Welcome And Today’s Question

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to the Animal Naturopathic Medicine Educator Podcast, specializing in canine, feline, and equine animal health from a biological perspective. Today your hosts are myself, Leslie and Ashley. Hello, Ashley. Hello, Leslie. How are you? I'm good. How are you? Good. Good, good. All right. So today we are discussing naturopathic principles and why does it matter? So I think it is important to cover one of the least debated aspects associated within naturopathic medicine, and that is the principles, and just as important is the lack of philosophical understanding. Whilst neuropathy fits into the sphere of biological sciences, this does not pertain to just human naturopathy, but the naturopath in question has specifically studied and has correctly applied knowledge of an animal's biological requirements. Therefore, what should be the treatment principles of an animal naturopath? Well, number one, they have studied and are qualified in the biological form of the animal. And I am sorry to say, but human naturopath naturopaths do not learn the biology of animals. And whilst the animal may also be a mammal, they are distinct as a carnivore or say a herbivore, and have completely different requirements of nutrient compounds suited to them, specifically as an individual species.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like naturopathic medicine really does set itself apart from other health modalities. Like you see, if we look at Eastern medicinal cultures, um, and particularly what they will be studying, so namely aviatic or traditional Chinese medicine, for example, uh, there is like this underpinning belief system that accompanies their field of therapeutics. And there is a belief that like the physical body is simply one aspect that needs to be addressed. And this is a common thread that actually arises between these two therapies when considering a human's mental, physical, and emotional state, and like whether the human is running too hot, too cold, sleeping well, eating well, and so on. But like in the world of animals where, like, yes, they can display these conditions or symptoms as we would be looking at them, um, but they they cannot speak. They cannot speak for themselves what it is that they're actually feeling. So far too often there is this unfortunate focus on the majority of treatment products that will use like too many ingredients or try to like remedy a condition, symptom. And it's like throwing everything in at once without properly understanding the cause and the biochemistry of that particular condition. So if we

Why Animal Biology Comes First

SPEAKER_01 3:25

look at like the underpinning philosophy and principles that is adopted and applied to each individual human within these types of realms, there is like a structured input drawing from like hundreds of years of experience with these other modalities that has been handed down from like generation to generation. But that is exactly the point. It is human-focused and not animal focused. Like these centuries-old practices of these particular modalities are all based on the human body and how then the human body reacts towards these treats. Hence why a lot of the philosophies and the principles of these particular modalities can't actually be transferred with the same intent to animals. Like, yes, uh, like cats and humans, okay, they're both mammals, but the anatomical structures of a cat compared to a human, they're vastly different. Like, and hence why then the evidence-based research of these practices on animals is so low and almost non-existent in some cases. Like an animal cannot talk, yet if there is a biological understanding of the individual species, then this should not matter. Like, this is where, as animal owners, like we need to be aware of like what are the medicinal principles that should be applied, i.e., like a qualified animal naturopath that can rationalise and then benefit the biological essence of the individual species specifically.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah, it's exactly right. Of course, the use of herbs is a cornerstone of the Eastern cultures as well as in our own Western culture of neuropathy. Yeah. But one thing to note that really sets the naturopathic principles apart is how herbal medicine originally was applied commonly, holistically, in the beginning, and was in essence an extension of what we now class as the biological sciences. Yeah, yeah, that's correct. But it might be just me, but don't you think the overuse of the word holistic in this modern era has become much more of a reductionist and has drifted away from the original naturopathic origins of looking at the whole body, including lifestyle, you know, exercise enrichment or maybe physiotherapeutic exercises and muscle skeletotherapy, and of course, there's diet, you are what you eat, or what you are designed to eat. We always say that holistic should be spelt with the added W to really change the practitioner's perspective, highlighting what we are trying to focus on, which is the whole body, the whole individual and whole environment or ecosystem that the individual animal is existing in.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Yeah, I completely agree. Like if we look at those that are considered the first to create and apply these original naturopathic like philosophies and philosophies and concepts, um, like Hippocrates, for example, like he said, it is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has, or Pericelsus, even like he said, the art of healing comes from nature and not from the physician. Therefore, the physician must start from nature with an open mind when it comes to treatment.

Holistic Means Whole Animal

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Like these two quotes, like they really show that being able to look at the whole and not just the individual parts or symptoms that might be shown, they should always be the first point of healing, or your first point of what you should be focusing on. As not all healing comes from the same place, just as like all forms of dysfunction don't come from the same origin of cause.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yeah, yeah. But you know, like some manufacturers of animal supplements and herbal products have sunk to a new low in my opinion, but you know, others as well. Um, and how they are putting together these vitamin, mineral, and herbal treatments and giving those bottles of medicine a name that is also linked to a particular pathology. An example of this is where you will see such providers who will have a kidney formula or a cardiac formula or a liver tonic and it goes on. So these types of remedies are not only fraught with danger, but clearly lack the understanding of a true biological, nutritional, and herbal philosophy in treating an animal correctly with prescribed ingredients that will, one at a time, target the whole animal from the inside out to the outside in, and incorporating every aspect of their existence and then seeking to put together the treatments for each individual lifestyle, and that will combine to support recovery and align with whatever the conditions that are being presented. Yeah. Yeah. See, like you see, if you if we don't have the right principles of what is true and correct for the individual animal, biologically these remedies and supplements are being prescribed the same as humans, but under the banner of, say, maybe mammals. Yes. Instead of understanding the biological form of, say, an obligate or a misocarnivore compared to horses as a herbivore, you know, these are a monogastric high-gut

The Risk Of Condition Named Products

SPEAKER_00 9:10

fermenter and they have no gallbladder. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. So the the industry of animal herbal and complementary supplementation is simply not governed or regulated correctly. The array of non-regulated animal products applied under the name of natural complementary herbal or naturopathic medicine and supplements are not actually naturopathic in their principles at all. No. As there is no control on what people can do, and in particular, to actually basticise our strict naturopathic medicine principles just so they can sell products directly to the public or to practitioners and who maybe, you know what, a little bit on the lazy side, or they're just not educated enough to know how to put together a formula to meet the specific and special needs of the individual animal's biology

Case Study That Exposes The Flaw

SPEAKER_00 10:05

that is being presented in clinical practice.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah, that kind of reminds me, like a few years ago, um, there was a student that had said to me, like, oh, you know, surely it's easier to work with the formulas that are pre-made because they then, you know, won't make a mistake. It's already, you know, tried and tested. And like, so this particular student, they were referring to a patient, like case study. And one of the cases was to that was being presented, uh, it had like low energy and cold pores. And there was like currently on the market a traditional Chinese medicine cardiac tonic that was being put together by a quite a large manufacturing company, I won't say who. Um, and this was being marketed to pets to help improve circulation within the body. And so then the student had said, like, oh, well, surely wouldn't that be safe to use then the ingredients that's being used in this product, like for this patient example? And of course, like my response to this was, well, what is the full clinical presentation of like from that initial consultation? Like, is it going to be correct? To which the case study example also presented with, yes, constipation and abdominal bloating, but usually has like runny stools, like within an hour after a walk, had previously been diagnosed with arthritis in the hips and the lower back two years ago. But it had recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and possible pre-diabetes like stage, which this underlying health issue of chronically cold pores in dogs, yes, it usually does point to poor circulation, heart problems, but one that often always gets overlooked is then the metabolic conditions like hyperthyroidism, which is widely known to cause cold pores, and hyperthyroidism was actually contraindicative to the herbs that were being suggested in this particular cardiac tonic that this student was wanting to use. So, okay, it is true that this dog had the cardiac pore circulation presentation, but it's a secondary element that we're looking at here. So if we are adopting our maturopathic principles and the philosophy and our absolute focus of the whole dog and the whole health, surely then we are looking at a slow and sluggish body circulation not working very well, the stagnation of the digestive system. This really needs to be addressed. But the runny stools after a walk that this particular case study had, that really does point to then the adrenal overload, perhaps with possible pain and discomfort from the arthritis. The dog has to get their adrenaline up in order to like go for a walk. So I know that there's probably a lot that you could add to this particular scenario when it comes to that. But um, like my point is that this cardiac tonic is only one thing that is going to address a single aspect of this dog's health that was in this case study. And the product then is not going to be biologically appropriate or really address the whole dog.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Yeah, exactly. So it's

Whole System Thinking And Blood Work

SPEAKER_01 13:35

a big example. Like I kind of went on a bit, but you get to.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

But if you're following the underpinning philosophy of the naturopathic paradigm, it this means the treatment formula must address the whole perspective. Understand what we believe to be the primary problems, which has led to secondary bodily dysfunction across several body systems. It's a whole system approach. And if you understand each of the internal organs and their working role within the body, you can then look at the variables of dysfunction that can cause the disruption of that body system and the ill health that will be occurring. Yes, yeah. So, which may be the circuitry system with sluggish blood flow or maybe an inappropriate diet for an arthritic dog, or with the development of hypothyroidism, the digestive breakdown may be the reason why the cardiovascular system became dysfunctional in the first place. Yes. And these other patterns should be looked at and addressed. But blood work in this case will speak volumes in curating the naturopathic approach. Yes. So I, you know, still, I still think it's absolutely mandatory for us when we start thinking about being a naturopath or a Western herbalist. We need to be thinking that our principles and our philosophy is never deviating from knowing how to treat the whole cause of the illness, always ensuring that we understand the anatomical systems of the animal we are treating, always ensuring that we understand medications that are currently being prescribed by veterinarians, and that contraindications are definitely considered.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Yes, like and thinking along the lines of what is the presentation of the whole animal? Yeah. What are the functions and dysfunctions displaying in the body's systems? And what do we need to do to bring about slow and sustainable changes to improve health from the inside out? Like healing may be slow and steady when using the naturopathic principles as we are aiming to make changes within the complex workings of the animal's internal and external anatomy, like through the biological science. Like these changes to diet, supplements, physical therapies, herbal medicine are all engaging in their chemistry on a cellular level within each of the body systems, and then how those body systems talk and interact to each other. We are dealing with a broad base of chemistry that has this multi-action and activity and synergism that is taking place simultaneously. And these permanent changes to the living cells of our animals, they take time to work.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah, exactly. I agree. And I really want to stress the importance of working with the underpinning principles that we should be working with, and that is literally not only verbalizing that we follow the naturopathic paradigms that align with biological sciences, but rather actually applying

Slow Change And Core Takeaway

SPEAKER_00 16:50

it every minute of every day that we are in clinical practice with animals and never losing sight of the fact that the whole body aspect of understanding their symptomology and therefore the animal's systemology is of the greatest importance for each animal. I know. I love that. I know our symptomology systemology. Okay, so I think we should leave it there because that's finishing on a great note and and the importance of a of what we were talking about today. Yes. All right, thanks again, everybody.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Bye for now.