and this summer she became interested
in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
and gemmotherapy for pets.
“I enjoy learning about how some foods
cool, some foods warm, neutral foods
and that some foods are used to capture
and remove toxins,” Jane explained. “It is
all about fi nding balance within the body
to help it heal. Remove toxins, replace
nutrients and restore health are the goals
I have for the sickly dogs that come in my
shop. More and more people are
educating themselves on natural healing
of their pets but we have a long way to
go. The media has instilled in pet parents’
mind that nutrition comes from a bag of
processed foods containing synthetic
vitamins and ingredients from China. I can
assure you, it does not.”
Jane stressed that, in the wild, dogs
would not eat meat every day. They had
access to fruit and vegetables, and had
meat only when they could catch it.
“There are many pictures I have seen of
even coyotes eating pumpkins in
pumpkin patches, climbing trees for
apples and so on,” she said. “My three
dogs do not eat the same thing day after
day. They are on a mostly raw-fed diet but
I mix things up all the time. In case I am
missing certain nutrients today maybe
tomorrow I will capture that missing
nutrient in another feeding the next day.”
Nutrition, Jane said, is the foundation
for good health. What you feed your pet
impacts your pet’s immunity, gut health
and disease risk. Using treatments such as
pharmaceuticals that suppress
symptoms and suppress the immune
system are not healthy, nor natural. In fact,
Jane said, many of the medications
commonly given to dogs today can
impede natural healing.
“Symptoms ARE the cure - they are what
heal the body,” she said. “The toxin is
being eliminated through the skin
because there is either too much of it
circulating in the lymph and bloodstream
for the other eliminative organs (kidneys
and liver) to deal with, or the
eliminative organs are too slow to
manage the process, or the genetic
disposition of your
dog is such that
Kevin
the toxin prefers to
use the skin. So you
see how something
that suppresses
this process of
elimination isn’t
actually helping
to heal - it’s just
stopping that process. And whatever
chemicals seep through the skin
compound the problem. Allowing the
process to happen and using the least
toxic treatments (like aloe, cool tea
compresses, etc.) when quality of life is an
issue, is how you can help your pet heal.”
Last year Jane adopted another Boston
terrier that was in really bad shape. His
name is Kevin Amherst Wigglesworth: A
proper “Boston” name.
Jane said his troubles started with
taking a product called Comfortis for fl ea
and ticks. This led to seizures and other
health issues. He also had a brain tumor,
and was a regular patient at University of
Florida Small Animal Hospital.
“He had a spinal tap just a few days
before arrival at my home,” Jane
remembered. “The UF Small Animal
Hospital had his previous owner so
in debt, running all these tests and
prescribing drugs, she could no
longer afford do it – neither fi nancially
or emotionally. It was very hard for
her to give him up. He and I bonded
immediately. It was like he knew this is the
woman that was going to try and restore
him back to health, and give him a forever
home. He loved all his new foods, like fruit
and raw meats and raw bones. I slowly
weaned him off his medicine regime, and
I was appalled to realize he had been on
prednisone for a year. I loaded him up
with pre-and-probiotics, along with a host
of other nutrients he was clearly missing.
I threw away his anti-nutrient synthetic
kibble. He was so hot to the touch from
all the infl ammation; he would sleep a lot,
barely interacting with Harvard, my other
dog, or Penny. He just wanted me to hold
him.”
November/December • 2020 • GASPARILLA MAGAZINE 75