How to protect his health

by Ann Brightman
Reprinted with permission of Animal Wellness Magazine, © 2006,www.animalwellnessmagazine.com

“Tasha suffered from itchy rashes and hot spots from the day I adopted her,” says Sandra of her five-year-old canine companion. After numerous trips to different veterinary clinics, Sandra was no further ahead getting to the root of the problem. Finally, she took Tasha to a holistic vet where she learned that her dog’s stubborn skin eruptions were caused by a build-up of toxins in her body. “The doctor told me Tasha’s system was trying to get rid of the poisons through her skin, and that’s why she kept breaking out.”

Skin issues like Tasha’s are among the most common reasons people take their dogs and cats to the vet. Because the skin is the largest organ in the body, it’s usually the first area to show signs of toxicity. Over time, however, toxicity can eventually lead to a whole host of other health problems including cancer, arthritis,liver disease, and immune system and neurological disorders.

Toxins are everywhere

The bad news is that toxins are everywhere – in the soil, air, food and water. “Everything we put into the environment settles in the ground and that’s where animals spend their time, sniffing up lawn chemicals, gasoline fumes, pesticides and fungicides,” says Leo Malantis of Earth’s Balance, a company that specializes in natural detoxifying products for people and animals. “That creates toxicity in their systems.”

Veterinarian Dr. Gloria Dodd adds that animals are actually born with toxicity in their systems. “All living beings exist on two levels — the electromagnetic energy field and the physical body,” she says. “The electromagnetic energy fields of all the toxins and burdened organ systems of the parents are passed on to their progeny. So the newborn animal starts out in life with toxicity in the liver. The little animals are then exposed to the mother’s milk, which has pesticides in it, and then they are vaccinated which adds even more toxins.”

Low-end commercial diets are another source, adds Dr. Dodd. “They contain aniline dyes, red food coloring to entice people to buy the products, and the preservative ethoxyquin, which is a carcinogen.” These foods also contain aluminum, which is taken up from the soil by many legume and cereal crops. “Over the last 20 years, the amount of aluminum in the food has increased almost hundredfold,” says Dr. Dodd.

Another contributing factor to toxicity is a low pH level in the body. “Every- thing we’re doing in our environment is causing acidity,” says Leo. “In humans, the blood pH should be about 7.34, which is slightly alkaline. When you fall below that level, you start to suffer from acidosis. Dogs have a similar problem. Acidosis creates an acidic, oxygen-depleted environment where disease and pathogenic bacteria thrive. The immune system is weakened by an acidic condition.”

So what’s the solution?

You may be thinking the situation is hopeless, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Although it’s virtually impossible to avoid toxins, there are lots of things you can do to help protect your animal from their effects. One of the most important involves detoxifying your animal. “Holistic vets say your dog should go through a period of detoxification before any procedure takes place,” says Leo. “In humans, you do fasts and cleansing processes, but it’s hard to do that with an animal.”

• Detoxifying a dog or cat involves neutralizing the acidity in the body, by giving him alkaline foods or alkaline water. Alkaline foods include most fruit and vegetables, while some acidic foods to avoid are wheat, corn and soy, which are often found in poor
quality pet foods.

• Detoxification also involves ridding the body of free radicals, those cancer-causing substances generated by pollution, electromagnetic radiation, cigarette smoke and other toxins. Antioxidants are the key here, and include not only supplements, but also alkaline water. “If you increase the oxygen in the blood, you give those free radicals the extra oxygen ions they require and flush them out of the system rather than have them hook onto the healthy cells of the animal,” says Leo. “Alkaline water has those oxygen ions.”

“An analogy I like to use is if you have a fish tank filled with cloudy water,” Leo continues. “If you don’t change the water, and there’s no filtration, the water becomes very cloudy and the fish get sick. So what do you do? Pull the fish out, take care of them, and put them back in the water? No, you’ve got to change the water. The animal’s body is the fish tank, his blood is the water and his organs are the fish. If you don’t clear out the blood, the organs will stay sick.”

• Another approach is to neutralize the toxins in the food before you feed it to your animal. “I have found a way to transmute or change the noxious energy of heavy metals and pesticides from noxious to neutral by using blue-green transmutation,” says Dr. Dodd. “Go to a drugstore or art store and get a roll each of clear blue and clear green cellophane, and put the blue over the green to make turquoise.” All you do is spread the cellophane on a table or countertop, and place the can or package of food on top of it for 20 minutes. “We don’t know how it works, but everything has an energy vibration,” says Dr. Dodd. “I have tested the energy emissions from the digestive organs of animals after eating untreated versus treated food and there’s a heck of a difference. It actually changes the energy of the food – you can use muscle testing to test it before and after you put it on the cellophane and you’ll see it’ll be much stronger when the food is cleansed.”

• Dr. Dodd also includes homeopathic nosodes in her detoxification regime, and to remove the effects of drugs such as steroids and antibiotics from the body. “You have to have a scrupulously strengthened and balanced chi or life force,” she adds. “The bio-electromagnetic field of the body is where health and disease starts. The secret to good health is to have a strong and balanced chi flow through every cell of every organ of the body. You can’t just treat the physical. That’s why I use homeopathy and other energy tools.”

What else can I do?

• Avoid feeding cheap, low-end commercial foods filled with synthetic preservatives, colorings, and by-products, and switch your animal to a premium natural high quality product made with whole food ingredients. Look for certified organic ingredients wherever possible.
• Give your animal filtered or reverse osmosis water.
• Supplement his diet with antioxidants and probiotics. Antioxidants fight free radicals while probiotics help rid the digestive system of harmful bacteria by overwhelming them with good bacteria. “You absolutely have to have a good digestive system,” says Dr. Dodd.
• Avoid using fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals on your lawn or garden, and avoid taking your animal near areas where these substances are used. Use natural household cleaning products.
• Buy an air filter for your home.
• Another important action you can take, says Dr. Dodd, is to speak out against pollution. “We have to demand of our governments that they start cleaning up their act and protect this planet.”

With help from her new vet, Sandra put Tasha on a detoxifica- tion program and is taking as many measures as possible to minimize further toxin exposure. “We’ve had to work at it, but it’s paid off. Tasha’s skin has pretty well cleared up and she’s happier and has more energy. And I feel better, too!”