AboutDr. Christina Chambreau Expertise I can give you the holistic approach to any problem in any species. Depending on the condition and the type of animal, I will be able to give very specific treatment suggestions such as what flower essences, homeopathic remedies, nutritional supplements, diet changes, lifestyle changes or herbs that may be helpful. I can also suggest where you can go for further education or to find a specialist in a specific holistic field. I can help you understand why your animal is ill and what improvements can be expected. I do not check messages more than every one to two days, so PLEASE DO NOT ask about EMERGENCIES - call your local veterinarian. I cannot diagnose your animal. I cannot prescribe specific treatments. I am no longer very current with conventional treatments, so cannot answer questions on those. I am not an expert on birds or small critters. I will give you helpful connections about hose species.
Experience I graduated from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1980 and began using homeopathy in my practice after a client introduced me to it. By 1988 I was using exclusively holistic treatments. I began lecturing in 1987 and have spoken at veterinary conferences, health food stores, people's homes, churches, veterinary college conferences - anywhere people want to learn more about keeping their animals healthy.
Organizations Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy (I helped found this one)
American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
National Center for Homeopathy
American Veterinary Medical Association
Publications I have written in many magazines, journals and newspapers. A few include Bark Magazine; Journal of the AHVMA; Baltimore Dog Magazine; Whole Dog Journal; Tiger Tribe; Wolf Clan. I have also been frequently interveiwed on radio and TV.
Education/Credentials Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
Certified Veterinary Homeopath (CVH)
Question Hi, I have a great Dane about 4 years old. He in the past few days has started to get sores in both sides of his head, one side is looking better but there are small bumps on or under his skin, and on the other side is yellowish and the fur is thin over it. I have cleaned both with mild soap and water and put a topical called novisand may be off on the spelling. Its something i use on my horse but it said its good for dogs and cats as well. I think the cause is him playing with my puppy she likes to play bite him on those two spots i see no marks but i think it should be from her slobber over time being on there...? Or possible hot spots? I have something from when he was a pup its a few years old but been sealed up, I don't see a date on it but it was used for when he had a cut on his paw and it was used to help prevent problems, its 10mg per pill and starts with a ''C'' don't have it here to tell you but i would know it if i see it.
Answer When I only had my conventional veterinary training, I would often be very frustrated by problems like this becaue we often did not know the cause, and even when the steroids made the skin clear, they would recur and I still did not know why. From a holistic perspective, having skin problems is a very good thing as the imbalance in the body is being pushed out of the body, rather than causing pancreatitis or liver or kidney problems. Be careful what you use to treat skin problems as often the skin clears up and a few weeks to months later there are more serious ailments. The best skin treatment is to use holistic approaches (as skin problem s are not life threatening), take your time, and build up the overall health and immune system to have the body heal its own skin problems. I would avoid steroids and antibiotics to treat skin problems. Now that the multitude of holistic modalities is available, I can tell you to never give up. Try one after the other, and record the changes with each.
Cause? - 1. Slobber - should not cause a problem
2. bites - possible but you do not see marks
3. hot spots - always possible in the summer, but they do not usually start with bumps under the skin.
I would say that something triggered his underlying imbalance and he is trying to heal himself by producing these bumps. The trigger could have been a vaccine, a new chemical in his food, a newly developed allergy to his food or to chemicals around the house or yard to neighbor's yard.
If you have a drug from 4 years ago - you need to safely discard it. Take it to your pharmacy as they are disposing of drugs in ways that do not harm the fish and bugs and soil.
Please go to my web site and sign up for the free newsletter - www.ChristinaChambreau.com. On the products page, there are many great supplements.
If you were trained in different healing modalities (see below - YOU BE THE HEALER) you could help by using Reiki, T-Touch, HTA, flower essences, supplements, homeopathy and more. Below find Reiki training (free) and treatments (free).
While researching what you will do next, you could try a few of the following:
Rescue Remedy (health food store) - one drop in a separate water bowl and a drop on each meal. Put 4 drops in one ounce of water and give it several more times during the day. Dab soume of the Rescue Remedy water onto the spots.
Vitamin C - 500 mg twice a day
Derma Strength from VetriScience (order at www.ChristinaChambreau.com/products.php) (Then no need for the vit a,e,or herbs.
Vitamin A 10,000 IU for 5 days
Vitamin E 50 IU per day.
Skin Soother from Spirit Essences (order at Www.Christinachambreau.com/products.php)
Herbal combination in the food starting with small amounts and building up to 1 Tablespoon per 40 pounds body weight of burdock root, dandelion root and leaf, red clover flowers and 1 T total of garlic powder. Be sure to be using a great EFA with this for this skin.
Mitomax, a great new probiotic that is excellent for allergies(order at www.ChristinaChambreau.com/products.php) and switch to a raw meaty bone and pureed vetgetable diet.
Start with reading these, then FIND A HEALER, below.
7 KEYS TO HEALTHY ANIMALS
1. Know the current level of health in addition to the skin bumps. Most health problems are the result of an underlying energy imbalance. As we cure animals of "disease", we find that other things we thought were normal go away. Your goal is for your animal to have great energy, no doggy odor, no hairball vomiting, little shedding, a glowing coat and many more. A complete list of these signs is below. In young animals, these apparently "normal" problems may be the only indications to start exploring new options for lifestyle or treatment. Buy the Healthy Animal's Journal (www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com) so you can see how these early warning symptoms and obvious ill symptoms change over time.
2. Feed the best. 80% of my skin cases clear up when switched to the diet that is best for the dog. What are the best diets for people or animals -- the most processed or the freshest, most organic? The best ingredients should be the most consciously raised - local, organic vegetables, free ranging protein sources. Briefly, the best diet for dogs and cats is raw meat including raw bones, pureed raw and cooked vegetables and a few supplements (Calcium if no bones are eaten is critical). Start as young kittens and puppies or at whatever age you read this (Brighthaven.org, a cat sanctuary switches 16 years old and older cats to raw meat diet and some have lived to 27 and 30). Second best is same quality, but cooked. Even grocery store quality meat and vegetables are much better than most processed foods. Commercial raw food diets can be great to medium quality. Every animal needs and wants a different combination at different times in their lives, just as we do. With any food, observe each of your animals for the effect that food has on them. NEVER feed DRY food to cats - even as treats.
3. Vaccinate the least. Researchers in conventional veterinary medicine agree that we vaccinate too often, in too many combinations, and that this level of vaccination, while preventing epidemics, is harmful to the health of susceptible animals. The AVMA now recommends that cats and dogs only be vaccinated every 3 years. On-going studies show that antibodies are high 10 and 16 years later, so I recommend just a few baby shots then only rabies as needed to be legal. The insert in vaccine packages says “Give only to healthy animals”, so if your animal is ill in any way, or undergoing treatment, they should not be vaccinated. Vaccinated animals often develop many chronic conditions including cancer. Learn Reiki (see below) to help avoid vaccine problems. Purchase Vaccine Detox from Spirit Essences (order with a discount at www.ChristinaChambreau.com/products.php - scroll down to Spirit Essences) and give for a week before and a week or two after each legally required vaccine. This can sometimes help even months after a vaccine reaction if they have developed some of the early warning signs (see below). A wonderful list serve on vaccines, their harm and alternatives is at yahoo groups. To register, go to jstsayno2vaccs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
4. Use the fewest chemicals, remembering that there are chemicals in vaccines. Each animal is an individual and will respond differently to heartworm, flea and tick preventatives. Some are very sensitive to chemicals used in the yard or the house. Chemicals in foods can cause allergic type reactions. Healthy yards have lots of weeds. House cleaners can be made from foods and microfibril cloths clean like a charm. Healthy animals never get fleas and ticks.
5. Understand how animals become ill and how they heal. First there is an energetic imbalance (they are just not right), then functional (the dog is itchy), then inflamed (skin is red, infected, swollen and hot) and finally tissue changes (thick, black skin). Results of any treatment can be no change, amelioration (current symptoms disappear with no other improvements, then return), suppression (current symptoms disappear and they become more ill) or a cure (everything about the animal to begins to improve, especially the overall energy level.)
Keeping a journal is critical to determine what treatments are helping problems to become less frequent and less severe. You can stand firm with what you feel is working even if your professional disagrees and change approaches when needed.
Www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com is a great one to use.
6. Learn different healing approaches. There are many different ways to stimulate your healing that you never need to give up trying. Flower essences, essential oils, homeopathy, acupuncture, massage, Reiki and chiropractic are a few. Classes are found through your health food store, by phone or on-line.
7. Select the best healers for each animal's health team. Most people want a veterinarian (preferably integrative) and an energy healer. You decide what needs to be tried next for your animal. When you realize the animal is not improving – seek different care.
FIND A HEALER
I strongly recommend finding an integrative veterinarian with whom to work. This is a person trained in many different approaches, including using conventional drugs only when absolutely needed. Working with one can increase the chance that your cherished companion can live a long and healthy life. There are good ones and great ones, and a few that really are not even holistic. Go to www.VetAdviceLine.com and read the article in the library about selecting and working with a holistic veterinarian. There are other great articles there, as well.
You can go to the web sites for each type of holistic practice and use their referral list to find one near to you:
1. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine: www.IVAS.org & www.TCVM.com
2. Homeopath (these can often help you by phone if no other holistic practitioners are nearby that you like): www.theAVH.org
3. Chiropractor - www.animalchiropractic.org
4. Wide range of other treatments: www.AHVMA.org, American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
To become a homeopathic patient of Dr. Chambreau (me), email HealthyAnimals@aol.com for a handout on my practice or read it at my website. I can work by phone from anywhere in the US.
There are also lots of practitioners and approaches that are used by trained people that you can find by searching the Internet. Theda Askew is one of the Dane people who knows a lot about holistic approaches.
YOU BE THE HEALER
I also strongly recommend getting some training in understanding the wide range of approaches to health so you can be in charge of what you choose for treatments for your animals. This would include only vaccinating when young except for legally required Rabies (Do you get measles, mumps and polio every year of your life? Did you know the package inserts say to only vaccinate healthy animals?) and exploring feeding fresh foods, not processed. What is best for you to eat – junky processed foods, or locally grown, fresh foods? Also, you can learn Reiki (which can take the "bad" out of vaccines and any needed drugs, or even make food healthier) and good for skin, massage - good for skin, HTA, TTouch, flower essence therapy - good for skin, aromatherapy - good for skin, and many more things you can do to help heal your animals. In addition to classes (see below), there are many very good list serves filled with people experienced with not vaccinating and feeding raw meat diets. Go to yahoogroups.com and look for “Just say no 2 vaccs” and “Raw Paws”. As with human nutrition, there are many different opinions, so you need to experiment and see what makes your animals more or less healthy. Keeping a journal can help you decide what is working and what is not working (www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com).
www.ChristinaChambreau.com has a listing of courses taught by her and others that may help you. You can do searches online for the many other classes and lectures available. Go to www.theAVH.org for classes every November as part of the annual conference.
Healthy Animal Update is an emailed newsletter that is occasionally sent out – to sign up – go to www.ChristinaChambreau.com. While there check out classes and products.
Good Health and looking forward to seeing you/hearing you in some of my classes.
Please email me at HealthyAnimals@aol.com to let me know if any of these suggestions helped your animals become healthier, happier and saved you money.
Dr. Chambreau
REIKI:
From the book, Healthy Animal's Journal - "Reiki: Personally, I think every person who lives with or works with animals must know at least Level I Reiki. The practitioner places her hands upon the animal (or it can be done from a distance as some animals are too sensitive for direct touch) with the intent for healing to occur. The energy flows through the healer into the animal. This is based on directly applying Chi (energy) to rebalance the energy field so it no longer needs to produce the physical symptoms. It is a very good adjunct to any healing modality, especially to relieve pain and inflammation. It also "takes the bad out of" things. By doing Reiki on smelly water in restaurants I have been able to drink sweet tasting and smelling water. Use Reiki anytime that you must give injections, vaccines, drugs, flea or heartworm drugs, or other substances with potential toxicity. Hold the syringe or the drug in your hand until the heat clears, then hold your hand over the injection site, then daily offer the Reiki until your hands do not get hot (not needed any more).Do you work in a grooming salon, or kennel, or veterinary clinic, or barn or anywhere animals are being seen? Use your Reiki on any treatments to be given and to calm the animals. People have reported getting animals to eat by doing Reiki on their food. http://www.reiki.org . Get a free treatment at www.interdimensionalhealing.com. Great information on Reiki - http://www.reikicourse.orgKathleen Prasad is a wonderful teacher and works with my favorite sanctuary and holistic education center, BrightHaven www.brighthaven.org . Kathleen leads a free monthly telechat for anyone trained in Reiki and using it with animals. http://www.animalreikisource.com/. If you cannot find a Reiki Class near you (same class for people and animals as it connects you through an "attunement" to the healing energy of the universe, making you a channel of healing), three groups offer long distance, free, attunements. http://theholisticcare.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13" http://theholisticcare.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13, http://www.freereikiattunement.com Another group that offers Reiki attunements, classes and training on-line www.ReikiBlessings.com and animal classes, too www.animalhealers.homestead.com/ A Reiki Class will be part of the PGFFD summer health classes in June in Bowie, www.HomeopathicAnimalCare.org
LISTS SERVES TO HELP YOU LEARN TO FEED THE BEST
I do not personally know all of these, so use your common sense.
Most health problems are the result of an underlying energy imbalance, made worse from poor diet and vaccination. They are rarely acute diseases (except injuries). Therefore, you may find that the problem does not clear up as you expect or it recurs. If so, you are dealing with an underlying predisposition to illness, and these clues to underlying ill health will help you select a remedy and monitor the results. As we cure animals of "disease", we find
that certain other "NORMAL" things go away, too. Do not be satisfied until most of the following symptoms are gone. In young, apparently healthy animals, these apparently "normal" problems may be the only indications to start treatment. This is only the beginning of a list - as more animals are cured we will find new levels of health. Tracking these is easy when you use the Healthy Animal's Journal by Dr. Christina Chambreau (www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com)
SKIN: doggy smell; attracts fleas a lot; dry, oily, lack-luster coat;
excessive shedding; not grooming, ear problems - waxy, oily, itchy, recurrent mites; eye discharge, tearing, or matter in corner of eyes; raised third eyelid; spots appearing on iris; "freckles" appearing on face; whiskers falling out; fragile, thickened, distorted claws that are painful or sensitive to trim.
BEHAVIOR: Fears(of loud noises, thunder, wind, people, animals, life); too timid; too rough or aggressive (even at play); too hard to train; barks too much and too long; suspicious nature; biting when petted too long; hysteria when restrained; clumsy; indolent; licking or sucking things or people too much; not using litter box or not covering stool.
DIGESTIVE: Bad breath; tarter accumulation; loss of teeth; poor appetite; craving weird things(rubber bands, plastic, dirt, cat litter, paper, dogs eating dog or cat stools, rocks, sticks...); sensitivity to milk; thirst - a super healthy cat on non dry food will drink at most once a week; red gum line; vomiting often, even hairballs more than a few times a year; mucous on stools; tendency to diarrhea with least change of diet; obesity; anal gland problems; recurrent parasites.
STIFFNESS when getting up, early hip dysplasia; tires easily in hot or cold weather; can no longer jump up on counters, or go up or down steps.
TEMPERATURE: Low grade fevers - Normal for healthy cats and dogs is
100-101.5.
AGE & REPRODUCTION: Should live a long life (Shepards 17 years, Danes 12, cats 24). should be able conceive easily, deliver normally, and not pass on "genetic breed" problems.
