Natural Healing and Pet Communication

Well, over the past couple of days my mom and I made the official decision that we are not going to do amputation. We cannot do that again. Stardom (our last dog) had a horrible reaction to the surgery, had post-operative bleeding issues, and died within a week. And most sites that talk about amputation seem to estimate that even a successful surgery only ads a year or so to life. Of course, talk to your own vet about that. And advice I have heard also suggests consulting with a cancer specialist (veterinary oncologist). You can find them on the internet if your vet doesn't know.

Anyhow, it has been a wrenching decision but it is a relief that the "scary ticking clock" about deciding on surgery or not has gone away for us. Sable is going to be whole and intact for as long as she is happy and comfortable. Then we will let her go. But we are hoping to keep her happy and comfortable for as long as possible using holistic and spiritual practices. Whether that means a month or five years, to us it is quality of time over quantity.

So. I'll just go over a bit of the spiritual type of work I am talking about.

First, I am a Reiki practitioner. Reiki is a form of energy healing that has really taken off, and is often even practiced now in conventional hospitals, and some vet clinics. I am a practitioner of Usui Reiki. I learned the techniques taught by Diane Stein in her book, "Essential Reiki."

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Reiki-Complete-Ancient-Healing-ebook/dp/B004G5ZYDS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411760850&sr=8-1&keywords=diane+stein

Diane Stein also has a book just about healing for cats and dogs called (which makes sense), "Natural Healing for Dogs and Cats" 


http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Healing-Dogs-Diane-Stein-ebook/dp/B004G8PG6K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411760878&sr=8-1&keywords=diane+stein+cats+and+dogs

Stein's books both talk about Reiki for pets. I give Sable Reiki at least once a day, and usually twice. Often that is morning and night (before and after work).

Natural Healing for Dogs & Cats has many other forms of natural healing in it, including flower essences and psychic communication with your pet.

So here is another topic. Especially when we were still considering amputation, I thought it would be important to try to communicate with Sable and see how she felt about things. In general Stein suggests communicating with sick animals to see if they have the will to live or if they would rather be let go, and communicate "love" to them at all times.

The thing with just beginning to practice animal communication at a stressful time like this is, I am unsure of myself. So I asked a friend of mine who practices psychic or spirit communication with animals. He is in France, and he volunteers with primarily cats at a vet clinic. I don't want to share his personal information with out asking, but I thought I would share some of what he emailed me in response to my cry for help. I do this in the hopes that it might also help others.


Hi Leslie,

I did get your personal message and you have done well in contacting me. I always feel grateful when an animal contacts me directly or indirectly through their humans for help.

So, I have thought a moment about how I could help you both and will just write down what spontaneously comes to my mind, you may pick from that list what makes sense to you.

First, for your own communications, to be able to distinguish what comes from her and what comes from you, sometimes I happened to receive an information that I thought “interesting, I would not have thought about that”. So I said to myself that this did not come from me, but from the animal or elsewhere. You may be able to feel that, as well. You may also when receiving an answer or message ask directly “is this Sable speaking to me?” and usually you get an answer, which may simply be a feeling of yes or no. The important thing is trusting, without doubting (not always simple) in the answer you receive.

Second, if you can send me a picture of Sable, I can try and communicate with her. I may also send it with your authorization to my animal communicators group. It is not as active as it was before, but one or two persons may be willing to communicate and share their results with you. As most of them do not speak English, I would be happy to serve as your interpreter.

Third, I have no idea about how advanced you are in meditation and other spiritual techniques, but I would try this, too. I am working a lot with color frequencies lately – as our bodies are essentially made of light and energy – and have good results on my own organism. The principle is quite easy, go into a meditative state, then focus on either the body part or the chakras and work with special or all colors on them by saying the color's name a couple of times. If you are interested in doing this, I can give you more details on how to do it. I may as well be able to do something remotely, if you want me to.

Fourth, on the physical plane, I have experimented with a lot of substances and would right now always try vitamine B17 first. (It should be easier to administer to a dog than to a cat...) Don't forget to also get her a lot out into the sun, for vitamine D production.

Fifth, whatever you give to her, I mean homeopathy or whatever, or even her food, try to energize it or rather bless it before giving it to her. I have accompanied a cat with a bad jaw cancer in the beginning of the year, named Shrek, I think I mentioned him somewhere on the forum. I found this special formula that I feel is very powerful:
If it corresponds to the Universe's will, then I will now receive the codes that are the assistance from up high to help my brother, the cat, in healing himself.
I said that everytime before I gave something to him, be it medicine or food, while holding it in my hand and being connected with my Being or Higher Self.

Sixth, you may try to communicate not with Sable herself, but with the cells in her body. I did that sometimes and found out that the cells have other knowledge, that the animal himself did not have. They may for example tell you that they need a special substance or special color frequency, and then you could give that to them through your mind or in Sable's environment by giving her a blanket or whatever of that color. It may be easier for you than to communicate with Sable herself, as of knowing where the information is from. Cells usually have a very distinctive and basic way of turning things, you may manage to be more aware that this does not come from yourself.

Seventh, maybe the most difficult step is working on yourself. I saw that so many times in myself and other persons. Somebody whom I love a lot, Krishna Das, speaks in one of his videos about the “letting go muscle”. It is this muscle we need when it comes to be available as a person who accompanies in disease and at the end of this earthly live, without being submerged by our own feelings.

Eight, I am sure that you know that the most important thing, whatever the outcome of this situation is to give her love, love and more love. I understood with Shrek that the outcome (he died in the end, but all on his own, we did not need to euthanize him) did not really matter. I would have been more than happy to be able to save him, but apparently, this was not what we had to live both together, but rather that situation that was basically hopeless, depressing etc. and both grow from that and learn about the connection between suffering and love and trust – and go though it together. I think that it was important for him to know that he could count on me. And I have learned through him that the more there is suffering, the more there can be love. And when I say suffering, I don't mean physical suffering alone, nor in the first place, because this is something we can modify quite well with modern vet medicine, but we still have to go through the emotional suffering which comes for them from no longer being able to move, to live like before, and for us to share this time with them.

So, those are just some ideas, I have more if you want, for now which is the moment where you have to find out what Sable wants herself (maybe she guides you there anyway, because you respond on the intuitive level, without noticing that you are communicating) and still try some physical or spiritual methods, or for later, should you need to accompany her (like shaman work on cleaning chakras).


One last thing that comes to my mind is that I felt the need to attach a paper over Shrek's head on the armchair where he spent his days. It said: “Love & Gratitude”. Those are the two most powerful feelings and frequencies according to research done by Masaru Emoto, whom you may know.

Ok, those are my thoughts and ideas, not necessarily in a very clear order. I hope they are of some help to you.

Can Pets Be Vegan? | What's REALLY in Pet Food

This is the video that I referenced in the previous post.

So in terms of osteosarcoma, I am concerned about high iron content as well as other unintended ingredients that may be in conventional pet food, or even animal derived human foods.

But in terms of vegan diet for cancer, I would be concerned about what foods have too many carbs, and about making sure there is enough protein. We vegans get plenty of protein for our normal day to day needs from plants. But for her cancer diagnosis, I want to be sure about how much she actually needs.

I asked for a consultation with a vegan vet in CA. She is supposed to call later this week. So for now we are still giving the non-vegan diet that the holisitic vet recommended. I will print that whole regimen out in a later post because I don't have it with me right now. But also here is the info on the vegan vet:

http://veganvet.net/

Veganism for Pets: The issue

I'm just going to share a video from a great blog called "Bite Size Vegan"
http://www.bitesizevegan.com/
about this issue. I don't have the energy to sum it up any other way. So my dogs aren't currently vegan, but the issues brought up in this video are what I have been thinking about for a while.

Here are some books and websites that are resources on this issue.

Online resources:

·         PETA has a page of info: http://www.peta.org/issues/companion-animal-issues/companion-animals-factsheets/meatless-meals-dogs-cats/

·         V-Dog vegan dog food: http://v-dog.com/

·         Harbingers of a New Age: This is a company that sells dietary supplements for cats and dogs on a vegan diet. They also publish the book, “Vegetarian Cats and Dogs” by James A. Pedan. You can get a pdf of the book direct from their website.  https://www.vegepet.com/

 

Books:

·         Obligate Carnivore: Cats, Dogs, and What it Really Means to be Vegan, by Jed Gillen. Booksurge Press, 2008.

·         The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book: Cruelty Free Recipes for Canines, by Michelle A Rivera. Book Publishing Company, 2009.

·         Vegetarian Cats and Dogs, by James A. Pedan. Harbingers of a New Age, 1995.

 

Sable and Stardom: Our beloved Pups

Sable at the dog park, 2013


So...I'm feeling a little (a lot) overwhelmed about where to start with this. But I have been helped and supported so much by seeing other peoples' blogs and personal experiences that I thought I would try to make a little blogging time to share ours.

I have been rescuing retired racing greyhounds since about 2003. My first boy was named "Lucky," and we never found out what his racing name or history was. I got him from a women I worked with at my day job at a domestic violence program. The woman had to flee her abusive husband and move into community housing which would not allow pets. This happens to battered women and their pets all the time, by the way. There is info about the link between family violence and pet abuse at http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/qa/cruelty_violence_connection_faq.html

Anyhow, I loved my Lucky boy. He had a lot of behavioral issues from not only induring god knows what as a racer, but living with an abusive man. But we loved him so much that he was our "gateway drug" into the world of greyhound adoption. By "we" I mean my mom Mary Jane and I. We share a creaky old farmhouse in Downeast Maine.

We lost our Lucky in a devastating way, but not to cancer. He died due to complications with being under anesthesia during a routine dental scraping. That was my heart-breaking intro into the many medical complications of greys.

About two years later I felt healed enough to let another dog into my life. My mom agreed, and this was our first experience adopting a greyhound through a real rescue program. Our local greyhound rescue is Maine Greyhound Placement Service (MGPS) in Augusta. http://www.greyhoundplacement.com/

That was when we brought Stardom home. We had our first experience of having a dog fresh off the track. She didn't know what it was like to ride in a car, live in a house, or deal with any of the social situations our domesticated pets are used to. But she was the sweetest, loveliest, and smartest girl in the world. We went to obedience class and she did decide to learn sit and stay...feats that are rather rare in the greyhound world. She was affectionate and lovely to everyone, and great emissary for retired racers. Everyone who met her was intrigued by her.

Stardom and her Granny sharing ice cream, 2007



After only a few wonderful years with Starr, we had the unthinkable diagnosis. What we had originally been told (a few months before) was a sprained tendon actually turned out to be the most dreaded diagnosis: osteosarcoma (bone cancer). We were shocked and devastated. Like when Lucky suddenly died, it seemed to come like a lightening strike out of the blue. I couldn't even function and had to take time off from work to do nothing but deal with this horrible crisis.

When you get a bone cancer diagnosis, this giant, scary clock starts ticking behind you every moment. The experts are telling you to amputate immediately, before the cancer spreads even farther. We looked for advise from the head of MGPS and he said he wouldn't put his dog through amputation. He suggested we "feed her steak" and give her lots of love for as long as she was comfortable. But then we had vets telling us how dogs can live happily with three legs, and it was her only chance to live. Under pressure to make a quick decision and unable to face losing her, we opted for amputation.

Amputation turned out to be very hard. She was in so much pain afterwards, whining and obviously suffering horribly. We had the whole floor layered with blankets and we slept there with her, changing her bandages. They told us to expect all this. But she kept bleeding. The whole room reeked of blood. I shudder to think of it even now.

With a sixty five pound dog it is hard to move them around when they are completely unable to assist in any way. But somehow we managed to get her to the vet. They found that her blood clotting ability was hindered in some way. She needed constant hospitalization. So we had to carry her around on a stretcher ourselves, transporting her to our regular vet during the day and back and forth to the Emergency vet for overnights. This was a 40 mile trip each way, and often done during bad weather. It was absolutely horrific for all of us. Starr only lived for about a week before the complications were too much and we had to let them euthanize her. The whole experience was unspeakable devastating. I can't describe what it felt like to get that diagnosis, try to help, and then find that we had just mutilated and caused pain to this beautiful creature whom we loved like any human child.

Again, it took a while to heal. But the impulse to honor a greyhound by rescuing another one is strong. They are such beautiful. loving dogs and the racing industry that they are subjected to is unspeakable evil. By the way, for info on that, I recommend Grey2kUSA.  http://www.grey2kusa.org/index.php

About a year and change after losing Stardom, we went to an open house event at MGPS. That was when we met and adopted Sable, whose racing name was Kiowa Greg Champ (champ). She had been named Sable by the director of MGPS, in honor of his own dog of the same name. A black and white dog, she is sleek and stunning with an extra soft and shiny coat, even by greyhound standards. She is larger than most female greys, about the same height and weight as a male.

About two years (a little less) after we got Sable, we saw a hound who was about her age and appearance, a male named Shadow, who had been returned to the kennel. His owner had been a teen who went off to college and the family thought it was better to return him to MGPS. We felt so bad for him to be returned to a kennel environment after being in a home. We decided to take Sable and go meet him. It worked out, and we brought him home. Unlike Sable, Shadow had never raced, but he had been bred by the industry. His industry name was JD in My Shadow.

So, we have lived with Sable and Shadow for a little less than two more years. And here comes the lightening bolt again, out of the blue.

We noticed that Sable began inexplicably favoring her front paw. I at first thought it might be a toenail issue, but clipping them didn't help. We took her to the vet and they diagnosed bone cancer. Again. That was six days ago, as I write this.

Of course, I was devastated. It took me a couple of days just to process the news and pull myself together. I was very angry at the Universe, at everything. Again, I have this beautiful, healthy, and loving dog. And they tell me she has this generally fatal diagnosis.

Again the scary clock starts ticking. They tell us that the cancer can't be seen yet in her chest, so she is still a candidate for amputation. They say that amputation is the only viable course of action to give her a longer life.

We take our animals not only to the conventional vet but to a holistic vet. The other thing about all this is that I am a vegan. I am vegan first for the animals, but also for environmentalism and personal health. I had been toying with trying a vegan diet with the dogs before this, and now I am trying to figure out what to feed them. That's a whole kettle of (vegan) fish that I will delve into in another blog.

Okay, so that is our little intro. I just spontaneously decided to do this blog but in future posts I will get into what various professionals tell me (including spiritual professionals) and what we try for diet, supplements, traditional and non-traditional healing, etc.

I will leave you with the link to a site that I found very helpful as a summary of issues for greyhounds with osteosarcoma.

http://minnesotagreyhounds.wordpress.com/what-to-expect-with-a-leg-amputation/