Dr. Shawn’s Blog

New Books From Dr. Shawn-The Natural Vet Healthy Pet Series!

Since I began writing books on natural pet care many years ago, I set as a goal the desire to write a series of smaller books on a variety of topics related to natural care. Over the years I have talked to various publishers about doing such a series, but unfortunately none were interested. While the idea of smaller inexpensive books makes sense so that we can reach a larger audience, because publishers cannot make much profit off of these books they have all declined my offer to partner in such a venture.

Now, thanks to the ability to self-publish e-books, I have been able to start achieving this longtime goal. Over the next few weeks, I will be releasing the first five titles in my new series called Dr. Shawn-The Natural Vet Healthy Pet Series. These books will first be available through Amazon Kindle. Those of you who do not have a Kindle reading device can add the app for the Kindle on your other devices, especially your iPad. I also hope to eventually publish these books through Barnes & Noble’s Nook reader as well. Thanks to the ability to self-publish these books, I have total control over the content and the pricing. Since my desire is to help as many pets as possible, I’m keeping the cost of the books in the series as low as possible. Most of them will cost between $0.99 to $2.99.

The first title in the series, recently published on Kindle, is 100 Tips to Keep Your Pet Healthy, priced at only $0.99.

This first book in the series provides 100 things that are important to keep your pet healthy. These are some of the most important lessons I have learned as a veterinarian and which I share with my patients during their visits to my practice. Much of the advice differs from what your conventional doctor might share with you, but that’s not surprising since my advice stems from a more holistic perspective.

http://www.amazon.com/Shawn-Natural-Healthy-Tips-ebook/dp/B006QY8IUI/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325190591&sr=1-6

The second title in the series, recently published on Kindle, is Say NO to Drugs: Natural Joint Supplements for Dogs & Cats, also priced at only $0.99.

This book, done in a Q&A format, will help pet owners decide which joint supplements might help their pets and which ones could replace prescription medications.

http://www.amazon.com/Say-NO-Drugs-Supplements-ebook/dp/B006QY8K6K/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325190591&sr=1-7

The third title in the series, also in a Q&A format and also recently published on Kindle, is Say NO to Drugs: Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics and Antifungals, also priced at only $0.99.

Each day I see many pets which have been treated with drugs such as antibiotics or antifungal/antiyeast medications. While these drugs can sometimes be helpful for pets which really need them, in most cases minor infections of the skin, ears, bladder, and intestinal tract can be treated naturally without using these expensive and harsh medications. Using fewer of these medications reduces antimicrobial resistance, which means that when these drugs are really needed to help your pet, there is a greater chance they will actually work!
Read the book and start saying YES to health and NO to unnecessary use of medications.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006S8C5AQ

You can see all of my Kindle books at

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=messonnier&x=17&y=16

Keep checking my blog and the Kindle store as more books will be added shortly.

And (hopefully) my long awaited book on breast cancer, Breast Choices for the Best Chances, will be out shortly as well!

Enjoy!

Giving Thanks and Giving Back Throughout The Year

As we take time to celebrate the holidays with our family and give thanks for all we have, I wanted to share with you some of the ways that we are able to give back and help make a difference in the world.

First, I want to thank all of you for supporting the work we do. Whether you are a pet owner who has visited us in person or talked with us on the phone, or a pet owner who has ordered any of my natural products, your support allows us to help others in need.

While we support national and international charities, here are some of the ways we have helped those on a local basis.

Occasionally we have pet owners referred to us whose pets need medical care, yet because the owners are experiencing temporary financial difficulties they may not be able to afford all of the care the pet requires. Fortunately we are able to help some of these owners with a fund we have established at our office that allows us to provide discounted care for these pets.

We also believe in helping our fellow citizens locally. As such, your support of our work allows us to support the following local charities:

North Texas Food Bank-The food bank provides food to needy families throughout the North Texas area.

Samaritan Inn-The Samaritan Inn provides temporary housing and job assistance to the homeless and unemployed throughout the North Texas area.

David Timothy/The Soup Man-Several years ago David Timothy felt a calling from God to “Feed His Sheep.” He has set up a wonderful program in downtown Dallas to provide hot meals to the homeless five days a week, and recently, through the generosity of benefactors, has started providing homes to many of the homeless as well.

We have chosen to support these wonderful charities which do good work to help others. If you are looking for a charity to support, I would encourage you to consider any of these, especially if you live in the North Texas area.

Thanks for supporting us so that we can help make a difference in the world!

Dr. Shawn

Reader Asks About Epilepsy

Here’s a recent email I received from a reader regarding natural treatments for epilepsy.

Dear Dr. Shawn: My five-year-old male Boston Terrier was diagnosed with epilepsy last year. His veterinarian placed him on a medication called phenobarbital. While it has helped control his seizures, I am concerned about him getting my pet medications for the rest of his life. I’ve also heard that this particular drug could hurt his liver. Are there any natural alternatives to help dogs like mine that have epilepsy?

A:There are many causes of seizures in dogs with epilepsy being the most common. Epilepsy basically means that your dog is having seizures and the cause is unknown. Epilepsy is a rule-out diagnosis, which means testing must be done to make sure other causes of seizures are not present. If the testing does not reveal other causes, then the term epilepsy is used to describe his seizures. For younger pets, testing can simply include a physical examination, blood profile, urinalysis, and fecal analysis. Older pets may require additional testing such as an MRI or CT scan to look for brain tumors which tend to occur more commonly in older pets and certain breeds of dogs, including Boston terriers and boxers.

While phenobarbital is a wonderful medication for pets with epilepsy, as you mentioned side effects can and do occur including liver disease. For this reason if any of my patients need to take phenobarbital, I always supplement these pets with natural remedies to help protect the liver, including milk thistle and choline. Additionally, pets taking phenobarbital should be examined at least 2 to 4 times a year for possible side effects; these examinations should include a blood profile and urinalysis. When possible, I prefer natural therapies as they are generally devoid of side effects and do not typically require the regular evaluation of pets that are taking medications such as phenobarbital.

In my practice, I’ve found wonderful success in controlling seizures using supplements such as choline, dimethylglycine, and herbal products and homeopathics. In fact, it is very rare that any of my epileptic patients take drugs for their seizures. If possible, I would try to find a holistic doctor who can slowly wean your pet off of the phenobarbital (if you try to lower the dosage too quickly seizures may recur) and use natural therapies to keep him seizure-free for the rest of his life. Finally, I do not routinely vaccinate pets with seizures as I do not want precipitate a seizural event.

Pet Insurance-Good to Have But Check Out Your Policy Before Buying

I’m a big fan of pet insurance. For those pet owners who might not be able to afford expensive care for their pets and have to seriously consider euthanasia for the pet that suffers from expensive yet treatable condition, pet insurance can literally be lifesaving for the pet. And when you consider that the average cost for an emergency is over $1000, and the average cost to treat a pet with cancer is between $5000 and $10,000, it becomes apparent that having pet health insurance is a must for many pet owners.

However, it’s important to check out potential policies before purchasing them. Some policies have a limit on how much they will pay for a procedure (for example, $100 for an X-ray even though the X-ray might cost $300,) whereas others will cover most of the cost (typically 80%) of a procedure once a small deductible is paid for by the pet owner, regardless of the actual cost of the procedure.

One piece of advice I give to my clients who are considering purchasing pet health insurance is to call the company and find out what will be covered, what won’t be covered (usually pre-existing conditions and congenital problems will not be covered,) and how much reimbursement the owner can expect for common procedures such as emergency clinic visits, emergency surgeries, treatment of common conditions such as skin and ear infections, and cancer therapy.

Finally, since most pet owners are interested in using some sort of natural therapy to help their pets, is very important to find out if the policy you are considering purchasing will cover natural therapies including nutritional supplements, herbs, homeopathics, chiropractic care, acupuncture, etc. Not all policies cover these therapies, even though these therapies are often less expensive than conventional medical therapies and improve the pet’s health, which results in lower medical expenses over the life of the pet.
The good news is that once you find a policy that meets your needs, you can go to any veterinarian you wish. The veterinarian is not involved in the transaction at all other than to sign your insurance form which allows you to be reimbursed for the cost of your visit once you submit your claim to the insurance company.

How to Use NSAIDS Safely

NSAIDS (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications) are commonly used (I would say overused) in people and pets with various inflammatory conditions, especially osteoarthritis. It has been conservatively estimated at approximately 20,000 people die from NSAID related deaths each year, and this only includes those patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis for whom NSAID therapy has been prescribed (it does not include over-the-counter usage or usage for any other problems.) Similar figures are not available for veterinary patients, but clinical experience has convinced me that NSAIDs do contribute to a variety of medical problems in our older patients. Therefore, it’s vitally important that if and when NSAID therapy is necessary for our arthritic pets, they be used as safely as possible to minimize side effects, decrease costs, and reduce the number of preventable deaths due to this potent class of medication.

In my practice, most older arthritic dogs and cats rarely require regular NSAID therapy. Instead, a number of natural therapies are used to minimize pain, decrease inflammation, and help damaged joints heal. These natural therapies can include but are not limited to high-dose fish oil, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory herbs and homeopathics, cold level laser therapy, chiropractic adjustments, and acupuncture. Nonsteroidals are only given by the owner when the pet experiences a particularly painful day. On that day, owners are instructed to use an initial dose of no more than 50% of the label or typically prescribed dosage. This lower dosing regimen is usually adequate to make the pet comfortable and yet not experience any side effects.

Using nonsteroidals in this way (low dosage, as needed basis) is the safest way to control pain and inflammation.

Supplements to Keep Your Pet Healthy

This is a topic I deal with on a daily basis as pet owners come to my practice to learn how to use natural therapies to help their pets avoid disease and live longer healthier lives. As is true with people, using nutritional supplements can enhance the health benefits of a properly prepared natural diet (while supplements are still important if your pet is eating a less than ideal diet, no supplement to make a poor diet better. Therefore it’s important to make sure your pet is eating a great diet in addition to using nutritional supplements.)

There are many different supplements I prescribe depending upon the pet’s condition. For the sake of your question, I will assume your pet is normal and healthy and does not have any particular medical problems.
I like to start with a basic all-around health-maintenance formula. While there are several of these on the market, the one I most consistently prescribe for my patients is called Vim & Vigor by Pet Togethers (note-I am a consultant for this company because I absolutely LOVE their product and seen wonderful benefits for my patients take it.) The basic health-maintenance formula should contain vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and nutrients such as glucosamine and enzymes to support the various systems in the body (gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, urinary, etc.)

For pets five years of age and older, I also prescribe Cholodin (made by MVP Labs) in addition to Vim & Vigor. Research I have done the product shows it is an effective treatment for cognitive disorder (doggie and kitty Alzheimer’s) and reduces the chance your pet will ever develop cognitive disorder as it ages (cognitive disorder is the most common chronic degenerative nerve condition of older pets.) For older pets that have developed arthritis or are likely to develop arthritis I prefer another product made by MVP Labs called Cholodin Flex, which is essentially their Cholodin supplement plus hyaluronic acid to relieve the pain and inflammation associated with arthritic joints.

I also think that pets can benefit from fatty acids (I like the balanced fatty acid liquid made by RX Vitamins for Pets called Ultra EFA,) antioxidants (I like Proanthozone made by Animal Health Options and Super Ox made by Nutriwest) and enzymes (I like a product called RX Zyme, also made by RX Vitamins)

To make administration of supplements easy, I try to prescribe products that are specifically formulated for pets and are made in flavored vehicles (flavored chewable treats or flavored liquids.) I encourage you to work with your veterinarian to find the best products to help keep your pet healthy!

Natural Therapies Help Pets with Bone, Joint, and Back Problems

Veterinarians commonly see pets suffering from a variety of skeletal problems including back (disk) disease, arthritis, cruciate ligament injury, and hip and elbow dysplasia. While conventional therapies such as NSAID medications (Rimadyl, Metacam, etc.) and steroids have their place in helping these pets, there are many better choices for long term pain and inflammation relief. Here are some of the many therapies we use in our practice to help pets suffering from these common disorders.

1.Cold Laser Therapy-Cold laser therapy involves the application of a painless laser to your pet’s arthritic joints or sore back. Similar to acupuncture without the needles, regular cold laser therapy treatments have helped many of my patients live normal lives and avoid surgery (especially those with disk disease of the back and cruciate ligament injuries involving the knees.)

2.Homeopathics-Various homeopathic remedies have shown benefit in relieving pain and inflammation in pets. Specifically, recent studies showed a homeopathic treatment equally effective to the nonsteroidal medication Rimadyl in helping dogs with arthritis.

3.Hyaluronic Acid-While many people are familiar with glucosamine and chondroitin as joint supplements, hyaluronic acid (HA) and tart cherry are quickly becoming a favorite joint supplement, especially for those pets suffering from severe arthritis that do not respond to glucosamine and chondroitin.

4. Herbs-Pets as well as people can benefit from anti-inflammatory herbs including boswellia and white willow bark among others.

5. Fish oil-While fish oil is recommended for a number of inflammatory conditions, don’t forget its value for helping pets with musculoskeletal problems either. Combining fish oil with other therapies will not only help inflamed joints will make the pet healthier as well!

Finally, keep the following points in mind when it comes to dealing with arthritis in pets. The MOST important treatment for arthritis in pets is to make sure they maintain a normal weight. Extra weight carried on damaged joints not only further damages the joints but causes more inflammation in them as well. And even though we’ve been discussing musculoskeletal problems in dogs, don’t forget that even cats get these same problems including arthritis, often as frequently as dogs! Older cats that seem a bit stiff, have urinary or fecal accidents in the household, become cranky if you pet them, and which seem to “act old” often are often found to suffer from arthritis.

While many of the nonsteroidal medications we use in arthritic dogs are not safe to use in cats, fortunately our natural therapies are as helpful in our feline patients as they are in dogs. For more information on helping pets with his musculoskeletal problems, check out the latest information on natural therapies in my new book The Natural Vet’s Guide to Preventing and Treating Arthritis in Dogs & Cats (New World Library, 2011.)

FLUTD: No, Your Cat Is Not Constipated

FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disorder, previously called FUS or feline urological syndrome,) is the most common urinary tract disorder in cats. While usually not life-threatening (except in male cats which can easily become obstructed or “blocked,”) FLUTD can become the source of chronic pain and irritation and increase the cost of pet ownership for owners of affected cats. This article will discuss what you need to know about this common feline problem.

Clinical Signs

The typical cat with FLUTD begins urinating outside of its litter box. In many cases, the rear-end is bloody due to damage of the inner mucosal bladder lining by the crystalline debris which forms in cats infected with FLUTD. Due to their shorter urethras, male cats typically become obstructed and may not be able to urinate at all, or only drip a few drops of blood or blood tinged urine. Many owners mistakenly believe that an obstructed cat trying to use a litter box is constipated. Yet, true constipation rarely occurs in cats, while FLUTD occurs quite commonly. Any cat which is having difficulty urinating should be examined on an emergency basis as prompt therapy to relieve the urinary tract obstruction is necessary to relieve pain and prevent bladder rupture and or kidney failure.

Diagnosis is fairly easy. Generally speaking, laboratory testing such as blood testing, urinalysis, and radiographs, while helpful, are not usually necessary to make the diagnosis. The owner’s history, along with the cat’s clinical signs and results of a physical examination will usually allow for a diagnosis of FLUTD. Pets with chronic problems should have full diagnostic evaluations including abdominal radiographs as well as an ultrasound examination of the urinary system to look for other problems such as bladder stones or tumors.

Conventional treatment

Because the cause of FLUTD has never been identified, there is no specific treatment for cats afflicted with FLUTD.

Conventional doctors usually treat cats with FLUTD with antibiotics. While antibiotics may be helpful for cats with particularly bloody urine or in those with obstructive disease who require urinary catheterization, in general they have been shown to be ineffective in treating FLUTD. This is likely due to the fact that cats, unlike dogs and people, rarely have bacterial infections as a cause of their FLUTD. Even though antibiotics are generally ineffective in cats with FLUTD, cats treated with antibiotics typically improve within a few days (but so do cats that are not treated with antibiotics.)

Cats with obstructive disease must have their bladders catheterized in order to relieve their obstructions and allow decompression of their distended bladders. Additionally, fluid therapy is necessary to rehydrate the cats and allow for adequate flushing of their urinary tracts. In the most severe cases, surgery may be needed to prevent recurrences of the obstruction (note that cats that have this surgery, called a perineal urethrostomy, will still develop non-obstructive FLUTD unless natural therapies are instituted to prevent further irritation of the bladder.)
Antidepressant medications such as amitriptyline, while not proven to be effective in research studies, may or may not be clinically effective in some cats that experience FLUTD as a result of anxiety.

Natural therapies

Natural therapies have proven to be quite effective in many cats with FLUTD, especially those with chronic disease that do not adequately respond to conventional therapies.

Glucosamine supplements, typically used for cats with arthritis, may be helpful in repairing damage to the inner mucosal lining of the bladder.

Herbs such as marshmallow and uva ursi, commonly used to treat patients with disorders of the urinary system, may help soothe the inflamed bladder and urethra and aid in flushing crystals and mucus out of the urinary tract.

Homeopathic remedies such as nux vomica and cantharis have shown great effectiveness in treating cats with FLUTD. Easy to administer, especially in liquid form, I routinely use homeopathy as part of my therapy for cats with FLUTD. In many cases of chronic disease, regular use of homeopathics keep the cats in remission and prevent further recurrences of their FLUTD.

Diet

Medicated diet that aim to reduce the pH of the cat’s urine and to reduce crystal formation may be helpful in selected cases. However, these diets are not typically considered to be natural or holistic and are best avoided in most cats.

While research has not shown a difference in cats fed wet versus dry food, holistic veterinarians routinely observe a better response in cats with FLUTD that are fed exclusively wet diets (canned, raw, or cooked.) Therefore, I routinely recommend that my cats with FLUTD be fed wet food rather than dry food.

FLUTD is the most common urinary tract disorder in our feline patients. While a definitive cause still remains elusive, and while conventional therapies such as antibiotics really have no place as part of the treatment for most cats with FLUTD, thankfully this is one condition that responds quite well in most cases to treatment with natural therapies and the proper diet.

Holistic Care for the Healthy Pet

While we often turn to holistic healing when we or our pets are ill, truthfully holistic healing is even more important for staying healthy and decreasing illness in our lives. In fact, Goal #1 of a holistic healing program is “Prevent Disease.”

Unfortunately, the focus conventional medicine for both people and pets seems to concentrate more on “disease” rather than “health.” While the treatment of disease is important, is much more important to focus on staying healthy. Looking at statistics from human medicine, billions of dollars devoted to treating people with the top three reported diseases could be saved simply by following a holistic program design to keep us healthy.

There are several stages of a holistic healthcare program, and these basically follow the ideas put forth in my book 8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog. In general, staying healthy following a holistic program focuses on minimizing putting things into or onto your pet’s body that are potentially harmful and promote disease and maximizing putting things into or onto your pet’s body that promote health.

For example, most commercial pet foods contain potentially harmful animal and plant byproducts, artificial flavorings and preservatives, and various chemicals. Feeding your pet a natural food or even a homemade diet would be preferable as these foods, especially organic ingredients are chosen, do not contain any potentially harmful chemicals or byproducts.

Likewise, using organic shampoos and flea and tick sprays on your pet is more likely to promote a healthy lifestyle than constantly applying potentially toxic chemicals that accumulate in your pet’s body for a very long time. Many of my new patients have the chemical flea and tick products applied to them on a regular basis, yet when I question their owners and ask if their pets ever have flea or tick problems, the majority of them tell me they do not. If that is the case, one has to wonder why these owners are wasting money applying chemicals needlessly to their pets, especially when the chemicals do nothing to promote health and may promote illness.

Finally, giving your pet quality nutritional supplements such as fish oil, antioxidants, enzymes, probiotics, choline, and health maintenance formulas do a lot to keep pets healthy and prevent diseases. In my own life, I take a number of supplements each day and as a result rarely get sick. The majority of my patients who follow my holistic health program, which includes eating a proper natural diet, taking nutritional supplements, minimizing vaccines, and reducing the amount of conventional medications and chemicals in their bodies stay healthy and rarely become sick and typically live longer. It’s not unusual for example for larger dogs such as retrievers to live 15 or more years if they follow a holistic healthcare program, even though most larger dogs will only live 10 to 12 years if following a strict we conventional approach to healthcare.

While it is true that holistic care can help pets with chronic illnesses such as allergies, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, urinary tract problems, kidney disease, heart disease, and of course cancers, using the same holistic approach can prevent or at least minimize many of these problems by maintaining health and maximizing longevity.
 

Understanding Medical Statistics:What You Must Know to Make the Best Decisions

As many of you know, I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my latest book detailing my wife’s battles against her recently diagnosed breast cancer. Fortunately her cancer was caught at a very early stage and is not an aggressive form of cancer, and she is expected to make a full recovery. However, there are many decisions she has faced regarding her treatment, and her choices are detailed in the book (which I hope to have finished and published in e-book format by the end of the year.)

As a result of her recent diagnosis, I’ve been spending many waking hours doing a lot of research for her, trying to find information that can help guide her choices regarding her treatment.

One area of concern in particular is whether or not she should use the drug tamoxifen as part of her ongoing therapy. Tamoxifen is a hormonal drug that is prescribed for all women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer (isn’t it interesting that conventional medicine prescribes a treatment for ALL patients regardless of their particular set of circumstances or individual concerns.) Tamoxifen is a strange drug: it can block estrogen from attaching to breast cells (and theoretically lower the risk of breast cancer recurring) but also acts like estrogen as it stimulates other cells of the body (in particular cells of the uterus, which explains the possibility of uterine cancer as a side effect of tamoxifen therapy.) Since Sandy tends to not want to take conventional medications unless there is an absolute benefit to them, we wanted to find out as much information as possible about whether or not tamoxifen therapy might be of benefit to her, and if there is benefit to her taking it, find out how much benefit they would be for her.

And this is where the idea of medical statistics comes in. I’m going to include a lot of information on the research involving tamoxifen in my book, but for now I just wanted touch on the topic of understanding statistics.

Looking at the statistics of the benefits of tamoxifen for Sandy’s particular grade of cancer (which is obtained via a number of analyses performed on her tumor including the Oncotype DX test,) statistics show that 5 years of tamoxifen therapy could reduce her risk of breast cancer recurring in her affected breast, opposite breast, or somewhere else in her body by approximately 50% (notice that studies do not “guarantee” that tamoxifen will do this, only that it “could” do this.) On the surface, a risk reduction of 50% seems pretty good. If we didn’t look beyond that number, it would make sense that most women would benefit from tamoxifen therapy (ignoring for the sake of argument that some women will develop uterine cancer or a second breast cancer which is usually more aggressive than the initial breast cancer, not to mention other side effects such as hot flashes or blood clots that could lead to a stroke.)

However, in trying to understand how medical statistics apply to a treatment you’re considering for yourself, family members, or your pet, you have to look at the actual risk the patient may face in real numbers. Based on studies using the Oncotype DX recurrence score, women like Sandy with a low recurrence score have a 10 year survival of approximately 97% if they take tamoxifen. The same women have approximately a 94% ten-year survival if they do not take tamoxifen. In other words, 3/100 women taking tamoxifen are expected to die from breast cancer after 10 years following their diagnosis, whereas 6/100 women not taking tamoxifen are expected to die from breast cancer 10 years following their diagnosis. The difference between 6 women versus 3 women is 50%! Therefore, tamoxifen is expected to lower the risk of death by 50%. If you look at the real numbers however, we’re only talking about a difference of 3 women. For Sandy, it wasn’t worth the risk associate with tamoxifen therapy to reduce her real risk of only 3%.

And this is why it’s so important to look at the real numbers rather than simply medical statistics. While doctors and pharmaceutical companies love to quote statistics in terms of percentages, it’s vitally important to understand the real numbers behind the statistics. While a 50% reduction in death sounds great, when you are only talking about 3 people surviving if they use a certain medication, that 50% reduction in death doesn’t seem so impressive anymore.

Finally, whatever the statistics or the real numbers presented in the study, keep in mind that the patients being tested are “generic” patients. As much as possible, you must try to determine YOUR real risk or YOUR PET’S real risk in order to make the best decision for therapy.