Avian Flu: Fortifying Your Dog’s Health

Hi, this is Rita Hogan, and welcome to the Dogs are Individuals podcast. I'm a clinical canine herbalist, and I've been practicing for over 20 years. This podcast is all about your dog.

Through an herbal lens.

So let's get to it and dive right in.

Hi, everyone. Hope you're doing well. I am super busy when I'm recording this right now. Tomorrow I leave for my book launch and my book comes out in two days. When you're hearing this, my book has already been out. The launch obviously went fantastic, and I'm on my book tour. So check out my book tour at theherbaldog.com under book tour dates. You're gonna love it. And those are just like the February, early March dates. I am on tour until, God, November. So traveling a couple weeks out of each month, gonna have a blast bringing education, doing the herbal dog live. So check those out. And I was listening to the Inside Scoop this morning with Lee Carroll, who's a mushroom expert, and Dr. Rob Silver. And let's see, Rodney Habib and Karen Becker. And I loved that they mentioned on the show that you could give mushrooms to dogs. Puppies, that is. Mushrooms to puppies. Yes, yes, yes. You can give mushrooms to puppies to puppies. I love that because a lot of herbs should not be given to young puppies, but mushrooms can be given to any age of dog. It is not. They are not the same as herbs. They're different. You know, you don't want to give gargantuan amounts, but you can support the immune system with mushrooms for your puppy. So I was excited to hear about that. Today we are going to talk about what you can do for the bird flu. And I am not concerned about the bird flu too much at all. I think everyone overreacts about it. They end up killing, you know, hundreds of thousands of innocent birdies. But fortifying the inside of your dog's body and your body. Not worried about you getting bird flu, but fortifying the inside of your dog or cat's body is the answer. That's called terrain theory, and I am a big proponent of terrain theory. Mushrooms can help with fortifying the inside of your body. I love real mushrooms, organic extract powders. They are a sponsor of this podcast, but I would love them even when they're no longer a sponsor of this podcast. However, they are sponsoring my book tour. You know, they're super nice to me. I'm going to be honest with you. They are. And I love their support because they've supported me for, oh, my God, eons For years and years and years and years. But they already know that I'm not brand loyal. I told them that in the beginning. You know, you make a good product. I'm going to be brand new loyal. Do I like every product that real mushrooms put out? Nope, I don't, for one reason or another. You know, some have some fillers in it. I don't appreciate it. We've had honest conversations about that. They're trying to improve, but I love their, their bulk powders so much, so much. And I have a lot of dogs that use all of their products. Not my own dogs, but some of my customers, customers dogs. I carry their capsules, I carry their different types of powdered products. The daily dog product, which is a very good product. I carry that one. That's a good daily. You know, I like to cycle in, cycle out product. I sell that on my website. So, like, I'm gonna support someone that's making an effort and making a really good product. And overall, real mushrooms really hits that home. I carry other mushroom products in my store too, so I like carrying a variety of things. But thank you, thank you, thank you for real mushrooms because this podcast would not be available without them. So. Bird flu, okay? Bird flu. You know, people are going a little nutty right now about bird flu. Here's some facts. So the raw pet medics, if you go to their Facebook page, they did a great, great episode on the avian flu.

Okay?

You know, can humans get bird flu? Yes, they can. They can contract bird through, through contact with infected birds and their droppings, like their poopy, okay? So people working on poultry farms, handling sick or dead birds, but being, you know, being bit or scratched by a bird and you know what, what happens? Well, you usually get a cough, some fever. You can get a sore throat, muscle aching, just like any virus, right? Some diarrhea. You know, people that are really immune compromised can get pneumonia. But this is from any type of virus, okay? So we just have to fortify our bodies. Make sure that your vitamin D is high, make sure that you're taking zinc and selenium, that you're taking care of yourself. You're not eating processed food, that you're not eating a ton of sugar. These are all things that affect the immune system. Take your mushrooms, okay? There's the five defenders. Take your mushrooms. Eat mushrooms every day. I eat greens. I eat mushrooms every day. You really want to take care of yourself now? What can we do for our dogs and ourselves against even worrying about the bird flu? Okay, avian Influenza. I'm going to support all my raw feeders. I'm going to support feeding, freeze dried. I'm going to support lightly cooked from Goodness Gracious, who is another lovely sponsor of our podcast. You can lightly cook your food, you can feed freeze dry, you can feed raw.

Okay.

Here's some things that you can do to help yourself and your pets. If you are worried about avian influenza, even though it's been around forever and it's never went away and it's not going to go away. So there's that. So there are a couple of things that you can use. I did a little share on my Facebook page and we went down the rabbit hole of that. But let's talk about a couple things. So mushrooms, Agarikon mushroom. Agarikon mushroom, which is Famitopsis officinalis.

Okay.

They're not the ones that you hear in the news all the time in commercial use and all the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right. They're more of a rare mushroom. They can be cultivated and they are definitely antiviral, antibacterial, anti inflammatory. They modulate the immune system, they support the immune system.

Okay.

So they're really good in times of stress and recovering from illness, but they are a huge antiviral and they have been studied for avian influenza.

Okay.

So Agaricon can support your overall health and they are okay for dogs. Right. Dogs can eat agarican supplements. And so that's one thing that can help prevent and treat avian flu. Another one is what's called angiographis. A lot of people know this one from like Lyme and tick disease. All right. Because Lyme and tick disease. Angiographis is a really great Lyme and tick borne disease remedy. So it's real bitter and it's been used a long time. It's a. I would say it's definitely leaning towards tcm, traditional and Chinese medicine. But it supports immune function, it reduces inflammation, it definitely helps with infection, it modulates the immune system. We really want that to happen. Okay. So it can modulate, which means it's going to give the immune system what it needs to figure out what it needs. Say that five times. It can help regulate the immune system. It supports systemically and again, like Agarikon, it's super good for times of stress and mild illness. I think that these types of things that bring down inflammation that are antiviral, antibacterial, antimicrobial, that modulate the immune system, these are good things for these types of times when we are subject to the fear mongering that is happening right now. We need to protect our bodies from stress. All right? And I think that it's important to have some tools in your toolbox so that you're not getting scared all the time, right? I mean, there's no fun in that. I mean, I don't think there is. I'm sure you don't either. But what do you do? Now? Decaffeinated green tea is effective against avian flu and it's good for prevention, it's good for treatment. Yeah, you don't want it to be your only treatment, but it can be a combination of things. So I think that green tea helps reduce oxidative stress, it's anti inflammatory, it needs to be decaffeinated for dogs.

Okay?

It's an antioxidant, it combats free radicals, it helps the liver, it helps cellular health, it's systemic. These are all things that we need. It reduces inflammation. All right, So I don't think that you need to give your dog green tea like at every meal and you know, turn them green, but it can be included. Now the dosages for these things. Okay, let's look at the dosages for Agarikon. For preventative, you know, you could do like an extra small dog, a sixteenth of a teaspoon two times a day. And then like if you got like a 10 to 15 pound dog, let's do an eighth of a teaspoon two times a day. Like 10 to 20 pounds? Yeah, 10 to 20 pounds, 25 pounds. That, that, that's good. Eighth of a teaspoon. Then you have a medium sized dog, like a spaniel, you know, you can do, and start at an eighth and then move up to a quarter. And then large dogs start at a quarter, move up to a half twice a day. That's for preventative. And then if you're dealing with something, something, then I would probably double those dosages.

Okay.

For the green tea, you know, for extra small dogs, you're going to do like an eighth of a cup. Small dogs, a quarter. Medium dogs, like a third of a cup. Large dogs, half a cup and extra large dogs, a cup. Okay, that's per day. You can divide it in half. The angiographis I would do probably, I would say, I'm thinking maybe a dried powder. You could use a tincture too. But I would do a dried powder for this. And I would probably do, let's see, for like a 10 pound dog, I'd probably do maybe 15 milligrams no, I'm sorry, I lied. Let's see a 10 pound dog, I'd probably do about 5 milligrams as a preventative per day. So 5 milligrams for every 10 pounds, that's what I would do for there. It's bitter and it's concentrated. And then if you were fighting something, something active, then I would definitely go towards doubling that dosage and see how your dog does again. It's really bitter, it can cause stomach upset. Now two remedies that I would use if you're having any issues is black elder phytoembryonic therapy. It's Sambucus nigra. These are, it's that one's neutral to warming. They use the buds of the plant. These are going to be more, you know, severe. However, they do have a gemo which is the 1 to 200. It's more of the homeopathic. You could use that as a preventative. It's safe for autoimmune disease. The gemo, the one to 200, it's more dilute. It's a homeopathic version. You can use that long term. Now the mother tincture which is like a 1 to 10 or 1 to 20, that's the one you can get on my website. You can also get the other one too. But you can find it in commerce all over the place. You look up, when you're looking up a gemotherapy, you look up the Latin name. So Sambucus nigra, Gemo therapy G E M M O T H E R P Y and you'll find it. Cats can have gemotherapy, okay? Cats can have gemotherapy and this one is very good for dogs that are more susceptible to viruses, that have candida overgrowth that might be constipated or damp or have dementia. Dogs that have had a history of gerardia and high cholesterol, high triglycerides, H pylori, high toxic load, hypothyroidism if they've had low circulation. These are all things like CO factors. Kind of helps you pick what one's good for your dog. It's a nasal decongestant, so helps with night blindness. And one of the things it helps is with avian flu, okay? Avian flu, H5N1 is what it's referred to. It's been studied for the H5N1 and the H1N1. So with the gemo therapy, okay, you're going to do for, for cats you're going to do one to two drops, one For a smaller cat, two For a bigger cat, two to three times a day in the mouth with a little water. For extra small dogs, you're going to do the same as a cat. For small dogs, two to three drops. For medium dogs, three to five drops. For large dogs, three to probably six to eight drops. For extra large dogs, probably eight to ten drops. Two to three times a day.

Okay.

But again, for cats, you're going to use the gemotherapy. Okay, the gemotherapy. Another one that has been studied for the avian flu.

Okay.

Is drumroll. Alder. So Alnus incana, you want that Latin name. Okay, Alnus inconta. That's gray Alderman, Aldous Incana. This one's neutral. Any dog's energetics can use it. It's safe. With autoimmune disease, you can use it long term if you need to, but with the flu like this, it's not something you're going to lose long term. Cats can use the gemotherapy just like the elder. And this one is definitely a great remedy that has been studied for the avian flu, the avian influenza. And this one is better for dogs that have, like, a lot of autoimmune disease that can have, like, chronic gastritis, chronic stress, constipation that are deficient. They have dementia, digestive inflammation, they have low enzymes. These are like. They don't have to have all of them. These are, like, some things that help you determine where to start. These dogs may have had food sensitivities or heart inflammation or inflammation in the connective tissue. They might have a history of low food transit, lymphatic stagnation, seasonal allergies, scaly skin, things like that for people, you know, same things, really. But the human note is that, you know, you can know how you feel. Okay? So you can give it to yourself and see how you feel on it. Dogs are a little more tricky, so that's why I like to use the CO factors in there. But you can mix the alder with the elder. Alder elder. Say that a hundred times. Alder elder. Alder elder. And you can mix them. So for. For treating, I like to use the big guns, and that's the phytoembryonic therapies. And you can use the gemmo as a preventative because it's dilute, same dosage as the elder. And those are two really good options so that you don't need to be afraid, you know, you don't need to be afraid. And that's the biggest thing Fear brings down the immune system. Okay? Fear brings down the immune system. And we don't want to do that. You know, we want to breathe. We want to get rid of stress as much as we can. We want to deal with something when it happens. Don't spend all your time waiting for the shoe to drop. Aspen flower essence is awesome for that, by the way. And do a lot of breathing. Your dog loves to breathe along with you. Your dog lives for you, okay? They are in tune with your stress. So make sure that you are breathing. Make sure that you are relaxing, taking care of yourself. Don't live in fear. You know, it's all going to be okay. For sure. It's all going to be okay. So let's practice self care this year as much as we can. I hate to sound corny, you know, I'm not trying to sound corny. I am sounding corny. Okay? I am. But corn is where it's at right now, okay? Organic care, corniness. Because we do need to take care of ourselves. We do need to have fun. We do need to stop worrying every minute of every day if our dogs are going to blow up or we're going to blow up. Right? We need to get in touch with ourselves. We need to get out in nature and breathe and connect and sit. You know, it's beautiful day here today. It snowed. Now, it doesn't snow very much in the Pacific northwest, but on February 2nd, it has snowed. So I'm going to get out and do some crunchiness on the ground. I haven't heard that snow sound for a really long time. And then I'm catching a flight to Chicago. So thank you so much for listening to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here and supporting me along with our sponsors, Real mushrooms. Goodness gracious. Gently cooked pet food. They have a lot of treats, too, so check them out. Goodness graciouspets.com I actually, speaking of that, I am going on book tour and my tour starts officially this coming Saturday on the 8th. I'm actually going to be on the Portland Morning Show. They told me to come. Makeup ready.

Oh, okay.

And the Portland Morning show on the 7th. And on the 8th, I'm going to be at a place called Wild Pet Provisions in Portland with the owner of of Goodness Gracious Pet Foods, Amy Rentz. And I'm totally excited about that. I've heard her speak a few times and she just blew me away. So I'm really excited just to kind of hang out with her. We're gonna do the Q and a together kind of making this up as we go along. She's gonna be with me in Portland, in Eugene, at Healthy Pets and then at Pet Wellness in Ashland, Oregon. So we're gonna, we're gonna be hanging out in Oregon together and just to have that support for from her for my book tour is amazing. So check them out and say a little gratitude to our sponsors. Currently Green Juju, Real Mushrooms and goodness gracious, all sponsoring my tour as well, not just the podcast. So let's say a little prayer of gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you for these lovely people that believe in herbal medicine. Okay, that is phenomenal. They love dogs and they believe in herbal medicine.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app. And don't forget, sharing is caring. So if you love Dogs Are Individuals podcast sharing, share it with your friends and family who love dogs. This will help me so much. And remember, as a listener, I appreciate you much. Thanks to Resonant Media, my podcast production team. This podcast is produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. Any questions, email the show, go to k9herbalist.com Click podcast contact in the menu and then fill out that form and I'll answer any questions here on online. Okay, so thank you so much for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals Podcast and I'm going to talk to you in our next episode. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for veterinary care. This podcast doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor, veterinarian or healthcare provider first before starting anything new. And that includes herbs. I'm not a doctor and I don't treat disease or prescribe anything. I'm a traditional herbalist providing herbal support education only. Regarding any products I may suggest the statements made regarding these products have not.

Been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA approved research. These products are not intended intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here on the podcast is not meant as a substitute or alternative to information from your vet. Please consult your veterinary professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product.