Your New NR Pup, Part Two: Vaccine shedding
Spay/Neuter with a Side of Drugs? Hang on.
Cognitive decline, pets, and mushrooms
Alpha Enrollment Ends Tonight
Tasty Tips: Calcium FTW!
Along the Natural Path
Littermates Will Be Vac’d!
Will my pup be shed upon?
A brief review. In part one of this missive, Joyce, my long time Alpha student, who was the chief researcher on NR (natural rearing) breeders several years back, finally had found her dream puppy, a somewhat NR’d youngster.
Then, the breeder popped out this info:
We’re going to Parvo vaccinate the litter.”
Now, Joyce has taken all my courses and knew vaccines were a risk she was unwilling to take. She asked that her pup not be vaccinated, to which the breeder agreed, much to her credit.
You can do this as well, but depending on the breeder, well, let’s just say YMMV (your mileage may vary)…
But, but… Shedding??
We well know that parvo, distemper, and most viral vaccines except rabies are what’s called MLV or modified live virus vaccines.
Shedding to nearby dogs has been demonstrated, presumably by titer testing.
To add to the drama, the breeder suggested Joyce’s pup and another littermate fly together to their new homes.
In the same crate. You know, as buddies, to keep their stress level down.
Made sense, Joyce got it, but she had concerns about parvovirus shedding onto her “pure blood” pup that she aimed to keep that way.
The “Back away from the ledge” Coaching
I’ve been through this discussion with others, but haven’t really published it anywhere, and it may useful info to file away in case you’re ever in a “Oh, don’t vaccinate MY pup, please” scenario and you’ve found a breeder enlightened enough to agree.
There are a couple of strong points that should diffuse any shedding worries from your mind.
—> The chief concern with vaccines in general (more detail in my short course entitled Smart Vaccine Alternatives) is the injection of viral vaccines. No animal in the wild would ever have this happen, and the problem is, injection completely bypasses all the defenses Nature has so intelligently set up.
Significant things are passed by, like:
Local antibodies along the oral and respiratory routes (called IgA, unless they’ve renamed that when I wasn’t looking)
Tonsils
Lymph nodes, many, many along the route
So many barriers that, in a real life exposure to a germ, do two things:
a. They “call in the troops,” alerting the immune system to an invasion, and
b. They physically stop the germ before it reaches the blood and circulates anywhere and everywhere.
—> But, shedding is different than injection.
The shed MLV is either going to be inhaled (lots of nose to nose with dogs, right?) or swallowed (lick, lick!).
In either case, that’s a whole different, wholly natural route for exposure compared to getting a needle in the neck. Make sense?
All those defenses are still in place and will be able to respond as Nature designed them to.
—> “Modified live” means those viruses are, at least in theory, unable to spread actual sickness.
And that’s generally been seen to be the case over many, many decades of use now.
While some symptoms of the disease can show up in the vaccinated, odds are, especially with nose or mouth exposure to a tweaked MLV parvovirus, no actual disease would be expected.
The Ace in the Hole
To add to this, Joyce wisely chose to purchase our Parvo/Distemper nosode kit and send that to her breeder, who agreed to start the parvo nosode on Joyce’s pup before the others got their shots.
Now, we’ve got solid energetic protection in place as well.
The parvo nosode, made from parvo rich diarrhea but safely diluted in a homeopathic pharmacy, in essence sets up a barrier to entry of the real invader it closely matches.
Nosode use in epidemics in various species has shown both good efficacy and safety. More on that in my Nosodes, Tautodes & Titers course.
Hired Gun On Call
As I’m retired from practice these days, Joyce has hired my very capable colleague Dr. Todd Cooney to be her pup’s homeopathic vet.
I’ve got some great interviews with him on the Vital Animal Podcast, both on Parvo and Lyme. (His conventional colleagues send him their parvo cases…)
A working relationship with a vet like this, even at a distance as this will be, is invaluable to your animal’s health, at any age. And, the earlier in life, the better.
If some illness arises, you alert your homeopathic vet, he or she schedules an appointment to get the details, and a remedy is prescribed.
The depth of healing possible when the right remedy stimulates your animal to make her best response to a disease tops any other modality I’m aware of.
And most times, all without driving to the vet clinic, having to refuse treatments you’d rather avoid, or worse, getting scolded for being “out of date” on vaccines or, (God forbid and glove up!) feeding a raw diet.
If you like that idea and want to start your own search for a homeopathic vet to work with, you can visit my sorting video on YouTube.
So, Joyce is in great hands, her pup Samson is now home, happy, well adjusted, had no issues from traveling with his vaccinated littermate, and life is good.
If you are ever in a similar situation, and you’re reading this in Substack, you’ll find a SAVE option in the 3-dot menu (upper right on a computer) of this newsletter or you can Open as PDF, a file you can then save where ever you like for future reference.
Padding the Spay/Neuter Bill
A wild question from an Alpha student spurred this piece. It uncovered a practice in vet surgery that’s likely widespread. Hit the survey at the end of this part to tell me if you’ve seen it.
Here’s the gist:
The vets I have spoken to have asked what alternatives I would give instead of preventative Antibiotics, Painkillers and Anti-Inflammatories (for cat spays).”
Having been a vet since the dark ages (okay, 1980 but that’s nearing 50 years faster than I ever imagined it could), this set off alarm bells for me.
After graduating, I immediately joined a lovely rural Wisconsin “mixed practice,” which is lingo for large animals (cows, horses) and small (dogs and cats). The senior partner in the practice started this venture in a converted pig farrowing barn on his farm, deep in the Kettle Moraine rolling hills.
He took on the small animals, including the surgeries, and saw horses periodically on the farms.
Surgery was standard for the day:
An injectable drug combo to start, followed by
Intubation and gas anesthesia, with his savvy tech/front desk/gal Friday monitoring the patient.
Wake up meant turning off the gas, pulling out the tracheal tube, and bringing the sleepy kitty or dog to a cage to finish recovering.
Surgeries were always scheduled in the morning.
Post surgical patients went home before we closed at 5:30 pm, same day.
They returned for a free suture removal 2 weeks later.
Wait! No antibiotics?
In fairness, I suspect, like we did in our cow surgeries, Dr. VB instilled some antibiotic into the abdomen before closing his surgical wound. Just to “cover the bases,” was the reasoning.
But he was gowned, scrubbed, gloved and the incision site was sterile prepped with the usual iodine based scrub, followed with alcohol as we were all trained to do.
And the room that surgeries took place in was ONLY for that purpose.
In other words, this was a sterile procedure. Far more sterile than us working in a barn on a cow with a “twisted stomach” or a C-section!
Again: as all vets were trained to do.
So, with all that, when the majority of surgeries now are far more highly sophisticated, and sterility is a foregone conclusion, why are antibiotics now standard procedure post-surgery (I’m presuming, but we’ll take count in the survey)?
Cows got both an intra-abdominal dose before we closed and injectable antibiotics for 72 hours because their surgeries were done in a barn. We were still gowned, scrubbed 3X, gloved, and the cow’s surgical site clipped and likewise scrubbed 3X. But she was opened in a barn, not a presumably sterile room.
I don’t recall any having a post-op infection, and we did hundreds of these between the three of us over the 7 years I was part of this practice. Nada, none had any post surgery infections.
What About Pain Killers? And “anti-inflammatory drugs, then?
Nope. Neither pets nor livestock got either.
I vaguely remember when these drugs came into popularity and the drug reps pushed them.
The senior partner had zero use for them, after doing countless spays and neuters over many years (guessing bone surgeries got them, which would be sensible: different tissue, more trauma, more likely to experience post op pain, sure.)
So, did the spays and neuters whimper in their cages and crawl around tenderly at home without these drugs?
NO! We’d have certainly seen it before release and heard about it from owners if it happened at home.
The Medico’s Motto
Like the surgeon’s motto (“A chance to cut is a chance to cure!”), I’m convinced vets took to these drugs with this logic:
“More drugs = a bigger bill! (And we’ll never get blow back!)”
Wouldn’t it be the easiest upsell ever?
If you’d never seen a normal spay/neuter animal just go home and happily resume eating, going for walks or climbing cat trees, wagging and leaning in for butt rubs, wouldn’t it be easy for you to accept additional billing for these drugs?
Wouldn’t you presume it to be “doing the kind and right thing” for Phoebe or Rex?
Those line items on your bill would hardly be noticed, once it was made clear that this was to help recovery.
No Mention of the Downsides…
Of course, no one, from owners to the vets themselves, consider the damage that broad spectrum antibiotics do to the immune system, 80% of which depends on diverse populations of beneficial flora in the gut.
“Oh well, it’s to prevent infection, so we’ll just live with it,” if there was any thought of it at all by anyone.
But recall: we were all trained to do surgery under sterile conditions. Sterile means “no germs, Doc.”
And anti-inflammatories?
If you read about them, you might be surprised that they often actually delay healing. Especially in joints, where they are most often used.
Oh, uh, oops, I guess. We just don’t like that inflammation, you know?
Help Post Surgery with Homeopathy
As I’ve published on this before (and so many of you have just taken the Homeopathy Short Course and learned about “The Gateway Drug” there), here’s a reminder that there’s a brilliant strategy from homeopathy to help enhance healing after surgery.
The one remedy that every surgeon needs to learn, if he or she cares about the best post-surgical recovery: Arnica montana.
Here’s how you can apply that remedy to any trauma situation, but particularly in the case of surgical recovery: Tasty Tips: Surgery Remedy
To the Polls!
I’m guessing these added drugs are extremely common, but let’s see what your experience is.
It’ll be up to you to tell your vet you don’t want these drugs.
And any blowback from them, you can just ask some penetrating and ultra simple questions, for example:
“Don’t you do sterile surgery?”
“Have you personally seen pain post-spay or neutering? Or are you merely assuming it’s there?”
This poll is for my ever so appreciated paid subscribers to answer:
Of course, the comments at the end give you more space, if you want to elaborate.
On Cognitive Decline & Pets
Some interesting research is published in Psychology Today on pet ownership and its effects on human cognitive decline.
Bit of a mixed bag, I’m afraid, though the Lame Stream Media ignores the negative studies and excitedly trumpets the positive effects.
It appears dog ownership wins out over cats (who probably rightly “own” their caregivers, ahem), and longer term dog ownership wins points over shorter term.
And, no surprise, dog ownership is way more likely to help if the owner walks their dog.
Here’s the article for you to explore: Do Pets Really Help Aging People Stay Mentally Sharp?
My Own N = 2
When my dad, a high level “works manager” at a large manufacturing business in Wisconsin was forced to retire because of age, he about drove my mom crazy. Must have “gone to the store” chasing after something or other 4-5 times a day.
Walking Jake, the Airedale or later Foxy, a Welsh Terrier, was a big outlet for his energy, and both sequential dogs benefited from his retirement years.
And, even though neither parent suffered any noticeable cognitive decline that I could see (though I’d moved away to Hawaii before my dad died and later, Texas before my mom died), my sense was my dad’s passing was easier than Mom’s.
He was active right up to the time his metastasized prostate cancer had him bed ridden with home hospice, while Mom’s sedentary lifestyle (and sugar and smoking) landed her in the hospital, where they were repeatedly pulling out tar from her lungs before she succumbed.
(Back story: candid reports of techs saying, “There goes another pack…” with each suctioning’s black results)
Sidebar: Mushroom Consumption for You and I
A 2019 study was published that has human applicability for cognition, beyond pet ownership.
It was in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease: “The Association between Mushroom Consumption and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore.” PMID: 30775990 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-180959
Here’s a more readable version for the non-nerds, myself included: “Scientists from NUS and NUHS identify predictive blood biomarker for cognitive impairment and dementia”
In a nutshell, consuming mushrooms, any kind of mushrooms, more than twice a week significantly reduced the odds of cognitive decline in the elderly.
That large kingdom of fungi contain a compound called ergothioneine, ET for short.
It appears levels of this mushroom compound are good predictors of multiple diseases, even down to visible brain shrinkage on MRI when it’s low.
Before this study, there was little evidence that ET levels in the blood can predict the risk of developing cognitive issues. The current study is significant because it measured the ET levels of elderly participants before developing dementia. Our findings demonstrate that if your ET levels are low, your risk of developing cognitive problems increases,” said Prof Halliwell.”
More on Shrooms
If you haven’t listened to my podcast episode with colleague Rob Silver, DVM, he’s done a deep dive on fungi and even has developed a pet line inside a company know for its high quality mushroom offerings for humans.
And, if movies are your modus operandi, Paul Stamets has you covered with a wildly interesting flick called Fantastic Fungi.
Here you can see rich visuals of not only fungi on the surface, but the vast “internet” of mycelium underground, that actually exchanges chemical messages and nutrients between the giants above.
The fungal kingdom contains master recyclers (even of toxic waste and oil spills), medicinal potential yet to be fully explored, and the better known effects of psilocybin, so useful in PTSD, depression, and addiction recovery.
Damn. I think I need to watch that one again!
While I have zero faith or trust in pharmaceutic mind altering drugs, these things from pet interaction to mushroom consumption hold great promise to keep us aging gracefully, with minds intact.
And, what’s good for Mom is certainly good for Sadie, as well. Dogs are showing cognitive decline and these same strategies will absolutely apply.
Pass the mushrooms, and then, let’s go for a walk after dinner!
Alpha Membership Closing
We’ve had a lovely new influx of students in Vital Animal Alpha, our monthly membership group devoted to discovering the magic of acute homeopathy for your animals (and husbands, wives, friends, friends’ dogs, cats, horses, etc.).
They are busy taking in acute remedy lessons, discovering when and how to repeat a remedy or change it, what remedies are surprisingly great in acute animal illnesses (that aren’t likely to be even thought of in acute human homeopathy), and sharing stories and pics of their pack in our private discussion group.
Needless to say, our discussion group has been turned up a few notches!
Just a heads up so you don’t get caught waiting too long:
Enrollment in Vital Animal Alpha, my premium monthly membership group, closes tonight, Sunday the 31st, at midnight CT.
Because it’s chock full of useful info to help you wield this amazing tool called homeopathy in all things acute, I’d strongly suggest you jump in while the doors are still open.
At least try us out for a month.
You’ll have full access to:
Our library of lessons on acute homeopathy (video, audio, and written)
Our private discussion group where I and fellow students wait to help you and hear of your challenges and successes in raising wildly healthy animals
A monthly live Q/A meeting with me and fellow members
It’s a small investment for a potentially great return that’ll inform how you raise animals now and for generations to come.
Like so much that I teach, homeopathy’s principles are timeless, so what you learn today will last and last.
Here’s where to get more details and join us before we close:
Tasty Tips: Don’t Forget the Calcium!
Another article critical of homemade diets in Vet Practice News, “Home-prepared diets for pets: Separating good intentions from good nutrition” authored by a DVM with diplomate status in nutrition.
While testing of your recipes showed problems, I’d like to focus on one that I still hear too often.
A proud owner lists out all the good stuff she’s feeding Bowser, but I only hear protein, veggies, and maybe herbs and grains.
My question is immediate and serious:
Where’s the calcium?
This is a macro mineral, critical to health of not only mammals but to growing plants. Organic gardeners who know their stuff refer to calcium as the “queen of nutrients” (while N,P,K get the most attention in conventional farming).
The parallels in mammalian nutrition are strong.
Calcium is simultaneously:
The structural backbone mineral (bone, teeth; long‑term buffering of acid–base load).
A universal intracellular messenger (tiny shifts in ionized Ca²⁺ drive muscle contraction, nerve transmission, hormone secretion, and immune activation).
A gatekeeper of excitability and coagulation (cardiac rhythm, smooth and skeletal muscle tone, blood clotting).
So, please be sure you’ve got a great source.
Bones that are raw and even “recreational,” fed on a regular basis provide excellent ca/phos ratios and mimic what the wild cousins and ancestors used.
Bone meal is highly processed and I’m not entirely convinced “coral calcium” is nearly as bioavailable as bones are. Limestone (aka calcium phosphate), used in commercial food is basically rock. How digestible could that be?
The rest of the article assumes you’ll be feeding a favorite recipe ad infinitum. I hope you’ll have gleaned from past missives that a “mono-diet” of any kind is never a sound strategy for homemade (or even purchased) raw feeding.
Obviously, that’d never happen in nature, whether the model is wolf or bobcat, coyote or lynx.
And perhaps equally obviously, no one is sprinkling on commercial vitamin/mineral supplements, and no one can claim the wild cousins are running, hunting, foraging creatures with dietary deficiencies.
They eat a variety of whole foods (prey, really), and their nutritional balance happens OVER TIME.
Similarly, no one is putting a computer program to their mouse or wildebeest diets.
Carry on, keep the variety coming (monthly change in proteins is adequate), and “think prey” when you’re making food for your own beast.
Muscle? Obviously. Prey is mostly muscle.
Organs. Oh yeah! Vitamin storehouses.
Bone? Indeed, minerals in balance and the best toothbrush out there.
You got this, recipe or not, just make sure you don’t short this all important mineral that is a large part of the planet and all its beings.
Along the Natural Path
You’ve heard of “a bull in a china shop,” right? Well, in India, that definition broadens. Quite a bit. This big dude is just standing in the shade, not paying any attention to passersby who are equally disinterested in him.
Live and let live.
I’m told the wandering cows here all have a home they return to. The bulls, not so much. They have nothing of value, their slaughter is largely prohibited, and so they simply wander. What’s always amazing to me is the level of musculature they all seem to have. From what? Grazing here and there, including in trash heaps? How do they do that??
Here’s a buddy of a few years coming quickly towards my, “Who’s a good boy?” voice, looking forward to a bit of human affection.
His traveling companion of the day is a lot less certain… even seeing his good buddy getting loved on and wagging, this guy’s just likely had some less than shiny experiences with the two-leggeds he’s come across.
Happy to report, after a month in the mountains wondering where the Langur were, a small troupe and I crossed paths on a recent morning hike.
These were fewer in number than past troupes I’d seen and younger. Sure hope that doesn’t mean any harm was coming to their species.
Langur are the good guys of the monkey world. Never mess with humans, love to leap and bound through the tree tops, and are just seriously wary of us hoomans.
And, you’ve got to admit, up here in the Himalayas, they’ve got a great territory to call home:
Well, that’s it for this issue. Thanks as always for stopping by, leaving a comment, and keeping an eye out for those trusting innocents in your care.
I hope to see you in Alpha, adding the amazing and safe modality of homeopathy to your medicine bag.
Till next time,
Will Falconer, DVM
I have been using DMSO on my Springer, after a vestibular incident. Vet thought it was something in the brain, rather than inner ear. On the way back home, I remembered that DMSO prevents damage after a stroke. I cleaned and applied it to his temples, then headed back to get his prescribed meds. By the I got home (hour round trip), he was fine. I use it anytime his back legs seem wobbly. I am taking the homeopathic class. I have read it's effective against seizures, which is what my old dog had.
Dr. Will, I always look forward to your newsletter, and LOVE the photos you share from wherever you are in India!