnake Bite!

Aug 23

Posted by Grand_Lady in Canine, Herbs, Snake Bite | Comments

Hey, Kay,

Thank-you so much one more time! Pls. send us a consultation bill.

Withing an hour of the first douse of Sangre de Drago and flushing of Recovazon, there was a marked improvement in the swelling going down. I just repeated that. How exciting to actually witness the whole process. I have suggested this to many people where stings and venomous bites are concerned, but this is the first opportunity I’ve had to be the one actually going through it. The miracle clay helped immensely and your further advice with the additonal treatment worked miracles, additionally.

I walked the yard to see if I could flush out the snake if it was still in the yard and have it removed. It was there, alright! Piston had killed it, bitten it in the head, crushing one side of it’s head, so he may have swallowed venom w/o even being bitten? A small Diamondback, about 15 inches with five rattles. Other than your d’Etnas, I have not spoken to anyone else whose dog(s) have killed the snake.

‘Can’t thank you enough…by the way, I had already left for Tucson to attend the Mustang benefit and in the meantime, Tracy called our wonderful local vet who said if he wasn’t a patient of his already he couldn’t see him. He did not offer any suggestions, any kind words, just dropped her in a panic like a hot potato. I am SO tempted to write a letter to the editor. What do you think of that?

I can understand not wanting to be disturbed on a Sat. night, but I just can’t understand the lack of caring at all for the suffering animals without feeling the responsibility of doing something to help! He must just be entirely burnt out!

I am so grateful to have met you, studied with you and been introduced to Dynamite and Amazon Herbs through you. With my experience with Dr. Bell, you and these products, I have so rarely had to seek veterinary assistance with any of my animals and NEVER with Sha-Tali.

We are all just breathing a HUGE sigh of relief here right now and actually eating something and all stretched out and relaxing in the aftermath.

Much love and appreciation,

Cate and Tracy Leasure (she’s on Facebook and is posting several pics. taken throughout the process and of the snake. I am going to have her request your Facebook friendship so you can view it, if you’d like.

Much love from Catie, who Sings and Cries with the Wolves xox

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Pigeon Fever vs Ozone!

Aug 23

Posted by Grand_Lady in Equine, Homeopathics, Nutrition, Oxygen, Pigeon Fever/Kutcheri | Comments

Tori - sweet Peruvian MareLast Wednesday, Susan, one of my regular clients called me because a large (grapefruit sized) abscess had come up between her mare’s front legs on Tuesday afternoon.  Four years ago (before she was my client), this same Peruvian Paso mare had gone through 8+ months of Pigeon Fever ordeal which began in the chest and then traveled down the right side to blow up her right teat to the size of a basketball.  The teat eventually ruptured. The vet at that time chose to treat with sulfa drugs and time only and she wasn’t really healed up for over a year.

As no culture was ever done of the original abscess material, we have to stick with the Pigeon Fever diagnosis, but it sounds distinctly like this mare may have also had C. Kutscheri – which is far harder to fight, embeds itself in the organs and, in every case we have seen here, blows up the lymph system down the right side of the horse and settles in the right bag or right side of the penis sheath.  Susan followed our Pigeon Fever research study in 2006 closely because of what had happened to her mare, and was familiar with what we experienced with Kutscheri.

So she was worried, with good reason, that the nightmare might be starting all over again.  I went out on Wednesday afternoon and Susan agreed that she and her sweet mare would come over daily for octazone (O8 – similar to ozone O3 but slightly more concentrated) treatments beginning on Thursday morning.  She began putting Miracle Clay over the abscess right then and we started the mare on a ramping protocol of Dynamite’s S.O.D. for Horses to strengthen the immune system as well as homeopathic Silicea 30c and Ars. Album 30c three times a day.

We probably should have waited until after Thursday morning to start using the Miracle Clay as by the following day it had pulled the extra edema out from around the abscess and I had to really work to take a needle aspiration from the swelling.   But we got enough to send in to the lab that afternoon.  I don’t like to wait, if there is enough pooled fluid to aspirate, lets find out what we are dealing with!  Too many vets in this area hear “abscess” and assume Pigeon Fever.  But past experience has taught us not to assume anything!

We are giving approximately 9 minutes of rectal octazone at 1.5 liters per minute each day.  After aspirating the fluid in the abscess on Thursday, we started the first treatment.  By Friday, the swelling seemed smaller, but I didn’t want to trust my eyes.  Yesterday, the abscess was obviously less than half the size that it originally was on Wednesday and was split into to sections.  Today, I really am not sure I could feel anything but the extra stretched out skin and built up clay.  It seemed to be completely gone.  Never erupted, handled and reabsorbed by the body.

We are continuing the octazone treatments through Wednesday morning just to be safe and really help the liver to cleanse the blood.  It will be interesting to see the lab results when they come back Monday or Tuesday – I only hope we got enough aspirate to know that the body was dealing with.  But this is why I LOVE having an ozone or octazone machine in the barn.  We can take care of infections before they spread or erupt and help the body heal itself without antibiotics!

S.O.D. For Horses

Beet Pulp Ponderings

Aug 22

Posted by Grand_Lady in Equine, Equine Feeds | Comments

I seem to one of the few voices against using sugar beet pulp as a feed for horses. Beet pulp, the waste product left over from extracting table sugar, is touted as a great feed because it is only about 10 percent protein and provides more calories than hay but less than grain. And it is cheap. Perfect!

But I have my doubts. I don’t remember reading about horses eating cooked beets out in the wild. Horses may have eaten the occasional root vegetable while foraging but their digestive tracts were never designed to survive on them. For optimal health, animals should eat diets that approximate what they ate in nature. Every time we “improve” on Mother Nature’s perfect design – something is lost. Mom knows best and I do my best to follow her advice.

There are two schools of thought on how beet pulp should be fed – wet or dry. Most believe in pre-soaking it for 8 – 12 hours as it expands greatly when water is added. However, this can lead to problems because by the time it has soaked properly here in warm climates it has started to ferment and go sour. In northern climes it may freeze before the horse will finish dinner. So articles began to come out about feeding beet pulp dry.

Now my horse doesn’t seem to understand the concept of “take a bite, chew, drink some water, repeat”. Mine tend to hurry through whatever is in the feed bucket with their vitamins and then walk over for a long drink of water. What happens when the beet pulp has made it into the intestinal tract before a big drink of water comes along? This is a recipe for impaction.

Beet pulp is recognized to cause “choke”. Choke occurs when a bolus of food becomes lodged in the esophagus, a truly painful and potentially fatal condition. I have one friend that went through this and saved the horse only through luck and determination – the vet had gone home with advice to call the backhoe in the morning. Choke is more likely to happen with greedy eaters that take huge bites and don’t bother to chew – but that describes most the horses on my place.

Proponents say water intake in horses is proportional to fiber intake. The more fiber consumed, the more water consumed. They also assert that horses fed beet pulp drink more water than horses on a lower-fiber diet. This may be true – but I never advocate a low fiber diet for horses. Although much of the extra sugar in beet pulp has been extracted, there is still enough to give the horse a sugar buzz and require even more water for the pancreas to process the extra sugar.

Most commercial feeds are an excuse to sell us agri-waste. Sugar beet pulp is yet another example of this trend. I will stick to hay and tested chemical-free grains in my barn.

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