Land of Holistic Pets - Working with Nature to Promote Health in Dogs

The Principles Of Holistic Approaches To Health

Health is something which most of as as humans and pet owners take for granted until something goes wrong. Many of us fail to see the longer term connection between diet and health or its failure. In Western society, the hospitals are groaning with people suffering from degenerative diseases.

Udo Erasmus, in his book, "Fats that Heal Fats that Kill" suggests that the industrial revolution made refined foods available to the whole population whereas only refined people could previously afford them. It was mainly the refined people or aristocracy that suffered from degenerative diseases. The link between diet and degenerative disease was lost in the process. Now everyone can share the degenerative health problems

A dogs coat very often reflects the state of its health. Inadequate nutrition, poor quality ingredients or simply too much of certain foods may produce abnormal hair loss, scratching and a dull coat.

The Healing Power of Nature.

The body has considerable power to heal itself. You only have to consider minor cuts and bruises or a tooth removed at the dentist. They heal themselves given time. The role of the holistic vet or healer is to facilitate and enhance the body’s own healing process, preferably with natural, non-toxic therapies. More importantly, the healer should do no harm.

1. View your pet as a whole. Your pet should be looked upon as a complex interaction of mind, body and character (spirit) functioning in the environment. The environment can greatly influence all 3 of the other aspects.

2. Identify and treat the cause. Symptoms are an expression of the body’s attempt to heal, thus at all times we should seek to find the underlying cause rather than simply suppress the symptoms.

3. The Holistic Practitioner is a teacher. The holistic practitioner should be educating, motivating and empowering the pet owner to take responsibility for the pet’s health by adopting healthy lifestyles, feeding good diets and providing a good social environment.

4. Prevention is better than cure. This is best accomplished through dietary and lifestyle habits that support health and prevent disease.

The 5 basic principles outlined above are a rudimentary introduction to holistic approaches to health. Health is considered to be normal but if injured or diseased then the body acts to repair the damage. This injury or disease manifests itself as symptoms and can be equated to that of ripples in a pool that spread outward after a stone has been thrown in. The symptoms are the energy of disturbance spreading across the body.

It is this disturbance of the vital energy radiating outwards/inwards which gives rise to the concept of holism, more commonly referred to as holistic. No one part of the body can be affected without affecting the whole.

The meaning of disease "failure of health" is another way of saying health is normal and that the symptoms indicate a more serious and general problem. The symptoms can also indicate the degree or level to which health has failed.

Early Warning Symptoms

The immune system is particularly vulnerable to nutritional imbalances and tends to show symptoms much earlier than say heart or joint problems.

The following symptoms are the easiest to see and recognise.

*Itchy Skin * Eczema * Hot Spots * Hair Loss * Excessive Hair Loss/ Shedding * Waxy Ears
*Runny Eyes * Tooth Tarter * Bad Breath * Chewing Feet * Anal Gland Problems
*Digestive Upsets * Body Odour * Eating Grass
* Hyperactive* Loss of Energy

These symptoms are indicating that waste or toxic matter has been accumulating in the body and that the immune system is attempting to get rid of them. It is not uncommon for a range of these symptoms or ripples to bee seen at one time.