What old timer vets knew about vaccines. Kibble's demise based on testing data. Flu Remedies! Safe heartworm prevention sale / When Dog Heals Human / and MORE
I appreciate the way this update pulls several “everyday” pet-health decisions back into first principles: risk, evidence, and unintended consequences, rather than habit and marketing. The vaccine section (and the “old-timer vets” perspective) is especially thought-provoking because it points at a real tension in animal care: population-level prevention works, but blanket, reflexive medicalization can also create downstream problems, especially when the conversation skips individual context (species, age, exposure risk, geography, prior reactions, comorbidities). The most trustworthy path is usually the unsexy one: clear indication, the minimum effective intervention, and honest monitoring, with decisions anchored to the animal in front of you, not to slogans.
Your kibble point landed too. If we’re going to make strong claims (either pro- or anti-kibble), I’m always grateful when someone grounds it in actual testing data and the realities of ingredients, processing, and quality control, because pet food is one of the most “wellness-branded” industries on earth. (And owners deserve better than vibes and pretty packaging.) 
And then the practical thread that ties the whole post together, such as flu remedies, heartworm prevention, feels like the right tone: people want approaches that are safer and less aggressive, but still rooted in reality. The win is not “never use conventional tools,” it’s use them intentionally, with a clear rationale, and don’t let fear (or convenience) become the decision-making system.
I appreciate your thoughtful comments, Dr. CY. Rabies is a classic case of “one size does not fit all.” Indoor cats and high rise dogs who pee on pee pads? Way more risk than benefit to vaccinate for this disease they’ll never encounter.
But, the dog who roams free on Texas ranch land bordering Mexico? A completely justified vaccine. Just not yearly or every three years, but based on a titer.
Two comments, my wonderful Vet that I have had for over 30 years has left the practice she was in. I visited with her the last month she was in the office. Part of the reason she has left is because her clinic got sold to Vet Corp. She was in the practice with at least 5 other vets and 2 of the vets unbeknownst to her and the other vets and vet techs and office staff made arrangements behind everyone else's back and sold out!! I didn't get to ask her how they managed it! Disgusting!! I am not sure what I will do for emergencies now. We have the University of Missouri Vet school in our community, but they are totally conventional vet med.
So, (2nd comment) what I have been doing is treating as much as I possibly can myself. An example that just recently occurred with one of my three dogs.....Cooper, our year and a half Brittany injured his leg, not exactly how. It was his back left leg and he was definitely hurting and not putting any weight on his leg. Of course it was a Sunday. I thoroughly checked him out and nothing appeared to be broken but I did notice a smallish wound on the inside of his leg, looked like a puncture wound. The first thing I did was get out my Arnica 30C, ground up the pellets with my ceramic mortar/pestle then took the powder and mixed it with distilled water and used a oral syringe to squirt the liquid into Coopers mouth....very easy. Gave him 4 doses over about 4 hours (5 pellets per dose). I noticed an almost immediate improvement in his
demeanor....less pain, less limping and more cheerful...less depressed. I looked at his wound and realized that he must have gotten poked by some fence wire or a stick. Consequently I cleaned the wound and used a chlorine dioxide product from Frontier Pharmaceutical called Ciderm SP Gel....excellent product from that company. I also gave Cooper some Ledum 6X once or twice for the puncture wound. By the evening he was no longer limping and the wound looked reddish but not inflamed. By the next day he was completely back to his usual exuberant self and the wound was no longer red and was healing up completely! Thank you Homeopathy and Chorine Dioxide products! For people that are interested the Frontier Pharm company has numerous other Cl02 products for both humans and animals....generally topicals and some oral (mouth/teeth and nasal) products for humans. Great company. Website: frontierpharm.com
Thank you Dr. Falconer for your excellent news letter, I always look forward to reading it. At some point I intend to join your Alpha program, just couldn't due to financial concerns.
To make your life a little easier, next time you can drop the intact remedy pellets into a bottle of clean water, let it sit for a minute or two and give a gentle shake of the bottle, and then- wha-la - you've got an entire bottle of the remedy. One tablespoon or so is a dose. No mortar and pestle required.
Isabela, You just demonstrated your skills in attending to Cooper's healthcare needs. Like they say, necessity is the mother of invention. You've got a lot of information and some great products to utilize. I understand your dilemma, because in my area there are no qualified homeopathic vets. Those that claim to be "holistic" seem to use it as a marketing tool. They still push vaccines and all the flea and heartworm meds. I pray my dog stays healthy and doesn't require any surgical intervention.
Recently took my 17 year old off of Pimobendan which he was taking for heart failure because he is suffering from cognitive decline and I felt like it and the spironolactone may be contributing. Saw an immediate improvement in behavior without noticeable symptom decline fairly rapidly but did some reading and decided to add some Hawthorn berry drops twice daily (weight appropriate dose) from Forever Puppy. I actually have noticed a marked decline in coughing (especially morning coughing which is usually an immediate response upon awakening) within the first week of use. I couldn't be happier with the results and can't wait to see his vet next time. Any advice for a natural remedy for the cognitive issues? He is on a completely real food diet (beef, carrots, squash, brown rice and fresh eggs) plus daily fenbendazole (anal tumors that shrank at least 90% once I went from monthly to daily), melatonin, digestive enzymes and twice weekly vitamin D and a multivitamin/probiotic daily. Thanks for all your wonderful knowledge. Those of us who have been able to get our dogs to the geriatric stage are now needing stuff we never thought we would! I wish I could clear up his cataracts too but I think surgery is the only option ....
The best I can advise is getting a qualified homeopathic vet on board to do constitutional prescribing. That way, the whole dog gets better. I made a video that can start the sorting process here: https://youtu.be/XyEklB8W6M0
I'm concerned for your diet: where's the calcium coming from?
I’m having a hard time convincing my husband that raw bones are good for dogs as he has an irrational fear of them from the fear tactics used about giving your dogs bones. I keep telling him that’s cooked bones. Sigh.
I clung to the NO Cooked Bones! for my first few years, until repeated clients told me, “Oh, Dr. Falconer, we’ve been feeding cooked bones for years, more than one dog. Never saw a problem.” And, though my parents didn’t do it often, cooked steak bones were given to more than one of our dogs as I grew up. Again: never an issue.
I absolutely love all that you are doing for your dog! Good food and herbal remedies have benefitted my dogs immensely. Sometimes when I share what I've learned about a more holistic way to improve a dog's health with my friends, they think I'm crazy. It saddens me when they aren't open to a gentler, more natural form of healthcare for their beloved pets.
Oh this was my exact experience as well with our 13 years old Pom Terrier last year!
He had CHF and his kidneys rapidly declined from the Pimobendan, Spironolactone and Furosemide…
He was greatly lethargic, wouldn’t eat and had horrible digestive upset so I finally took him off.
His quality of life greatly improved despite his occasional cough but he did eventually pass about 3 months later suddenly from his heart failing. I often wonder if I should have kept him on the meds to prolong his life but he was so miserable on them…
The end was sudden and brief and devastating but so glad he wasn’t miserable up until then…just wanted to share my experience and sending lots of positive vibes your way and doggie!
I found the furosemide to be the absolute worst one and I couldn’t leave him on it very long. I don’t know how humans tolerate these drugs and as a pharmacist have found the whole chf experience to be disheartening to say the least. I certainly recommend taking good care of your heart while it’s in good shape!
He’s a miniature dachshund with about 70% of his original teeth but he is very determined especially with food. His multiple vitamin chews have calcium in them as well as omegas, other vitamins and minerals, and canine specific probiotics. But I have started grinding the egg shells and giving 1/2 teaspoon daily which interestingly has made his stool more “regular “ and firmer. Who knew? As he’s recovering from anorectal tumors (disappearing thanks to daily fenbendazole) a nice firm and well timed stool can make or break our day.
So timely! I read yesterday morning about Ars, so last night when my husband woke at 2 a.m. with diarrhea and sharp abdominal pain, I knew what to give him. 2 doses, all done! Thank you for sharing such helpful information.
It’s fine in the sense of examining animal vaccination today, but thinking the goal is euthanasia? That’s deep BS. And, perhaps more obviously, it’s click bait.
Does the sloppy work and deception used by Pasteur make the germ theory entirely moot? Not in my mind. Germs are real, rabies is very real and reproducible when the virus is well understood AND terrain is probably even more important, as Beauchamp theorized. It’s just not either/or. Just like we’re all nature + nurture.
Too many remedies to make sense of your recovery for me. So sorry you came onto this from such a deep loss and resulting grief. Glad you're on the mend.
I appreciate the way this update pulls several “everyday” pet-health decisions back into first principles: risk, evidence, and unintended consequences, rather than habit and marketing. The vaccine section (and the “old-timer vets” perspective) is especially thought-provoking because it points at a real tension in animal care: population-level prevention works, but blanket, reflexive medicalization can also create downstream problems, especially when the conversation skips individual context (species, age, exposure risk, geography, prior reactions, comorbidities). The most trustworthy path is usually the unsexy one: clear indication, the minimum effective intervention, and honest monitoring, with decisions anchored to the animal in front of you, not to slogans.
Your kibble point landed too. If we’re going to make strong claims (either pro- or anti-kibble), I’m always grateful when someone grounds it in actual testing data and the realities of ingredients, processing, and quality control, because pet food is one of the most “wellness-branded” industries on earth. (And owners deserve better than vibes and pretty packaging.) 
And then the practical thread that ties the whole post together, such as flu remedies, heartworm prevention, feels like the right tone: people want approaches that are safer and less aggressive, but still rooted in reality. The win is not “never use conventional tools,” it’s use them intentionally, with a clear rationale, and don’t let fear (or convenience) become the decision-making system.
I appreciate your thoughtful comments, Dr. CY. Rabies is a classic case of “one size does not fit all.” Indoor cats and high rise dogs who pee on pee pads? Way more risk than benefit to vaccinate for this disease they’ll never encounter.
But, the dog who roams free on Texas ranch land bordering Mexico? A completely justified vaccine. Just not yearly or every three years, but based on a titer.
And senior pets? Don’t get a vaccine near them! https://vitalanimal.com/stop-vaccinating-seniors/
Two comments, my wonderful Vet that I have had for over 30 years has left the practice she was in. I visited with her the last month she was in the office. Part of the reason she has left is because her clinic got sold to Vet Corp. She was in the practice with at least 5 other vets and 2 of the vets unbeknownst to her and the other vets and vet techs and office staff made arrangements behind everyone else's back and sold out!! I didn't get to ask her how they managed it! Disgusting!! I am not sure what I will do for emergencies now. We have the University of Missouri Vet school in our community, but they are totally conventional vet med.
So, (2nd comment) what I have been doing is treating as much as I possibly can myself. An example that just recently occurred with one of my three dogs.....Cooper, our year and a half Brittany injured his leg, not exactly how. It was his back left leg and he was definitely hurting and not putting any weight on his leg. Of course it was a Sunday. I thoroughly checked him out and nothing appeared to be broken but I did notice a smallish wound on the inside of his leg, looked like a puncture wound. The first thing I did was get out my Arnica 30C, ground up the pellets with my ceramic mortar/pestle then took the powder and mixed it with distilled water and used a oral syringe to squirt the liquid into Coopers mouth....very easy. Gave him 4 doses over about 4 hours (5 pellets per dose). I noticed an almost immediate improvement in his
demeanor....less pain, less limping and more cheerful...less depressed. I looked at his wound and realized that he must have gotten poked by some fence wire or a stick. Consequently I cleaned the wound and used a chlorine dioxide product from Frontier Pharmaceutical called Ciderm SP Gel....excellent product from that company. I also gave Cooper some Ledum 6X once or twice for the puncture wound. By the evening he was no longer limping and the wound looked reddish but not inflamed. By the next day he was completely back to his usual exuberant self and the wound was no longer red and was healing up completely! Thank you Homeopathy and Chorine Dioxide products! For people that are interested the Frontier Pharm company has numerous other Cl02 products for both humans and animals....generally topicals and some oral (mouth/teeth and nasal) products for humans. Great company. Website: frontierpharm.com
Thank you Dr. Falconer for your excellent news letter, I always look forward to reading it. At some point I intend to join your Alpha program, just couldn't due to financial concerns.
Nice work on the sudden lameness! I was leaning toward ACL damage at first, but clearly, the wound was the clincher.
Hope to see you in Alpha next time we open enrollment.
To make your life a little easier, next time you can drop the intact remedy pellets into a bottle of clean water, let it sit for a minute or two and give a gentle shake of the bottle, and then- wha-la - you've got an entire bottle of the remedy. One tablespoon or so is a dose. No mortar and pestle required.
Isabela, You just demonstrated your skills in attending to Cooper's healthcare needs. Like they say, necessity is the mother of invention. You've got a lot of information and some great products to utilize. I understand your dilemma, because in my area there are no qualified homeopathic vets. Those that claim to be "holistic" seem to use it as a marketing tool. They still push vaccines and all the flea and heartworm meds. I pray my dog stays healthy and doesn't require any surgical intervention.
The beauty of homeopathy: it can be done long distance via phone or live calls.
Recently took my 17 year old off of Pimobendan which he was taking for heart failure because he is suffering from cognitive decline and I felt like it and the spironolactone may be contributing. Saw an immediate improvement in behavior without noticeable symptom decline fairly rapidly but did some reading and decided to add some Hawthorn berry drops twice daily (weight appropriate dose) from Forever Puppy. I actually have noticed a marked decline in coughing (especially morning coughing which is usually an immediate response upon awakening) within the first week of use. I couldn't be happier with the results and can't wait to see his vet next time. Any advice for a natural remedy for the cognitive issues? He is on a completely real food diet (beef, carrots, squash, brown rice and fresh eggs) plus daily fenbendazole (anal tumors that shrank at least 90% once I went from monthly to daily), melatonin, digestive enzymes and twice weekly vitamin D and a multivitamin/probiotic daily. Thanks for all your wonderful knowledge. Those of us who have been able to get our dogs to the geriatric stage are now needing stuff we never thought we would! I wish I could clear up his cataracts too but I think surgery is the only option ....
The best I can advise is getting a qualified homeopathic vet on board to do constitutional prescribing. That way, the whole dog gets better. I made a video that can start the sorting process here: https://youtu.be/XyEklB8W6M0
I'm concerned for your diet: where's the calcium coming from?
I crush the egg shells and put it in the food several times a week as I’ve read that this is an excellent source. Should I do this more often?
Yes, daily and give raw bones as recreation 3-4x/week, minimum. http://vitalanimal.com/natural-dental-prevention/
I’m having a hard time convincing my husband that raw bones are good for dogs as he has an irrational fear of them from the fear tactics used about giving your dogs bones. I keep telling him that’s cooked bones. Sigh.
I clung to the NO Cooked Bones! for my first few years, until repeated clients told me, “Oh, Dr. Falconer, we’ve been feeding cooked bones for years, more than one dog. Never saw a problem.” And, though my parents didn’t do it often, cooked steak bones were given to more than one of our dogs as I grew up. Again: never an issue.
I absolutely love all that you are doing for your dog! Good food and herbal remedies have benefitted my dogs immensely. Sometimes when I share what I've learned about a more holistic way to improve a dog's health with my friends, they think I'm crazy. It saddens me when they aren't open to a gentler, more natural form of healthcare for their beloved pets.
Oh this was my exact experience as well with our 13 years old Pom Terrier last year!
He had CHF and his kidneys rapidly declined from the Pimobendan, Spironolactone and Furosemide…
He was greatly lethargic, wouldn’t eat and had horrible digestive upset so I finally took him off.
His quality of life greatly improved despite his occasional cough but he did eventually pass about 3 months later suddenly from his heart failing. I often wonder if I should have kept him on the meds to prolong his life but he was so miserable on them…
The end was sudden and brief and devastating but so glad he wasn’t miserable up until then…just wanted to share my experience and sending lots of positive vibes your way and doggie!
I found the furosemide to be the absolute worst one and I couldn’t leave him on it very long. I don’t know how humans tolerate these drugs and as a pharmacist have found the whole chf experience to be disheartening to say the least. I certainly recommend taking good care of your heart while it’s in good shape!
Feeding raw heart is one way…
He’s a miniature dachshund with about 70% of his original teeth but he is very determined especially with food. His multiple vitamin chews have calcium in them as well as omegas, other vitamins and minerals, and canine specific probiotics. But I have started grinding the egg shells and giving 1/2 teaspoon daily which interestingly has made his stool more “regular “ and firmer. Who knew? As he’s recovering from anorectal tumors (disappearing thanks to daily fenbendazole) a nice firm and well timed stool can make or break our day.
Another outstanding newsletter from my favorite vet. Thank you.
So timely! I read yesterday morning about Ars, so last night when my husband woke at 2 a.m. with diarrhea and sharp abdominal pain, I knew what to give him. 2 doses, all done! Thank you for sharing such helpful information.
Excellent! Did he have aches and fever as well?
I’m curious what you think about this recent publication. I think that the renewed scrutiny of animal vaccines is an excellent step.
https://www.2ndsmartestguyintheworld.com/p/the-true-history-of-louis-pasteurs?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
It’s fine in the sense of examining animal vaccination today, but thinking the goal is euthanasia? That’s deep BS. And, perhaps more obviously, it’s click bait.
Does the sloppy work and deception used by Pasteur make the germ theory entirely moot? Not in my mind. Germs are real, rabies is very real and reproducible when the virus is well understood AND terrain is probably even more important, as Beauchamp theorized. It’s just not either/or. Just like we’re all nature + nurture.
Thank you for your input.
I had influenza B recently. Symptoms: very runny nose, low fever, cough, lethargy
Thanks for letting me know. Do you recall your nose burning from the discharge? And if you were restless or better when you kept very still?
Too many remedies to make sense of your recovery for me. So sorry you came onto this from such a deep loss and resulting grief. Glad you're on the mend.