Holistic Pet Health

Cat or dog, you’ve come to the right place! Holistic veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve and cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy are here to help!

Pets in Pain–Don’t let them Suffer

We are honored to have a wonderful guest blogger today, Dr. Shelley Brown of Harmony Veterinary Center, Arvada, CO. Dr. Brown practices integrative veterinary medicine, including acupuncture, cold laser, and homotoxicology. She is a member of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management.  I hear it all the time--“My pet’s limping, but she’s not in pain” or “Surely he’d cry out if something hurt”. How many times have we ourselves suffered our pains in silence?  Do we scream and moan every time something hurts?  And why do we limp, unless something hurts?  ...

2017-03-23T14:31:42-07:00December 11th, 2012|
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Urinary Incontinence

One of the more unpleasant conditions that pets may develop is urinary incontinence. This means that involuntary passage or leakage of urine occurs. It's a relatively common problem in dogs, but uncommon in cats. Usually, you'll first notice a wet spot when the animal gets up from lying down. This is because when the bladder gets full up to the level of the urethra (the tubular passage through which urine passes), the uretrha acts kind of like the overflow drain in the bathtub: when the water gets to that level, ...

2017-03-23T14:33:07-07:00November 30th, 2012|
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Filling Pet Prescriptions at Human Pharmacies

I recently came across a very disturbing article in a veterinary publication about the errors being made by human pharmacists when filling prescriptions from a veterinarian. The Oregon Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) conducted a survey to determine how often mistakes are occurring; and the results are horrifying! Examples of these errors include: • Changing Insulin. Pharmacists may substitute a cheaper product for the prescribed insulin. They do not understand that the many different types of insulin are not interchangeable. Using the wrong product may cause serious problems for pets. • Thyroid hormone ...

2017-03-23T14:33:43-07:00November 21st, 2012|
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Can You Make Your Cat Sick?

This is a question many people would like to know more about! Animal disease transfer to people is called "zoonosis." Humans transmitting diseases to their pets is called "reverse zoonosis." How and why this happens is still poorly understood. But veterinarians wonder if pets could be getting sick from humans, and not the other way around. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, "While new strains of flu can evolve from animal populations and ultimately move into human populations, it now appears that humans have passed the H1N1 flu to ...

2017-03-23T14:34:09-07:00November 13th, 2012|
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What Your Vet Must Tell You about Vaccines (but probably won’t)

Many thanks to our good friend Jan Rasmusen for the following video and information. Click here to browse her vast resources on vaccines and more. Please be sure to sign this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/veterinarians-fully-inform-us-before-vaccinating-our-dogs-and-cats The Darker Side of Pet Vaccination: A Video to Save Lives My sweet Maltese Jiggy died in August. His last moments are pictured here. His descent into lifelong illness started 11 years ago with rabies vaccination and puppy shots gone wrong. Vaccine-induced autoimmune liver disease — yes, this is a well-known reaction – eventually spawned two unrelated kinds ...

2017-03-23T14:04:28-07:00October 14th, 2012|
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AVMA vs Raw Food

Updated 8/1/26 In 2012, the AVMA adopted a policy position against raw meat diets for pets. Originally, it cited six studies that did not actually support its conclusions. This article was first written to rebut those conclusions. Update (2026): The AVMA has since revised its policy. It still discourages feeding raw or undercooked animal-source proteins, but it now recognizes scientifically validated pathogen-reduction methods other than cooking or pasteurization. This is a welcome improvement over the original policy. This article has been substantially revised to reflect developments in the scientific literature ...

2026-08-02T10:14:12-07:00July 25th, 2012|
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Green Cleaning

Mercola.com has a very good article on "green" household cleaners--and why the ones you buy at the store (even those that claim to be "green" or that you get from the health food store) may actually be no safer for you or your pet than the other toxic brews on store shelves. By Dr. Mercola Commercial cleaning products, even "green" ones like Simple Green, clean faster than soap and water can. But this is because they contain small amounts of the most powerful grease-cutting class of chemicals known -- glycol ethers. ...

2018-08-02T21:59:59-07:00May 30th, 2012|
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Cat Litter Roundup & Review

Updated 9/18/25 Kitty litter used to be so simple. When I was a kid, it was my job to tear newspaper into strips for the cat's box. Easy peasy. Then they invented clay cat litter, and later clumping clay litter, and cats became America's favorite pet thanks to their adaptability to apartment living. But clay litter has problems (which we'll talk about in a minute), so companies have come up with a wide variety of alternatives. Kudos to the folks who are trying to make a cat-friendly litter from non-toxic ...

2026-08-03T20:24:04-07:00April 30th, 2012|
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Mad Cow Discovered in California

I'm in California this week (May 2012) visiting family...and there are so many interesting things happening here! But of course, the one that may most profoundly affect our pets is the discovery of a cow infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or "Mad Cow Disease"). The cow was, as usual, a dairy cow. Dairy cows are the only cattle that stay alive long enough for BSE to be an issue, as the disease takes several years to incubate and manifest. Beef cattle are typically slaughtered too young to show symptoms. ...

2017-03-23T14:46:34-07:00April 26th, 2012|
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Feline Hyperthyroidism Update

Discovery News reported this week that "In a new study that analyzed the blood of 62 domestic cats and 10 feral cats, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that cats living inside homes had higher blood levels of a class of chemicals called PBDEs, compared with their outdoor-living peers." Unfortunately, that is not news; that study was originally published in 2009. (Read it here: www.istc.illinois.edu/info/library_docs/RR/RR-115.pdf). That study wasn't terribly original even then; it's based on Dr. Larry Glickman's work at Purdue from 2004. There are more than 200 ...

2018-01-01T21:58:22-07:00March 20th, 2012|
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Newly Discovered Virus in China Linked to Feline Kidney Disease

Researchers in Hong Kong have discovered a new virus that they're calling feline morbillivirus. It is related to the paramyxovirus that causes canine distemper; but in cats it appears to cause tubulointerstitial nephritis, an inflammation of the tissue between the kidney tubules that carry urine out of the body. The full article is quite interesting; you can find it here (http://www.livescience.com/19151-virus-cat-kidney-disease.html) There are several very important points to take away from this article: 1. This virus has, so far, been found only in China and Hong Kong. 2. This paper's primary ...

2017-03-23T14:49:44-07:00March 20th, 2012|
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Overweight Pets

Dr. Karen Becker over at Mercola.com has written a fabulous article on  overweight pets and the completely wrong-headed approach being taken by the pet food industry to a problem that they themselves created. I agree with every word! Please take a few minutes to read her whole article: If Your Pet is Overweight, Please Stay Away from These "Fixes" Rather than provide wholesome nutrition in the form of species appropriate, meat-based food, the pet food industry continues to load our pets up with genetically modified corn and soy grown in ...

2017-03-23T14:50:39-07:00March 4th, 2012|
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Play is Important for — Survival??

We have long advocated play therapy as a way to prevent--and solve--a host of feline behavior problems, as well as a part of indoor enrichment for your cat's mental and physical health. Now there's another reason--longevity! In a fascinating article, ABC News ponders the question: "How could play — defined as “apparently purposeless activity that’s fun to do and pleasurable” — be vital for grim survival in such an often random and dangerous world? – And not just play in childhood, but throughout life. – And throughout life not only ...

2018-06-09T13:48:34-07:00February 6th, 2012|
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Vegetarian Cats?

Updated March 6, 2024 There are several companies and websites that promote vegetarian (no meat or fish) or even vegan (no animal products at all) diets for cats. These products appeal to people who have chosen a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle for ethical reasons, and want to apply the same principles to their cats. As a feline veterinarian, I absolutely do not recommend trying to turn your cat into a vegetarian or vegan, but if you are determined to do so, here is my best guidance for you. Products The ...

2024-03-06T16:43:41-07:00December 16th, 2011|
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