Exhuming a rabies case? Guilt: Take it to another level / Vets, drugs, and vaccine adverse reactions / Intuition, homeopathy, and a life saved /Tasty titer tip / Langur! and MORE
I’m forever grateful to Will Falconer for his education, not only about vaccines, but how to observe your dog for any changes with regard to homeopathic remedies. His website Vital Animal has a plethora of information for pet owners.
I saw him in Austin back in the early 2,000s for my sweet pup with mange. I’d been to a “holistic” vet who dipped my baby in lighter fluid to rid her of the mange 😳 but it was unsuccessful. I finagled my way into an appointment with Will (not an easy feat) and his remedies did the trick.
I thank him deeply for sharing about injecting toxins into the body and how they get past all the “guards” that would normally mobilize against them and neutralize them. I used that knowledge during the plandemic to stay far away from those experimental MRNA shots that have killed and destroyed the health of so many people in my life that acted out of fear and accepted those shots.
I don’t believe in any vaccines. I believe my body and my dogs’ bodies were created in perfection and that they all self-heal if given a healthy lifestyle on all fronts.
And lastly, the folks who are in the mountainous area I live in…their dogs never see vets. They don’t have the money. These dogs eat table scraps and hunt for food, they drink clean water and are mostly outside in the sunshine doing what they love to do. They live into their late teens, early 20s. That says everything!
Thank you Will for all you to do help these beautiful companion animals by educating their pet parents. 🙏🏻❤️
Well, thanks for your kind words. One day, maybe you’ll reveal your real name so I can recognize you (privately is fine, if you need to stay incognito for any reason). I remember dreading sarcoptic mange (which affects pets AND their people) so I’m guessing you pup had demodex, which is far easier to right. Get the immune system back on its course and they are well dealt with.
And I LOVE hearing stories about my vacc education helping/saving people from the Covid jabs. Sooo much harm has come from them, more revelations as time ticks away…
To your "how they get past all the 'guards'" comment: Yes - some decent chunk of the story of mRNA development is how they needed to work on a nanolipid container that would work as the "trojan horse" so the body wouldn't destroy it.
Believe it or not, some part of that story was that they literally put it in weakened serum (blood), in order for it to get "marked".
Then YOUR system, seeing the labels, if you will, sees it as having gone through the screening process. But it is nowhere near the robust screening process your blood would have put on it on its own.
That’s an incredible piece of information. Thank you! I saw something yesterday where this unvaxxed lady had her blood checked and the found the whole deal in her blood. But she’d never had the shot. Any theories on how this could’ve happened?
As always, thank you Will. I am so grateful for your knowledge. I’m so very sad knowing I might have avoided having our 11 year old cat euthanized (3 years ago) when she presented with jaundice and plummeted in one week. We did try alternatives, but probably not the right ones. 😢
After losing my 17 year old miniature dachshund early this year I’d been slowly perusing various websites for available similar dogs in hopes of finding a new pack mate for our “wiener bull” (3/4 dachshund 1/4 Pitt bull). I was despairing finding a suitable puppy as most were listed as fully vaccinated, dew claws removed and other horrors I was unwilling to perpetuate (although it had already been done and nothing I could change). Then I ran across a gentleman in central Missouri who had a litter of 3/4 miniature dachshund 1/4 beagle pups ( I can’t begin to describe the cuteness factor either) who had only ever been treated for worms with fenbendazole. I contacted him immediately. The parental dogs were similarly unvaccinated and I got in my car the next day and drove 4&1/2 hours to get two of them. We had much in common with this obviously intelligent and caring breeder and the pups are a true delight, healthy, happy and obviously well cared for as they love people and other dogs. Best of all they will never be exposed to the harms of vaccination and will grow up eating real food and living their best lives. And the mix of breeds will hopefully leave them more resistant to breed specific problems. Obviously we like “different “ dogs and while these will likely look much like slightly longer legged (and less pigeon toed) minis like the older dogs he had were, they look just different enough for people to look twice and go huh? Just like we like it.
You need to read about rabies from organ transplants. Guy was rescing a kitten from a raccoon. He was scratched by the raccoon. He then became sick and was declared brain dead. He was tested for rabies and it came back negative. So they did several organ transplants. One guy sickened and died. He tested positive for rabies and it turned out to be from the transplanted organ. They had to remove all the transplants from that donor. There is a reason to worry about that, I guess, since the original test missed it.
Wow, I’d love a link if you can find one. Seems it would be an edge case at best. Also: scratching: not a usual transmission mode, and its mere mention sets up fear and testing where it’s not typically found to be positive. It’s the saliva that transmits the virus.
Thanks, I'll explore further, though SciAm has made me roll my eyes these days, so I will be critically reading their stuff. They're still high on Covid boosters and maintaining The Narrative in every way possible.
But it sounds like you’ve not lived with an intact female cat… heat cycles are frequent during a rather long season and they are, shall we say, challenging to live with.
Plus the female in heat will often watch doors like a hawk for that one opportunity to dart through to the great outdoors and a possible mate! I had that happen once. Luckily she came home a few days later, but she was knocked up and we soon had four kittens to rehome...
The phrase "knocked up" already has a nearly 100% success rate at making me chuckle. Add the context instead to a door-watching cat coming back home, and we've hit statistical and actual 100%
I had a neighbor who inherited a few kittens from a feral litter. She only neutered the females because she figured other peoples' females were their problem (and expense) to take care of. Another neighbor's female barn cat kept getting pregnant and he assumed it was one of my males even tho mine were neutered. He put barbed wire under his bottom row of split rail fence and my poor boy came home with a cut paw one day 😥. He was an explorer despite being neutered.
Love love love the addition of local photos and comments on places I'll likely never see. what convinced me decades ago to never again use pesticide shampoos Dont Get any On You. wait a minute. I'm covering my dog in this thing I shouldn't get any on me? dr bronners soap works way better for flea control. and no poison on either of us. happy partner of a herd of completely unmedicated unvaxxed no dr visits for any of us border collies.
I’m probably responding at the wrong location but your article about evacuation after adverse reaction strikes so close to home. Our lovely boy, Laszlo, had an adverse reaction to his 4 month rabies vaccine. I mean hives all over his body, lethargy, just out of sorts and not himself. I contacted the vet. She said to let her know close to the 1 yr 4 month rabies vaccine and she’s going to give me a solution to avoid another reaction. I stupidly did so, and she had me start Laszlo on steroids plus Benadryl 2 days before the vaccine (don’t miss it!) plus at least a day afterwards. We had him vaccinated though I honestly was shocked she recommended vaccinating him again. We had separated the combo distemper/parvo, etc vaccine by a few weeks from the rabies one to avoid overloading the immune system. Well, she was right - he didn’t get hives after the 2nd rabies vaccine but soon afterwards his personality changed. He was house- sat by a repeat house sitter he’d been fine with previously. He would not leave his crate. She fed him in the crate and he voided in the crate, for 6 days we were gone. We had no idea this was happening while away but were informed of it when we returned. He was fearful, terrified of everything and complete personality change after this vaccine. But hey, no hives! By age 3, he started having seizures. Went back to the vet who said we don’t treat til more than one/month. Had 3 - she put him on phenobarbitol. Seizures continued. We were lost. How do we help him? Next vaccines were due at 4 yrs 4 months. By then with all the seizures increasing every month, his pheno dose could not be raised. Another vet added more meds. Then even more. I enrolled him at CSU vet hospital clinical trial for dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. No cause found. MRI negative. Tick borne diseases negative, etc. I asked them as the 4 year mark approached, do they recommend vaccinations in epileptic dogs (assuming they’d say absolutely not) about further vaccines. They said they recommend regular vaccine schedule as the benefits outweigh the risks. I chose not to vaccinate at 4 years 4 months. We worked with a vet clinic until he was 6.5 years to find a solution. It reached the point that he was on 5 meds and we were administering rectal Valium (which we had to seriously fight, to have available,) every time… Breakthrough seizures almost every few days. They couldn’t up his meds anymore. We decided to let him go at 6.5 years though we truly wanted him to stay, but seizures were escalating, and he wouldn’t come out of them for a couple hours, would be blind and aggressive to the other dog during and after… the CBD trial actually made him worse. I mourn for poor Laszlo. He didn’t deserve this life. He wanted to be normal. He never chose to be over medicated to the point of being in a stupor and no longer having any quality of life. The vet who came to our home to euthanize him said he looked incredibly healthy. Made us feel even more guilty, but he was the seizing every couple days for longer and longer periods and taking more Valium to bring him out of the status epilepticus. I miss him so much.
Oh, Fiona! This is such a travesty! Reprehensible behavior throughout! Not only drugs after a reaction but insisting on re-vaccinating an epileptic, the disease brought on by vaccination!! Shame on them!
People: every single vaccine, rabies included (damn the “law”) has a label: Only for Use in Healthy Animals. In what universe is epilepsy healthy?
Those vets need to be fired who insist on acting like the sheriff when all they are doing is causing harm in the name of following a phony “law.”
p.s. if you want to know the origins of the rabies “law” and why I put it in quotes, please take my free Rabies Short Course. There you’ll also see how common it is to see symptoms of rabies like poor Lazlo displayed AFTER rabies vaccination. https://vitalanimal.com/rabies-short-course/
We have a bat roost in our hay mow. We count them twice yearly for our state DNR (WI). I have no fear of them and enjoy watching them launch out of our barn at dusk. We even had small openings installed at the top of the siding for them to exit. We hardly have any mosquitoes thanks to them so I don’t worry about not giving my dogs toxic meds every month. Of note someone local complained of their dog having hookworms even though they give Simparica monthly. Well the pests are probably immune to that since they’ve been giving it all year round!
Thank you for sharing this! As a physician-scientist, I always appreciate discussions that encourage people to think critically about animal health and preventive care. One of the most important lessons from both human and veterinary medicine is that health is rarely the result of a single intervention but it emerges from the interaction of genetics, nutrition, environment, immune function, physical activity, and the quality of ongoing care.
I also think comparative medicine has much to teach us. Many biological pathways involved in aging, inflammation, metabolism, and even cancer are remarkably conserved across species. Studying companion animals not only improves veterinary care but can also provide insights that inform human medicine, particularly in the field of healthy aging.
At the same time, it’s important that preventive strategies, whether conventional, integrative, or complementary, are evaluated with the same scientific rigor we apply elsewhere. Mechanistic plausibility is valuable, but well-designed clinical studies remain essential for determining which interventions truly improve outcomes and quality of life.
Ultimately, our goal seems the same regardless of species: helping individuals live longer, healthier, and more comfortable lives. That objective is best served when curiosity is paired with rigorous evidence and compassionate care.
Could you refer to any articles you've done on fleas in cats? Desperately trying to avoid toxic pyrethrins with diatomaceous earth, apple cider vinegar, boiled lemon and rosemary water, and properly diluted essential oils but not managing to break the cycle yet. Thanks for any help.
I’ve long had a non-toxic flea control page up and you can choose those cat friendly products from it. The focus of the page is the actual population pyramid, as you’ll see. If you’re only going for the adults, they’ll keep coming. Have a look: http://vitalanimal.com/non-toxic-flea-control/
Do you have a similar page for ticks? I've been rubbing a few drops of geranium essential oil between my hands and then stroking my dogs' backs, chest and legs. This works for a day or two before I need to reapply, but they sneeze a bit when I first put it on them.
Just go back one or two issues and you'll see mention of an ancient herb that you can add to food. Sounds like it's working. And the dogs at least don't mind its taste. (Clicking on my name should bring you to back issues/archive)
Done! Got some Cistus and started adding a tablespoon to each 80 lb dog’s raw breakfast. They scarf it up just like they always do, and we haven’t seen a tick on them since the second day! Now my guy will have to find a new nickname for our two boys, because “Tick Bus” is no longer applicable… 😁 Plus I’m glad I don’t have to keep putting the smelly geranium oil onto them and making them sneeze. Adding cistus to their feed daily is easier and more consistent. Now that repellency is established, I may experiment with reducing the quantity given to find the minimum effective dose.
As a bonus, this herb is also supposed to be good for humans, so I tried some as a tea, and it doesn’t taste bad at all. So once tick season is over any leftover herb will be made into teas for me to use it up, and I’ll start with fresh next spring for the dogs.
This is brilliant! Thanks for the feedback. It appears this age-old herb is a kick ass tick repellent. Love the dropping of “Tick Bus!” He’s bound to be happier all around now. And now we’ve got a dose, folks. Titrate based on your dog’s weight.
Raw, always varied at least monthly. If you find a recipe, beware of getting stuck on it. No one benefits from a monodiet. For more thoughts: http://vitalanimal.com/feed-for-vitality/
New here, so forgive if you've covered separately. At very least this may be my reminder to continue checking even if no good answer shows up here.
What to do when you're in a city where technically your dog is supposed to be "up to date" on shots, but I have ZERO intention on taking that risk (he was initially vaxed at humane society where I got him).
Are there vets who will use logic of "he has titers - he's good" and then you're approved? Or is there some underground dissident vet network in some places where they'll give saline?
If the latter, I could be in trouble - I was never the guy who pursued a fake ID or found a weed dealer. Then again, my motivation for this would actually be much higher when and if the city ever tried to bother me about it (I do think I have a notice, but nothing more worrisome just yet)
The only vaccine a city or any municipality cares about is rabies. The vets willing to accept a titer and give you service are scarcer than hen's teeth. And the city wouldn't listen to them anyway.
I'd start with my free Rabies Short Course, so you understand more deeply the "law" and the disease, then keep an eye out for more coming from me in workshops and courses, likely in August. https://vitalanimal.com/rabies-short-course/
2 questions please, I feed only freeze dried raw and gently cooked meats. Do dogs need taurine? Is there an article in your archives? My dog looks and seems very healthy but wonder if he’s not getting something he needs from a source, never kibble. 2nd question: My 4.5 year old dog is “overdue” for his rabies vaccine. He was given so many before I got him at 5 months of age and at 1.5 years vet gave him a 3 year which expired in March 2026. Should I titer him or feel comfortable with all he’s had? Thank you
I’m forever grateful to Will Falconer for his education, not only about vaccines, but how to observe your dog for any changes with regard to homeopathic remedies. His website Vital Animal has a plethora of information for pet owners.
I saw him in Austin back in the early 2,000s for my sweet pup with mange. I’d been to a “holistic” vet who dipped my baby in lighter fluid to rid her of the mange 😳 but it was unsuccessful. I finagled my way into an appointment with Will (not an easy feat) and his remedies did the trick.
I thank him deeply for sharing about injecting toxins into the body and how they get past all the “guards” that would normally mobilize against them and neutralize them. I used that knowledge during the plandemic to stay far away from those experimental MRNA shots that have killed and destroyed the health of so many people in my life that acted out of fear and accepted those shots.
I don’t believe in any vaccines. I believe my body and my dogs’ bodies were created in perfection and that they all self-heal if given a healthy lifestyle on all fronts.
And lastly, the folks who are in the mountainous area I live in…their dogs never see vets. They don’t have the money. These dogs eat table scraps and hunt for food, they drink clean water and are mostly outside in the sunshine doing what they love to do. They live into their late teens, early 20s. That says everything!
Thank you Will for all you to do help these beautiful companion animals by educating their pet parents. 🙏🏻❤️
Well, thanks for your kind words. One day, maybe you’ll reveal your real name so I can recognize you (privately is fine, if you need to stay incognito for any reason). I remember dreading sarcoptic mange (which affects pets AND their people) so I’m guessing you pup had demodex, which is far easier to right. Get the immune system back on its course and they are well dealt with.
And I LOVE hearing stories about my vacc education helping/saving people from the Covid jabs. Sooo much harm has come from them, more revelations as time ticks away…
To your "how they get past all the 'guards'" comment: Yes - some decent chunk of the story of mRNA development is how they needed to work on a nanolipid container that would work as the "trojan horse" so the body wouldn't destroy it.
Believe it or not, some part of that story was that they literally put it in weakened serum (blood), in order for it to get "marked".
Then YOUR system, seeing the labels, if you will, sees it as having gone through the screening process. But it is nowhere near the robust screening process your blood would have put on it on its own.
That's how deranged they are.
That’s an incredible piece of information. Thank you! I saw something yesterday where this unvaxxed lady had her blood checked and the found the whole deal in her blood. But she’d never had the shot. Any theories on how this could’ve happened?
Pretty sure there’s solid evidence of spike protein shedding from jabbed to un people.
Yikes! That bites the big one. How could any of us still feel we’re purebloods if that’s the case. 🥹😭
As always, thank you Will. I am so grateful for your knowledge. I’m so very sad knowing I might have avoided having our 11 year old cat euthanized (3 years ago) when she presented with jaundice and plummeted in one week. We did try alternatives, but probably not the right ones. 😢
May God bless you. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
After losing my 17 year old miniature dachshund early this year I’d been slowly perusing various websites for available similar dogs in hopes of finding a new pack mate for our “wiener bull” (3/4 dachshund 1/4 Pitt bull). I was despairing finding a suitable puppy as most were listed as fully vaccinated, dew claws removed and other horrors I was unwilling to perpetuate (although it had already been done and nothing I could change). Then I ran across a gentleman in central Missouri who had a litter of 3/4 miniature dachshund 1/4 beagle pups ( I can’t begin to describe the cuteness factor either) who had only ever been treated for worms with fenbendazole. I contacted him immediately. The parental dogs were similarly unvaccinated and I got in my car the next day and drove 4&1/2 hours to get two of them. We had much in common with this obviously intelligent and caring breeder and the pups are a true delight, healthy, happy and obviously well cared for as they love people and other dogs. Best of all they will never be exposed to the harms of vaccination and will grow up eating real food and living their best lives. And the mix of breeds will hopefully leave them more resistant to breed specific problems. Obviously we like “different “ dogs and while these will likely look much like slightly longer legged (and less pigeon toed) minis like the older dogs he had were, they look just different enough for people to look twice and go huh? Just like we like it.
Sounds well worth the drive! All the best with these lucky new pups!
You need to read about rabies from organ transplants. Guy was rescing a kitten from a raccoon. He was scratched by the raccoon. He then became sick and was declared brain dead. He was tested for rabies and it came back negative. So they did several organ transplants. One guy sickened and died. He tested positive for rabies and it turned out to be from the transplanted organ. They had to remove all the transplants from that donor. There is a reason to worry about that, I guess, since the original test missed it.
Wow, I’d love a link if you can find one. Seems it would be an edge case at best. Also: scratching: not a usual transmission mode, and its mere mention sets up fear and testing where it’s not typically found to be positive. It’s the saliva that transmits the virus.
Start here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-man-dies-of-rabies-after-receiving-infected-kidney-transplant/
If you do a search on rabies transplant, there’s more.
Thanks, I'll explore further, though SciAm has made me roll my eyes these days, so I will be critically reading their stuff. They're still high on Covid boosters and maintaining The Narrative in every way possible.
I know. I can’t find the original article I read. There’s always a chance the article was removed.
And just to correct this, it was a skunk, not a raccoon.
Why on earth would you vax an indoor-only cat?
If it's indoor-only, why would it need to be spayed?
Vaccine question is very valid: no good reason.
But it sounds like you’ve not lived with an intact female cat… heat cycles are frequent during a rather long season and they are, shall we say, challenging to live with.
Plus the female in heat will often watch doors like a hawk for that one opportunity to dart through to the great outdoors and a possible mate! I had that happen once. Luckily she came home a few days later, but she was knocked up and we soon had four kittens to rehome...
The phrase "knocked up" already has a nearly 100% success rate at making me chuckle. Add the context instead to a door-watching cat coming back home, and we've hit statistical and actual 100%
:-D
People need to neuter their tomcats!!!!
I had a neighbor who inherited a few kittens from a feral litter. She only neutered the females because she figured other peoples' females were their problem (and expense) to take care of. Another neighbor's female barn cat kept getting pregnant and he assumed it was one of my males even tho mine were neutered. He put barbed wire under his bottom row of split rail fence and my poor boy came home with a cut paw one day 😥. He was an explorer despite being neutered.
Thanks for the info. You're right.
All my cats have been neutered Toms. I've never had any of them vaccinated (UK).
I'm new to this "pack" but I so appreciate all the information and experience Dr. Will (and the rest of you) have to share.
Love love love the addition of local photos and comments on places I'll likely never see. what convinced me decades ago to never again use pesticide shampoos Dont Get any On You. wait a minute. I'm covering my dog in this thing I shouldn't get any on me? dr bronners soap works way better for flea control. and no poison on either of us. happy partner of a herd of completely unmedicated unvaxxed no dr visits for any of us border collies.
I’m probably responding at the wrong location but your article about evacuation after adverse reaction strikes so close to home. Our lovely boy, Laszlo, had an adverse reaction to his 4 month rabies vaccine. I mean hives all over his body, lethargy, just out of sorts and not himself. I contacted the vet. She said to let her know close to the 1 yr 4 month rabies vaccine and she’s going to give me a solution to avoid another reaction. I stupidly did so, and she had me start Laszlo on steroids plus Benadryl 2 days before the vaccine (don’t miss it!) plus at least a day afterwards. We had him vaccinated though I honestly was shocked she recommended vaccinating him again. We had separated the combo distemper/parvo, etc vaccine by a few weeks from the rabies one to avoid overloading the immune system. Well, she was right - he didn’t get hives after the 2nd rabies vaccine but soon afterwards his personality changed. He was house- sat by a repeat house sitter he’d been fine with previously. He would not leave his crate. She fed him in the crate and he voided in the crate, for 6 days we were gone. We had no idea this was happening while away but were informed of it when we returned. He was fearful, terrified of everything and complete personality change after this vaccine. But hey, no hives! By age 3, he started having seizures. Went back to the vet who said we don’t treat til more than one/month. Had 3 - she put him on phenobarbitol. Seizures continued. We were lost. How do we help him? Next vaccines were due at 4 yrs 4 months. By then with all the seizures increasing every month, his pheno dose could not be raised. Another vet added more meds. Then even more. I enrolled him at CSU vet hospital clinical trial for dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. No cause found. MRI negative. Tick borne diseases negative, etc. I asked them as the 4 year mark approached, do they recommend vaccinations in epileptic dogs (assuming they’d say absolutely not) about further vaccines. They said they recommend regular vaccine schedule as the benefits outweigh the risks. I chose not to vaccinate at 4 years 4 months. We worked with a vet clinic until he was 6.5 years to find a solution. It reached the point that he was on 5 meds and we were administering rectal Valium (which we had to seriously fight, to have available,) every time… Breakthrough seizures almost every few days. They couldn’t up his meds anymore. We decided to let him go at 6.5 years though we truly wanted him to stay, but seizures were escalating, and he wouldn’t come out of them for a couple hours, would be blind and aggressive to the other dog during and after… the CBD trial actually made him worse. I mourn for poor Laszlo. He didn’t deserve this life. He wanted to be normal. He never chose to be over medicated to the point of being in a stupor and no longer having any quality of life. The vet who came to our home to euthanize him said he looked incredibly healthy. Made us feel even more guilty, but he was the seizing every couple days for longer and longer periods and taking more Valium to bring him out of the status epilepticus. I miss him so much.
Oh, Fiona! This is such a travesty! Reprehensible behavior throughout! Not only drugs after a reaction but insisting on re-vaccinating an epileptic, the disease brought on by vaccination!! Shame on them!
People: every single vaccine, rabies included (damn the “law”) has a label: Only for Use in Healthy Animals. In what universe is epilepsy healthy?
Those vets need to be fired who insist on acting like the sheriff when all they are doing is causing harm in the name of following a phony “law.”
p.s. if you want to know the origins of the rabies “law” and why I put it in quotes, please take my free Rabies Short Course. There you’ll also see how common it is to see symptoms of rabies like poor Lazlo displayed AFTER rabies vaccination. https://vitalanimal.com/rabies-short-course/
I love this post. Love this format. Love this knowledge. Even after I have thoroughly researched and thought all
of this through, I move the shot in the arm— no pun intended— of reaffirmation.
We have a bat roost in our hay mow. We count them twice yearly for our state DNR (WI). I have no fear of them and enjoy watching them launch out of our barn at dusk. We even had small openings installed at the top of the siding for them to exit. We hardly have any mosquitoes thanks to them so I don’t worry about not giving my dogs toxic meds every month. Of note someone local complained of their dog having hookworms even though they give Simparica monthly. Well the pests are probably immune to that since they’ve been giving it all year round!
Thank you for sharing this! As a physician-scientist, I always appreciate discussions that encourage people to think critically about animal health and preventive care. One of the most important lessons from both human and veterinary medicine is that health is rarely the result of a single intervention but it emerges from the interaction of genetics, nutrition, environment, immune function, physical activity, and the quality of ongoing care.
I also think comparative medicine has much to teach us. Many biological pathways involved in aging, inflammation, metabolism, and even cancer are remarkably conserved across species. Studying companion animals not only improves veterinary care but can also provide insights that inform human medicine, particularly in the field of healthy aging.
At the same time, it’s important that preventive strategies, whether conventional, integrative, or complementary, are evaluated with the same scientific rigor we apply elsewhere. Mechanistic plausibility is valuable, but well-designed clinical studies remain essential for determining which interventions truly improve outcomes and quality of life.
Ultimately, our goal seems the same regardless of species: helping individuals live longer, healthier, and more comfortable lives. That objective is best served when curiosity is paired with rigorous evidence and compassionate care.
Thanks again!
Could you refer to any articles you've done on fleas in cats? Desperately trying to avoid toxic pyrethrins with diatomaceous earth, apple cider vinegar, boiled lemon and rosemary water, and properly diluted essential oils but not managing to break the cycle yet. Thanks for any help.
I’ve long had a non-toxic flea control page up and you can choose those cat friendly products from it. The focus of the page is the actual population pyramid, as you’ll see. If you’re only going for the adults, they’ll keep coming. Have a look: http://vitalanimal.com/non-toxic-flea-control/
Thank you very much!
Do you have a similar page for ticks? I've been rubbing a few drops of geranium essential oil between my hands and then stroking my dogs' backs, chest and legs. This works for a day or two before I need to reapply, but they sneeze a bit when I first put it on them.
Just go back one or two issues and you'll see mention of an ancient herb that you can add to food. Sounds like it's working. And the dogs at least don't mind its taste. (Clicking on my name should bring you to back issues/archive)
Done! Got some Cistus and started adding a tablespoon to each 80 lb dog’s raw breakfast. They scarf it up just like they always do, and we haven’t seen a tick on them since the second day! Now my guy will have to find a new nickname for our two boys, because “Tick Bus” is no longer applicable… 😁 Plus I’m glad I don’t have to keep putting the smelly geranium oil onto them and making them sneeze. Adding cistus to their feed daily is easier and more consistent. Now that repellency is established, I may experiment with reducing the quantity given to find the minimum effective dose.
As a bonus, this herb is also supposed to be good for humans, so I tried some as a tea, and it doesn’t taste bad at all. So once tick season is over any leftover herb will be made into teas for me to use it up, and I’ll start with fresh next spring for the dogs.
Thank you much!
This is brilliant! Thanks for the feedback. It appears this age-old herb is a kick ass tick repellent. Love the dropping of “Tick Bus!” He’s bound to be happier all around now. And now we’ve got a dose, folks. Titrate based on your dog’s weight.
What cat food do you recommend for cats?
Raw, always varied at least monthly. If you find a recipe, beware of getting stuck on it. No one benefits from a monodiet. For more thoughts: http://vitalanimal.com/feed-for-vitality/
Thank you very much!
New here, so forgive if you've covered separately. At very least this may be my reminder to continue checking even if no good answer shows up here.
What to do when you're in a city where technically your dog is supposed to be "up to date" on shots, but I have ZERO intention on taking that risk (he was initially vaxed at humane society where I got him).
Are there vets who will use logic of "he has titers - he's good" and then you're approved? Or is there some underground dissident vet network in some places where they'll give saline?
If the latter, I could be in trouble - I was never the guy who pursued a fake ID or found a weed dealer. Then again, my motivation for this would actually be much higher when and if the city ever tried to bother me about it (I do think I have a notice, but nothing more worrisome just yet)
The only vaccine a city or any municipality cares about is rabies. The vets willing to accept a titer and give you service are scarcer than hen's teeth. And the city wouldn't listen to them anyway.
I'd start with my free Rabies Short Course, so you understand more deeply the "law" and the disease, then keep an eye out for more coming from me in workshops and courses, likely in August. https://vitalanimal.com/rabies-short-course/
2 questions please, I feed only freeze dried raw and gently cooked meats. Do dogs need taurine? Is there an article in your archives? My dog looks and seems very healthy but wonder if he’s not getting something he needs from a source, never kibble. 2nd question: My 4.5 year old dog is “overdue” for his rabies vaccine. He was given so many before I got him at 5 months of age and at 1.5 years vet gave him a 3 year which expired in March 2026. Should I titer him or feel comfortable with all he’s had? Thank you
First Q I’ll answer with a couple questions: 1. Does anyone supplement wolves or coyote with taurine? and 2. Do they ever eat freeze dried prey?
On rabies, I’d only titer if you’ve assessed the incidence and decided where and how you live your dog is at risk to contract the disease.
Thank you Dr Falconer, agree and agree, wanted to read and confirm what I expected and learned from you 🤍