Vital Animal News: June 1, 2025

Cats: Vet Deficiency? / The Surgeon's Hubris / Vaccines of Yore / Getting Dirty Wins! / Lipomas? Back Off, Doc / And MORE

1. Is Your Cat Under-Vetted?

2. Too Proud to See It

3. Old Timers and Rabies Shots

4. “Kids Need to be Dirty”

5. Tasty Tip: Lipomas

6. Along the Natural Path

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Cats Under Served? Or Lucky?

Mom, I’m cool if we don’t go… vets scare me!

It seems cats, as a species, are not nearly as likely to make annual veterinary visits as are dogs.

From the article in Vet Practice News:

“Although an estimated 74 million domesticated cats are in the U.S., only 40 percent receive annual veterinary care, compared to 82 percent of dogs, according to the Hill's Pet Nutrition 2025 World of the Cat Report.”

There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dig in.

Cat “owners” (I use the term lightly, as we really know who owns who, right?), pay attention.

First, the obvious: cats experience stress going to vets.

Not surprising, right?

As a dual predator/prey species, you can imagine the mere presence of dogs in the waiting room is going to send signals of caution to the average cat.

And pre-visit, the whole transport to the vet is no small challenge for many.

Even in my small home-like low stress homeopathic office visit, seeing one animal at a time (and most of my patients by telephone), I’d hear stories of massive resistance to being crated for the trip.

Nutrition: Missing Vital Sign?

This is disturbing.

Early on in the article, a caption to the cat friendly vet exam picture says,

“During visits, it is typical to examine the vital signs: heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and pain. However, a fifth vital sign, nutrition, is also a key component of overall health. Photo courtesy Hill's Pet Nutrition”

Kind of reveals more than perhaps intended, doesn’t it?

If we’re to take a step back and realize that Hill’s has been at the forefront of selling us on the idea of “prescription diets,” and those are 50:50 likely to be dry, well that’s an entire can of worms just dumped on the notion that cats will benefit from more vet visits.

For a brilliant take on “prescription diets” and the FDA’s waffling stance on them, please take a moment to jump into their dirty underbelly revealed in Truth About Pet Food by Susan Thixton.

First: Dry Foods Are a Crime to Feed Cats!

These desert creatures are built to extract their water from prey.

And, when forced to drink to make up for dry food intake, they suck, figuratively speaking.

What’s more, they are the #1 species of animals to get kidney failure as a disease.

For the story that ties all these together, please visit my earlier post, No Kibble for Kitty!

Top Ingredient: Toxic Carbs

Susan’s link above actually lists the ingredients of a competitive “prescription” food from Purina, especially made for… wait for it… kidney failure kitties.

And, surprise, surprise, the #1 ingredient?

Corn.

Let’s loose another can of worms, as we look to the chronic diseases of cats in this related article from a top pet insurance provider:

The 5 Most Common Chronic Conditions in Cats and Dogs:

Here’s the cat list, and insurance data don’t tell no lies:

• Kidney disease

• Hyperthyroidism

• Diabetes mellitus

• Inflammatory bowel disease

• Lymphoma

So, number 3 there: what do you suppose brings about a sugar handling disease in an obligate carnivore like the cat?

How about a high carb intake thanks to an Rx Feline Diet? Or, for that matter, even most “normal” cat food.

(We’ll wait while you check your current cat food label, and let us know in the comments what you find please. No judgment, just a good chance to learn and discuss.)

Let’s end this section with an open question:

Do you think lions, lynx and leopards suffer diabetes in the wild?

Toxic Ingredients to Boot

Susan also reminds that, in addition to toxic sludge from the rendering companies (like “animal digest” and the ubiquitous “by products” under multiple names), corn itself (which veterinary nutritionists are all quick to defend, btw) is likely:

• GMO corn (with me here? If it’s not organic, it’s 90% likely to be GMO)

• Tainted with glyphosate, known to destroy gut microbiomes

Are you questioning this Vet Practice article’s concern that you aren’t bringing your cat to the vet nearly often enough by now?

Let’s do one more…

Annual Visits = Annual Vaccinations?

How often is this the case, right?

A visit for a good physical? Maybe some blood profiling as your kitty gets past 6-8 years of age?

No harm, no foul, and palpation by skilled hands and blood chemistries could be a good thing.

But, unless you’re prepared to bring a big dose of Vitamin N (NO!) to that vet visit, how likely is your cat to get a slew of unnecessary shots?

Hint: What’s the simplest, highest markup procedure vets do multiple times a day?

Yes ma’am, starts with V, and you ought to know by now, thanks to articles like this free series and the Covid monster clots, myocarditis, and sudden deaths in fit athletes, that this is one can of worms you definitely don’t want to spill.

Let’s Get Real

The article is a fluff piece promoting “cat-friendly practices.”

But unless these typical cat-unfriendly practices (annual or repeated vaccines, poor quality, often pricey food, and pesticides for fleas) are addressed, wise cat owners may prefer avoiding annual “wellness visits” like dogs seem so prone to partake in.

If you’ve got a vet who’s cat friendly AND open to your “vaccine hesitancy” and not pushing junk food, you’re golden.

Have a check up every few years, especially for the seniors, by all means.

Just pack your Vitamin N along in case…

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Blinded by Pride

Seriously? You not seeing me?

I remember in vet school when we got to delve into surgery, and many of us thought that must be the creme de la creme of vet medicine.

We had an Arab professor whose crowning achievement was a spinal surgical procedure for dogs in danger of becoming paralyzed from a wayward spinal disc protrusion. Huge ego, lots of bling.

It was only later that it dawned on many of us that surgery was largely meatball work, best seen as putting together broken parts.

(It was even more gratifying when, as a homeopathic vet, I discovered most of those dogs could be saved by a $5 remedy that my Alpha students all know well.)

Let That Ego Rip!

But a recent email reveals their self inflated attitudes are still part and parcel of their position.

As a bit of background, you may want to revisit my earlier take on “man-made” canine anatomy gone awry: Cuteness vs Function

This writer may have been prompted by that:

“I just wanted to share that I recently met a vet while walking my 1 year pug and didn't know she was a vet. I shared my experience with my previous pug no longer snoring after seeing my vet chiropractor and that she lived to 15.

Her reply was that my 1 year old pug would fair much better coming in to see her for a plastic surgery on her nose to make it bigger so she could breathe. Except- we were on a walk so obviously my precious pug is breathing! -- Jolie, Dallas

It reminded me of the fairly common reports of dogs or cats garnering veterinary exclamations in the exam room:

“My goodness, this animal literally shines! What ever are you doing to bring about such an amazing state of vitality?” — asks Dr. WhiteCoat.

To which the rightfully proud owner answers, “Why, we’ve been raw feeding Betsy for the last couple years, and the changes have been remarkable to us as well!

At which point (I swear I’m not making this up), ashen faces and donning of gloves on the part of the vet and the tech followed!

Denial of the Obvious

Isn’t it amazing that schooling (and “science”) has created such closed minds, to not be able to accept the reality so apparent before the good doctor?

And that hubris of the vet to suggest that a thousand dollar cosmetic surgery would outshine a successful $30 chiropractic adjustment?

Quite appalling, isn’t it?

I plead guilty of similar closed thinking, post vet school, when reading about “alternative” methods that were showing promise.

If they were so great, why hadn’t they been taught to us?

But this is on a whole different level.

The vet is literally SEEING the results of those “alternatives” right before her.

The Pug is walking and breathing just fine…

And the raw fed animal’s owners aren’t all gloved and masked…

Attitudes and Preconceptions

So, more of a recognition of what you may be up against.

Even fellow animal owners may be so attached to their beliefs as to get scared when you tell them how you achieved such a shiny Vital Animal: Seeing is Not Believing.

The mind is a powerful foe, at times…

But, as they like to say in the South, “Bless her heart.”

Translated here as, “You poor bastard, you can’t even see the reality before you. I wish you the best making it through the world with those blinders on.”

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Rabies Vax: Then and Now

We remember…

This enlightening reminder of times past came from a gentleman who, like me, had grown up with dogs through the 50’s and 60’s.

His take on longevity and vaccinations is very revealing:

“ I am 74 years old, born in Southern California in 1950 and I’m still here. I’ve had dogs all my life.…Over Time I have noticed that my dogs being midsized breed mostly would live 20 to 25 years… that seemed to change when California started requiring a rabies shot every three years when it used to be one rabies shot. Shot was good for a lifetime [Ed: emphasis mine] and I believe that the extra vaccinations have reduced my dogs longevity by five years.”

Buddy is far from the first bringing this remembrance to me.

Our dogs, one at a time since I was about 11, never got more than one round of vaccines. I was a bit too young to pay attention, but predictably, it would have been a “3 in 1” (distemper, hepatitis, and lepto (later adding parvo, as that became a significant killer of pups about the time I graduated vet school in 1980).

And rabies.

We never got “reminder postcards” telling us Jake was “due” for anything.

Ah, the simpler times, but was it out of ignorance?

Or simple understanding of the reality of immunity?

A Researcher Who Understood

One of my more conventional heroes, coming onto my radar after my shift to “holistic” medicine was the good Dr. Ron Schultz, U. Of Wisconsin veterinary immunologist.

He studied vaccines for the companies producing them and, though it wasn’t in the companies’ interests, wasn’t afraid to publish his take on duration of immunity:

“Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal” Current Vet Therapy, vol XI, 1992 — a mainstream veterinary textbook, held in high regard.

And elsewhere:

Older dogs that have been vaccinated with core vaccines maintain lifelong immunity. Old dogs and cats don’t die from CDV, CPV-2, CAV-1, or FPV because they have lifelong immunity. They generally die from noninfectious disease.”

So, much like annual vaccination, there’s little to no scientific basis for the ‘every 3 years’ labels or rules.

That was pulled from thin air as vets raised a ballyhoo about lost income when the experts tore apart their beloved annual vaccines practice.

More on that stink from an earlier post that might be of interest:

My fave quote from the above, by a Texas Vet Med Board member, no less:

He stated boldly he …

…could vaccinate a client’s pet every week for twenty two years and nobody could tell him not to.”

Uh, yeah. So, choose your vet carefully.

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Germaphobes: Listen Up!

Bad News: Don’t DO It!

[This is human interest, but I’m guessing you might find applicability to your animals as well, particularly if you allow antibiotics as treatment.]

In an amazing interview between host and Dr. Nathan Bryan, you can learn more about an amazing molecule called nitric acid.

And the concept of being “too clean.”

It’s clearly a thing.

Nitric oxide (NO) is produced in our bodies, but its production starts steeply decreasing as early as our 20’s.

And it’s a key longevity helper (or at least a “staying healthy as we age” helper, which really is more accurate).

Its decline results in:

• High blood pressure —> vascular disease

• Insulin resistance —> diabetes

• Exercise intolerance

• Alzheimers (another vascular disease and insulin resistance sequela)

• Immune dysfunction

One small part of this interview resonated deeply with me, as I’ve long heard this idea that much of our health depends on our microflora, the bacteria in and on all of us.

As a reminder for some, Bryan reiterates that we are “10X more bacteria than we are human” in term of cellular makeup.

So what’s too clean involve?

Mouthwash, for one.

It turns out that kills the microbiome in our mouths, which correlates to a negative impact on our nitric oxide levels. Published work: blood pressure increases, within days of mouthwash use.

And how about all those hand sanitizers?

“Bad news” says our expert, “Kids need to be dirty.” 41:00 in:

And he goes on to remind us that kids growing up rurally, playing in the dirt, (I’d add: hanging with farm animals, cleaning manure, etc.) have significantly less serious illnesses in adulthood, including:

• Cardiovascular disease

• Diabetes

• Immune dysfunction (including the seemingly ever present auto immune disease in our younger gen)

Oh, and sugar? Poison for yet another reason: it decreases NO production.

But sunshine? Good, get 20-30 minutes a day of exposure to moderate sun. ( (For more on the “let’s make sunshine evil” campaign, revealed by A Midwestern Doctor):

Dermatology's Horrendous War Against The Sun

So, some things to avoid are outlined and some good things to help keep your NO in Yes Mode, like dirt and sunshine.

Let’s get out there and get more of the good stuff and stop “over-cleaning” our microbiomes right out of balance.

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Tasty Tip: Lipomas

Or: Leave Them Lumps A-Lone!

Lipomas.

You've likely seen at least one of these, if you've owned dogs in the past 20 years or so.

Usually, your fingers find them before your eyes do. Squishy surface lumps, movable with the skin, and your dog pays precisely this much attention to them:

Nada. Zip. Kuch nahin.

Should you worry about them? No.

Remove them? Bad idea.

Prevent them? Yes: Stop vaccinating your already vaccinated animal.

Talk to your homeopathic vet about them? Yes, especially if they are becoming numerous and/or growing larger.

The main point I've gleaned over the years is this: these lumps were put out there on the surface for a reason. True of all symptoms, by the way.

By what or whom? The vital force, that innate intelligence we all have keeping us as healthy as possible.

As tumors of all kinds have long been associated with vaccination, you can see them also as a warning. Vaccines have safety concerns…

Benign, Sometimes Unsightly

These are, by definition, not malignant. And, they are chronic, meaning only that they last and last as opposed to self-limiting acute illnesses.

I tend to view lipomas as "waste baskets" out on the periphery, far from vital organs, and they usually just sit there, as benign as a softball in the potato bin.

But because they were put there with the intelligence of the vital force, removing them is likely to upset the balance that the vital force achieved by making these little fatty depots for your dog.

If removed, it will try, try again, letting the surgeon know who’s got the upper hand. Cut them out repeatedly, and you may compel the vital force to make tumors on the inside next. Not a good direction.

I would, however, support the immune system with transfer factors from Motherboard, along with its medicinal shrooms and Ayurvedic herbs in those guys who seem to make lipomas over and over, especially if those lumps are growing.

Surgeons really should stay away from chronic disease, as removing parts does only one thing well: it suppresses that vital force.

And the price to pay for suppression is deeper, more serious disease. Here’s a case from my practice that went badly.

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Along the Natural Path

Good morning, Glory!

There’s not much to report this round, as we’ve fallen into a rainy spell here in the Himalayas that’s kept me focused on the computer, writing these pieces for you and moving the ball a few yards forward on a project to relocate our courses to a more user friend platform.

Now that’s the sun’s back out, I saw the beauty above on this morning’s hike.

The good news, no further monkey attacks since the little girl I mentioned last issue, so I think rabies is unlikely the cause. She’s due for two more anti-serum injections from our resident MD, but all’s well.

I took in a couple of movies recently, as I had a bit of illness.

One on Joel Salatin is well worth your time: The Lunatic Farmer. Joel tells how his family, renegades themselves, moved lock, stock and barrel to Venezuela to buy a farm when he was just a stripling of a kid. And left suddenly when politics shifted, to buy a rundown farm in Virginia that was largely rock, most of its topsoil eroded away over years of typical “abuse farming” (my term).

What he’s created, following his own lead and literally breaking new ground on the ag front will astonish you. Simplicity rules, the animals are happy, the soil has been restored to life, and Joel can barely keep up with the demand for his poultry, beef, eggs, etc.

When we see hopeful signs like this, I think we have a duty to share them. There’s a tendency for the main stream media to keep us worried, scared, and divided, and what brings us together is seeing better options, human resourcefulness and creativity.

Feel free to pop into the comments below with anything that’s inspired you with hope, be it movie, a Substack of good writing, some humor, or standing up to the forces that want to keep us enslaved or feeling helpless.

Until next time, keep your head up, spread a smile without a reason, and rub on those animals who’ll help keep your microbiome diverse and healthy.

Will Falconer, DVM