ELANRA NATURAL HEALTH Vaccination Versus Nosodes |
This page was last updated on: July 18, 2004
This article explains our method of protecting our dogs against contagious diseases. We realise that knowing why we protect our dogs this way is no less important than knowing how we protect them. We hope this article is able to explain both the method and the reason. VACCINATIONS When your dog is vaccinated, attentuated micro-organisms, killed viruses or bacteria are injected straight into his system, a most unnatural route of infection. This invasion avoids the first line of defenses, such as the eyes, mouth, stomach or bowels, and floods the system directly with millions of micro-organisms or viral particles. While this has the effect of setting up a permanent disease state which prevents the dog from getting that specific disease 'because it already has it' unfortunately over-vaccinating is weakening the vital force in many dogs when it comes to everything else. ENCEPHALITIS Catherine O'Driscoll, in her book "What Vets Don't Tell About Vaccines" provides researched facts about the problems vaccines are causing which include encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) which has many diverse symptoms, all usually involving a highly sensitized state such as convulsions, behavioural problems, allergies, skin problems and eating disorders. By far the worst type of side-effect is the development of autoimmune diseases where the dog actually develops antibodies to himself. CONTAMINANTS Even though vaccines may have helped in reducing the contracting of severe, acute diseases, there are now epidemics of more insidious, chronic diseases that are difficult to treat or in some cases incurable and these problems are lessening the quality of life and the length of life span simply because with routine vaccination the immune system becomes far less able to react to things as it should do. The contaminants in vaccines introduced in the manufacturing periods, while miniscle in a single treatment, gradually accumulate with repeated vaccinations over the years. OVERVACCINATION It is unfortunate that no one truly knows how long protection from a single vaccine lasts. The makers of these vaccines say that proving their duration of protection would be far too expensive and would require large numbers of dogs to be isolated for years. Pfizer actually did test it's one-year rabies vaccine on live dogs and discovered it gave protection against the disease for three full years, but because some states in America insist on annual vaccination Pfizer sells the identical formula packaged under two different labels - Defensor 1 and Defensor 3. LIVE VERSUS KILLED There is evidence that side-effects are seen most often with multivalent vaccines, which provide protection against more than one disease. Killed vaccines are proving less harmful than modified live virus vaccines but they are somewhat less effective. Many people presume that because they have their dog vaccinated regularly he is automatically protected against the diseases, but this is not always the case. Parvovirus, for example, gives 80% protection which means that when you take your puppy to a dog show, one out of each five there may get the disease even though they have been given the vaccine. One of those puppies may be yours. REALITY There are now many veterinarians world-wide who are realising that repeated vaccinations are not necessary, and are in fact endangering the lives of those who are receiving them. It is not very reassuring to read in the March 1998 issue of Veterinary Medicine a statement written by the chairman of the University of Wisconsin's Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Ronald D Schultz, "My own pets are vaccinated once or twice as pups and kittens, then never again except for rabies." FOOD FOR THOUGHT 1 A veterinarian stopped vaccinating his own beef herd 14 years ago and within 2 years there was a 75% decrease in his herd mortality. 2 Another stopped vaccinating her horses and the incidence of colic decreased by 95%. IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE You may like to consider the homoeopathic alternative called nosodes. As with vaccines, nosodes contain an infinitesimal bit of disease against which the dog is to be immunized. But there is profound but subtle difference. A much smaller amount of the disease is isolated and prepared as a tincture, then is put through a process of dilution and succussion so as to add kinetic energy to the dilution. This potentizes the remedy. It actually retains none of the actual source from which it came, only its 'energy pattern'. It is this energy pattern, not the actual 'substance' that is used in any homoeopathic remedy. WITCHCRAFT OR NOT This may sound like witchcraft to you but that is probably because you have not seen it work. Yet consider this. We do not use steam or coal to heat, cool, or light our homes. We use the 'energy' of those materials broken down by stations. The 'energy' is called 'electricity'. We cannot see this energy directly, only indirectly, in our homes. Homoeopathy uses this same principle. EFFECTIVENESS Nosodes are at least as effective as vaccines and in many instances have shown that they are significantly more effective than vaccines. In preventing infections, with normal homoeopathic treatment you provide the body with a remedy that works by rebalancing the recipient's vital force. The preferred method of treatment to do this is a constitutional homoeopathic remedy used when the body is showing dis-ease. To use a nosode for prevention of disease, when no symptoms of disease are present, is not following true homoeopathic principle, but is acceptable in today's society just as homoeopathic combination remedies are now freely available for self-treatment in rebalancing vital forces today. It is a palliative approach more than a curative approach. You are taking advantage of the principle that two similar dis-eases cannot co-exist. If two similar diseases are presented to the vital force, only the stronger will manifest and the weaker will cease to be. An 'energy picture' is imprinted on the vital force which will block the receptor sites of the vital force to that disease agent. ADVANTAGES The biggest advantage in using nosodes instead of vaccines is that nosodes are completely safe. There are no risks or side-effects. The dam can even be treated before she gives birth, giving youngsters protection from the moment they are born and puppies can safely be given nosodes much earlier than they can be given vaccines and often begin treatment at three weeks of age. Nosodes are very easy to administer. They are given by mouth and not even swallowed. They can be purchased in pilule form or in dropper bottles. As with any homoeopathy you must not handle the remedy. If using dropper bottles, pour four drops on to a clean spoon and tip onto the dog's tongue. With pilules, tip two pilules onto a clean spoon, crush them with a second clean spoon on top, and administer straight onto the tongue. Do not feed the dog twenty minutes either side of a dose for maximum effect. FREQUENCY There is no rigid, hard and fast rule concerning frequency of administration when using as preventative therapy. As with allopathic vaccines, nosodes are given sequentially in the theory of covering the susceptibility as it arises, and the timing of this varies with the individual dog. I will provide you with two regimes. The first one can be used where the dog is at minimal risk, but if you consider your dog to be living in a higher risk environment you may prefer the second, more intensive schedule. The main diseases to prevent are parvovirus, distemper and kennel cough, and in some countries, rabies. These remedies can be purchased as a combination remedy, which includes exactly the same diseases that the multi-vaccine covers, or they can be purchased for a single disease which is the preferred method. SCHEDULE 1: Using 30c nosodes. One dose, morning and night, for 3 days, then one dose per week for 4 weeks, then one dose per month for 6 months, then one dose every 6 months until the dog reaches 3 years of age. During epidemics the 200c nosode is used, dosing immediately following exposure to the disease. SCHEDULE 2 Begin when puppies are 3 weeks of age, and it is best, and easiest to remember, if you dose on the same day of each week. One dose is 2 pilules or 4 drops and unless otherwise stated, one dose only per time. 3 weeks-Parvovirus 30c, once daily for 2 days 4 weeks-Parvovirus 30c, once daily for 5 days 5 weeks-Parvovirus 200c 6 weeks-Distemper 30c, once daily for 2 days 7 weeks-Distemper 30c 8 weeks-Distemper 200c 10 weeks-Parvovirus 200c 3 months-Distemper 200c 4 months-Parvovirus 1M 5 months-Distemper 1M 6 months-Kennel Cough 200c, once daily, 2 days 6 ½ months-Kennel Cough 200c 8 months-Parvovirus 1M 9 months-Distemper 1M 10 months-Kennel Cough 200c 12 months-Parvovirus 1M 13 months-Distemper 1M 15 months-Kennel Cough 200c 16 months-Parvovirus 1M 17 months-Distemper 1M 20 months-Kennel Cough 200c 22 months-Parvovirus 1M 23 months-Distemper 1M 25 months-Kennel Cough 200c 28 months-Parvovirus 1M 29 months-Distemper 1M 30 months-Kennel Cough 200c 34 months-Parvovirus 1M 35 months-Distemper 1M 36 months-Kennel Cough 200c By 3 years of age your dog should have a mature immune system and treatment should only be necessary during epidemics, given right after exposure to a specific disease. SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT As well as the previously explained prophylactic treatment, nosodes can be used therapeutically to treat dogs who already have the disease, which is the true homoeopathic method of prescribing. Dr Christopher Day carried out a study in an English Boarding Kennel where 35 of the 40 dogs in that kennel had Kennel Cough. Half of these dogs had current vaccination certificates. Every dog in this kennel was given the Kennel Cough nosode, as well as all 214 dogs that were boarded there throughout the remainder of that summer. In total 254 dogs were treated and he successfully reduced the cases to less than 2%. Unfortunately no treatment is 100% successful. LIMITATIONS OF TREATMENT Unfortunately there are limitations in the use of nosodes. Some countries require dogs to be vaccinated for rabies by law, and they do not accept that the rabies nosode, Lyssin, meets that requirement. Despite the obvious advantages of nosodes most boarding kennels will not accept vaccinated dogs, thereby forcing you to vaccinate if you wish to use their services. This is a problem that will hopefully improve with time as more veterinarians and boarding kennel proprietors become familiar with nosodes and their safer than vaccine effects. SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING Unfortunately homoeopathic remedies, including nosodes, do not fit into current scientific understanding. Way back in the sixteenth century an Italian anatomist made the statement that the heart was a pump. For that statement he was burned at the stake. Yet early into the seventeenth century when William Harvey made the same statement he was knighted. Mechanical pumps came into widespread use for mining and irrigation in the intervening period. Because homoeopathy lacks a real world metaphor it does not make sense to most people. Until this happens, all the positive studies in creation will not be able to open closed minds. Thankfully today, there is a growing number of owners and breeders who are now making 'informed choices' for the health of their dogs. WHY WE CHANGED In 1984 we purchased a Samoyed bitch puppy. Two days after her arrival this same but very ill puppy was diagnosed with parvovirus. She was so ill that the veterinarian sent her home to die. Not ones to be defeated easily we immediately contacted a homoeopath and she began her treatment. Okay, so we had to sit up with her all night dosing her ¼ hourly and sustaining her with fluids. But it was well worth it. Twenty-four hours later she was running around as if nothing had happened. That was enough to convince us that vaccination not only fails to work sometimes, but also that you gain a false sense of security post-vaccination, believing your dog has complete protection when this is not always the case. Unless you have access to an holistic veterinarian though, the going can be tough. Initially an allopathic vet will do all within his/her power to inform you of the dangers as they see it of keeping unvaccinated dogs, especially when those same dogs are mixing regularly with other show dogs. We are lucky with our veterinarian. Mind you it took a few years to convince him that our dogs were not at excessive risk when exposed to outbreaks at shows. Vaccinated dogs were picking up the diseases, while thankfully ours were not. It is of great importance that you feed your dog as natural a diet as possible, remembering that the vital force is the overall controlling element in the quest for health, the best defense system your dog has, and it is your duty to keep him away from as many contaminated foods and substances as you can. |
