In our last few blog posts, we’ve explored various ingredients (linked to the respective post) of BrightHaven’s Menu for Healing, which is the foundation to our approach to living well through the last breath for all of our animals:
• Love
• Diet – raw meat based, fully supplemented
• Diagnostics
• Classical veterinary homeopathy for care at all life stages
• Alternative vaccination protocol / titers
• Immune and organ support, Reiki and other complementary therapies
• Intuition
• Natural path to death
• Love
Our Menu for Healing is also affectionately known as “The Love Sandwich”, as it begins and ends with love, and its healing power can never be exaggerated.
Please consult with your vet before making any changes to your animal’s healthcare regimen.
We now look at other items on our list:
Diagnostics
We run routine blood panels–probably more often than most as we endeavor to check homeopathic remedy responses and progress. We also perform very regular urinalyses for our paraplegic cats and dogs. Other less often performed diagnostic work is the occasional fecal check or tissue analysis.
Due to the fragility of our hospice patients we rarely run more detailed diagnostics that would involve taking them away from their home, preferring to make contact with mobile veterinarians who are able to come to the patient if necessary to perhaps perform an ultrasound.
Alternative Vaccination Protocol / Titers
Vaccinations have been linked to many side effects including lower energy, dull fur and eyes, dirty ears, thirst and appetite changes as well as some emotional issues. They can also result in higher kidney and liver values, tumors, asthma, skin and ear problems as well as frequent upper respiratory illness.
A titer test is a measure of antibodies in the blood, providing a check of disease immunity, rather than relying solely on a predetermined schedule to determine if a particular vaccination is required or not.
Immune and Organ Support, and Other Complementary Therapies
In addition to Reiki, BrightHaven regularly utilizes many different supportive therapies. Here are just a few:
Immune and Organ Support
Providing our animals with immune and organ support are top priorities for BrightHaven. The immune system, which comprises organs, special cells and substances, helps protect from bacteria, germs, parasites, infections and diseases. It is truly the body’s defense force. It keeps track of normal body substances and raises an attack when it encounters an antigen, or anything unknown to it.
Organ support clearly goes hand in hand with immune support and is most important to address in chronic illness.
Subcutaneous (SubQ) Fluids
Many years ago we learned that dehydration is a common problem in cats or dogs as they grow older, and most especially in cats with chronic kidney disease. To avoid or help control dehydration we quickly began treating many of our animals with fluids that we were able to give under the skin with a small needle at home.
We noticed very quickly how beneficial this treatment was for our old timers and how revitalized they felt afterwards and so most were given supportive subcutaneous fluid therapy on a rotating basis, many every day unless our vet found them to have heart problems or a health issue which might preclude fluid administration.
Hemp, or Cannabis
Hemp is a recent addition to our Menu for Healing as we’ve seen many improvements in our animals since they’ve been trying out the product:
- Lessened joint discomfort associated with normal daily exercise and activity
- Increased energy and a healthy new brightness
- Healthier digestion and stools
- Improved neurologic function
- Enhanced immune system support
- Heightened “end of life” comfort and sense of wellbeing
Feng Shui
Feng shui in Chinese tradition is a system where the practitioner works with the art of placement and balance in the home or office in relation to the flow of life force energy. At BrightHaven, we look to feng shui to help us create a peaceful, energetically balanced environment for our animals and humans.
Intuition
Our animals have taught us to let intuition be our guide, particularly towards the end of life, whether our own or the intuitive skills of a practitioner. We rely on symptoms to guide us and homeopathy and supportive therapies to heal. Intuition also enables the animal to impart to us how they feel and what they wish for or would make them feel better.
We also rely on medical intuition to describe what’s happening within the patient, and we often call upon amazing animal intuitive July Berrin, founder of The Temple Cat. She has been of tremendous assistance to us in helping us to better understand what an animal is experiencing.
The BrightHaven Education Program will introduce an online self-paced learning program later in 2016, which includes a module that will go into deeper detail regarding the above Menu for Healing list and how it evolved.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. –Lau Tzu
