Katy Widger
www.katywidger.com
Ken and I have donated to this fund in Mychal's name,
to honor his memory, to make his loss count for something, and to help
all future dogs and their people confront this state-mandated health
horror inflicted on our beloved pets. Even if you can't donate,
please follow the links at the end of the article to educate yourself
on this issue of over-vaccination and it's terrible health
consequences in our pets.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:05 AM
Subject: Rabies Fund Update -- $20,000 Matching Pledge
RABIES
CHALLENGE FUND
$20,000
MATCHING PLEDGE
Two anonymous donors have generously pledged to match all donations of
$100
or more
to The
Rabies Challenge Fund
up to
$20,000
from May 1st through November 1st. The Fund is
more than halfway towards reaching its immediate goal of $177,000 to
cover the two concurrent challenge studies’ first year expenses so the
research can begin.
The donors state that, “We
are unabashed dog lovers and will do anything in our power to promote
their health, longevity and overall well-being. That is the reason we
have established a $20,000 matching gift program for the Rabies
Challenge Fund. If you believe, as we do and as W. Jean Dodds, DVM,
has stated, that “Rabies is the vaccine most associated with adverse
reactions because it’s so potent”, then please support this
initiative, particularly now so that your $100.00 or more
donation will be doubled.”
The Rabies
Challenge Fund Charitable Trust
is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exemption organization founded by pet vaccine
disclosure advocate Kris L. Christine of Maine in 2005 to finance 5
and 7 year long-term duration of immunity challenge studies on the
canine rabies vaccine. Two world-renowned giants of veterinary
vaccine research -- Dr. W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet and
Co-Trustee of The Rabies Challenge Fund and Dr. Ronald Schultz
of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine -- have
volunteered their time to ensure this important research is conducted
in the United States. The vaccine studies will be performed by Dr.
Schultz at the University of Wisconsin according to USDA vaccine
licensing requirements.
“This
matching pledge offers a marvelous opportunity to reach our goal soon
and begin the study!” Dr. Dodds stated.
The concurrent
vaccine studies will determine the duration of immunity conveyed by
the canine rabies vaccine, with the goal of extending the
state-mandated interval for boosters to 5, and then to 7 years.
Scientific data suggest that
vaccinating dogs against rabies every three years, as most states
require, is unnecessary. Studies have shown the duration of protective
immunity as measured by serum antibody titers against rabies virus to
persist up to seven years post-vaccination, and results of a 1992
French challenge study led by Michel Aubert demonstrated dogs were
immune to rabies five years after vaccination.
Researchers believe the
rabies vaccine can cause adverse reactions in animals and concur that
it should not be given more often than is necessary to maintain
immunity. Adverse reactions to
rabies vaccination can include autoimmune diseases affecting the
thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central
nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy;
and fibrosarcomas at injection sites.
Fund founder and Co-Trustee, Kris Christine, noted that,
"This generous
$20,000 matching pledge presents pet owners with a wonderful
opportunity to double their contributions of $100 or more to help get
the studies underway as soon as possible. The USDA does not require
manufacturers to conduct long-term duration of immunity studies on
canine vaccines, so rabies immunization laws reflect the minimum,
not the maximum time for which vaccination confers immunity.
Vaccine manufacturers lack the financial incentives to conduct this
research, thus it is up to concerned pet owners to fund these studies
to determine whether state laws require their dogs to be
overvaccinated against rabies as current scientific data indicates."
More information
on The Rabies Challenge Fund and the concurrent 5 and 7 year challenge
studies it will finance can be found at the fund’s website designed by
volunteer Andrea Brin at:
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org.
To hear Animal Talk Naturally’s April 25th 2007
interview with Dr. W. Jean Dodds and Kris L. Christine
The
Vaccine Challenge,
click on
http://www.animaltalknaturally.com:80/2007/05/01/the-vaccine-challenge-show-91/
.
Hi Debbie,
Yes, Zeke is doing very
well! I have only noticed one slight tremor this week. He's growing
like the proverbial weed and very active, alert, interested in
everything and loves his natural diet. He's quite the carnivore and
would prefer only his meaty bones, but he also eats his "meatloaf"
with the "extras" and a cooked egg and raw goat cheese and kefir, as
well. He's a reluctant veggie eater, but we get a few down, mostly in
the meatloaf. He's getting a little more adventurous and will try a
berry or piece of apple now and then, too. He dislikes carbs of all
kinds, which is just fine because he doesn't need them and can't
digest them at all.
I have tried to find
out what a traditional Apso diet in Tibet would have been, but could
only find out that they ate land snails from an Australian site.
None of the books I have addresses it. That would have been an
excellent source of animal protein. Do you have any knowledge of what
else they might have eaten traditionally?
He sleeps well in his
crate at night after getting some cuddling time on the bed with us
before bed and early in the morning after he goes out. I'd like to
say he was house trained.......almost. I know he's got the idea.
Virtually every mistake I can attribute to our negligence in some
way. I wish we had a situation where his confinement area was also
attached to his Zeke Door, but it's not. We decided that we had to
start letting him make the decision to go out on his own, or ask us to
let him out, instead of keeping him either confined or tethered to
us. We turned a corner with that approach, and like I said above,
he's making the choice about 95% of the time, and the rest, we just
missed his cue..
He is so very smart and
certainly thinks for himself. He's already well ahead of most dogs
I've had as far as obedience training goes, at his age. He sits, lays
down, heels, walks "nice", comes most of the time and does several
"tricks", including roll over, "leap" (he leaps off the bed into Ken's
arms, up and over, with great delight and enthusiasm!). I'm trying to
teach him to "stay". He's not convinced. I put him in a " down -
stay" out in the yard, and walk away about ten feet. I'll turn
around, and as soon as he makes eye contact, he "zooms" around the
yard and then back to his "stay" position with a little mischievous
grin on his face. Of course, I'm laughing so hard I can't correct
him! He's a clown! He's also a great agility dog.
He has a whole yard
full of interactive "toys", boxes and empty plastic containers,
including a large piece of PVC drain pipe 18" x 4 ft. that he loves
to run through. He rough houses with his boxes and plastic jugs like
he would another small dog, poor baby! His manners are also greatly
improved as he learns the "rules of gentlemanly behaviour!"
Ken and I both read the
article you sent in detail. I'm not surprised at the findings. The
holistic vet I consulted with had advised waiting at least until 9
mos. to a year before neutering Zeke. Ken and I had discussed waiting
beyond that as long as we could. We were concerned with not being
able to find a holistic vet to do the surgery, exposing him to
pathogens in a vet's office since he's not vaccinated, and getting
into the data base of an allopathic vet who would insist on
vaccinating and perhaps "turn us in", or worse, vaccinate without our
knowledge and approval, which the holistic vet warned me about.
She even advised me to
perhaps consider using a "fake" name; to not let him out of my sight;
to wait there the entire time while they did the procedure. And, by
waiting until he was at least 9 mos we would avoid that "window" of
susceptibility to parvo and distemper that he could potentially come
into contact with at a vet's office.
Now, we're thinking
that perhaps it's another unnecessary procedure with more potential
harm than good. Our longest-lived dog was an unaltered Golden
Retriever, who was a wonderful, well-behaved house dog and lived to be
16. ( Our vet at the time just insisted that we switch his "whatever"
diet, including table scraps, lots of meat scraps, Gravy Train and
canned dog food over to Science Diet, which we reluctantly did. He
died with 60 days of that switch, and we have always blamed the
Science Diet. The vet said he had testicular cancer because we had
never neutered him. But he was healthy before the switch. And he had
also had very few vaccinations in his long life.)
Zeke is marking outside
every day. He has his preferred spots and covers them regularly. A
coyote pooped on our driveway the other night, and Zeke smelled it
when we went to get the morning paper. He pooped right next to it,
and now, marks that spot or nearby at the entrance to our drive with
his own pile! He is so very instinctive in so many things! Shows me
that his breed hasn't been tinkered with too much. He buries his
marrow bones and, if he doesn't want his meatballs right then, buries
them, too, under the padding in his two crates, or two beds, or
newspaper, or whatever he can find. Or he carries them outside and
buries them in leaves or yard rubbish, or in the flower beds.
If he continues to be a
good boy and not mark in the house (he hasn't yet), we will delay
neutering him as long as possible, with your permission. We have no
intent or desire to breed him and would always honor that commitment
to you. His health is our first concern.
He is a delight and a
sweet little man, Debbie. We love him with all our heart. It is our
desire and goal to have the healthiest, happiest, longest
lived little Apso on the planet and we will do whatever is necessary
to achieve that goal. He's my little man, and he loves me so good! Ken
says he "pines" for me when I'm gone. He just wants to be a good boy,
and he tries so hard. He's the perfect little guy for us and our
lifestyle.
As with our own health
choices, in avoiding allopathic medical practices and drugs, and the
SAD (Standard American Diet), we realize that we are going "against
the current thinking and practice" in vet medicine, also. Some of
that is a little scary, but most of what we are doing is only good,
common sense and has already proven to be the right path both for us
and our animals. And it is a journey that we can only take one step
at a time as we learn and grow in knowledge and experience. We pray
for our animals daily, that God would guide us and lead us in the
correct way to care for them.
Let us know what you
think about all this....
Warmest regards,
Katy
Katy Widger
www.katywidger.com
Hi Debbie,
Hope you are well and the spring snow has melted!
I have a question regarding grooming Apsos. Since
Zeke came home with us, I have been (trying to ) brush him almost
every day, first with a gentle bristle brush and now with a soft
wire card that I used on my "tender skinned" white poodle, Camille,
years ago. We are also trying to get him used to the sound and
appearance of the clippers.
I have never had a dog that didn't like to be brushed
and fussed over, until Zeke. Sometimes he simply refuses to be
brushed, period. And I doubt, by his reaction to the clippers, that
we will ever get within ten feet of him with what he must consider a
"scalping" device! When he was much younger, he did seem to enjoy
it and would even roll onto his back for me to brush his belly. And
while he doesn't much care for the soapy part of his bath, he does
seem to enjoy the warm water flowing over him, and he is
ecstatically enthusiastic once he's out and "clean"! But I've got
to get him brushed, first.
I realize that dogs like poodles, who have been
extensively groomed for centuries, must have it in their genes to at
least submit to regular grooming, and that dogs like Apsos probably
have no predisposition to grooming at all. But, obviously, all
these beautifully brushed, bathed and somewhat trimmed Apsos that
grace the pages of books and websites, have learned to at least
tolerate the attention.
Help! I don't want to force him to do anything! In
fact, it's impossible to force him to do anything he doesn't want to
do and I don't want to even go there. But I've got to brush and
bathe the stinky little guy! Even giving him his very favorite
treats (fresh chunks of lamb meat!) aren't enough of an inducement
to behave. Any suggestions you can offer will be greatly
appreciated by those of us on whose head he sleeps!
Otherwise, he is wonderful, healthy, eats well and
behaves like the nutball adolescent Apso he is! Everyone just
adores him.
Thanks!
Katy
Thank you! I
can do this, although I do have to wonder, sometimes, if I
AM smarter than this particular dog! He's got to be right up there
with the smartest I've ever had. He's certainly a thinking little
being.
I do have a loop on
the table, will use it, and have been combing him also. We (it took
two of us :) did manage to brush and bathe him on
Saturday. (I swear I have given cats a bath with more cooperation,
but he did much better this time than in previous baths. Last time
we tried, I think he was in a bad mood because he was teething. I
should have picked another day.) He's so beautiful when he's clean
and brushed! At present, we don't want to clip him at all and will
see how it goes with brushing and grooming. He's not as much of a
Velcro boy as our poodles were, but then, he's a lot lower to the
ground and the "dust busting" aspects of his hair seem to pick up
whatever they brush up against. He always has a butt full of hay
and alfalfa, which fall out easily (as does the garden dirt he
loves to dig in), so all he really needs to learn to continue his
most fun dog like behavior is to simply let us brush the stuff out
every day!
We got baby chickens
in the mail today, and they are brooding nicely. Zeke is
fascinated! But very respectful. He won't get any direct contact
with the chickens, but if he makes the connections with breakfast
egg/chickens the way he has with warm goat milk/goats, he'll
probably "love" them, too! He's a clown! He demands first dibs on
a splash of warm goat milk every morning, and then all is right in
his little world.
He is really a
"dog", Debbie, and I say that as a high compliment. We are charmed
by his funny, curious and occasionally stubborn ways, and wonder
how much is pure "Apso" and how much is unique Zeke. He has his own
favorite "tricks" ( he taught himself "spin around" and does that if
you ask him for a generic "trick". And he loves to leap into your
arms! He knows just how to do it, and you better be ready! He
buries his bones, loves to dig, likes to play in water, and loves to
Zoom! and will do it "on command" if he feels like it. He's got
such a rich personality, the depths of which I'm sure we've only
begun to see!
Will let you know how
it goes.
Katy
Greetings from the Widger Place!
Our first year as "goat keepers" of two Swiss
Oberhasli does culminated in a delivery April 12 by Maggie (black
goat) of two goat kids, not without difficulty.
We had to call in the "goat midwife", Donna Lockridge,
to assist with the birth, and she discovered a full breach kid stuck
in the birth canal. She untucked the kids legs and pulled her out,
backwards, and then went back in to fish out her brother!
Without her help we would surely have lost them
all, and we are supremely grateful for her expertise and generosity in
coming out at a moment's notice to assist! Maggie refused them, after
the trauma of their birth, so I find myself a substitute "goat mom".
Paloma weighed 7 lbs. and has a little white feather on her head.
Pablo was 9 lbs. and is all boy.
Picture on the right they are drinking their morning
bottles (yes, those are "beer" bottles with nipples attached! The
rubber band marks the measure of Maggie Milk allotted for their
morning drink. They think their mom wears blue jeans! The fuzzy
thing in between Paloma and Pablo is Zeke, who thinks they are "his"
goats, since they spent three nights in the laundry room, and he helps
clean their butts! He does truly love them and is kind and gentle.
And he LOVES fresh goat milk! As do we all!
They grow right before your eyes and have now been dis-budded
(you must burn off their horn buds as soon as they appear, which is an
unpleasant procedure for all, but must be done). We are going to
keep these two, but in the future will keep only one additional doe
for a stable of four does. Paloma and Pablo will earn their keep
also as mascots for my line of goat milk soap. And I'm hoping to
train Pablo as a pack goat and to pull a cart. He'll be the mascot
for our Raindance Blackberries, as well.
Ken's busy building a deluxe chicken coop, for our baby
chicks who will arrive soon.
Life is good with never a dull, or free, moment around
here! Those of you who are local are welcome to come by and see for
yourself how indescribably cute, soft and cuddly they are!
"My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, and
all creatures shall bless His holy name forever and
ever!" Psalms 145.21
Love and blessings to you all!
Katy, Ken and all Widger Creatures, great and small!
His
black puppy hair is growing out and leaving behind silver and gold
with black points on his ears, muzzle and tail. He's very beautiful!
He really seems to want to keep his hair long, so we will accommodate
him, as long as he understands that he must be brushed, bathed and
trimmed regularly. And he's getting much better at that, too. I'm
trying to learn how to trim his "bangs" in that inverted V in order to
just keep his vision clear. And how to trim his muzzle hair to allow
him to eat his meat and chew his bones without it clinging to him all
day long! We'll learn! (My first attempt is growing out: he was
definitely a "moving target"!) There's a great photo on my "Apso"
calendar for the month of June of a beautiful silver Apso with his
long hair cut in a way I'd like Zeke to wear his. And it's obvious
that this Apso in the picture has an "attitude", too, just like Zeke.
He's not a show dog, he just likes his long hair. Sorta like the "Fonz"!
From
Ken:
While this may sound a little strange to some folks, I must tell you
what happened recently. As a pilot, I am often out of town, and must
leave Zeke home to protect my wife Katy and the parrots, goats, and
chickens. That is his job: sentinel. He takes his job very seriously
too.
One night when I was gone, the dogs in the neighborhood began barking.
This is not unusual, since there are a lot of dogs in the
neighborhood. There are also lots of rabbits, quail, ravens, and
coyotes at which to bark. Most people who know dogs know that the
alarm bark of a dog is different than the “I am bored” dog bark. Zeke
will ignore the routine barking, but he listens intently to the alarm
barks. These particular barks elicited a very intense reaction from
him. Katy got out of bed and took him outside, where the conversation
taking place was more audible. Katy asked him, “What is it Zeke? What
are they saying?”
Now, I know that dogs are amazing at understanding human speech and
responding appropriately, but when Katy told me she received what
amounted to a telepathic image from Zeke, I was skeptical to say the
least. Yet as she told me the story, I had no reason to doubt her
since her love and empathy for critters is well known. She was so
excited that she called the hotel to tell me the story.
“Bear”, she said Zeke had told her. The dogs are alarmed about a bear.
Not a coyote, not a person, but a bear. Now we have never in 15 years
had any bears in our neighborhood, or even close by. So I passed it
off as a sleepy wife and overly protective Apso and hung up the phone.
But the next day, as I drove home from the airport, there was a young
black bear in a tree down the street from our house. Game and Fish,
and animal control were there along with the State Police. There WAS a
bear!
Now I don’t pretend to know how this is possible, but it seems that
Zeke communicated to my wife what he heard those other dogs say. I
have no doubt that many would try to pass this off as coincidence, but
I think not. It must be true. Zeke, the Apso said so.
Hi Debby,
I'm lovin' your blog and all the
wonderful people of both canine and humankind you "meet" there!
Zeke continues to grow into the fine
man he will become, and we continue to learn more and more from him
every day. He's very healthy, eats well, and is house trained when
he wants to be (most of the time - I think his "accidents" are nothing
of the sort - they are deliberate statements of his discontent with
me or some aspect of his life at that particular moment!). He gets
along very well with all our critters, and other animals we meet
outside our home on occasional excursions. (He had an enchanting
encounter with the largest horney toad I've ever seen the other day -
wish I'd had a camera with me!) He has attempted to engage in an
appropriate and playful manner every other dog he has met. They have
not all returned the gesture in kind, but Zeke has not failed to be
kind to them, nonetheless.
Which brings me to my query. He has no
one to play with as dogs play. We play with him, of course, but we
can't engage him in the rough and tumble that dogs do, and the birds
and goats can't, either, even though they seem to enjoy him and engage
him in conversation of a silent kind.
He has a very confident personality,
and is not afraid of being left alone. If he were an older dog, I
wouldn't hesitate to be satisfied with him as an "only dog". But he's
a baby. He needs to play, and he loves to play!
I don't think I can do the puppy thing
again so soon. If we were to consider another dog, I think a slightly
older spayed female would be appropriate, but Zeke would probably get
along with another male dog, too, as long as the issue of jealousy
(over me) didn't arise. From what I've read about Roadie, Zeke seems
to be very much like him, so you would know better than I at this
point, who would be an appropriate companion for our little
(sometimes!) demon-child (I really laughed at that description of
Dante!). I have asked Zeke many times recently if he would like to
have another dog come and live with us, but I can't tell you for
certain if he has answered in the affirmative or not! Sometimes he's
agreeable to whatever I ask, as in, "Are you hungry?" "Bark!" "Would
you like to eat a moose?" "Bark!". I certainly don't want to take on
the responsibility of another dog if Zeke doesn't want one! I don' t
know how to know, for sure. I just know that he is my special boy and
I love him with all my heart and I want him to be
emotionally fulfilled and content.
We would certainly consider a "rescue"
dog, or any other appropriate Apso that you might recommend. Right
now, we can't afford to spend a great deal, either. There are a lot
of small dogs in the Albuq. area, but not a lot of Apso's, mostly
Shih-Tzu's and crosses. I am open to any suggestions/advice you care
to offer. I have no time frame in mind, either. I am also concerned
about the general health of any other dog we might bring into our
home, since Zeke remains unvaccinated. (The vet told me months ago
that the best thing I could do to "immunize" Zeke against parvo and
distemper was to have him play with a newly vaccinated puppy.) As
long as another dog wasn't actively ill, I don't think I'd be too
nervous. Our first choice would be an Apso of your recommendation.
I will also take your professional
recommendation to heart if you tell me that you think Zeke will be
fine as an only dog, too. I have his best interest in mind here,
moreso than our desire to have another dog. We certainly have enough
love in our hearts for two dogs, but, having only Zeke right now, he
fills my heart with so much love I am certainly full!
Blessings to you,
Katy
Hi Debby!
Zeke weighs,
as of last night, 15 -1/2 #. When he was 36 weeks old, he weighed
15.6, so he's gained 2 ounces since July 14. I weigh him every 4
weeks, and he gains steadily. I am feeding him the best diet I can
conceive of, very similar to the one the lady wrote about in this
month's issue of Whole Dog Journal, the one with the black lab named
Chloe. And he's actually eating veggies now, too. I fermented some
and tried again with those, a teaspoon at a time, (those are actually
the best for him), but he's now also eating fresh buttered green beans
and zucchini (just picked from the garden and off our plates!)
Whatever it takes to get these kids to eat their veggies!
Zeke on 8-13-07 I have
to use the "sport mode" on the camera, and catch him when he pauses
before "zooming" off again!
I've given him two
haircuts now, the last about three weeks ago. I'm learning! And he's
better at cooperating.
I'm also
feeding him a small amount of a Wysong kibble that is intended to be a
supplement for raw diets. That's just for "insurance" . He gets
a great balance of calcium/phosphorus through the raw goat's cheese
and kefir, and the raw meaty bones he eats (chicken necks and the
outer two-thirds portion of chicken wings). His poops are just like
they're supposed to be!
He's got great
muscle tone and his teeth are awesome - straight, not crowded and
gleaming with no trace of tarter. The good, straight teeth speaks to
generations of good maternal nutrition, thank YOU very much!
We're all
excited about having a new member of the family! Whatever you and
Julie decide, whenever, is great with us. I'm sure Zeke will be
delighted. We've always had two dogs, except for the time between
Camille's death in Dec. 04 and Mychal's death in '06, during which
time he had the seizures and another dog wasn't appropriate. Zeke
exhibits such a friendly nature to all critters, including almost all
humans (there are still some he is quite aloof to, and I take notice)
that I'm sure he will be smitten!
The goat milk
soap has been my project since late winter. It's just another step in
our plan for a complete "bio-dynamic" synergistic farming lifestyle -
the grand experiment! We barely have time to work on the websites,
and I haven't painted since May (will get back to that in the fall and
winter, after harvest). This is a very intense lifestyle to say the
least. When people ask what I do, I tell them I'm a "farm wife"!
That almost comes close to describing it!
Well, got
veggies to put up, cheese in the pot, and berries to pick! It's a
good life!
Blessings to
you and the Apsos,
Katy
Zeke loves his goats!
This is Maggie, mother of the twins
born earlier this year, finishing up in the milking shed, heading back
to the goat pen. Zeke always gives her a hug on the way out, and they
interact for a minute or two. They are good friends. Maggie has never
shown any fear of him; on the contrary, she was attracted to him from
the beginning. He loves to drink his bowl of warm Maggie Milk every
morning, and lick our Goat Milk Ice Cream bowls in the evening.
Thanks! We
agree that the "hand off" needs to be as soon as possible, and we will
plan on that time frame, depending on the variables of your trip to MN
and Ken's flying schedule. We're pretty flexible. Also, I guess I just
assumed she would be spayed in MN and healed up by the time she
arrives here. Much better for her to undergo such trauma with her
own vet, and recuperate in her comfortable home setting with her loved
people at her side.
And, giving
the time frame of almost two months from now, we will have the funds
to complete the transaction by then, if that's OK. We were just
thinking of needing to send a check 'today' instead of two
months from now. Big difference. We'll write Julie and see what she
desires.
We're all very
excited! This will be "Christmas" for all of us! Just like Zeke was
last year!
I'll send this
to Julie, also.
Off to cut
winter fire wood!
Katy
He came to live with us on January 19, when he was 11 weeks old. But I
began loving him just a few weeks after his birth, before we'd ever met.
We named him Zeke. I sent him a little toy, which I carried around with
me inside my shirt for a day, to get it all properly scented and
introduce him to his new mom's smell. To this day, it is the only toy
out of a whole box full that he cares anything about. It goes with him
everywhere. 
