Vital Animal News: March 23, 2025
Shedding Viruses / Kennel Cough Nosodes / Aromatherapy + Safety / Animals: ALL CAPS / #1 Flea Preventative and MORE
Vaccine Viruses Shed?
Naturally Prevent the 3 Week Dog Cough
Dr. Roark and Essential Oil Safe Practices
This CAT’s Talking
Tasty Tips: Best Flea Control, Bar None
Along the Natural Path
Virus Shedding: Is That a Thing?
Here’s the groundwork for this piece, as Jessica was concerned about what was about to become her newest pack addition:
Are you able to make suggestions to me as I am kind of worrying and hoping for peace of mind.
I asked the breeder of my pup to skip the DA2PP on my puppy but his litter mates will get it. I noticed that the parvo component is live so that's why I sent her these nosodes which she had agreed to give them to him.
Is he going to be okay or should I be worried about exposure from his litter mates? Would you change anything about the instructions for dosing him in this instance?” — Jessica
A Bold Stance
First, bravo to Jessica, right? She’s telling her breeder (who’s about to get a lot of J’s money) NOT to vaccinate her pup, even while the rest of the litter gets vaccinated.
Probably a bit of a mind bender for the breeder, who’s likely had the same protocol of pre-sale puppy “protection” for years and years.
Jessica is aware of the risk of vaccine illness (vaccinosis), and has chosen to protect her pup with parvo and distemper nosodes instead. When properly sourced and used properly, nosodes clearly offer safe infectious disease protection.
[In case you’ve read that parvo nosodes failed to protect puppies in research, be sure to read this article addressing poor protocols and needless deaths.]
Live vs Killed Vaccines
It’s well known that the common modified live vaccines (MLV) shed. That’s old news.
The MLV vaccines produce immunity differently than a killed vaccine (like rabies) because they are geared to reproduce for some time in the vaccinated animal. That gives the immune system more of a chance to “see” the invader and mount a response.
Next, a tiny tweak in Jessica’s understanding is necessary. Most vaccines for dogs and cats (and ferrets, horses, etc.) are “live,” not only parvo.
So, in her pup’s case, the possibility of viral shedding exists for the distemper, hepatitis, and parainfluenza fractions as well, as the breeder is using a typical combo wombo vaccine on her pups.
With parvovirus vaccines, that live virus shedding lasts for 2-3 weeks post-vaccination. And because it’s a virus that primarily lives in and attacks gut lining cells, the vaccine virus is shed in the stool.
Is Parvo a Threat?
I counseled that, compared to getting injected with a bunch of viruses, the “drive-by whiff” of a shed modified live virus is likely to be way less threatening.
As I point out in my Smart Vaccine Alternatives short course, the major immune confusion comes about when, in what passes for intelligence, the vaccinator handily bypasses all of Mom Nature’s brilliant defenses and, in seconds, the multi-virus load he delivered is circulating throughout the body.
In this case, inhaled MLV distemper or orally encountered MLV parvovirus will have a chance to be duly recognized before they reach the inner sanctum and set off the Too LATE! klaxons.
And, if the parvo nosode is in place before that shedding takes place, disease is really a moot point. Their protection is that stout, again, when properly employed.
On Dealing w/Breeders’ Rules
Our convo went a bit deeper, as Jessica revealed she’d signed a contract with the breeder to have her pup neutered.
I shared some thoughts, primarily focused on my tenet that, once you’ve handed over your hard earned cash for a nearly new pet, what you do with it after the sale is entirely up to you. [Does Your New Puppy Have Strings Attached?]
What right does the breeder have to demand the removal of gonads and all the possible illness that entails?
If you’ve thought neutering to be the only righteous thing to do, and a benign procedure at that, you’ll want to dig a bit deeper: Neuter. Or Not? And When? All is not roses and peace out after the gonads suddenly disappear.
But shedding of vaccine viruses?
Yes, it happens, but when you’re properly prepared and informed, it needn’t be a worry.
p.s. a quick note to the virus deniers: I’ll not give space for your comments. You are urged to build your own platform, attract your own audience, and have at in your own space. And be sure to interview several of the 10,000+ U.S. virologists (more abroad) on your way to proving your theory that they’ve all been fooling us for decades. Buh bye now.
Kennel Cough: Safe Prevention
On the subject of disease protection by nosodes, I’m happy to announce we’ve just made available homeopathic pharmacy produced Kennel Cough nosodes for you.
This form of “homeo-prophylaxis” for a bothersome, long lived canine cough (3 week duration is common) has some of the best research of all nosodes.
If you have a dog who visits kennels, play groups, working dog groups…
Or you run a kennel or head up any kind of dog group that involves canine congregations…
Or you are currently dealing with this disease (a deep, hacking cough that lasts for weeks and typically begins after some dog group activity)…
…you’ll want to visit our newest page describing the disease and this remarkable homeopathic preventative and often, cure:
The late Mr. Chris Day’s work on this nosode showed its potential to both prevent kennel cough and treat dogs who are sick with the disease.
He’s interviewed in my Nosodes, Tautodes & Titers course, and if you have that but haven’t gone through it yet, it’s a lovely, inspiring chat with a great homeopathic vet.
It was Chris who first broached the subject of nosodes in depth in my early days as a budding homeopathic vet.
His study, “Isopathic prevention of kennel cough” appeared in the British Homeopathic Journal, and his results were striking:
A kennel cough outbreak in a kennel housing over 200 dogs showed a very significant drop in incidence of the disease from almost 100% to less than 5%. —from Richard Pitcairn DVM, PhD
Colleague Don Hamilton, DVM saw similar results in his early practice days.
When I lived and practiced in Austin, I’d have kennel owners re-ordering these nosodes when ever they ran out, as they were so effective in the real world settings where KC was once a bother but stopped after regular nosode use.
So, whether you own a dog who visits other dogs in groups or you own a kennel, this is a valuable natural tool to keep the disease away.
Essential Oils Free Webinar
In case you missed it, my essential oil expert colleague Dr. Janet Roark has posted a free replay of her recent popular webinar, “Essential Oil Safety for Animals.” (<— Yep, that’s a link to get you in)
Do you feel safe using aromatherapy with your cats?
For a very long time, I’ve had concerns in that area, and I’d trust Dr. Roark to have the inside scoop on which oils and dilutions are okay for Sabrina and what’s best avoided to keep her safe.
And how about birds? Guinea pigs?
And just what does it mean to ‘dilute properly’?
What ever the species, you’ll have guidance and myth busting so you can use these powerful tools properly and safely.
When you sign up for the free replay, you will also receive Dr. Roark’s updated “Essential Oils & Safety for Pets” guide.
This replay will be available only until midnight, 28th of March.
Click here to grab the replay now:
ANIMALS TALKING IN ALL CAPS
I don’t know about you, but humor is indispensable in my life. Especially so after what we went through over the recent Covidiocy debacle.
Humor feeds me and renews my faith in humankind, who capture and spread it in various ways.
When the written word is well done, it just hits the spot, and I’m laughing out loud. Good for the soul, methinks.
To that end, I give you three offerings this week.
One, as the title suggests, is just that: a quipster who’s been at it for years, publishing on Tumblr (yes, that still exists…), and putting words into animals’ mouths, like this (click the image to see what has this cat so upset):
And, while Peter didn’t go so far as to say what this cat meant, I’ll finish her thought in this article, especially for the cat lovers in the audience.
Alls Caps guy doesn’t always hit for me, but it’s rare the next person’s writing won’t get me happy.
Allow me to introduce Chris Stanton, by way of his recent post, “How to Use Antisocial Cues.” Be sure you read it, especially if you’ve ever been part of an unwanted speaker phone convo.
And, if you’d like to pair your humor with current events (and you avoid main stream media, like me), you need look no further than Jenna McCarthy, here setting the read-between-the-lines bar pretty high on the recent RFK Jr brouhaha:
Have any faves that you check in with to get your ha-ha’s on?
Let us know in the comments!
Tasty Tips: Best Flea Prevention!
A recent discussion among our Vital Animal Alpha members reminded me of the #1 best flea prevention in the world.
Is it an herb?
A homeopathic remedy?
A supplement with repellent properties?
A topical treatment?
No.
None of the above.
The lovely state of running through the world flea free came about by following the Natural Path, as I’ve called it for so many years.
The tenets of this approach were and remain simple:
Feeding a “species appropriate” diet, like the wolf or bobcat would eat: raw and varied
Avoiding vaccines or keeping them to early life only (if you haven’t already opted for nosodes instead)
Avoiding the poisons commonly used for fleas, ticks, and heartworm “prevention.”
Those animals raised this way are a wonder to behold.
One of my never-to-be-forgotten examples was an Austin client who had started with an NR (naturally reared) puppy, fed him raw, gave no vaccines, and pest poisons were the further thing from her mind.
She reported the following:
I watched a flea hop on and immediately jump OFF this vital young dog!
What she’d been doing, perhaps unconsciously, is building natural disease resistance.
That resistance includes but is not limited to external parasites.
Kasie Maxwell has written a brilliant article on this approach that’s served her animals for years.
If you haven’t met Kasie yet, I’d urge you to listen to a couple of episodes I recorded with her on the Vital Animal Podcast:
#6 How one cat’s death sentence changed Kasie Maxwell’s life
#13 Kasie Maxwell: How to make the jump to raw
Kasie has long been the force behind SFRaw (San Francisco Raw), and she knows what she’s talking about.
Have you seen the fleas flee without applying anything to your animal’s skin or innards? Tell us in the comments!
Along the Natural Path
As Spring winds down and Summer looms, it’s harvest time for the amber waves of winter wheat. And mustard seeds are rattling in their dried pods.
This cow parked herself just outside the ashram gates for a couple days, and a guard kindly fetched a bucket of water for her.
The buffalos just across my fence amaze me. They are milk animals, and spend most of their lives tied to short stakes, and when it’s watering time, they get a bucket full to suck down.
The Holsteins I used to tend to as a Wisconsin dairy vet had all day, all night access to watering cups that would fill with a press of their noses. Dairy farmers all knew more water meant more milk, but these buffalo seem content with so little by comparison.
Of course, their udders are average size, while their U.S. cousins were selected for bushel basket sized versions:
In other species news, flea season has clearly returned with our warmer temps.
There’s been a push to finish stock piling the village “manure logs” of late. I’d guessed wrongly that was a winter only activity. Here’s a fresh pile of fuel ready to make the morning chai or cook the dal for lunch.
Well, that’s all I have for this week. Let me know what resonated and what needs more attention in the comments below.
I’m slowly working on the mRNA vaccines that snuck into vet med last June with little fanfare. So far, it appears Merck has them for pets and bovine vets. I’ve heard swine may be involved as well. Stay tuned, this one might take some time to sort out.
Until next time, keep on making those wise decisions the innocents in your care trust you’ll make on their behalf. With Mother Nature as your long standing example, you’ll do just fine.
And remember, there’s a search box at the bottom of every page on my site, and I’ve written about a lot of useful subjects over the years. Drop in a term or a phrase and you’ll quickly pull up appropriates article and/or podcast episodes.
https://VitalAnimal.com
Till next time,
Will Falconer, DVM
Thank you so much for mentioning and linking to me, Will! I really appreciate it!
Regarding fleas, a bane of existence in South Florida–our Borer collie mix suffers terribly in the summer (in winter, ticks are ascendant). She's a rescued dog we adopted when she was approximately 2 years old. She had all her vaxxes before we got her, but none since. She's been on a raw diet since. It's very difficult to get rid of fleas, especially with wildlife in the area. In desperation I bought the NyGuard you recommend, but the directions and cautions scared me off and it's been sitting in the closet for years. I'm working with Jeff Levy for some other problems she has and hoping homeopathy will help with parasites also.
Thank you for all your hard work!