#1 FEED THE BEST DIET (December newsletter)

#2 VACCINATE THE LEAST (January newsletter)

#3 EVALUATE CURRENT HEALTH STATUS (March newsletter)

#4 HOW DO ANIMALS RESPOND TO TREATMENT? - CURE, PALLIATION, SUPPRESSION (This newsletter)

Homeopathy taught me more about how we heal than veterinary college did.  We were taught to be happy when the current symptoms resolved.  Homeopathy taught me that we could deeply cure and all symptoms could resolve. Also, I learned about temporary healing and even suppression causing deeper illness. Then I realized that these categories applied for all modalities used, even drugs.

There are a few responses to giving any treatment: nothing, worsening of current problems, partial response, palliation (temporary help), suppression (more serious diseases appear), and curative response.
 
A CURATIVE response will first have the animal feeling a bit better and maybe some of the symptoms will resolve. A few days or even weeks later, the symptoms may worsen, yet the animal still feels great and the symptoms will resolve.There will be an increase in overall energy level and well-being, even as old symptoms recur and more superficial ones appear.  Any of the early warning signs that have been present will resolve. Treatment will be needed less and less often and, once cured, no further treatment will be needed unless there is severe mental or physical trauma. If exposed to a severe physical or emotional challenge (virus, poison,a move) that they are sensitive to, they will show symptoms, yet still seem fairly happy. This acute episode will resolve easily if they have been deeply cured. 

A PALLIATIVE response sees dramatic improvement in the current symptoms, almost magically quick.  There is no, or little, sense of improved well-being. There are few to no resolutions of the early warning signs of illness. The main key is that the symptoms return as soon as medicine is stopped, or the treatments need to be repeated at ever more frequent intervals.  Eventually, there is a slow deterioration overall, which is often mistaken as "aging".
 
With SUPPRESSION, there is the same magical disappearance of symptoms as in palliation, but here, the symptoms do not return.  Instead, more serious problems occur. The more superficial problems resolve, the disease intensifies, the vital force/energy pattern is more out of balance, and new, more severe, life-threatening symptoms appear.  Often, there is mental illness at this point.
 
The progression of disease and the direction of cure help us know which response is happening. A chronic disease may begin as an itchy eruption, be suppressed with steroids or other incorrect treatment, then progress to IBD or asthma. When a patient is experiencing a curative response to a remedy, the disease symptoms disappear in the reverse order of their occurrence. For an asthmatic cat, this may mean that the cat may experience military dermatitis or feline acne in the process of healing the asthma.
 
We often speak about the direction of cure as proceeding from top to bottom, inside to outside, more severe to less severe symptoms and in reverse order of symptoms.This is referred to as "Hering's Law of Cure." 

Several examples illustrate the importance of understanding these distinctions: 

    

 
It is very important to understand the disease progression.  If the guardian or I had not recognized that Susie had been suppressed, the emotional problem may have been treated with chemical drugs, or if it continued, she may have been re-homed or crated or even turned in to a shelter.
 
If we did not recognize the suppression with Jackie, we may have felt she was at the end of our help, that her kidneys had now failed and there was nothing more to do.
 
If the guardian had recognized earlier that the steroid injections were merely palliating Baby, she would have looked for different treatments sooner.
  
Rosie's response may seem like palliation (the treatments had to be continued). Understanding that some deep pathology issues need continued treatment, and noting general improvements (attitude, appetite, mobility) as long as treatments continued and noticing that they could space out the treatments more rather than less, the guardians stayed with this treatment. The veterinarian even said that they could discontinue treatments, but to be sure not to lose any of her great mobility, they continued for life. Moving towards a cure was the best Rosie's vital force could do, and she was blessed that they stayed the course with her. 
 
To summarize, if you have carefully listed the symptoms and quantified each of them, you will be able to see how each changes after any type of treatment or lifestyle change is made.You will look for cure, palliation or suppression to guide you to stay the course with current treatments or to seek different ones. Keeping a journalwill definitely help you to do this. You  can order the print version or the dog digital version of My Healthy Animal Journal at my website under bookstore. I will have the cat digital version available soon.

Rose Geranium Oil for Ticks   
Because of many states' warm winter, we are seeing ticks (no fleas yet here) earlier than usual. There are now many companies with different combinations of essential oils as sprays. For 10 years, I have had good success (nothing is perfect) with Rose Geranium Oil from Forever Green.  My cat, Ed, is fairly healthy and strong, so I put one drop on my hands, rubbing the palms together, then rub that into his neck (where I find the ticks) and head area, and I catch his rear as he runs out the door away from me. He does not like the smell, but seems to quickly forget it. The last "rub" is still working 4 weeks later. Any company's essential oils for animals must be food grade and organic. Young Living Essential Oils are good quality, too. 
 
Vetri-Science's Vetri-Repel comes in a spray or wipes. It uses essential oils and herbs from South America. This works better on some cats and dogs. 

 
I will start a blog about flea and tick products - share what works for you - and will continue to put them in the newsletter every few months. 
 
Safe cleaner for Spring Cleaning
House Keeper from Forever Green is my favorite natural cleaner since it cleans the floors, clothes, dishes, dog, car and, when used straight, is great for oil spots on my counter. Vinegar, microfirbril cloths, lemon (you can actually grow tropical fruit trees in any area in your regular home, says a book by the owners of Connecticut greenhouse Logee.), baking soda and more natural ingredients. House Keeper is made from coconut, grapefruit seed and pulp, orange peel - you could eat it.

MAY - OREGON - Dr. Moore and I will be teaching animal homeopathy in Portland, Oregon, on May 6, following the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy Annual Conference. The 3 hour class  an intro for people who know little to nothing about homeopathy  as well as for people trained in homeopathy who wish to apply it to animals. Email me at HealthyAnimals@aol.com for more information.

7 KEYS TO GREAT HEALTH - #5 - Create a healing team for each animal