7th Heaven
Animal Rescue Trust
E-mail us to : animalrescuetrust@hotmail.com
Phone: 02894 432229
Address: PO Box 198, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, BT36 9BP
Nature Knows Best
Vaccinations
As with a lot of medicatons, there are potentially dangerous side effects associated with pet vaccines. According to the manufacturers themselves these can include brain damage, cancers and the onset of other diseases. Live vaccinations are ones that use the live virus to stimulate an immune response. Unfortunately, they can actually cause the disease they are supposed to prevent as the virus can multiply rapidly in the body and overwhelm the immune system. Vaccines that use an inactivated virus usually have what are called adjuvants added. These are substances such as aluminium and formaldehyde which are extremely toxic. They are used to increase the immune response but as the immune system is reacting to these substances and not the actual virus’s the question must be, how does this help create immunity?
Some also contain mercury in the form of a preservative called thimerosal. Mercury is one of the most dangerous substances on earth and there is effectively no safe level for it in the body. Mercury can cause heavy metal poisoning.
In addition, vaccinations are also laced with antibiotics. As vaccinations compromise immunity, antibiotics exacerbate the problem by destroying the beneficial bacteria in the gut leading to even more problems.
In addition to this, vaccines administer the virus directly into the bloodstream. This is unnatural as most viruses and bacteria enter via the mouth and enter the digestive tract where your first line of immune response reacts to it. Vaccinations bypass this vital protective mechanism.
To avoid the dangers of vaccines you may want to consider nosodes. Nosodes are a means of protecting animals from infectious disease using tiny pills rather than using injections. They are often used by vets who view the natural approach as the safest and most effective way to prevent illness. They are a much more natural method of treatment as they introduce a very diluted form of disease you wish to prevent into the body orally and not directly into the blood stream as with a vaccination.
If you do use traditional vaccinations, manufacturers recommend never vaccinating your animal when it is ill. There is now a growing consensus of opinion that annual booster vaccinations are not necessary. In fact, over-vaccination can be dangerous to your animal.
Please discuss these issues with your vet before allowing your pet to be vaccinated.
If you want to use nosodes, they can be purchased from many places on-line eg.
References:
Worms and Fleas
Spot on worms and flea treatments are basically pesticides that can cause side effects such as itching, hair loss, ulcers, sores and gastro-intestinal complaints including vomiting and diarrhoea. More worryingly, there have been reports of neurological problems such as ataxia, tremors and seizures. In addition, there have been casess of acute pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs and possible respiratory failure). Of particular note is the fact that small breed dogs appear to be most at risk.
For internal parasites such as worms there is diatomaceous earth, which is made up of powdered sedimentary rock. The edges of the rock particles are very sharp and kill the internal worms without damaging your pet’s intestines. In fact, diatomaceous earth also has detoxifying properties as well and helps rid the body of heavy metals and virus’s. We have used this successfully ourselves for a number of years and have had very little problems with worms. Make sure, though, that you only use food grade diatomaceous earth.
There is also neem leaf extract which can be purchased in tincture form. This has been used in ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years as an antihelmintic A few drops of this diluted in water and poured on food is supposedly good for expelling worms. Papain, from the papaya plant and bromelain, from pineapples, are digestive enzymes which help dissolve the worms. These can be bought in any health store. Some people have also recommended grated carrot and crushed pumpkin seeds.
A half teaspoon of coconut oil is another treatment for internal parasites. It is also high in vitamins and minerals.
Diatomaceous earth can also be used externally for fleas by simply sprinkling it over the animal as you would with traditional flea powders.
The best method of treating any parasite is to prevent them from being a problem in the first place. Parasites are opportunistic; they target animals that are weak, sick, stressed or lacking proper vital minerals or vitamins. Although your pet may look healthy, if it has an ongoing flea or worm problem, the chances are it is not receiving optimum nutrition, it has toxins in its system or it has some level of dysbiosis (an imbalance between beneficial and detrimental bacteria in the gut).
Nutrition
The most important topic to address when considering the health of your pet is nutrition. Without a proper diet your pet will be susceptible to a host of illnesses. We recommend a raw food diet as much as possible. You can get frozen raw food from most pet stores.
At the very least you should avoid giving your pet anything with artificial colourings or flavours as they can lead to allergies as can anything with soya, which can also be of GM origin. GM foods lead to cancer and liver and kidney damage. Animals can also become gluten intolerant so, if your dog or cat is showing signs of being allergic, try to remove wheat from the diet.
Avoid the preservative sulphur dioxide as it can cause thiamine (B1) deficiency. Symptoms are decreased appetite, salivation, vomiting and weight loss. In advanced cases, neurological signs can develop, which may include ventriflexion (bending towards the floor) of the neck, wobbly walking, falling, circling and seizures.
Feeding too much fish in the diet can also cause this as well as the potential for mercury poisoning as so much fish is now contaminated with this toxic substance. Tuna is particularly dangerous. If you feed tuna to a cat regularly it can develop steatitis (yellow fat disease) which causes a vitamin E deficiency. Symptoms are loss of appetite, dull coat and flaky skin, fever and unwillingness to move and severe pain if you touch them. It can prove fatal.
Treat Your Pet's Emotional Problems With Bachs Flower Remedies
Owners are usually aware when their pets are physically unwell but not all of them will consider the emotional well being of their animal. However, emotional problems can be just as serious as physical ones and can, in fact, manifest as physical symptoms if they are not addressed. This is an area where Bachs Flower remedies can pay an important part in getting your pet back to a state of wellness.
Dr Bach was a Harley Street doctor who gave up his practice in the 1930s to develop a more natural approach to healing. His particular emphasis was on patients’ emotional states and he developed an array of 38 remedies, all but one of which, were based on essences extracted from flowers, trees and plants. He assigned an emotional trait or state to each of these remedies and began treating patients with great success.
Since then Bach flower remedies have become used throughout the world, not just on people, but on animals.
Some Appropriate Flower Remedies For Animals
Some of the remedies that you may find appropriate for your pet are:-
Aspen – to treat the fear of unknown things. (Eg- when you have a timid dog or cat that always seems nervous)
Gorse- to treat hopelessness and despair (Eg- when you have two pets who are very close and one of them dies)
Holly- jealousy (Eg- when you bring a new baby or another pet into the house)
Larch- to treat lack of confidence (Eg- when you have a pet that is nervous around new people)
Mimulus – to treat fear of known things (Eg – A cat that is afraid of a dog in your household)
Star of Bethlehem – to treat shock (Eg – An animal that has been in an accident)
Walnut – to treat fear of change.(Eg- When you bring a new pet home from a rescue centre)
Please note – You can either use individual essences or a combination of no more than 7. When preparing them put 2 drops of each remedy into a 30ml mixer bottle that has a dropper. Fill the remainder of the bottle, preferably with filtered or spring water. Take 4 drops, 4 times a day. Dispose of this after 3 weeks as the water will no longer be fresh. However the original bottled essences will last for years as they are preserved in alcohol.
*Please remember if giving these to small animals or cats to dilute them or heat them to burn of the alcohol.
