Optimum Choices will be exhibiting
our BioPreparation holistic animal product at the Whole Cat & Dogs Too
booth at the Colorado Humane
Society's
Wags to Whiskers Fair on Saturday, October 29, 2005, 8 am - 4 pm at
the Denver Merchandise Mart, 451 E. 58th Avenue (I-25 & 58th Avenue).
Our second meeting will be Tuesday, November 1 from 6:30-8:30 pm, with Nancy
Zidonia and Amy Snow, owners of Tallgrass Animal Acupressure School speaking on
"How to Build Your Animal Bodywork Business". The meeting will be held at Panera
Bread, 7739 Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada, CO 80003, (303) 420-7500.
Click here for a map to Panera Bread. Find out
more information about the association, go here:
www.optimumchoices.com/caamb.htm.
Don’t wait until the cold and flu season starts.
Protect yourself against today’s mutating viruses and bacteria. Avoid
the downtime from illness. The Thieves® Essential Oil Blend is based on
a formula used by thieves in the Middle Ages. These spice merchants used
oils to protect themselves from the plague (Black Death) as they robbed
the dead. The King caught them and gave them a choice. They could reveal
their secret of why they didn’t get sick and be executed by hanging OR
they could keep their secret and be burned at the stake. Young Living
has updated the original thieves’ formula (Marseilles Vinegar or Four
Thieves Vinegar) and made a powerful essential oil blend that is highly
antiviral, antiseptic, antibacterial and anti-infectious. Studies conducted
at Weber State University showed Thieves® killed airborne
microorganisms. One analysis showed a 90 percent reduction in the number
of gram positive Micrococcus luteus organisms after diffusing for 12
minutes. After 20 minutes of diffusing, the kill-rate jumped to 99.3
percent. Another study against the gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa
showed a kill rate of 99.96 percent after just 12 minutes of diffusion.
Thieves® Essential Oil Blend
Ingredients: Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is one of the most antimicrobial and
antiseptic of all essential oils. It is antifungal, antiviral and
anti-infectious.
Lemon (Citrus limon) has antiseptic-like properties and contains
compounds that amplify immunity. It promotes circulation, leukocyte
formation, and lymphatic function.
Cinnamon Bark (Cinnamomum verum) is one of the most powerful antiseptics
known. It is strongly antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal.
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata) is anti-infectious, antibacterial,
antiviral, and anti-inflammatory.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis CT cineol) is antiseptic and
antimicrobial. It is high in cineol, a key ingredient in antiseptic
drugs.
Application: Dilute 1 part Thieves® to 4 parts vegetable oil. Possible sun/skin
sensitivity. Diffuse for 15 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours. Apply to
bottom of feet, throat, stomach, or abdomen. Dilute 1:15 in vegetable
oil and massage over thymus. For headaches put 1 drop on tongue and push
against roof of mouth. Dilute 1:15 with vegetable oil for body massage.
Put 4-8 drops on cotton ball and locate on vents. Add 2 drops to a wet
cloth and put in clothes dryer.
CAUTION:
Thieves® oil
blend is a “hot” oil. Never use undiluted, especially if you are new
to essential oils, unless you are experienced with oils. Keep
Thieves® away from eyes, nose, ears and sensitive areas of the body.
Citrus oils are
toxic to cats. Since Thieves® contains lemon oil, it is suggested
that one not use it on or around cats or diffuse this oil blend in a
house with cats. For further information on the safe use of
essential oils on animals see:
www.optimumchoices.com/animals_oils.htm.
In addition to the above oil blend, Young Living
also manufactures an entire Thieves® Product Line with all-natural
ingredients and without petrochemicals
($Retail/Preferred Customer/Wholesale):
Thieves®
Household Cleaner 16 oz, Product #3743, ($28.29/24.89/21.50)
A nontoxic, biodegradable, cleansing solution that uses
therapeutic-grade essential oils as emulsifiers and germ-killers. It
contains Thieves® Essential Oil Blend, which is documented to kill over
99.96% of bacteria it comes into contact with (ie., Pseudonomas
aeroginosa).
Ingredients: Cleansing solution base: Nontoxic, biodegradable Soy
Lecithin is used as a natural emulsifier, Thieves Essential Oil Blend
Thieves® Antiseptic Spray 1 oz, Product #3266, ($9.21/8.11/7.00)
An all-natural petrochemical-free antiseptic spray that uses
therapeutic-grade essential oils. It contains Thieves® Essential Oil
Blend, which is documented to kill over 99.96% of bacteria it comes into
contact with (ie., Pseudonomas aeroginosa). Use at home or work.
Excellent for travel.
Ingredients: Pure Grain Alcohol is denatured with pure cinnamon
essential oil; no toxic, harmful or synthetic denaturants used. Soy
Lecithin is used as a natural emulsifier, Thieves® Essential Oil Blend
Thieves®
Bar Soap Product #3679, ($10.20/8.97/7.75)
Beautiful handmade soap. Not only do they add a sublime fragrance to
your bath, they offer the advantages of pure vegetable-based
moisturizers combined with the unique antiseptic properties of the
Thieves® therapeutic-grade essential oils blend.
Ingredients: A base of saponified palm, coconut, wolfberry seed, and
olive oils; liquid aloe vera extract; rosemary extract (as an
antioxidant); and organic oatmeal.
Thieves®
Wipes 30 count, Product #3756, ($12.50/11.00/9.50)
The ultimate in convenience to protect your immune system. Use on door
handles, toilet seats and anywhere undesirable bacteria may be present.
Caution: Not for use on infants or on sensitive areas of the body.
Ingredients: Pure grain alcohol, deionized water, Thieves® essential oil
blend, coconut oil and soy lecithin
Thieves® Dentarome Ultra™ Toothpaste 4.1 oz, Product #3744, ($9.87/8.68/7.50)
Get the antiviral, antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-infectious power of
Thieves® in your toothpaste. Keep those pesky cavities away. Avoid root
canals by killing microbes before they set in.
Thieves® Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash 7.2 oz, Product #3683, ($9.21/8.11/7.00)
Perfect complement to the Dentarome Toothpaste. Get fresher breath with
powerful germ-killing action.
Thieves® Lozenges (hard) 30 count, Product #3282, ($19.74/17.37/15.00)
Great for sore throats or just a tickle. Freshens breath on the go. Get
antiviral, antiseptic, antibacterial and anti-infectious power all day
long.
Thieves®
Kit II Product #3173, ($71.71/$63.11/$54.50)
Thieves® Kit II is the supreme wellness kit. It includes a 5 ml bottle
of the renowned Thieves® essential oil blend, the powerful new Thieves®
hard lozenges, Thieves® Spray, and one bar of the hand-poured Thieves®
bar soap made with the finest ingredients. This new Thieves® Kit also
contains the ultimate in oral health: Thieves® Dentarome Ultra™
Toothpaste and Thieves® Fresh Essence Plus™ Mouthwash. Safeguard your
family's health by adding this kit to your order.
CAUTION: Citrus oils are
toxic to cats. Since Thieves® contains lemon oil, it is suggested
that one use caution when using any of the Thieves products in a
house with cats. For further information on the safe use of
essential oils on animals see:
www.optimumchoices.com/animals_oils.htm.
As everyone knows, many animals were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, either
from their homes or shelters. Animal rescue groups from around the country have
been traveling to Louisiana to help these animals. Lorraine May, executive director of the Denver-based
Misha May Foundation
(named for her dog Misha), decided she was going to go down to Louisiana and
bring back animals to Denver, so they could receive medical treatment and find
homes.
The
animals, approximately 50 dogs and cats arrived in Denver on Monday, September
19th. Lorraine had asked
for "cat people" to come Tuesday night when the cats would be examined
by the vet, so I arrived then with my friend Fredda,
a cat lover, to cuddle cats and do whatever was needed. Kris Ahlgrim of
GoldenView Veterinary Hospital arrived
after a long day's work, with her army of vet techs to examine and
vaccinate the cats. After a
beautiful but shy Siamese-mix was examined, I handed her to my friend for some
lap time. This cat, renamed "Gypsy" by Fredda, turned out to be a very sweet,
affectionate lap cat--she spent a couple of hours on my friend's lap and dug her
claws in, protesting, when I tried to dislodge her to return her to her cage.
All the cats were surprising sweet and affectionate, given what they had gone
through. Two of them went home that night to foster homes, including Destiny, a
sweet little cat with a broken leg who had been a stray alley cat in Louisiana.
I photographed all the cats so I could post their pictures on my website to help
get them adopted out.
Later, one of the cat fosters was
able to arrange donated kenneling for them at
Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital (WRAH),
a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital. Since I had an appointment near
where the cats were housed, I offered to transfer them to Wheat Ridge. I transferred 7 cats there Friday, leaving
2 to go to an adoptathon Saturday. Unfortunately, Saturday was the day everyone started getting sick. Many
animals coming from the hurricane area are in poor health after what they went
through and these cats were no exception. The 2 cats at the adoptathon starting
sniffling, so they were immediately taken to WRAH for treatment while the 3
kittens went home with their foster mom.
In cats, sniffling doesn’t just mean a
little cold like it does with humans. When cats get an upper respiratory
infection (URI), it can be very severe and quite contagious. The cats are
normally put into isolation and given antibiotics to prevent pneumonia from
developing. Stress and frightening experiences like what these cats went through
can help trigger the development of URI. By the next week, WRAH had 5 of our 9
adult cats in isolation, with URI. That week, the foster mom also called us in a
panic because one of the kittens was sick and sniffling. We couldn’t burden WRAH
further with the kitten so Eva, the head cat volunteer, found another place,
CARE Animal Hospital in
Arvada, that offered us low-cost care and all three kittens were taken
there.
On Wednesday, WRAH contacted us because caring for 5 sick cats in isolation
was over taxing their resources and asked us to move the cats in the next couple
of days. So, we began calling other hospitals as well as the Colorado
Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), which had been receiving donations from
people for care of Katrina animals. I also sent out a desperate e-mail plea to
the Rocky Mountain Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (which I am a member
of), asking for help finding a place to care for these sick cats.
It turned out that the CVMA did not have a process in place to help small
organizations like Misha May. They were set up to work with larger organizations
such as the Denver Dumb Friends League and Colorado Humane Society that have
facilities. Their best option for us at the time was to surrender our sick cats
to the Colorado Humane Society, who would then care for them and own them. This
option was not palatable to Lorraine May, who preferred to keep the animals
within her own organization, so she could ensure they received good medical care
and were adopted out to loving homes, rather than euthanized to make room for
healthier animals.
The CVMA told us they could not provide us with any funds immediately for
medical care but we could apply for funds later and if any were "left over", we
could receive assistance. Meanwhile, we had sick cats needing immediate care.
So, we continued calling veterinary hospitals to see if anyone could donate
care. Eva saved the day by obtaining an offer from her veterinarian, Julie Kelly
at Aspenwood Animal Hospital in Denver, to take 4 cats. It was time to start
driving cats around again--I went to WRAH and loaded up the 4 sickest cats, to
take them to their new hospital home. This time, there was a symphony of
sneezing and howling in the back seat of my car from the sick crew. Fortunately
cat #5, Boone, a beautiful tabby, had come out of isolation and was back in
the kennel at WRAH.
Then medical crisis #2 hit. The sick kitten at CARE Animal Hospital was worse
and needed to be put in an oxygen chamber, which they did not have at their facility. WRAH
could not afford to donate care for it but they had an available oxygen chamber
so I drove up to CARE, picked up the kitten and transported it to WRAH for
treatment. Animal Hospital Center, a 24-hour emergency hospital in Highlands
Ranch, had called back earlier in the day, offering to donate care for one of
the cats in isolation (Boone, who no longer needed treatment). I now called them
to see if they could provide oxygen for a sick kitten instead. They agreed and I
scheduled to take the kitten there the next morning. Meanwhile, the CVMA had
called Lorraine and said they would be setting up a process in the future whereby private vets
could apply to them for reimbursement for care provided to Katrina animals--good
news for us!
The next morning, the little kitten was loaded up again in my car, for the
long trip to Highlands Ranch from Wheat Ridge. Though sneezing, it seemed much
better. We drove through rush hour traffic there and when we were 5 minutes
away, a vet called to say their oxygen chamber was in use and could I bring the
"other cat". I explained that the other cat was well and asked if I could bring
the kitten anyway and maybe it wouldn’t need oxygen, just isolation. They said
"yes, but if it gets worse and needs oxygen, we’ll have to euthanize it so it
doesn’t suffer". Egads! I called WRAH to find out more about the kitten's
treatment and was told that the kitten had not been on oxygen overnight. Whew! So
I continued to the Highlands Ranch hospital and the kitten was accepted there
for treatment in their isolation ward. I left instructions that if it needed
oxygen, they were to call me and I would try to transfer it to another hospital.
The next day I called and the kitten was doing well--another crisis averted.
Later that Friday, I received a call from
Alameda East Veterinary Hospital
(the 24-hour vet hospital featured on Animal Planet) and they offered to take
one of our cats. Apparently they had a process worked out already with CVMA to
provide treatment for Katrina animals and were treating a Katrina dog for
pneumonia. I said "thanks, but I have the sick cats placed now in hospitals".
Monday I was driving to work, thinking everything was taken care of when the
new foster mom for the kittens called to report that one of the 2 remaining
kittens was sick. It was sniffling, breathing through its mouth and lethargic.
Thank goodness for all my calls to hospitals last week--I had an ace up my
sleeve this time. I called Alameda East Hospital and they agreed to take the
kitten for treatment. It turned out this kitten was less ill than the
first--they gave it antibiotics and sent it back home. Then a couple of days
later, the third kitten also became sick and like the second was given
antibiotics and sent home.
We now had some holistic help for our cats:
Susan Crawford, a talented
chiropractor who works with animals (doing energywork, cranial sacral and
chiropractic) had called on Friday offering to work on our sick cats as well as
making a substantial donation of money to the Misha May Foundation for medical
expenses. I assume she had heard about our needs from my e-mail plea to the vet
association. Although I do Reiki energy work on animals, I was so busy
ferrying around cats and calling vet hospitals, as well as dealing with
potential adopters and foster homes, that I couldn’t do much more than provide
the vet hospitals with our holistic algae product,
BioPreparation
(donated by Optimum Choices and BioAge), and
hope they might use it to help the sick cats get better.
On Monday, Susan reported that she had worked on the 4 cats at Aspenwood and
made plans to see the sick kitten as well. Additionally, she agreed to pick up
the homeopathic remedies recommended by my vet (classical homeopathic vet
Jan Facinelli) and provide
it for the cats. It can take weeks for
cats to recover from URI, even with the best of medical care, so the addition of
these holistic therapies was most welcome. Dr. Facinelli later explained that
the homeopathic remedies aconite and arnica are indicated for all animals
rescued in this fashion. Giving them a dose as they arrive in Denver could help
prevent them from getting sick later, especially with the added stress of
vaccinations upon arrival.
As of this writing, the 4 cats at Aspenwood remain hospitalized, the kitten
that was on oxygen has been adopted and is now well enough to go home and the
other 2 kittens are recovering in foster care. There are 2 healthy adult cats
waiting for permanent homes--Boone in the kennels at WRAH and Gypsy in a foster
home.
At this point, the media has, for the most part, moved
on to other stories, even though the Katrina needs have not gone away.
Meanwhile, the Misha May Foundation has Katrina cats that still need homes.
While the majority of dogs rescued have been adopted out, it is taking
longer for the cats to find homes.
If anyone would like to donate money for ongoing (and unexpected) medical
care or carriers for animals, be a foster parent or adopt an animal (especially
cats), you can contact
The Misha May
Foundation. Information on adoption, including pictures of the cats is
located here:
www.OptimumChoices.com/katrina-help.htm. Also, if you are in the Denver
area, you can help spread the word by distributing this flyer on the Katrina
cats seeking homes:
Katrina Cat Flyer.
What the dog did: Tales from a formerly reluctant dog owner
by Emily Yoffe
ISBN: 1-58234-564-3
Reviewed by Margaret Auld-Louie
This is a laugh-out-loud book by journalist and Slate writer Emily Yoffe. At
times funny, poignant, thought-provoking and educational, the tales are always
interesting. Yoffe is an excellent writer with a self-deprecating wit. She
describes how she changed from being a dog-indifferent cat owner to a dog lover
and beagle owner. Her husband and dog-crazy daughter pushed her into getting a
family dog. Yoffe had wanted to get a Boston Terrier, her "dream" breed, but her
6-year old daughter responded "If that dog was in my room when I went to bed I
would never sleep for the rest of my life." She protested "They scare me. Their
eyes scare me!". So they ended up getting Sasha, an adult beagle from the local
beagle rescue group. Rather than turning into a story of the perfect pet, as you
would expect, this is a story of the difficulties of owning a less than perfect
dog and breed. Sasha turns out to be non-housebroken, stubborn and difficult to
train, like many beagles. Yoffe describes their first hopeless attempt to train
it, where Sasha graduated last in her training class. Then they find a more
effective trainer but Sasha never does learn to come when called, though she
does improve vastly. In time Sasha becomes a much-loved member of the family,
despite her imperfections and Yoffe turns into a dog lover. Yoffe becomes so
attached to beagles that she ends up fostering a succession of them, in addition
to caring for Sasha. She also details the difficulties encountered when one of
their cats gets upset and starts chronically peeing outside the
litterbox--something many experienced cat owners can relate to.
Yoffe also investigates and reports on the dog world, just as she does with
other worlds as a journalist (go to
http://slate.msn.com and search on "Yoffe" to see more of her writing). She
describes the training of sausage- and bomb-sniffing dogs by the Department of
Homeland Security, her failed attempts to become a pet psychic when she takes an
animal communication class, and her interview with James Serpell, director of
the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Serpell puts forth some radical
ideas for improving dogs as pets. For instance, he explains that creating dog
breeds based on appearance results in many dogs with diseases and poor
temperaments. Since the rescue community requires sterilization of dogs, those
dogs with good temperaments cannot be bred (such as Yoffe's first foster
beagle). Serpell states "I would love to see a movement to forget about dogs'
appearance. Forget It! Produce dogs with very good temperaments, dogs that will
be great pets. Family pets are what ninety percent of dogs are for."
This book is a fun read and entertaining but also full of information about
dogs and the dog world--well worth the price.
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