Here’s another much misunderstood function of the body – detoxification. While I don’t intend for this to be explored in depth in this blog post, I will point you to where you can learn more.
When the body is properly nourished and supported, following all of the laws of health mandated in nature (rather than the status quo by man), detoxification will often be more gentle, and the person will recognize the symptoms of detoxification that are needed or recognize them as they are happening either in their own body or that of their dog.
Most modern people don’t understand this process any longer and will run to a doctor or veterinarian to get the symptoms cleared up rather than allowing the body to do what it needs to in order to re-balance itself. Doctors don’t understand this process any better than their patients sad to say because they and veterinarians are taught about disease in school and how to treat it with drugs rather than about nutrition, laws of health and how to prevent disease.
If you want to know how to do that properly, I encourage you to get guidance. (See below)
Today I want to share with you an interesting thing that has happened with my own dog King as I began his detoxification process. He was weaned to kibble and had puppy shots as far as I know. I typically do neither and it is why I prefer to get my own dogs from a natural rearing breeder – because they wean to raw and don’t vaccinate but build up the immune system naturally.
My friend who had King before me had switched him to a raw diet which greatly helped him. But King still had issues I recognized and have been dealing with. I like doing the detox slow so that it is more gentle. With King though for some reason I began rather aggressively. I suppose I take more liberties when it is my own pet than with a client.
I usually only ever apply quality, branded (non-store bought, non-synthetic, non-pesticide grown) essential oils to the spine of my dog – putting the oils in my hand and “petting” him with the oils. But with King I began applying them to his paw pads and even in between his toes. I believe now it was just part of my intuition to detox something that was in his feet – petrochemicals of the asphalt kind!
I don’t recommend this to people because the dog’s feet is where they sweat from and also they have scent glands there so it is a sensitive part of their body. King’s feet became red and tender. This little essential oil process I only did for about a week. I used other things but I also noticed yeast in his ears and coming from his feet – they had that funny smell a yeast overgrowth always emits.
He was very tenderfooted on our walks of course. He was adjusting to us, a new home, and tender feet, poor boy. But during this short process I noticed some weird, tar like substance coming out from his toenails. It was sticky and tar-like. And then it hit me – it had to be from the asphalt that he was previously walked on everyday. That’s why he never needed a nail trim until he came to us – because he kept his toenails worn down from the walks on the asphalt and sidewalks.
Well now he needs weekly nail trims because he is only walked on dirt out here in my semi-rural desert neighborhood. And the black tarry stuff is almost gone.
I began gently washing his feet at first in a mixture of warm water and a very gentle, natural cleanser.
Funny thing is I read an article by veterinarian, Dr. Melissa Shelton, shortly after beginning this journey with King that she had similar reactions in pets with the essential oils being used on the feet so she is now recommending people not put them on the feet for the very reasons I mentioned before: they have sweat and scent glands there and will detoxify FAST. That can be scary for pet owners and not very comfortable for the pets either.
I am glad I did this though as it got that nasty asphalt, tar, and other petrochemicals out of King’s feet. But his feet were tender and I had to pamper them and him along the way. He is SUCH a trooper though – very stoic little guy as most animals are since their wild-nature dictates that as a survival mechanism.
You can still detoxify them by diffusing the oils and it is gentler – allow them to the ability to leave any room you diffuse in. No need to force them for any reason. It will take longer but those petrochemicals will still come out if you stay the course – the oils do that job very nicely. And your pet won’t have tender, sore feet in the process 🙂 *
Additionally you can do some reading/researching and learning about the detoxification process for yourself, family and your own dogs. Or just take our holistic dog program and learn it from us!
DISCLAIMER: All information contained in Aspenbloom Pet Care is intended for educational purposes only. It is not provided in order to diagnose, prevent or treat any disease, illness or injured condition of the body or pets and the author, publisher, and contributors accept no responsibility for such use. Anyone or their pets suffering from any disease, illness or injury should consult with their physician or veterinarian. The statements herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
PHOTO ATTRIBUTION: King, by Dr. Kim Bloomer. Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved.
Kim Bloomer, V.N.D., N.D. is an animal naturopath as well as being certified in small animal nutrition, with years of experience in animal wellness. Dr. Kim is a published author, writer, and blogger. Subscribe to her DOGgone Newsletter for updates or to her blog via email. Copyright ©2005-2024 Aspenbloom Pet Care, Dr. Kim Bloomer, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the Author/Publisher. This article is intended to be educational. However, it is not intended to be a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified animal health professional. Dr. Kim Bloomer and Aspenbloom Pet Care, do not assume any legal responsibility for misuse of the products discussed in this article. The only essential oils referenced on this website are Young Living.
