Really? Both dogs and people find The Itch a Bummer
Main Stream News: “Boo! Scared ya!”
Stay Calm in Fireworks, Sadie!
Pack Members: Special Product Pricing on Venjenz
How to become an Essential Oil Expert
Along the Natural Path
Stop the Presses: The Itch is Trouble!
Surprise, surprise: a survey of 1,710 dog owners and 1,413 veterinarians across 11 countries showed The Itch to be a real downer. Both for the dog’s people and for the dog’s veterinarian. (No one asked the dogs, looks like…)
According to the survey, both dog owners and veterinarians feel fatigued and burdened by canine allergic skin disease, reporting a notable negative impact on their own quality of life.”
But wait. Didn’t they recently come to market with a new “hide the itch signal” drug, which has very little long term safety study behind it?
Why yes, yes they did.
We spoke about this back in March, but if you missed it, it’s called “Numelvi” and here’s the earlier warning about it:
New Drug for Your Allergic Dog?
The Itch Affects Us All
If you’ve ever had a dog with The Itch (atopy, canine atopic dermatitis, allergies, allergic dermatitis = all the same disease), you don’t need a survey to tell you how miserable this man made disease is.
For the dog:
Nagging itch, anywhere or everywhere on the body, any time of day or night
Scratching and chewing creating “hot spots,” red toe webs, and hair loss to the point of embarrassment to be seen out on a walk (“Oh, how can she let that go on?! Poor dog!!)
Ears that discharge (often foul smelling wax, even pus)
Ears that itch, deep inside, but also HURT, so scratching leads to crying
Doggy odor that simply can’t be bathed away
For the humans involved:
Sleepless nights
Frustration, trying to get your poor dog to stop scratching (she can’t, so don’t scold her, please)
Embarrassment (your dog looks a wreck, and you get the blame for not covering up the symptoms fast enough)
Expense:
Allergy testing (often resulting in a shopping list of supposed triggers, many of which your dog has probably never eaten or been exposed to)
Drugs to try to beat the condition into submission
More money when “the other shoe drops” (like cancer, thanks to turning off the immune signaling Nature has carefully designed)
For the vets?
It was rough curing them homeopathically, but I can only guess about those in conventional medicine…
Maybe seeing the connection when their JAK inhibitor (Apoquel, most often) repeatedly changed itchy dogs into cancer cases?
The Big Picture
To help you become conscious of the larger context when a drug company tries to sway you with “Duh” surveys like this one or vague promises of “select targeted” drugs with only once a day administration, let’s look at the facts.
This is a man made disease, most commonly showing up a month after a round of vaccines.
You won’t find it in the wild relatives: wolf, fox, coyote, etc.
This is chronic disease, for which conventional medicine has zero actual cures.
No cures means you’ll be a client for life once your dog (or child or you) become chronically ill
Preventing this is always more effective than treating it. Start with limiting vaccines and/or exploring alternatives.
Homeopathy can cure The Itch, but it takes professional help, true of all chronic disease.
This article, published in Vet Practice News, was one of the top 5 “news stories” of June, per the publication.
We’ll touch base on “the news” in the next piece and see once again that you need to be wiser than to be triggered by surveys, headlines, or even a confident sounding claim that “the science is settled.”
It’s never settled. The nature of science is open mindedness and questioning.
They Want You SCARED!
Just a heads up that TPTSB (The Powers That Shouldn’t Be) still want you afraid. Very afraid. Of germs. Germs that could KILL you.
I used to think Scientific American had to be a sound source for news.
No more. To whit, from a recent email of theirs:
Big gathering of soccer fans. We’ll be monitoring what goes down the toilets. So we can SCARE YOU if we find shreds of any viruses (with our PCR test set to 40+ cycles).
Never mind that no one in the stands was actually sick or, God forbid, dying. They were too busy cheering on their team, likely.
Another, same issue:
Ebola Vax? Really?
If you search carefully enough, you’ll see videos of native Africans chasing the Ebola “scientists” in their white hazard suits OUT of their villages.
And, the CDC itself proclaimed Ebola’s risk to the US (or probably anywhere but the current pocket where it resides) low. From a recent weekly issue of their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:
“The likelihood of Bundibugyo virus infection for the U.S. population was assessed as extremely low.”
And even if travelers (who’ll be carefully screened if they come from the Congo) do bring it to our shores…
“If BVD (Bundibugyo virus disease) were to be introduced into the United States, based on historical observation and the known epidemiology of BVD, secondary transmission would likely be minimal.”
Meaning the chance of spread is also low.
But Look at the Congo Terrain
Generally, disease of any kind always strikes a weakened population. We’ve seen that over and over.
weeds taking over in poor soil
runaway bacterial infections in people who’ve lost their microbiome diversity by overuse of antibiotics
our early experience with infectious diseases running rampant before adequate sewage handling practices and improved nutrition became the norm.
While TPTSB would like you to believe it was the vaccines that saved the world from infectious disease, you can easily find graphs of disease incidence falling dramatically well before any vaccine appeared.
Suzanne Humphries, MD, board-certified nephrologist and internist published a brilliant book called Dissolving Illusions. Here’s a nice glimpse:
But Scientific American would like you to pin your hopes on a rushed to market Ebola vaccine.
Hmmm. Could be profitable… at least for Moderna.
I asked AI what local conditions were like in the Congo, how did the people make their living?
A: Ag, forestry, and mining.
And how toxic is the mining industry?
A: “Highly; mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium. Damage can persist…”
“At a human level, that translates into chronic low‑grade poisoning: neurological and developmental injury in children from mercury and lead, kidney and liver damage, reproductive effects, and a lot of “mysterious” fatigue, neuropathies, mood changes, poor school performance.”
Sounds like a perfect storm for disease to run rampant there, right? Their water is poisoned from mining waste, they eat fish and drink from those rivers, and they suffer “mysterious” diseases?
Seems like Ebola would easily attack such a population.
Who Do You Trust?
Bottom line, we can no longer trust the main stream media as a source of information. From Scientific American to many of the “peer reviewed” journals, word is that “the science” is highly susceptible to influence.
“Follow the money, honey” is more applicable now than ever.
Sharyl Attkisson adds to the concern, revealing that more and more “experts” are appearing, “debunking” truth without revealing they are on the payroll of companies that benefit from you staying ignorant.
When “they” want you to be scared and divided, it’s on each of us to turn up our powers of discernment.
I hope this brief departure from animal concerns helps in that regard.
Finally, Q: Is it the Germ or the Terrain?
A: YES! Always YES to BOTH!
Tasty Tip: Fireworks Fear Fix
A new Alpha member recently shared her success with Rescue Remedy for her dog’s fireworks phobia. Since the 4th of July is right around the corner, maybe this is something you want to try.
“Lanee, I use Rescue Remedy a lot for our older girl. She HATES thunder and it helps her to calm down. Will be using it for the 4th as well because of all her fear around fireworks. Definitely worth a try for your guy, in my opinion!” — Kristin Clark
Rescue Remedy is a combo of 5 Bach Flower essences and is a gentle way to help around times of stress of any kind.
It’s got a very long history of efficacy, and was developed by Edward Bach nearly 100 years ago. He was a British physician and homeopath who felt that helping the emotions that were disordered could heal the entire patient.
My Vital Animal Pack members have access to my Bach Flower Remedies for Animals course, where I outline all 38 of Bach’s remedies and their applicability to various animal conditions. It’s yet another useful tool to have in your healing bag.
Haven’t yet joined our free Pack? Here’s where you can, where you’ll also find some other useful material in a mini-library, including
My highlighted Rabies Compendium, to help you if your dog bites a person or is bitten by a wild animal.
The Apoquel Alternative Report: Itchy dog? Avoid this drug at all costs!
A bonus Homeopathic Dog Flu Prevention and Treatment report
“VitalAnimal.com has been like a life vest in a sea of ignorance and misplaced intentions from veterinarians. It’s wonderful to know you are making good choices for your pets and to have the data behind those choices to help you persevere.
Thank you Dr. Falconer for the tidbits, blog and classes - but most of all your unwavering dedication to vital animals. All my pack are much better for having found this site and implemented natural rearing practices.”
— Kelly Hall
Venjenz Independence Sale!
Speaking of fireworks, Venjenz, the company I co-founded several years back, is declaring Independence from Big Pharma this week!
As you may recall, their specialty is micronized supplements purposed to help the top challenges animals (and their people) face:
Strengthen immunity (Motherboard, with purified transfer factors, medicinal mushrooms, and Ayurvedic herbs)
Detox gently but powerfully (Venzeo, with purified zeolite)
Quell inflammation (Ripcord, Ayurvedic herbs + joint support)
Jason Donas, my friend and the CEO, seeks my advice regularly and is dedicated to making the finest supplements possible. You’ll see how that takes shape on their website.
New and Exciting Addition
Jason has sourced a super clean, grass fed whey protein and added those immune boosting transfer factors to it.
He’s even sent it back to the formulators three times until the taste was 100%!
This is aimed at us humans, and I can’t wait to get my first bag. But who knows, maybe your dogs would enjoy sharing it as well?
Did you know? Muscles wasting occurs with aging, across species lines. And they are not only for strength, but the biggest balancers of blood sugar in our bodies. Protein keeps those muscles going.
The Big Sale News!
Venjenz is now offering Vital Animal Pack members a significant savings on ALL their products.
Note: They have both a pet line AND a human line.
(And Jason assures me, no one but our Pack members get this much of a discount.)
So join us (for free) at the link above, and then get your Independence Discount that could last a lifetime.
Here are the deets:
As a valued Vital Animal Pack member, we’re excited to offer you an exclusive 15% OFF your next VENJENZ order.
From June 28 through July 5 at 11:59 PM (ET), use promo code VITAL250 at checkout to receive 15% OFF your purchase.
Whether you’re placing a one-time order or starting a new subscription, this exclusive offer is our way of saying thank you for being part of the Vital Animal Pack community.
Subscribe and keep your 15% renewal discount for the life of your active subscription. Renewal orders receive 15% OFF the then-current MSRP while your subscription remains active.
Why Subscribe?
When you start a subscription, you’ll enjoy:
15% OFF your first subscription order with promo code VITAL250
15% OFF all future subscription renewal orders
FREE U.S. shipping on subscription renewal orders (lower 48 U.S. only)
Skip, pause, or cancel anytime
Automatic billing — never miss a refill
Choose your delivery schedule to fit your needs
Offer Details
Promo Code: VITAL250 Use it here.
Offer Valid: June 28 – July 5 at 11:59 PM (ET)
Valid on one-time purchases and new subscription orders.
Renewal orders receive 15% OFF the then-current MSRP while your subscription remains active.
Cannot be combined with other offers or promotions.
Any questions, you can contact their support team for answers.
p.s. Motherboard used to be called Rampart. Here’s some feedback from a user:
“Allergies got your dog (or you) down? … I put the dog on RAMPART K9, and a daily dose of pre/probiotics… and low and behold, NO ITCHING!!!! …hair grew back, dog happy, end of story. Also the end of the apoquel.”
— Wendi Manwiller, Pennsylvania (pet sitting & doggie daycare; collie, age 4)
Free Aromatherapy Webinar
Just a quick reminder, in case you missed my email.
Dr. Roark is giving you a freebie that could be a life changer.
If you’ve ever considered helping animals with a natural modality, this is for you. And it’s LIVE, so bring your questions.
It’s tomorrow: Monday, June 29th at 5 pm Central/6 pm Eastern
Click the image above to sign up in seconds.
Along the Natural Path
Good morning! I had to leave the Himalaya for a couple weeks to resolve some visa issues, which meant intense heat on the plains of Uttar Pradesh. I returned to the cool mountains and took my first early morning hike.
My inner biologist rejoiced, seeing the towering conifers and hardwoods all around me and getting a chance to again rub my hands against mossy walls now sprouting baby ferns.
Hands now impregnated with those wild microbes I’d so missed, I rubbed them into my beard and over my hair.
There are layers of roads and dwellings as the area has slowly developed, with people taking advantage of the climate and beauty.
Along the way, some dogs who were looking down on my roadway started barking at me. Guess I’d never made their acquaintance. I ignored their hew and cry, recognizing it as merely a social alarm of sorts. But then, in sympathy, further up on my winding road, my old group of dog buddies joined their chorus. I was too far away to be visible, but they felt the call of duty to further the barking.
I knew who it’d be ahead, as that group of 4-5 dogs calls a certain bend in the road home.
Things were certain to change once I came into view and I was anticipating how I’d greet my friends. Would I give them a stern, low but loving reprimand?
As I rounded the next bend and came into sight, I opted for a joyful “Hey, you know me! I’ve missed you!!” and up they rushed, tails wagging, barking gone, morphing into a wriggling mass of furry faces at knee level.
One guy was so excited he started humping my arm, so he needed a bit of friendly reprimand. He got the message with a toe kick to the chest and gave that up. I welcomed him back warmly, but on my “no jumping” terms, and he went from put off to happy wagging once more.
A small black dog I’d nicknamed Spooky, as he’d always been aloof while the others came for petting, lost most of his reserve and got his muzzle into my hand a couple times. It was apparent that his pack members felt no hesitation with this two-legged strider, but he was torn. Not fully trusting, but not wanting to be left out, like a child uncertain about an uncle who his siblings and cousins all seemed to lovingly welcome.
I encouraged them to join me and walked on, but it was still rest hour, as the sun was just starting to peek over the distant range, so they joined their older chum who could only summon a supine wag, also recognizing my return but too tired to join the excitement the younger pack showed.
Peace again reigned in the pack, and I assume naps ensued until the next bark fest or they all decided to go on a territorial patrol for scraps from the local street vendors or hikers who had biscuits or rice in their pockets.
It was a sweet canine “Welcome back!” to my favorite area and another hit of microbes to add to my starved biome from too long spent in my a/c room, escaping the 101º+ temps of the plains.
Mountain wildflowers are moving into a more Summer bloom now as the weather warms and the rains become a distant memory.
But alas, that means my golden raspberry crop is finished as well. Some hungry birds must have polished them off in my absence.
We’re here for only a few more weeks, so I’m taking full advantage of the beauty and relative cool before it’s back home to real summer. By the time we return to the plains, the monsoons should have arrived, and they take the intensity down with their nourishing rains.
Where ever you find yourself on our spinning planetary ship, take full advantage of all that Nature offers. She’s especially soothing when you’ve spent too much screen time and maybe took in a bit too much “news.” Animals in tow, of course, setting the example of bare footing and taking big inhales to see what’s new.
Till next time,
Will Falconer, DVM
Doc, ALWAYS good information.
Do have a question. I don't remember growing up all these "sensitive" dogs with anxiety to fireworks and thunderstorms. Maybe, back in the day, they just barked alot but now we have a huge industy on "thudershirts".
What changed?
Will - Just wanted to say thank you for your posts. God bless you. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻