Holistic Healthcare for Dogs
Catherine O’Driscoll
Holistic healthcare practitioners acknowledge that animals and humans have four bodies - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Conventional vets, on the other hand, usually treat only the physical body. Yet there is growing evidence to say that emotional stress can make people ill, as can mental anguish and spiritual trauma. While we might attempt to put sticking plaster over the illnesses that result from these stresses, unless we heal the cause, we are only really applying first aid.
Scientists are currently debating whether animals can be conscious. That is, are they merely ‘automatons’ acting on a purely instinctive basis for survival, or do they have thought processes, can they reason, and do they get emotionally upset? I expect most of us who know and love dogs can answer that one! But because science has trouble measuring thoughts and feelings in a laboratory, they tell us that emotional, mental and spiritual processes in animals don’t exist.
But wouldn’t it be interesting to at least be open to the debate?
Because scientists are better able to measure the physical world, we have good evidence that physical stresses can affect health. For example, according to Leonard Mervyn BSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, stress can increase the body’s requirements of the vitamin B complex, and particularly pantothenic acid (B5) because of its role in producing anti-stress hormones; also vitamin C for the same reason. In one study conducted by a group of scientists headed by Sheffy, puppies were deliberately starved of vitamin B5 and then vaccinated, and they all died. This is because, of course, vaccines are a stress: you are deliberately injecting viruses, plus other known stressors such as aluminium salts, formaldehyde, etc., into a body, in an attempt to stimulate an immune response.
But stress comes in forms other than purely physical. Next time you have a row with someone, take a look at your dog’s gums. They will most probably be very pale, indicating that the body is in a state of alarm - because the dog has been thrown emotionally off-balance, especially if you have. In her excellent book, “The Natural Remedy Book for Dogs and Cats”, Diane Stein writes: “Pet behaviour is a reflection of the mental body. Like people, pets have memories, and what has hapened to them in the past affects their behaviour and wellness in the present. Misunderstanding, miscommunication, and previous abuse or traumatic experiences can manifest in physical dis-ease. Negative behaviour coincident with physical illness is a clue to a mental body dis-ease source.
“Pets also sacrifice themselves for the well-being of the humans they have bonded to. Animals take negative energy or situations into themselves and thereby protect their people. Both cats and dogs act as buffers between their people and the dangers and negativities of the world. Humans are aware of this on a conscious level when a dog runs back into a burning house to save a child or puts herself between her person and an attacker and dies. The same scenario happens on an energy level daily although the humans involved may never be aware of it. The cat in a troubled family may manifest her guardian’s cancer, clearing the human’s aura and taking the dis-ease into her own body.”
Revolutionary, outrageous stuff, eh?! And frightening if we believe this but don’t know what we can do to help alleviate the suffering our friends take on on our behalf.
Daniel, who is a handsome young Golden Retriever, started itching some months ago. My immediate response was to give him homeopathic Sulphur, which is a classic skin remedy. This didn’t have much effect, so I moved on to Graphites. Still no effect. I looked at his diet, ensuring that he had sufficient protein, as protein deficiencies, especially a lack of some essential fatty acids, which are only found in raw meat sources, can cause skin problems. The diet seemed OK. So I telephoned a friend, an animal communicator, and asked her whether she had any answers.
I was told that Daniel was suffering from feelings of grief and loss, and this was causing inflammation in his skin. Daniel, at two years of age, has never experienced any grief or loss that I am aware of. But I have. Could it be that Daniel has been absorbing my emotions and becoming ill as a result? The animal communicator recommended Nat Mur, a homeopathic remedy for grief - for Daniel and for me!
Maralyn Steele is a homeopath and also the owner of several beautiful Cavaliers. She told me that, often, homeopaths will treat the mother of a household, and all the illnesses manifesting in family members will clear up at the same time. Many dog owners and mothers will acknowledge that they will rush to attend to illnesses and upsets in their loved-ones, but always overlook their own needs. Maybe, in this light, looking after ourselves is part and parcel of looking after others?
Scientists have found that your blood pressure drops when you are in a room with a dog or cat, and you don’t have to be stroking them for this to happen. They have found that heart patients who live with dogs recover faster, and have fewer relapses, than people who don’t have pets. They postulate that this has something to do with companionship - but could it be more than that?
I don’t think that anyone, at this stage, can prove that animals take on our negative emotions, except that common sense will tell us that it’s possible. I know that Sammie, when he was alive, used to sense when I was tired and take my arm in his mouth, march me upstairs to the bedroom, and push me on the bed. I know that Sophie used to wake up at night, when everyone but me was asleep, and bark quietly and wave her paw at me. I thought for a long time that she just wanted a stroke, but then I noticed that she always woke up and ‘told me off’ when I was thinking about unpleasant situations that had happened that day. I know that Chappie once, totally out of character, started snarling and barking at a man who seemed pleasant enough - but we discovered later that he was a drug dealer and a house burglar. I would think that all of us who have close relationships with our dogs have similar stories to tell.
There are many holistic remedies that are designed to deal with emotional and mental, even spiritual, dis-ease. The Bach flower remedies, for example, treat illnesses purely from the viewpoint of the individual’s character - they treat the person, not the disease. For example, a person (or dog) who suffers from arthritis, who frequently feels jealous and critical, would take Bach’s Holly. This would engender feelings of being loved and lovable, and remove the need to feel jealous or critical. Hopefully, it would also alleviate the arthritic symptoms. Whilst scientists in laboratories would say this is rubbish - because they haven’t conducted experiments to prove the flower remedies - many hundreds who have used them, on themselves and their dogs, say they work.
Homeopathy works on the same principle - homeopaths treat the person, not the disease. Tellington Ttouch is very therapeutic where mental and emotional stresses have taken their toll. Sometimes, just talking to your dog, stroking him, and offering love, reassurance and patience works wonders. More mental activity, something to do, is sometimes needed. Maybe you could call upon the services of an animal communicator or radionics practitioner - find out whether something is upsetting your dog, and see if you can do something to solve the problem.
Naturally, if the condition is critical, that is, if the disease is life-threatening or distressing, then qualified veterinary support should always be immediately sought. But by remaining open to alternative therapies at the same time, you could find that drugs and their side-effects can be placed aside, and a longer, more lasting cure can be achieved.
Back to:
Complementary Healthcare
A to Z
Catherine O’Driscoll
Holistic healthcare practitioners acknowledge that animals and humans have four bodies - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Conventional vets, on the other hand, usually treat only the physical body. Yet there is growing evidence to say that emotional stress can make people ill, as can mental anguish and spiritual trauma. While we might attempt to put sticking plaster over the illnesses that result from these stresses, unless we heal the cause, we are only really applying first aid.
Scientists are currently debating whether animals can be conscious. That is, are they merely ‘automatons’ acting on a purely instinctive basis for survival, or do they have thought processes, can they reason, and do they get emotionally upset? I expect most of us who know and love dogs can answer that one! But because science has trouble measuring thoughts and feelings in a laboratory, they tell us that emotional, mental and spiritual processes in animals don’t exist.
But wouldn’t it be interesting to at least be open to the debate?
Because scientists are better able to measure the physical world, we have good evidence that physical stresses can affect health. For example, according to Leonard Mervyn BSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, stress can increase the body’s requirements of the vitamin B complex, and particularly pantothenic acid (B5) because of its role in producing anti-stress hormones; also vitamin C for the same reason. In one study conducted by a group of scientists headed by Sheffy, puppies were deliberately starved of vitamin B5 and then vaccinated, and they all died. This is because, of course, vaccines are a stress: you are deliberately injecting viruses, plus other known stressors such as aluminium salts, formaldehyde, etc., into a body, in an attempt to stimulate an immune response.
But stress comes in forms other than purely physical. Next time you have a row with someone, take a look at your dog’s gums. They will most probably be very pale, indicating that the body is in a state of alarm - because the dog has been thrown emotionally off-balance, especially if you have. In her excellent book, “The Natural Remedy Book for Dogs and Cats”, Diane Stein writes: “Pet behaviour is a reflection of the mental body. Like people, pets have memories, and what has hapened to them in the past affects their behaviour and wellness in the present. Misunderstanding, miscommunication, and previous abuse or traumatic experiences can manifest in physical dis-ease. Negative behaviour coincident with physical illness is a clue to a mental body dis-ease source.
“Pets also sacrifice themselves for the well-being of the humans they have bonded to. Animals take negative energy or situations into themselves and thereby protect their people. Both cats and dogs act as buffers between their people and the dangers and negativities of the world. Humans are aware of this on a conscious level when a dog runs back into a burning house to save a child or puts herself between her person and an attacker and dies. The same scenario happens on an energy level daily although the humans involved may never be aware of it. The cat in a troubled family may manifest her guardian’s cancer, clearing the human’s aura and taking the dis-ease into her own body.”
Revolutionary, outrageous stuff, eh?! And frightening if we believe this but don’t know what we can do to help alleviate the suffering our friends take on on our behalf.
Daniel, who is a handsome young Golden Retriever, started itching some months ago. My immediate response was to give him homeopathic Sulphur, which is a classic skin remedy. This didn’t have much effect, so I moved on to Graphites. Still no effect. I looked at his diet, ensuring that he had sufficient protein, as protein deficiencies, especially a lack of some essential fatty acids, which are only found in raw meat sources, can cause skin problems. The diet seemed OK. So I telephoned a friend, an animal communicator, and asked her whether she had any answers.
I was told that Daniel was suffering from feelings of grief and loss, and this was causing inflammation in his skin. Daniel, at two years of age, has never experienced any grief or loss that I am aware of. But I have. Could it be that Daniel has been absorbing my emotions and becoming ill as a result? The animal communicator recommended Nat Mur, a homeopathic remedy for grief - for Daniel and for me!
Maralyn Steele is a homeopath and also the owner of several beautiful Cavaliers. She told me that, often, homeopaths will treat the mother of a household, and all the illnesses manifesting in family members will clear up at the same time. Many dog owners and mothers will acknowledge that they will rush to attend to illnesses and upsets in their loved-ones, but always overlook their own needs. Maybe, in this light, looking after ourselves is part and parcel of looking after others?
Scientists have found that your blood pressure drops when you are in a room with a dog or cat, and you don’t have to be stroking them for this to happen. They have found that heart patients who live with dogs recover faster, and have fewer relapses, than people who don’t have pets. They postulate that this has something to do with companionship - but could it be more than that?
I don’t think that anyone, at this stage, can prove that animals take on our negative emotions, except that common sense will tell us that it’s possible. I know that Sammie, when he was alive, used to sense when I was tired and take my arm in his mouth, march me upstairs to the bedroom, and push me on the bed. I know that Sophie used to wake up at night, when everyone but me was asleep, and bark quietly and wave her paw at me. I thought for a long time that she just wanted a stroke, but then I noticed that she always woke up and ‘told me off’ when I was thinking about unpleasant situations that had happened that day. I know that Chappie once, totally out of character, started snarling and barking at a man who seemed pleasant enough - but we discovered later that he was a drug dealer and a house burglar. I would think that all of us who have close relationships with our dogs have similar stories to tell.
There are many holistic remedies that are designed to deal with emotional and mental, even spiritual, dis-ease. The Bach flower remedies, for example, treat illnesses purely from the viewpoint of the individual’s character - they treat the person, not the disease. For example, a person (or dog) who suffers from arthritis, who frequently feels jealous and critical, would take Bach’s Holly. This would engender feelings of being loved and lovable, and remove the need to feel jealous or critical. Hopefully, it would also alleviate the arthritic symptoms. Whilst scientists in laboratories would say this is rubbish - because they haven’t conducted experiments to prove the flower remedies - many hundreds who have used them, on themselves and their dogs, say they work.
Homeopathy works on the same principle - homeopaths treat the person, not the disease. Tellington Ttouch is very therapeutic where mental and emotional stresses have taken their toll. Sometimes, just talking to your dog, stroking him, and offering love, reassurance and patience works wonders. More mental activity, something to do, is sometimes needed. Maybe you could call upon the services of an animal communicator or radionics practitioner - find out whether something is upsetting your dog, and see if you can do something to solve the problem.
Naturally, if the condition is critical, that is, if the disease is life-threatening or distressing, then qualified veterinary support should always be immediately sought. But by remaining open to alternative therapies at the same time, you could find that drugs and their side-effects can be placed aside, and a longer, more lasting cure can be achieved.
Back to:
Complementary Healthcare
A to Z