Cows, Not Sick with Bird Flu
Rare but Deadly: Dog Distemper
Carrageenan: Not So Benign After All
Terrified of Lepto?
Along the Natural Path
How Now, Brown Cow?
It seems you’ve now joined the ranks of asymptomatic bird flu animals, so congratulations!
The Idaho Statesmen reveals the trend though: they’re gonna call em all “cases.”
Let the fear porn resume!
And pay attention to the verbiage of choice, herein highlighted by me:
Cases of avian flu have been decimating bird populations and for years, more recently making the jump to sea mammals. This year cases were detected amongst farm animals and even human workers at those farms and while they were contained, experts now say that the number of cases is likely much higher, with countless cases going undetected. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
“Last spring, Cassia County dairy cows were the first to become infected with bird flu in Idaho. The disease quickly swept through farms in the southern portion of the state and public health officials scrambled to figure out how to protect an industry that’s worth billions of dollars.
We were not the first state to endure this, but we were the first state to endure it as hard and as fast as we did,” (state veterinarian) Scott Leibsle said.
We’re now seeing cattle that are shedding the virus, but they’re not showing any signs of symptoms,” Leibsle said. “There’s so many different ways that this virus can spread that we still do not understand.”
It’s FAST. It’s HARD. We’re SCRAMBLING!
Get the gist? This is serious!!
But wait a sec. There’s another name for “not showing any signs of symptoms, right?
Asymptomatic, right? And that usually means “healthy,” doesn’t it?
So, the fear framing is ramping up.
That just means you’ve got to be on the alert and not get triggered.
Fear word: CASES
The more they label these asymptomatic animals (and a few people, as I pointed out last issue) as “cases,” the more fear they can instill in the populace.
And the more fear they generate, the more likely they hope you will be to succumb to their “control” measures, like masking, “sheltering at home,” closure of public places and, the worst (but most profitable), the “vaccines” in whatever devious form they are pumping them out.
Currently, that includes self spreading vaccines, so if you’d rather not be a guinea pig for the next round of Big Pharma’s “protection,” tough.
You’ll get it from your neighbors who jumped at the chance to get another experimental, rushed to market, “safe and effective” vaccine.
Silent spreaders? (shudder…)
So, with language like the main stream media likes to use, you can start shaking in your boots, if you so choose.
Better: see my 4th piece on Lepto (scroll down, great example of fear paralyzing its victims)
Of course there will always be germs, right?
No real control of that. They’ve always been among us, and we’ve always managed to survive them as a species.
But you can control the terrain. That’s your health, your natural resistance, and your immune system.
Canine Distemper in Texas
When canine distemper makes the news, it’s worth paying attention to.
Not in a fearful way (see the Lepto piece below), but in a measured, logical way.
There’s currently an outbreak in Corpus Christi, Texas.
What’s distemper?
It’s a very old moniker that basically meant “unwell, sick” back in the old days, and it was applied broadly to all manner of illnesses.
As we’ve learned more and gotten more advanced tech, we learned that dogs, ferrets, skunk and raccoons can get a multi-system disease caused by Canine Distemper Virus, a member of the family Paramyxoviridae. Mumps, measles, and parainfluenza are other members of this family.
The multi-system effects make it a bit hard to spot early on, as it causes symptoms in the
respiratory system (coughing, nasal discharges)
GI system (vomiting and diarrhea)
And even the nervous system (wobbly gait, twitches, convulsions [including “chewing gum fits” when the jaw muscles are involved]).
This disease is both highly contagious (spreads easily) and pathogenic (high mortality rate in those affected).
Treatment is pretty much ineffective, as you’d guess with a viral disease.
But: Is your dog already protected?
Odds are, if you’ve done some early life vaccination, distemper was part of that regimen.
The “D” in DHLPP and DA2P, etc. is for distemper.
And, while vaccines are far from risk free, the good news is distemper vaccine is highly efficacious.
What’s more, the immunity conferred by the distemper vaccine is quite long lasting.
Here’s an image from a study done at the U. Of Wisconsin by Ronald Schultz, PhD, a world renowned veterinary immunologist:
Key point: Duration of immunity is longggg. Probably even longer than these numbers can account for.
So, amid calls to keep your vaccines “up to date,” it’s really immunity that you want to keep up to date, and Dr. Schultz often wrote that senior pets rarely die of infectious diseases (a great rule of thumb: Stop Vaccinating Seniors) and the immunity to viruses lasts probably life long.
Nosodes to the Rescue
If you’d not ever vaccinated against distemper (and you’re in Corpus or somewhere else where there’s news of an outbreak), you should know we’ve got a long history of success with distemperinum, a homeopathic nosode.
A nosode is a remedy made from a disease discharge, but in the ultra-dilution of any homeopathic preparation, is rendered safe and non-infective.
As my students in my Nosodes, Tautodes & Titers course will remember, a veterinarian turned his dying dog ward around during a distemper outbreak when he used nosodes, after months of fruitless efforts.
That was Dr. Jervis, in New York state, way back in 1929.
We carry this nosode in our Parvo/Distemper nosode kit. I’d use it until the news dies down if you haven’t had a prior history of vaccination. Fine to use also if you vaccinated long ago and just want to be sure your dog is resistant.
Once Benign Carrageenan: Risky Biz
Seaweed Extract: How bad could it be?
I remember giving this food additive a pass years ago, when I was a college student, cooking my own meals.
It was used as a thickener, had a natural seaweed source (aka “Irish moss,” for goodness sake), and it was GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the good ole FDA.
Some years back, it was suspected to be a carcinogen.
Well, that’s odd. A natural seaweed extract that causes tumors to grow?
I took it with a certain grain of salt, as I had other more pressing issues to write about (Vaccines! Neurotoxic flea, tick, and HW drugs! Lifeless toxic food, with even pentobarbital discovered inside!).
But, I did start erring on the side of caution, and tried to avoid consuming the seemingly benign seaweed product.
Gut Issues, Too?
Recently, after animal studies had lead the way years earlier, we’ve got published research done on healthy young men, showing increased gut permeability (i.e. leaky gut) after two weeks of carrageenan intake.
As you may be aware, leaky gut means not only inflammation in the gut, but inflammation body wide.
Why all over inflammation?
The gut is supposed to let only digested things through, like amino acids, the building blocks of protein. When its junctions are no longer tight (i.e. it’s now leaky), entire proteins and nasty bacteria leak through and the immune system sees Invasion!
And it sets about attacking all the foreign stuff that shouldn’t be in the blood.
The attack mechanism involves inflammation, that’s a given.
It’s inflammation against the flu that lays you low, for example.
All those aches and pains?
It’s really your immune system hard at work, gnashing its teeth on those crusty viruses recognized as bad guys.
In leaky gut, that’s long term inflammation as opposed to the flu fight, so not so helpful, thankyouverymuch.
Leaky gut has also been linked to heart disease and diabetes.
Damn.
And Insulin Resistance!
In other research, a German team’s research suggested more insulin resistance could be yet another issue to blame on carrageenan.
IR is what makes for blood sugar imbalances and can, over time, lead to Type 2 Diabetes.
Note that the normal weight subjects had insignificant increases in insulin resistance, but the researchers predicted the older and more overweight the carrageenan consumers were, the more likely these effects would show.
Inflammation: 1st Step to Cancer
We’ve known for many years now that most cancers were preceded by inflammation, especially long term (i.e. not acute) inflammation.
Hence, the cancers associated with good old “Irish moss” are usually colon related, as the intestine is where the inflammation primarily takes place.
Ugh. Processed Foods. Again.
This ingredient, once considered safe (well, by the FDA, at least, wink wink) is now a good one to watch out for. And avoid.
In human foods, it’s primarily used in those nasty processed foods.
You know them, right? The junk in the “middle aisles” of the grocery store? The stuff that’s getting loads of bad press in recent years?
Stuff like bottled milk shakes and soy milk and some yogurts and kefir drinks are included in the carrageenan caution list.
As this seaweed extract really has no nutritional value, and the risks now clearly outweigh the only perceived benefit (“mouth feel” and thickening), you’d do well to avoid it.
In your pets, it’s the canned foods you want to be an especially careful label detective on.
Carrageenan: not good for people, not good for people’s pets.
And now we know.
When Germ Fear Takes Over
This recently appeared in my support email from Pam in Texas:
My Boston Terrier has contracted Leptospirosis. He is unvaccinated for this. I was following Dr Schultz and Dr Karen Becker’s protocol for vaccines. He is currently in intensive care hospital trying to recover. We had rats in a BBQ pit we were not using but also he got sprayed by a skunk. It could have been rat or skunk urine or both. We’ll have to apply diluted bleach all over the yard and everything he has hiked his leg on. If he comes out of this, I’m terrified of him contracting Leptospirosis again. What tips/advice do you have?
Love all your information. Thanks for any thoughts on Lepto vaccine.”
Hearing the chief emotion here?
Terror.
For a disease I never saw in 30 years of practicing in Texas, with a river running right through Austin where dogs were walked, played, and where rats and skunk most certainly lived.
Bleach the yard?
Vaccinate against this organism?
No. Especially a hard no to the vaccine, long recognized as horrible for safety and not even protective to any reasonable degree. (You can search that out, though I’ve not written about it on my site).
When fear rules…
…bad decisions are made, especially around germ fear.
I shared an article with Pam on germs v. terrain: Kill Germs! (The Fool’s Fix)
And suggested both homeopathic care (though it’s more difficult breaking through the barriers a conventional vet ICU will pose to get remedies in) and solid immune support.
Bottom line is the healthier the body, the greater the resistance to all disease, including those infectious ones, whatever form they take.
As a practicing homeopath for decades (though now retired), I saw constitutional prescribing often taking a patient to a much higher state of health.
Those animals not only lost symptoms that had been overlooked, but they became less susceptible to disease and increasingly energetic. The “old dogs” seemed more youthful and eager to head out for walks and adventure.
Not everyone who claims to offer homeopathy can achieve this, so you have to sort the homeopathic vets (the link above is a good start) and then interview your top candidates.
One of the beauties of homeopathy is it can be effectively employed with telephone work, long distance. If you know your animal well, a good homeopath can elicit enough specific information to make sound remedy prescriptions.
Prevention with homeopathy: one of its highest benefits.
And fear of germs? Nah.
Kick it right to the curb where it belongs!
Along the Natural Path
Winter suddenly descended in No. India in the past week. Not to say it doesn’t warm up during the day, but the mornings and evening are downright chilly and out comes the scarves, hats, and woolen wear.
The buffalo take it in stride, as do my farmer neighbors, as expected.
The humans get bare backed and you’ll see mustard oil massaging taking place in full sun, adults and babies alike. Protective, warming qualities, I’m told. I make mine sesame oil now, as coconut oil massage is more cooling.
Warm slippers are on the way, as the tile floors get icy for the next few months until the heat makes its way back to us.
We got to serve thousands of sadhus and widows in two of our ashrams in Western Uttar Pradesh recently. These are some of the poorest of India’s poor and they received cash, useful household items (in a backpack this time, for ease of transport home), and a nice packaged meal.
On a break between distributions, I met this gentleman, straight out of ancient India:
Our goshala (dairy) in this ashram had fresh milk that was oh, so soothing and delicious. I brought my AeroPress and some fresh beans and whipped up a latte before our guests arrived.
Where ever you find yourself on this amazing planet, remember to keep making wise decisions for those innocents in your care who depend on it.
Until next time, stay brave, stay informed but not scared.
Will Falconer, DVM
You are such a great writer. Thank you for making all the information you share so entertaining but also easy to understand. ❤️
The amount of FEAR the vet puts on pet owners is insane. I no longer listen... and visit the vet only when needed. Thank you!