Vital Animal News: June 15, 2025

Immunity: Instant? / Boycott Amazon! / Noise Fear & Hope / Itchy Dog News? / Normal or Common? / Big Monkeys and MORE

1. Immune and Safe: How Long’s Zat Take?

2. Amazon Mislabeling Remedies

3. Fireworks & Thunderstorms, Oh My!

4. News Flash: The Itch is a Bitch!

5. Tasty Tips: Common vs Normal

6. Along the Natural Path

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When Is My Animal Immune?

Can you go out safely now, Sweetie Pie?

A recent question from Pam set this piece in motion.

“How long do my pups need to be taking the Nosodes before going on a walk?”

This is a laudable question, and the answer comes in a bit, but let’s look at it another way.

How long does immunity take to be gained?

A basic question, and it depends on what your immunizing agent is.

Vaccines

Let’s take vaccines first, because at some point you’re likely to come up against some conventional vet med BS around them, to whit:

“We can’t see your dog today until you update your rabies vaccination. It’s been over three years, and we have to keep our staff safe.”

This ploy is pure nonsense.

A lot of you have been reporting what I’m terming “being held hostage” by Dr. WhiteCoat to the tune of: No shots, no service.

Let’s tease that illogic apart a bit, shall we?

Out of Date = Rabid??

Let’s say your 6 year old dog was vaccinated for rabies 4 years back.

We know immunity is clearly not like a gas tank, right? (For a review on that, please visit this earlier piece explaining the reality of duration of immunity: Standing Against Insanity)

So, is the good doctor and his staff at risk for getting rabies if your dog bites one of them?

Pfft. Of course not.

You know Sadie would have to have been bitten by a rabid animal (skunk, fox, raccoon, or maybe she mouthed a semi-paralyzed rabid bat) in order to (possibly) get rabies, right?

She’s certainly not rabid simply because you didn’t follow a label recommendation (from the company that only studied the vaccine’s efficacy for 3 years before going to market).

Are you with me so far?

Okay, then we can safely assume a bite, for what ever reason during the vet visit, won’t be a rabid bite.

But let’s say, the pressure is on.

“No update, no service!”

And, you really feel you need a good exam for what ever reason, and maybe a blood test. You’re worried about Sadie. She’s just not been acting herself.

Here’s the Rub…

If you get the shot then and there, does every one on the staff just sigh with relief, because NOW Sadie is immune (again? Or… more immune…)?

Not so fast… Nature doesn’t work that way.

A vaccine, like a natural exposure to a disease agent in the wild, doesn’t instantly make one immune.

No, no, the immune system, that infinitely fine tuned, evolved-over-millennia system, has to respond to the jab. Or the inhaled virus or licked up bad boy bacteria.

That’s a process. It’s not immediate.

If someone sneezes on you while suffering a cold, you wouldn’t expect to start cold symptoms immediately. It’d be a few days, IF your immune system doesn’t kick it first.

If a tick embeds in you, carrying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or Lyme, you wouldn’t expect to show symptoms tomorrow. Maybe in a week, if you’re going to at all.

So, I hope you can see this illogic for what it is.

1. “We can only see your dog today if we revaccinate her.”

2. “If not, our staff will be at risk, because Sadie’s rabies shot is ‘out of date.’ ”

3. But if you allow that shot, nothing changes immediately. It will take days or a week to respond with “more” immunity.

That’s basic understanding of how immunity works, but Dr. WhiteCoat and staff seem to have missed that understanding.

Nosode Protection: Entirely Different

It’s an entirely different reality with homeopathic prophylaxis.

Let’s get back to that recent email exchange with Pam, whose newbie pup would be taking nosodes for parvo and distemper instead of vaccinating.

“How long do my pups need to be taking the Nosodes before going on a walk?”

I giggled a bit, as I relished answering this, and replied, in the tone of my Georgian clinician from vet school:

“Five minutes ought to be a gracious plenty.”

Pam got it, (I sensed a giggle) and thanked me.

But how could I answer that way, firm in my understanding?

Nosodes, which are simply homeopathic remedies made from disease discharges, are energetic medicines.

They don’t act on the immune system like a physical injection.

Their protection comes from their energetic “footprint” being so similar to the disease we’re aiming to protect against, that’s it acts like a “finger in the dike,” saying to the intruder, in essence, “This body already has the disease, so NO ENTRY.”

But, “the disease” in this case is ultra diluted (a 30C nosode potency means a 1:99 dilution has happened 30 times over, in a homeopathic pharmacy), so only the energetic imprint remains.

Safe Protection, Short Term Only

While the safety of nosodes is therefore high, we also don’t expect Sadie to make any antibodies from her use of parvo or distemper nosodes.

But protection clearly happens with proper use, and because it’s energetic protection, it starts as soon as the remedy meets the mouth.

That’s why we see kennels who’ve been struggling with kennel cough quickly stop getting new cases once the water bowls are treated with the KC nosode. In that disease, interestingly, we also see those affected with the cough rapidly get better.

(That’s possible with distemper cases as well, but not as likely with parvo illness, which is better treated with individual remedies).

I’ll have more on why we don’t expect antibody titers in a separate post in the future, but we don’t worry about that. Our pups are protected while on nosodes until their immune systems mature (about 9 months of age) and their romping around with other dogs helps with natural exposure.

For a more thorough treatise on this, including an updated Natural Exposure protocol, please consider taking my very affordable Smart Vaccine Alternatives short course.

And let us know in the comments if you’ve come up against “Not current/No service” in your vet clinic. And better yet, tell us if you’ve found a vet willing to think outside that very tiny, dim witted box.

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Amazon Bungling Homeopathic Remedy Labels

This just in, from my AVH listserve where homeopathic vets discuss cases and such.

Here’s yet another reason to avoid buying homeopathic remedies through Amazon:

They’ve been mislabeling the remedies they are providing from Boiron.

This comes from my colleague Dr. Michele Yasson, homeopathic vet now in Florida, who shared the following images with our AVH discussion group:

Wait. So is this Belladonna 30C or Calcarea carb 30C, Amazon? It MATTERS!

Ipecac or Calc carb...? Anybody home?

Dr. Yasson has contacted Boiron to point this out, but they’ve to date failed to respond appropriately.

Other colleagues have joined the discussion to relate similar experiences, so whether Amazon is:

A. Just being careless and sloppy, or

B. Maliciously trying to denigrate homeopathy (in support of FDA’s stance making every remedy an unapproved “new drug”)…

…in any case, once again, the call goes out to avoid Amazon, if not in total, at the very least, for your homeopathic remedy purchases.

Instead, search for “homeopathic pharmacies” and give your business to the actual makers of homeopathic remedies, like Washington Homeopathic, Hahnemann, Ohm, or Minnesota Remedies. Smaller pharmacies are typically struggling to survive and deserve our support.

And Boiron? I’ll let my friend Don Hamilton weigh in to close this:

Boiron is the Wal-mart of homeopathic pharmacies, pushing the others out of business.

Nuff said.

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EO’s, Fireworks, Thunderstorms and Peace

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

About this time of year, you’ll see articles in the US around anxious dog behavior as 4^th of July approaches and thunderstorm season ramps up.

If you’ve ever had a noise anxious dog, you likely perk up your ears and look for help.

I’ve had my share of anxious patients in my homeopathic practice and have to say, some seemed quite resistant to my best efforts to cure them.

My Austin vet colleague, Dr. Janet Roark, The Essential Oil Vet, gave a free online gathering recently called “EOs for Pets: Fireworks & Thunderstorms” and the replay is up now until 16 June (whoops: that’s Monday. Better jump on this…)

Here’s where you can get it: Click Here for Replay

Here’s what’s covered:

✅ Vet-approved calming oils and blends

✅ How to use essential oils safely with pets

✅ Practical tips to ease stress during loud events.

And based on her own history, gleaned from my podcast interview with her, I’m betting she brought some cured cases to the table.

Anyone who was able to cure their own migraines with EOs has my deep respect.

When you take in the replay, you’ll also receive Dr. Roark’s free handout, titled "Pet-Safe Essential Oil for Calming,” which sounds like it should be a big help to the anxious ones in your life, whatever their triggers (car rides? wind? other dogs?)

Here’s where to sign up for the webinar replay and grab your free report: Essential Oils for Pets: Fireworks & Thunderstorms.

Thanks, Mom, breathing easier now since you diffused those oils…

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Elanco “Data”: Itchy Dogs Suck!

You think YOU’RE stressed, Mom…

Elanco (aka Eli Lilly & Co) has released a jaw dropping report that Vet Practice News wants vets to sit up and pay attention to!

The headline: “Report reveals widespread impact of chronic itch in dogs.”

And: “New data from Elanco highlights the emotional, financial, and clinical strain of canine itch on pet owners and veterinarians.”

Ya don’t say, Elanco… you’ve got actual data, proving what owners have known for, oh, forty years or so?

And let me guess: you’ve got the fix, right?

What You Need to Know

This “study,” aimed entirely at veterinarians, is intended to sell more Zenrelia, Elanco’s latest miracle drug.

It’s really a series of surveys of itchy dogs and their owners.

Unsurprisingly, those who have itchy dogs:

• Are unhappy, dealing with this suffering!

• Want fast “cures” and hey, make those easy to give, please!

• Are willing to change vets if cures aren’t forthcoming (gulp)!

See it through a vet’s eyes, reading this article:

“Oh geez. We’d better be able to fix these dogs fast or lose business! I wonder what we can DO?”

Well, guess who’s got the answer YOU NEED, Dr. WhiteCoat?

Old News

But, if you’ve lived among dogs and kept track of any of this, you probably also know we’ve got decades of data from pet insurance companies revealing The Itch is the #1 reason dogs see vets.

If this is news, check out my earlier post:

But: WHY All the Itchy Dogs?

Elanco is silent on that.

Might it be because they also make vaccines, the chief cause of itchy, allergic dogs?

And don’t let the med techie language hide the reality: you might hear some $40 words for this like “canine atopy” or “atopic dermatitis.”

If your dog does any of the following:

• itches like crazy (often waking the household at night)

• chews her feet

• makes holes in her coat, or worse, her skin

• stinks, and/or feels greasy when you pet her

• has stinky ears that hurt, but itch so bad she wants to dig in them but that HURTS too!

That’s all this same disease, whether they call it atopy or you and I call it simply The Itch.

Elanco’s survey data reveals: It’s a bitch! For you and your dog.

Why, thank you, Obvious & Company!

But here’s what your conventional veterinarian (and his good pharma buddy Elanco) might try to hide behind:

The Itch doesn’t show up immediately post-vaccination.

No, that’d be too obvious.

We who look, know The Itch doesn’t usually manifest until a month post-vaccination.

So, easy to say “the shot didn’t cause this,” right?

But, if you have any doubts, and you’re suffering a dog who’s overly itchy (or maybe was but is now on suppressive drugs), ask to review Sadie’s vet records. You’ll see it, too.

Bonus points if you point it out to Dr. WhiteCoat…

Bottom Line: Watch Out for Zenrelia

While vets are being pushed to offer this “miracle drug,” you, as a wise consumer, need to know how this drug “works.”

Zenrelia is another “JAK inhibitor,” meaning it quite literally jacks with your dog’s immune system. More scientifically, it suppresses that immune system.

It’s following the lead of Apoquel, the first JAK inhibitor to market.

And how is that one working out?

Well, as you can read in this post (don’t miss the comments!), its chief side effect appears to be, well… cancer. Oops!

And Zenrelia has had problems enough to warrant a “Dear Veterinarian” letter from the FDA.

You can read more about that here:

It’s one thing to tout stopping The Itch.

It’s quite another to have caused that problem (in the name of “prevention”) and then turn around and screw up the immune system to the point of malfunction to stop the problem you created.

Buyer beware.

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Tasty Tip: Common vs Normal

Dammit, here it comes again!

There’s a reminder for vets in a recent article on vomiting cats.

Some owners accept (wrongly) that “cats vomit hairballs” or “vomiting cats are normal.”

The reality is, there are two operant words here, and we don’t want to confuse “common” with “normal.”

That dawned on me as I entered into homeopathic practice in the early 90’s.

In our professional training, we honed in on symptoms, as they are such an important signal to us all that something is amiss in our patients.

What’s more, in homeopathy, you might say we elevate symptoms to a high degree, especially those that repeat frequently, and those that impair normal, healthy functioning of our patient.

A good homeopath sees the symptoms a patient displays as a blueprint for how that animal is suffering. And that pattern of suffering leads a good homeopath to a cure.

Not every vomiting cat will be the same, and there’s not one remedy for vomiting, certainly. Probably more like 100+.

But all those listed remedies under “Stomach, vomiting” won’t cure every vomiting cat.

No, we have to search out the smaller group that include vomiting but also address other lingering symptoms unrelated to what the stomach has to say.

And, if it wasn’t already apparent, conventional medicine misunderstands symptoms on a deep level.

Take me along in your earbuds on your next hike…

Fundamental to this misunderstanding is this: conventional medicine is certain that if they can make a symptom disappear, they’ve cured their patient.

Steroids stop the itch. So do Apoquel (oh oh) and the latest “miracle drug” from Elanco, called Zenrelia (see above).

But cure? From suppressing symptoms? Sorry, that’s crazy think.

But, What’s Normal Then?

Normal is an absence of symptoms, amid glowing health and freedom from restrictions in life.

Oh, a very occasional vomit doesn’t count, but anyone (of any species) who vomits a few times a week?

Red flag. Something is wrong.

Take hairballs, for instance.

In the normal healthy feline, from lions to cheetahs to Siamese, hair passes through the intestines and leaves the body in the stool.

If you’ve ever hiked where wildlife lives, you’ll have seen a hairy stool or several.

That’s normal and expected.

Balling up in the stomach followed by a squishy ball on your bedroom floor is abnormal, unless it’s a very rare occurrence.

And Common?

The following are common symptoms, but shouldn’t be called normal:

• Vomiting bile on an empty stomach (“I fix that by giving Fifi a late night snack.”)

• Waxy ears (“Got a great herbal ear wash I use weekly, all natural and works great!)

• Goopy eyes in the morning (“A quick wipe with a tissue, and she’s good to go”)

• Shedding year round (“Those ‘dust bunnies’ and my sweater getting hairy after loving on Scamp are just part of life.”).

Here’s a page with more symptoms that are often missed, but of importance if you choose to go for cure, and hire a qualified homeopathic vet.

While none of these qualify as emergencies, they are all indications that your animal is not fully healthy.

And that’s a great time to start the work homeopaths call “constitutional prescribing.”

It provides the deepest restoration of health I know. Of course, as a homeopathic vet with 30 years in that endeavor, I’m biased…

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Along the Natural Path

First and foremost, Happy Father’s Day!

Mine’s been gone for years, but I was so happy to make him proud, becoming the first doctor in the family. As an Italian immigrant, coming from Turino at age 7, paper pinned to his jacket, he was the classic melting pot American, putting himself through school and excelling in his chosen trade of manufacturing until, when he was finally forced to retire, it took 2—3 guys to replace him.

Here in the Himalaya, I finally found a troupe of langur this past week.

Spiked fences? We don’t stop at no steenking spiked fences!

These 90 lb tree dwelling leaf eaters are mellow and remarkable to behold. While these adults were just above eye level, their teenagers were racing up 90 foot conifers nearby, then leaping from branch to branch, tree to tree with excitement and I’m guessing, pure joy.

With powerful rear legs and long tails for balance, there’s no stopping us!

While they are totally peace loving, the naughty macaques are seriously scared of them. Those glasses snatchers were mightily discouraged when, during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, these guys, on long leashes, patrolled the grounds!

But even the macaques have their playful side. We have a sort of volleyball whacking game in the afternoons here, and a “goal” is sending the ball over the fence to the road below. The monkeys have taken interest, and even help sometimes:

https://youtube.com/shorts/2DaHlEbNvu0

Here’s one view I wish I could have captured with a better camera. Evening had fallen, so the mountain range we sit in was in shadow, but the far range, replete with snow, caught the last rays of the setting sun:

Breath taking…

Let us know in the comments if you’ve dealt with the “no shots, no service” hostage taking and how you responded. And if your vet has pushed Zenrelia or Apoquel your way for your itchy dog.

Meantime, where ever you find yourself on this brilliant blue orb, hurtling through space, steer clear of the mayhem the “news” hopes to keep you distracted with and focus instead on Nature and those furred ones who can magically make life make sense again, with a simple touch or a long cuddle.

Until next time,

Will Falconer, DVM