Welcome, fellow Animal Lover.
This is an invitation to you, someone who cares compassionately about animals, to stay abreast of the changing face of veterinary medicine, new products on the market, and how to navigate it all, including ways to both keep your pets healthy and prevent major health issues from happening down the road.
I am writing to you from south Florida, with my 19-year-old soul cat, Vajra, curled up next to me, my 14-year-old Shepherd/Husky mix, my heart dog, Mollie, keeping an eye on me across the room, and a newly inherited Doodle, Buddy, keeping my feet warm and reminding me to take time to relax and play every day!
I have a holistic concierge veterinary house-call practice in South Florida, ongoing for the past 25 years. In 2022, Substack offered a space where I could write freely about the changes I am witnessing in veterinary medicine without the fear of censorship, shadow-banning, and troll attacks I was experiencing on other platforms.
As I began observing the free-fall of my profession, with the beginning of unregulated pet insurance, and the off-loading of problematic pharmaceuticals into veterinary medicine, writing became my therapeutic tool, a channel to express my concerns regarding the corporatization of this most honorable of professions.
It is one way I can advocate for the animals I love so dearly and who I vowed to care for and protect by taking the Hippocratic oath.
Why I started this newsletter:
A “D-evolution” of the veterinary medical profession is happening these days, echoing the same process in human medicine. Private equity has bought out not only the independent veterinary clinics, but also the veterinary schools, scientific journals and editing boards, and pet food companies.
The FDA is approving new drugs and biologics, including recombinant genetic products with minimal to no safety and efficacy testing nor any regard for ethical considerations for the future regarding the release of man-made genes into the gene pool.
Pet parents are not being given enough information about treatments, medications, or “prescription” foods to be able to make a decision based upon informed consent for their pet. I spend more time in my private practice taking animals off of pharmaceuticals and changing their diets than anything else I do as part of my treatment protocols.
Beyond educating pet owners about new drugs, and what to say NO to regarding treatments, I am also offering ways to keep your pets as healthy as possible to prevent them from developing diseases in the first place.
A couple of my top guiding principles are:
Food is the best health insurance money can buy.
As Hippocrates said, “With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my judgement and means; and I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.”
The cure for cancer is the prevention of cancer in the first place.
Less is better: targeted nutrition, targeted supplementation, targeted herbal medicine, and minimizing toxins going into the body, i.e. vaccines, pesticides, GMOs.
Healthy Animals, Healthy People, Healthy Planet
Our pets are much more than pets. The animals that live with us are our family members. They give us emotional support and companionship in a world where we are more and more isolated from one another. Our animals have become our medical alert systems, our therapists, and a living being with whom we can safely share our deepest thoughts, worries, fears, and concerns.
They are here with us, at this tumultuous, transformative time on Earth, not by accident but as guides, guiding us back to our rightful place within the intricate web of life. The animals that we so intimately share our lives with are one of our last links to our life support system, this planet called Earth.
And they are the “canaries in the coal mine”. Our pets are developing more chronic diseases at earlier ages than ever before. Cancer is greater than 1 in 3, pancreatitis, dysbiosis, diabetes, endocrine disease, arthritis, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and the list goes on, very similar to the list for humans.
Why Subscribe to My Newsletter
If you have a dog or a cat, there is a lot you can do to turn the tide and prevent many of these illnesses. Joining this newsletter and community will give you tools and resources to do just that, as well as meet other pet owners who can provide support and share their experiences.
The first step is to become aware of what not to do in order to minimize harmful substances and toxins from entering the body.
The second step is to improve the diet and begin feeding a clean, minimally processed species-appropriate diet.
The third step is to educate yourself on lifestyle factors that will prevent disease and allow your pets to lead a long, healthy life. Maybe you will learn something to improve your own health along the way.
When you upgrade to a paid subscription and join the Pack,
…you receive access to more than just my essays. You become a member of a community of animal lovers willing to educate themselves so they can provide their pets with the best lives possible.
You will be able to join in conversations to share and support one another on the journey in the chat, and join in on Monthly Group Mentoring zooms (ask me anything Q&A).
Weekly meditations are included in the subscription. It is important to cultivate a peaceful, calm mind to be fully present and be able to hear and communicate with our animals. Meditation is a great form of self-care especially if we are caring for an elderly or chronically ill pet.
The Inner Sanctum of the Pack, the Pack Den
This is the place for those looking for a deep dive into holistic healing. This tier will include more access to me in the form of Q&A and teachings from many schools of healing and modalities including Traditional Chinese Medicine, homeopathy, energy medicine, herbal medicine, flower essences, stone medicine, among others.
I carry a mixture of teachings from the West and East, science and spirituality. I have found that the 5 Elements of Taoism and TCVM provide a wonderful foundation and framework for all of these various schools of thought. We will be following the 5 Elements through the seasons of the Wheel of the Year to ground our understanding of the information.
Some of the things to be included:
seasonal mini-courses
monographs for herbs and supplements
recipes for seasonal feeding and TCVM food therapy
acupressure using touch, oils, flower essences
and so much more!
Supporting my work:
Your paid subscription supports my work so that I may share my teachings and the experiences I have collected over 25 years of clinical practice and a lifetime of experience caring for and living with animals. Every animal that has passed through my hands teaches me something new. I plan on sharing many of those experiences with you.
From me, my animals, and future readers, students, and patients, THANK YOU! May this work help thousands of more animals live a life of health and wellness, free of suffering.
Words from My Readers
"You speak the truth outside the limits of conventional veterinary medicine. " - L. Hoover
"The article "LIBRELA How to Evaluate New Pharmaceuticals and Medical Products" is brilliant & one of the best articles of data I have about Librela. I have spent hours researching & gathering data for my vet who for some reason cannot connect how Librela is linked to my dog's death. Very helpful information, thank you." - B. Morton
"I support your work as we have seen such positive changes with a better diet for our pets. We have little support for that with most vets we have used. " - S. Williams
"I find Dr. Josie's consultations extremely helpful for the health of my 3 German Shepherds. So her advice through this column will only enhance this and add to my knowledge. Bright Blessings," - C. Roadruck
"When you tell the truth, justice is done.Your sharing invaluable information. Our dogs never got commercial dog food. We had GSD and they routinely lived to be 15-17 years old. They rarely went to the vet, never got flea/tick prevention except for a flea collar. I believe pet food/meds are making our dogs sick. You're not afraid to go against the grain and reveal the truth. I want to learn more." - G.Ferris
Other Ways to Connect
Visit my website, drjosiepetvet.com for information regarding in-home and telehealth consultations. I also list my favorite supplement companies and affiliate links if you choose to use them and give me some additional support.
