Pet Testimonials
Dog asthma. Watch how fast it goes when you put sea salt on your finger & put it in your dog's mouth. Sprinkle some on food & on water. Once the asthma is gone just sprinkle some on food.
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Brutus's Story: Brutus was born on April 6th, 2001. We met him on May 9th after finding an ad in the paper for Rottweiller/Pitbull puppies. He was only five weeks old, covered in fleas, the runt of the litter, the only boy left and we saw his two bigger sisters push him away from the food. Brutus sat down, turned to look at us and winked. That moment changed my life forever. I grew up around dogs but, as an adult, I never felt that I could fit another responsibility into my life. After our house was broken into, I thought it might be a good idea to watch for a suitable dog that could be our pet and protect us. I had no idea that I was about to experience the most incredible relationship of my life.
I know everybody's pets become their best friends, but Brutus was so special that everyone who ever met him breaks into a smile at the mention of his name. He had a never-give-up attitude which could be annoying but also had to be admired. He was not a mushy guy. If you tried to snuggle him, he would get up and move. However, he always wanted to be able to see me. I was basically stared at for twelve and a half years! I could go on forever about how special he was but, unfortunately, this article has been composed in order to share some critically important information that I was forced to learn during my unforgettable journey with Brutus.
Brutus had a perfect life for twelve years. He was never hungry, cold, sick or injured and the only time he saw the vet was for his annual shots. He always enjoyed his walks, the bigger, the better and Brutus didn't walk, he trotted. Brutus celebrated his twelfth birthday on April 6th, 2013. Shortly after his birthday, I noticed he would occasionally limp with his right arm after some of our bigger walks. I gave him aspirin, which worked, but when the limp became more frequent, we made a vet appointment for May 24th. I know it sounds unbelievable, but Brutus could understand everything people said. He wasn't limping that day but when we were trying to explain Brutus's limp to the vet, all of a sudden he stood up and walked across the floor, showing her his limp! The vet felt it was arthritis but was concerned it could be bone cancer. She recommended an x-ray and wanted to clear his body of aspirin so he could safely take Rimadyl for his arthritis. She prescribed Tramadol, a member of the morphine family, to take instead of aspirin for pain, as needed, over a period of ten days. Because Brutus had always been so healthy, I decided we would try the script before committing to something as traumatic as I felt an x-ray might be. Between May 24th and May 27th, Brutus's limp became worse and the Tramadol wasn't working for him at all. On May 28th, I went back to the vet to inquire about supplements that had been mentioned previously. At that time, I was persuaded to bring Brutus in for an x-ray the next day. I needn't have worried about an x-ray being traumatic for Brutus. He was so smart and so good, all they had to do was tell him where to put his arm and he did! No trauma at all! Unfortunately, the x-ray showed osteosarcoma, bone cancer, had left almost no bone in the smaller bone of his right arm and it had already spread to his elbow which had "nasty arthritis".
I couldn't believe what I was being told and I tried to think of important questions. I asked what was going to happen to Brutus. The vet told me it wouldn't be cancer taking over his body that would kill him, it would be the pain. Caninecancer.com verified that the pain from osteosarcoma is so intense that the only way to stop it is amputation or euthanasia. Because of Brutus's age and arthritis, amputation was not an option so there would come a time that he would be in so much pain that I would have to make the decision to kill him in order to stop it. I can't imagine being told anything worse than this. Brutus had been pain free for twelve years. The thought of him experiencing pain was devastating, let alone pain so bad that death would be the best option. I asked how long he had and was told "maybe two months". Maybe two months! That's only eight weeks! That's not enough time!
I've been very fortunate in my life, in that I've never had to know about cancer first hand. I started hounding the vet for any information that could help Brutus. He was prescribed Rimadyl and a special order was placed for a product called Oncosupport. By Friday May 31st, I believed we had the best tools available for Brutus. However, by Sunday, June 2nd, Brutus started leaking urine. This turned out to be a side effect of Rimadyl, the only thing that was stopping his limp. This was a horrible predicament! Brutus was pristine. He smelled like Chanel #5 most of the time so leaking urine was extremely unsettling for him.
I had decided to book an appointment with a specialist, hoping I could learn as much as she could teach me in one hour. One of our initial fears concerned Brutus breaking his arm. With so little bone left, it would be easy to break and cancerous bones don't heal so a break would result in immediate euthanasia. I felt a specialist would know state of the art methods of protecting Brutus's fragile arm and better options than Rimadyl. Before this appointment took place, my sister's friend had been urging me to call her about Brutus so, on Monday, June 3rd, I called her. She had been practicing holistic methods on her cat, herself and her friends and wanted to suggest a regimen for Brutus. At this point, I had already lost five nights of sleep due to researching everything I could find on the computer, while crying my eyes out, and I was overwhelmed and desperate. She had already made sense of the vast amounts of natural remedies I had found on earthclinic.com so I was willing to do anything she told me. I cancelled the specialist's appointment but I had been given a copy of Brutus's x-ray to take to her and I spent a long time just staring at it, in tears, praying as hard as I could.
Brutus, who had thrived for twelve years on Pedigree dry and canned dog food, Timbits, pizza, etc., was immediately put on a raw meat diet with sixteen supplements mixed in with it. He was also given apple cider vinegar and Flaxseed oil with organic cottage cheese. Brutus was always a bit of a diva when it came to food. He wouldn't take fries from you if he knew you still had a burger. He wouldn't eat crumbs if they were smaller than the size of a dime. Needless to say, I was shaking when I first offered him raw meat and I was shocked when he actually ate it. He was a real trooper with this regimen and during this time, Brutus didn't limp or leak. Unfortunately, Brutus would eventually require more and more meat to mask the supplements and it became too much for him. We had to downsize his supplements but he had lost his appetite and his arm was hurting him again.
We had replaced the prescriptions for pain with Traumeel pills, Traumeel ointment, Arnica Montana and MSM but, eventually, nothing was touching the pain in his arm. Out of desperation, I gave him Pedigree canned food and Rimadyl. He ate it and it worked! Unfortunately, the leaking started again. I woke up one morning to find Brutus soaked in urine from his nose to his tail and a look of absolute horror on his face. I couldn't bear to see Brutus suffering so much and I just couldn't seem to get the juggling act right between leaking and limping. By Friday, July 12th, the worst case scenario was happening. Brutus, the guy who never, ever gave up, was giving up. He wouldn't come up the stairs. His little arm was three times its normal size and you could feel heat coming off of it from three inches away. He couldn't touch his paw to the ground and he gave up eating altogether. It had been six weeks since Brutus's diagnosis and I was still frantically searching for any alternatives but it seemed that time had run out for us and I would have to make the final call to the vet on Monday, July 15th. I had been trying to find a combination of supplements in one pill when I came across a link in earthclinic.com that I hadn't checked out yet. It was watercure2.com and it recommended sea salt. On Friday night, I put 1/4 tsp. of pink Himalayan sea salt in Brutus's water. He seemed to like it. I put another 1/4 tsp. in his water Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, the swelling in Brutus's arm was almost gone and he walked up the stairs and he never limped again! It was nothing short of a miracle! Unfortunately, out of desperation, I had given Brutus Rimadyl on and off right up until July 8th. This last dose proved to be the one that caused Brutus permanent damage and he leaked consistently after that. We just did a lot of extra laundry and did our best to keep him clean and dry. Nothing could take away from the miracle of going for a walk on July 20th when he hadn't been able to since June 22nd. I only wish I'd known about sea salt before I had tried everything else. What a waste of precious time! This is why I have forced myself to write this article. I know there are thousands of dogs that are experiencing pain and their owners are helplessly grasping at straws to try and help their beloved pets. It's tormenting me to know there is such a simple, safe solution but it's so hard to know how to make people aware of it. Sea salt is not FDA approved so you won't get any information about this amazing cure from vets. Some people are saying that the FDA is aware of the benefits of sea salt but they won't approve it because it will have a negative effect on the income of the big pharmaceuticals.
I wish this was the end of Brutus's story but, unfortunately, it's not. Brutus would have died on July 15th, exactly the horrific way that the vets and caninecancer.com had predicted. Instead, because of sea salt, Brutus never limped again and enjoyed daily walks until October 14th. After July 15th, I kept Brutus on a pure diet. I took everything I had learned about cancer and made sure that he never ate anything that would feed this disease again. I continued giving him 1/2 tsp. of sea salt a day and his meals consisted of cooked eggs, steak, hamburger, stewing beef, chicken and turkey. Brutus weighed 105 lbs. his entire life but, throughout his illness, had trimmed down considerably. He loved his treats and we had to eliminate everything that he used to enjoy including Dentastix, Dingos, Beggin Strips, Snausages, etc. Once he was thriving on sea salt and a pure diet, I thought it would be nice for him if I could find some chewy, healthy treats to add to his bland diet. I went to all the pet food stores and grocery stores, spending hours reading ingredients until I found the purest treats available. Most boasted one ingredient. I found duck and sweet potato jerky, chicken breast jerky, beef liver, freeze dried chicken, sweet potato jerky and healthy versions of dentastix. Brutus loved it! Brutus was eating three meals plus eight to ten treats daily. It was heaven!
Then Brutus got sick September 15th. Everything that he had eaten from 11:30 am came back up at 9:30 pm. The next day, he had an extremely rough bowel movement and there was blood in his urine. I sent a urine sample to the vet and, amazingly, the only thing that showed up was a little bacteria which could be treated with Orbax, an antibiotic. The vet had asked what I had been feeding him and when I mentioned his jerky treats, she asked me where they were made. I grabbed one of the bags and, in very small print, saw they were made in China. The vet told me to stop feeding them to Brutus because the FDA knew there was a problem with these treats but they were not pulled from the shelves because they couldn't determine what was wrong with them. It took seventy-one hours after Brutus threw up before he would eat again, which resulted in massive weight loss. My never-give-up guy finally started eating with 100g of Caesar's mushy food. At this point we were feeding him anything he wanted except the treats made in China.
His body was in a weakened state but he was still enjoying his walks right up until Monday, October 14th, which was our Thanksgiving Day. Brutus, his boy, his girl and I all joined him on his Thanksgiving Day walk, not knowing that this would be his last one. On Wednesday, October 16th, I went to let Brutus out to pee and he had an accident on our landing. He made it to our back door but instead of going up the six stairs to the sunroom, he laid down, exhausted. I brought him his breakfast and that's where the kids found us when they woke up. The next two days were two of the saddest days of my life. I was losing Brutus.
I searched for a vet that would make a house call just to see if there were any options that I might not be aware of. A doctor came out Thursday night and would have euthanised him at home the next day. We decided that we couldn't bear to turn Brutus over to complete strangers knowing that we would never see him again. On Friday morning, October 18th, I begged Brutus's vet to please make a house call but it was out of the question. We agreed to bring Brutus to her that afternoon. We carried Brutus on his big, comfy bed right into the doctor's room. Brutus had his final leak on the way in and he was so upset about it. He pushed himself up using both arms, kind of pivoted to the left, laid down against the wall and closed his eyes. With or without the needle, Brutus was done. He was snuggled up under his favourite blanket with his head on his favourite pillow. He lifted his head one more time and as soon as my hand was under his chin, he put his head down. His boy was scratching his ears, as only his boy could do and his girl had him in a full body hug.
The vet had asked us what arrangements we had chosen for Brutus. We wanted a pink urn and a pink paw print. His blanket and his pillow were pink and we explained this was his favourite colour. She asked us how we could know that so we told her how Brutus would always steal our pink things. We also told her that Brutus's favourite song was the "Happy Birthday" song. We would sing that song for all occasions just to see him get excited. For example; "Happy Valentine's Day to you...", etc. We would even sing it for no reason whatsoever! He would sing along so everyone we knew would receive singing birthday messages from Brutus on their birthdays. We figured that song always meant something wonderful was about to happen. One of the last things my precious Brutus heard was his girl and me singing Happy Birthday to him...
It's embarassing and it hurts so much to write this article but, I need to share Brutus's story in the hopes that maybe some suffering can be spared for others. What happened to Brutus and what can we all learn from my research and mistakes?
One of the first things I learned on this journey was the fact that 50% more large breed, adult, male dogs will get osteosarcoma if they are neutered at an early age. I was convinced that a responsible pet owner is supposed to spay or neuter their pets so Brutus was neutered at an early age. Most of us believe this is the right thing to do and I understand the reasons for this mentality. However, hormones are essential to healthy growth and development. Through my research, I discovered that hormones directly affect the development of bone marrow, which is where osteosarcoma starts to grow. At this point, I believe my first mistake was having Brutus neutered at all! Is there really a time in your pet's life that is appropriate to strip them of their hormones? If it's so important to have our pets spayed and neutered, why aren't hormone therapies initiated after surgery? This would certainly boost the big pharmaceutical's income!
I also, of course, had to seek out information about Rimadyl. Rimadyl is an NSAID which means it's a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug. I found out that Rimadyl is actually a hormone that makes our pets feel better by blocking pain receptors. Unfortunately, it only masks the problem and its side effects are lethal. Continued use of this drug will result in kidney and/or liver failure. It is FDA approved. When Brutus started leaking urine, I spent a lot of time trying to find an alternative way to control his pain. Our vet requested suggestions from the pharmaceutical companies and the only response she received was to try Medacam, also FDA approved, which is even more deadly than Rimadyl. The holistic remedies helped in the beginning but when the complete regimen became too much for Brutus and we concentrated only on pain and inflammation relief, it didn't touch his pain. Poor Brutus endured extreme pain for six weeks and extreme urinary leaking when all he needed was a little sea salt. Sea salt is safe and it relieved the pain of "nasty arthritis" and osteosarcoma almost immediately. If I had only known sooner... This would be my second mistake.
We said our final good-byes to Brutus on October 18, 2013. To my horror, a news flash three days later stated that, in the U.S., six hundred dogs had been reported dead from the effects of eating jerky treats made in China. I couldn't bear to look into this right away but, after several months, I went to FDA.com to view the report. I was disgusted to read that the FDA has been aware of this problem since 2007! Further reading was even more infuriating. They state that in May 2014, since their announcement in October 2013, the numbers of reported incidents had dropped to 1800 and they feel this is a direct result from some of the products being pulled from the shelves in January 2014. With standards like this, all pet owners are basically playing Russian Roulette with their beloved pets every time they buy them a treat. It's unbelievable that it took six years for the FDA to make a public announcement acknowledging that jerky treats made in China were killing our pets. It's irresponsible that their response was to only pull some of the products. It's unforgivable that 1800 people were still able to buy these deadly treats and 1800 more pets became ill. I viewed some of the reports filed under the years 2009 and 2010. People were begging the FDA to pull these products years before I was buying them for Brutus! It was a true testament of Brutus's strength when I read how some dogs were affected by these treats immediately. Brutus started eating a variety of these treats 3-4 times daily, from July 29th right up to September 15th, when he became sick to his stomach. I saw him beat arthritis and I saw him beat osteosarcoma, so I'm having a really hard time accepting the fact that the FDA allowed me to buy treats for Brutus that were known to be lethal. My mistake number three.
I'll never know for sure what killed Brutus. I believe I shouldn't have had him neutered. This may have prevented the osteosarcoma. However, I don't believe it was cancer that killed him because on May 29th it had already spread to his elbow. If the cancer had been spreading for the next five months, he wouldn't have had any bone left in his elbow and he would not have been able to go for a limp free, Thanksgiving Day walk. I know that sea salt saved Brutus from a horribly painful death. After everything I've learned, I truly believe it was the jerky treats, that I carefully picked out, that killed my best friend.
The following facts, that took me months to figure out, need to become common knowledge: 1. If you're considering having your pet spayed or neutered, you must address the reality that your pet will be stripped of hormones necessary to its' well being. 2. Do not believe that you can walk into a pet store and determine a safe food for your pet by reading the list of ingredients. The FDA states that they are allowing treats to be sold that they know will kill your pet. 3. Give your pets sea salt. For recipes and testimonials, go to watercure2.com. Healthy or sick, all living creatures need sea salt.
I miss Brutus every day. No matter where I was, for twelve and a half years, I would always say, "I can't wait to get home to Brutus". Whenever we needed to "go to a happy place", all we had to do was think of Brutus and everything felt better. Now "my happy place" always brings me to tears. Life, for me, will never be the same. Please take what I've learned and make informed decisions that will allow you to have the most quality time possible with your beloved pets.
The following is a list of things I gave Brutus that did not work as fast or as safely as sea salt:
Prescriptions from the vet; Tramadol Rimadyl Oncosupport; ingredients include L-Glutamine, Kelp Powder, Lecithin Granules, Nutritional Yeast, Bio-Agaricus, L-Arginine, Green Tea Extract, Spirulina, Sodium Ascorbate, Larch Arabinogalactan, Silymarin, Del-Immune V, Zinc, Vitamin A, VitaminE, Vitamin D, Selenium. Glucosamine with Chondroitin was suggested
Holistic supplements; Apple Cider Vinegar Flax Oil with Cottage Cheese Traumeel Pills Traumeel Ointment Reishi Mushrooms Apricot Seeds Coconut Oil Tumeric Essiac Tea Probiotic Astragalus Vitamin C Vitamin D L-Lysine Andrographis MSM Milkthistle Enzymes Alphalpha Dandelion Lecithin Calcium Carbonate Pumpkin Zeel Oat Bran Arnica Montana Tea Tree Ointment
From Online; Zeolite with ESME I never gave Brutus the required dose so I can't report results for this product. From the local health food store; Himalayan pink sea salt
Before I found watercure2.com and tried sea salt, I visited hundreds of websites on my mission to help Brutus. I can't remember them all but the following is a sample of the sites I found useful:
Websites mentioned in article; watercure2.com watercure2.org earthclinic.com fda.com caninecancer.com
Websites saved in "My Favourites"; diagnose-me.com I-amperfectlyhealthy.com webmd.com buzzle.com drugs.com saveourshepherds.com ottawavalleydogwhisperer.com shirleys-wellness-cafe.com marvistavet.com drjwv.com dogfoodadvisor.com
I also "googled" all of the prescriptions, ingredients and supplements listed above. This was all very time consuming and confusing. If only I had found sea salt first, I could have spent this precious time with Brutus.
I have attached three pictures of Brutus.
The first one shows Brutus smiling on a sunny day.
The second picture was taken Friday, July 12th, when Brutus was giving up. He wouldn't come upstairs from our landing so we took his bed down to him. I started giving him sea salt that night and on Sunday, he walked up the stairs and never limped again.
The third picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day, Monday, Oct.14th. As you can see, Brutus was not only walking, he was leading the way!
Dog asthma. Watch how fast it goes when you put sea salt on your finger & put it in your dog's mouth. Sprinkle some on food & on water. Once the asthma is gone just sprinkle some on food.
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Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 11:58:29 -0400
From: watercure2@comcast.net
To: shirlstark@live.com
Subject: Re: Bob Butts advice needed desperately
Sea salt is #1. Google pet diseases cured with sea salt. How often do vets cure anything?
Google Pet Health, the shocking truth, the disgusting lies exposed. By Richard Chille. Great info. I can't tell you about his supplements. All I know is that sea salt is best & drugs kill.
From: watercure2@comcast.net
To: shirlstark@live.com
Subject: Re: Bob Butts advice needed desperately
Sea salt is #1. Google pet diseases cured with sea salt. How often do vets cure anything?
Google Pet Health, the shocking truth, the disgusting lies exposed. By Richard Chille. Great info. I can't tell you about his supplements. All I know is that sea salt is best & drugs kill.
On 9/24/2014 11:49 AM, Brutus Stark wrote: Attention: Bob Butts
I'm sorry it took so long but here it is! This is the article I put together for Brutus. I hope you can use it but please let me know if I need to change it in any way. I would like to send it out to everyone I can think of but I would appreciate your approval first. If acceptable, I will dedicate it to Brutus and your beloved wife.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for helping me save Brutus from the horrors of osteosarcoma. I only hope I can help you spread the word with this article.
God bless!
Shirley Stark
To Whom It May Concern,
I am not a vet or a breeder and I am not affiliated with any of the websites mentioned in this article. I have a story that needs to be shared with as many pet lovers as possible. I'm hoping you will take a few minutes of your time to read my message and appreciate the urgency to get it distributed.
I'm sorry it took so long but here it is! This is the article I put together for Brutus. I hope you can use it but please let me know if I need to change it in any way. I would like to send it out to everyone I can think of but I would appreciate your approval first. If acceptable, I will dedicate it to Brutus and your beloved wife.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for helping me save Brutus from the horrors of osteosarcoma. I only hope I can help you spread the word with this article.
God bless!
Shirley Stark
To Whom It May Concern,
I am not a vet or a breeder and I am not affiliated with any of the websites mentioned in this article. I have a story that needs to be shared with as many pet lovers as possible. I'm hoping you will take a few minutes of your time to read my message and appreciate the urgency to get it distributed.
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Brutus's Story: Brutus was born on April 6th, 2001. We met him on May 9th after finding an ad in the paper for Rottweiller/Pitbull puppies. He was only five weeks old, covered in fleas, the runt of the litter, the only boy left and we saw his two bigger sisters push him away from the food. Brutus sat down, turned to look at us and winked. That moment changed my life forever. I grew up around dogs but, as an adult, I never felt that I could fit another responsibility into my life. After our house was broken into, I thought it might be a good idea to watch for a suitable dog that could be our pet and protect us. I had no idea that I was about to experience the most incredible relationship of my life.
I know everybody's pets become their best friends, but Brutus was so special that everyone who ever met him breaks into a smile at the mention of his name. He had a never-give-up attitude which could be annoying but also had to be admired. He was not a mushy guy. If you tried to snuggle him, he would get up and move. However, he always wanted to be able to see me. I was basically stared at for twelve and a half years! I could go on forever about how special he was but, unfortunately, this article has been composed in order to share some critically important information that I was forced to learn during my unforgettable journey with Brutus.
Brutus had a perfect life for twelve years. He was never hungry, cold, sick or injured and the only time he saw the vet was for his annual shots. He always enjoyed his walks, the bigger, the better and Brutus didn't walk, he trotted. Brutus celebrated his twelfth birthday on April 6th, 2013. Shortly after his birthday, I noticed he would occasionally limp with his right arm after some of our bigger walks. I gave him aspirin, which worked, but when the limp became more frequent, we made a vet appointment for May 24th. I know it sounds unbelievable, but Brutus could understand everything people said. He wasn't limping that day but when we were trying to explain Brutus's limp to the vet, all of a sudden he stood up and walked across the floor, showing her his limp! The vet felt it was arthritis but was concerned it could be bone cancer. She recommended an x-ray and wanted to clear his body of aspirin so he could safely take Rimadyl for his arthritis. She prescribed Tramadol, a member of the morphine family, to take instead of aspirin for pain, as needed, over a period of ten days. Because Brutus had always been so healthy, I decided we would try the script before committing to something as traumatic as I felt an x-ray might be. Between May 24th and May 27th, Brutus's limp became worse and the Tramadol wasn't working for him at all. On May 28th, I went back to the vet to inquire about supplements that had been mentioned previously. At that time, I was persuaded to bring Brutus in for an x-ray the next day. I needn't have worried about an x-ray being traumatic for Brutus. He was so smart and so good, all they had to do was tell him where to put his arm and he did! No trauma at all! Unfortunately, the x-ray showed osteosarcoma, bone cancer, had left almost no bone in the smaller bone of his right arm and it had already spread to his elbow which had "nasty arthritis".
I couldn't believe what I was being told and I tried to think of important questions. I asked what was going to happen to Brutus. The vet told me it wouldn't be cancer taking over his body that would kill him, it would be the pain. Caninecancer.com verified that the pain from osteosarcoma is so intense that the only way to stop it is amputation or euthanasia. Because of Brutus's age and arthritis, amputation was not an option so there would come a time that he would be in so much pain that I would have to make the decision to kill him in order to stop it. I can't imagine being told anything worse than this. Brutus had been pain free for twelve years. The thought of him experiencing pain was devastating, let alone pain so bad that death would be the best option. I asked how long he had and was told "maybe two months". Maybe two months! That's only eight weeks! That's not enough time!
I've been very fortunate in my life, in that I've never had to know about cancer first hand. I started hounding the vet for any information that could help Brutus. He was prescribed Rimadyl and a special order was placed for a product called Oncosupport. By Friday May 31st, I believed we had the best tools available for Brutus. However, by Sunday, June 2nd, Brutus started leaking urine. This turned out to be a side effect of Rimadyl, the only thing that was stopping his limp. This was a horrible predicament! Brutus was pristine. He smelled like Chanel #5 most of the time so leaking urine was extremely unsettling for him.
I had decided to book an appointment with a specialist, hoping I could learn as much as she could teach me in one hour. One of our initial fears concerned Brutus breaking his arm. With so little bone left, it would be easy to break and cancerous bones don't heal so a break would result in immediate euthanasia. I felt a specialist would know state of the art methods of protecting Brutus's fragile arm and better options than Rimadyl. Before this appointment took place, my sister's friend had been urging me to call her about Brutus so, on Monday, June 3rd, I called her. She had been practicing holistic methods on her cat, herself and her friends and wanted to suggest a regimen for Brutus. At this point, I had already lost five nights of sleep due to researching everything I could find on the computer, while crying my eyes out, and I was overwhelmed and desperate. She had already made sense of the vast amounts of natural remedies I had found on earthclinic.com so I was willing to do anything she told me. I cancelled the specialist's appointment but I had been given a copy of Brutus's x-ray to take to her and I spent a long time just staring at it, in tears, praying as hard as I could.
Brutus, who had thrived for twelve years on Pedigree dry and canned dog food, Timbits, pizza, etc., was immediately put on a raw meat diet with sixteen supplements mixed in with it. He was also given apple cider vinegar and Flaxseed oil with organic cottage cheese. Brutus was always a bit of a diva when it came to food. He wouldn't take fries from you if he knew you still had a burger. He wouldn't eat crumbs if they were smaller than the size of a dime. Needless to say, I was shaking when I first offered him raw meat and I was shocked when he actually ate it. He was a real trooper with this regimen and during this time, Brutus didn't limp or leak. Unfortunately, Brutus would eventually require more and more meat to mask the supplements and it became too much for him. We had to downsize his supplements but he had lost his appetite and his arm was hurting him again.
We had replaced the prescriptions for pain with Traumeel pills, Traumeel ointment, Arnica Montana and MSM but, eventually, nothing was touching the pain in his arm. Out of desperation, I gave him Pedigree canned food and Rimadyl. He ate it and it worked! Unfortunately, the leaking started again. I woke up one morning to find Brutus soaked in urine from his nose to his tail and a look of absolute horror on his face. I couldn't bear to see Brutus suffering so much and I just couldn't seem to get the juggling act right between leaking and limping. By Friday, July 12th, the worst case scenario was happening. Brutus, the guy who never, ever gave up, was giving up. He wouldn't come up the stairs. His little arm was three times its normal size and you could feel heat coming off of it from three inches away. He couldn't touch his paw to the ground and he gave up eating altogether. It had been six weeks since Brutus's diagnosis and I was still frantically searching for any alternatives but it seemed that time had run out for us and I would have to make the final call to the vet on Monday, July 15th. I had been trying to find a combination of supplements in one pill when I came across a link in earthclinic.com that I hadn't checked out yet. It was watercure2.com and it recommended sea salt. On Friday night, I put 1/4 tsp. of pink Himalayan sea salt in Brutus's water. He seemed to like it. I put another 1/4 tsp. in his water Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, the swelling in Brutus's arm was almost gone and he walked up the stairs and he never limped again! It was nothing short of a miracle! Unfortunately, out of desperation, I had given Brutus Rimadyl on and off right up until July 8th. This last dose proved to be the one that caused Brutus permanent damage and he leaked consistently after that. We just did a lot of extra laundry and did our best to keep him clean and dry. Nothing could take away from the miracle of going for a walk on July 20th when he hadn't been able to since June 22nd. I only wish I'd known about sea salt before I had tried everything else. What a waste of precious time! This is why I have forced myself to write this article. I know there are thousands of dogs that are experiencing pain and their owners are helplessly grasping at straws to try and help their beloved pets. It's tormenting me to know there is such a simple, safe solution but it's so hard to know how to make people aware of it. Sea salt is not FDA approved so you won't get any information about this amazing cure from vets. Some people are saying that the FDA is aware of the benefits of sea salt but they won't approve it because it will have a negative effect on the income of the big pharmaceuticals.
I wish this was the end of Brutus's story but, unfortunately, it's not. Brutus would have died on July 15th, exactly the horrific way that the vets and caninecancer.com had predicted. Instead, because of sea salt, Brutus never limped again and enjoyed daily walks until October 14th. After July 15th, I kept Brutus on a pure diet. I took everything I had learned about cancer and made sure that he never ate anything that would feed this disease again. I continued giving him 1/2 tsp. of sea salt a day and his meals consisted of cooked eggs, steak, hamburger, stewing beef, chicken and turkey. Brutus weighed 105 lbs. his entire life but, throughout his illness, had trimmed down considerably. He loved his treats and we had to eliminate everything that he used to enjoy including Dentastix, Dingos, Beggin Strips, Snausages, etc. Once he was thriving on sea salt and a pure diet, I thought it would be nice for him if I could find some chewy, healthy treats to add to his bland diet. I went to all the pet food stores and grocery stores, spending hours reading ingredients until I found the purest treats available. Most boasted one ingredient. I found duck and sweet potato jerky, chicken breast jerky, beef liver, freeze dried chicken, sweet potato jerky and healthy versions of dentastix. Brutus loved it! Brutus was eating three meals plus eight to ten treats daily. It was heaven!
Then Brutus got sick September 15th. Everything that he had eaten from 11:30 am came back up at 9:30 pm. The next day, he had an extremely rough bowel movement and there was blood in his urine. I sent a urine sample to the vet and, amazingly, the only thing that showed up was a little bacteria which could be treated with Orbax, an antibiotic. The vet had asked what I had been feeding him and when I mentioned his jerky treats, she asked me where they were made. I grabbed one of the bags and, in very small print, saw they were made in China. The vet told me to stop feeding them to Brutus because the FDA knew there was a problem with these treats but they were not pulled from the shelves because they couldn't determine what was wrong with them. It took seventy-one hours after Brutus threw up before he would eat again, which resulted in massive weight loss. My never-give-up guy finally started eating with 100g of Caesar's mushy food. At this point we were feeding him anything he wanted except the treats made in China.
His body was in a weakened state but he was still enjoying his walks right up until Monday, October 14th, which was our Thanksgiving Day. Brutus, his boy, his girl and I all joined him on his Thanksgiving Day walk, not knowing that this would be his last one. On Wednesday, October 16th, I went to let Brutus out to pee and he had an accident on our landing. He made it to our back door but instead of going up the six stairs to the sunroom, he laid down, exhausted. I brought him his breakfast and that's where the kids found us when they woke up. The next two days were two of the saddest days of my life. I was losing Brutus.
I searched for a vet that would make a house call just to see if there were any options that I might not be aware of. A doctor came out Thursday night and would have euthanised him at home the next day. We decided that we couldn't bear to turn Brutus over to complete strangers knowing that we would never see him again. On Friday morning, October 18th, I begged Brutus's vet to please make a house call but it was out of the question. We agreed to bring Brutus to her that afternoon. We carried Brutus on his big, comfy bed right into the doctor's room. Brutus had his final leak on the way in and he was so upset about it. He pushed himself up using both arms, kind of pivoted to the left, laid down against the wall and closed his eyes. With or without the needle, Brutus was done. He was snuggled up under his favourite blanket with his head on his favourite pillow. He lifted his head one more time and as soon as my hand was under his chin, he put his head down. His boy was scratching his ears, as only his boy could do and his girl had him in a full body hug.
The vet had asked us what arrangements we had chosen for Brutus. We wanted a pink urn and a pink paw print. His blanket and his pillow were pink and we explained this was his favourite colour. She asked us how we could know that so we told her how Brutus would always steal our pink things. We also told her that Brutus's favourite song was the "Happy Birthday" song. We would sing that song for all occasions just to see him get excited. For example; "Happy Valentine's Day to you...", etc. We would even sing it for no reason whatsoever! He would sing along so everyone we knew would receive singing birthday messages from Brutus on their birthdays. We figured that song always meant something wonderful was about to happen. One of the last things my precious Brutus heard was his girl and me singing Happy Birthday to him...
It's embarassing and it hurts so much to write this article but, I need to share Brutus's story in the hopes that maybe some suffering can be spared for others. What happened to Brutus and what can we all learn from my research and mistakes?
One of the first things I learned on this journey was the fact that 50% more large breed, adult, male dogs will get osteosarcoma if they are neutered at an early age. I was convinced that a responsible pet owner is supposed to spay or neuter their pets so Brutus was neutered at an early age. Most of us believe this is the right thing to do and I understand the reasons for this mentality. However, hormones are essential to healthy growth and development. Through my research, I discovered that hormones directly affect the development of bone marrow, which is where osteosarcoma starts to grow. At this point, I believe my first mistake was having Brutus neutered at all! Is there really a time in your pet's life that is appropriate to strip them of their hormones? If it's so important to have our pets spayed and neutered, why aren't hormone therapies initiated after surgery? This would certainly boost the big pharmaceutical's income!
I also, of course, had to seek out information about Rimadyl. Rimadyl is an NSAID which means it's a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug. I found out that Rimadyl is actually a hormone that makes our pets feel better by blocking pain receptors. Unfortunately, it only masks the problem and its side effects are lethal. Continued use of this drug will result in kidney and/or liver failure. It is FDA approved. When Brutus started leaking urine, I spent a lot of time trying to find an alternative way to control his pain. Our vet requested suggestions from the pharmaceutical companies and the only response she received was to try Medacam, also FDA approved, which is even more deadly than Rimadyl. The holistic remedies helped in the beginning but when the complete regimen became too much for Brutus and we concentrated only on pain and inflammation relief, it didn't touch his pain. Poor Brutus endured extreme pain for six weeks and extreme urinary leaking when all he needed was a little sea salt. Sea salt is safe and it relieved the pain of "nasty arthritis" and osteosarcoma almost immediately. If I had only known sooner... This would be my second mistake.
We said our final good-byes to Brutus on October 18, 2013. To my horror, a news flash three days later stated that, in the U.S., six hundred dogs had been reported dead from the effects of eating jerky treats made in China. I couldn't bear to look into this right away but, after several months, I went to FDA.com to view the report. I was disgusted to read that the FDA has been aware of this problem since 2007! Further reading was even more infuriating. They state that in May 2014, since their announcement in October 2013, the numbers of reported incidents had dropped to 1800 and they feel this is a direct result from some of the products being pulled from the shelves in January 2014. With standards like this, all pet owners are basically playing Russian Roulette with their beloved pets every time they buy them a treat. It's unbelievable that it took six years for the FDA to make a public announcement acknowledging that jerky treats made in China were killing our pets. It's irresponsible that their response was to only pull some of the products. It's unforgivable that 1800 people were still able to buy these deadly treats and 1800 more pets became ill. I viewed some of the reports filed under the years 2009 and 2010. People were begging the FDA to pull these products years before I was buying them for Brutus! It was a true testament of Brutus's strength when I read how some dogs were affected by these treats immediately. Brutus started eating a variety of these treats 3-4 times daily, from July 29th right up to September 15th, when he became sick to his stomach. I saw him beat arthritis and I saw him beat osteosarcoma, so I'm having a really hard time accepting the fact that the FDA allowed me to buy treats for Brutus that were known to be lethal. My mistake number three.
I'll never know for sure what killed Brutus. I believe I shouldn't have had him neutered. This may have prevented the osteosarcoma. However, I don't believe it was cancer that killed him because on May 29th it had already spread to his elbow. If the cancer had been spreading for the next five months, he wouldn't have had any bone left in his elbow and he would not have been able to go for a limp free, Thanksgiving Day walk. I know that sea salt saved Brutus from a horribly painful death. After everything I've learned, I truly believe it was the jerky treats, that I carefully picked out, that killed my best friend.
The following facts, that took me months to figure out, need to become common knowledge: 1. If you're considering having your pet spayed or neutered, you must address the reality that your pet will be stripped of hormones necessary to its' well being. 2. Do not believe that you can walk into a pet store and determine a safe food for your pet by reading the list of ingredients. The FDA states that they are allowing treats to be sold that they know will kill your pet. 3. Give your pets sea salt. For recipes and testimonials, go to watercure2.com. Healthy or sick, all living creatures need sea salt.
I miss Brutus every day. No matter where I was, for twelve and a half years, I would always say, "I can't wait to get home to Brutus". Whenever we needed to "go to a happy place", all we had to do was think of Brutus and everything felt better. Now "my happy place" always brings me to tears. Life, for me, will never be the same. Please take what I've learned and make informed decisions that will allow you to have the most quality time possible with your beloved pets.
The following is a list of things I gave Brutus that did not work as fast or as safely as sea salt:
Prescriptions from the vet; Tramadol Rimadyl Oncosupport; ingredients include L-Glutamine, Kelp Powder, Lecithin Granules, Nutritional Yeast, Bio-Agaricus, L-Arginine, Green Tea Extract, Spirulina, Sodium Ascorbate, Larch Arabinogalactan, Silymarin, Del-Immune V, Zinc, Vitamin A, VitaminE, Vitamin D, Selenium. Glucosamine with Chondroitin was suggested
Holistic supplements; Apple Cider Vinegar Flax Oil with Cottage Cheese Traumeel Pills Traumeel Ointment Reishi Mushrooms Apricot Seeds Coconut Oil Tumeric Essiac Tea Probiotic Astragalus Vitamin C Vitamin D L-Lysine Andrographis MSM Milkthistle Enzymes Alphalpha Dandelion Lecithin Calcium Carbonate Pumpkin Zeel Oat Bran Arnica Montana Tea Tree Ointment
From Online; Zeolite with ESME I never gave Brutus the required dose so I can't report results for this product. From the local health food store; Himalayan pink sea salt
Before I found watercure2.com and tried sea salt, I visited hundreds of websites on my mission to help Brutus. I can't remember them all but the following is a sample of the sites I found useful:
Websites mentioned in article; watercure2.com watercure2.org earthclinic.com fda.com caninecancer.com
Websites saved in "My Favourites"; diagnose-me.com I-amperfectlyhealthy.com webmd.com buzzle.com drugs.com saveourshepherds.com ottawavalleydogwhisperer.com shirleys-wellness-cafe.com marvistavet.com drjwv.com dogfoodadvisor.com
I also "googled" all of the prescriptions, ingredients and supplements listed above. This was all very time consuming and confusing. If only I had found sea salt first, I could have spent this precious time with Brutus.
I have attached three pictures of Brutus.
The first one shows Brutus smiling on a sunny day.
The second picture was taken Friday, July 12th, when Brutus was giving up. He wouldn't come upstairs from our landing so we took his bed down to him. I started giving him sea salt that night and on Sunday, he walked up the stairs and never limped again.
The third picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day, Monday, Oct.14th. As you can see, Brutus was not only walking, he was leading the way!
All living creatures need sea salt. I'm glad you found out how powerful sea salt is. Please tell everyone you can because the powers that be do all they can to silence the truth. A A South Korea n TV Network sent a crew here to Moosic, Pa. to shoot a documentary on the water cure because of the great results we are getting with it. The movie was aired there in October. USA still ignores it. Now a government official from South Korea is coming here to learn more.
Apple Cider Vinegar for animals (more great pet health info on earthclinic.com & watercure2.org & Google pet ills cured with sea salt)Has your dog been scratching itself obsessively, losing hair, trying to clean itself, developing an odor, or become picky over food? An application of apple cider vinegar (ACV) can help your poor pooch. A bit of apple cider vinegar in your pet's food is a great way to maintain the acid/alkaline balance of your dog's body; and it also helps with digestive health, allergies (watery eyes, runny nose, wet coughs), and even parasites such as fleas, ringworm, ticks, fungus, and bacteria.
Taken orally or sprayed on topically, apple cider vinegar is great for skin conditions in dogs. For hot spots, thinning hair, pimples, or even ear infections, try out an ACV/water spray. ACV is also useful for after grooming sessions; applying a few drops to the ears can help prevent ear infections, and applying to your dog's skin after a washing on a weekly basis can help prevent reinfestation by fleas or ticks.
Apple Cider Vinegar for Fleas, Dog Allergies, and Wellness.
Every home with dogs should have apple cider vinegar. It's a remedy with multiple uses for dogs: repelling fleas, alleviating allergies, arthritis, establishing correct pH balance. You can also give apple cider vinegar to cats and horses.
Dosage and Instructions: Start with a one-teaspoon dose mixed into your dog's food twice a day for a 50 lb dog (adjust accordingly by weight) and if necessary increase up to about 1 tablespoon twice a day for the same size dog. For skin application, you can spray on or rub apple cider in directly, or for sore or open wounds mix the ACV with equal parts water before application to the dog's skin. In the case of pests or parasites, bathe your dog and then apply a 50:50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water. Allow this to air dry on your pet to kill off fleas, ticks, ringworm, etc. and to prevent future infestations and/or infection. You can also spray your dog with apple cider vinegar before going out for a walk, in order to repel fleas and ticks naturally.
Taken orally or sprayed on topically, apple cider vinegar is great for skin conditions in dogs. For hot spots, thinning hair, pimples, or even ear infections, try out an ACV/water spray. ACV is also useful for after grooming sessions; applying a few drops to the ears can help prevent ear infections, and applying to your dog's skin after a washing on a weekly basis can help prevent reinfestation by fleas or ticks.
Apple Cider Vinegar for Fleas, Dog Allergies, and Wellness.
Every home with dogs should have apple cider vinegar. It's a remedy with multiple uses for dogs: repelling fleas, alleviating allergies, arthritis, establishing correct pH balance. You can also give apple cider vinegar to cats and horses.
Dosage and Instructions: Start with a one-teaspoon dose mixed into your dog's food twice a day for a 50 lb dog (adjust accordingly by weight) and if necessary increase up to about 1 tablespoon twice a day for the same size dog. For skin application, you can spray on or rub apple cider in directly, or for sore or open wounds mix the ACV with equal parts water before application to the dog's skin. In the case of pests or parasites, bathe your dog and then apply a 50:50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water. Allow this to air dry on your pet to kill off fleas, ticks, ringworm, etc. and to prevent future infestations and/or infection. You can also spray your dog with apple cider vinegar before going out for a walk, in order to repel fleas and ticks naturally.
Pet Testimonials (Because our nation is near terminally dead ethically, as proven by massive political corruption at all levels, few vets, if any, will tell pet owners about this free solution to many pet health problems.) Please spread the word once you verify this is true.
11-25-12 A Groomer testimonial on how sea salt dramatically improves pet health and pet owners can do the same thing.
As a groomer we see a lot of different types of dogs, cats and small animals, some of these animals are special needs, among the various types of needs we tend to our are large breed customers are one of the most common and easily helped, just with an hour or two of careful grooming an sea salt.
Large breed dogs like mastiffs, shepherds, and huskies etc. are known to develop arthritis, and hip dysplasia. This can cause the animal to suffer quite a bit, sadly medicine vets offer still isn’t as good as what Bob Butts has taught us to do for our customers, new or old, big or small.
One in particular is an older large breed dog that when she comes to us to be groomed almost falls down as she tries to walk in, often we carry her in and set her up a nice warm bath, with 1 1/2 cups of sea salt in the water and let her lie in it for about an hour, within 30 minutes she is much more alert and more relaxed, you can feel the tension in her muscles is gone and the best part is you can tell it doesn’t hurt as bad, her breathing is more even and deeper unlike when she first came in and was panting, her legs trembling.
After she is cleaned up and dried she moves more fluidly. We have got a call from the owner and they said she actually walks around the house for 2 days after, where as normally she is tired and sluggish and will not get up.
We also groom a small poodle that in his old age has a strange odor to him, the owner buys him the best products, the most all natural and organic, ect. None of them take away the smell like the sea salt bath, not only is the odor gone longer, but his muscles and mood improves during his bath.
We gladly bath our dogs with the sea salt bath every time we groom with no extra charge, seeing the results is always wonderful, it often improves the look and feel of the dogs hair as well as seems to calm even some of the most nervous of our customers, and that’s what we want, for our customers and there owners to be happy and comfortable.
We offer free pet salt at Rags to wags and encourage people to try it on their pets and watch the permanent effects it has on their beloved furry family, grooming them with the salt helps but keeping salt in their diet will do even more amazing things.
Sincerely Rags To Wags
As a groomer we see a lot of different types of dogs, cats and small animals, some of these animals are special needs, among the various types of needs we tend to our are large breed customers are one of the most common and easily helped, just with an hour or two of careful grooming an sea salt.
Large breed dogs like mastiffs, shepherds, and huskies etc. are known to develop arthritis, and hip dysplasia. This can cause the animal to suffer quite a bit, sadly medicine vets offer still isn’t as good as what Bob Butts has taught us to do for our customers, new or old, big or small.
One in particular is an older large breed dog that when she comes to us to be groomed almost falls down as she tries to walk in, often we carry her in and set her up a nice warm bath, with 1 1/2 cups of sea salt in the water and let her lie in it for about an hour, within 30 minutes she is much more alert and more relaxed, you can feel the tension in her muscles is gone and the best part is you can tell it doesn’t hurt as bad, her breathing is more even and deeper unlike when she first came in and was panting, her legs trembling.
After she is cleaned up and dried she moves more fluidly. We have got a call from the owner and they said she actually walks around the house for 2 days after, where as normally she is tired and sluggish and will not get up.
We also groom a small poodle that in his old age has a strange odor to him, the owner buys him the best products, the most all natural and organic, ect. None of them take away the smell like the sea salt bath, not only is the odor gone longer, but his muscles and mood improves during his bath.
We gladly bath our dogs with the sea salt bath every time we groom with no extra charge, seeing the results is always wonderful, it often improves the look and feel of the dogs hair as well as seems to calm even some of the most nervous of our customers, and that’s what we want, for our customers and there owners to be happy and comfortable.
We offer free pet salt at Rags to wags and encourage people to try it on their pets and watch the permanent effects it has on their beloved furry family, grooming them with the salt helps but keeping salt in their diet will do even more amazing things.
Sincerely Rags To Wags
Subject: Letter of testimony about our dog Sophie
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:19:12 -0500
From: Marilyn ZUPNIK
To: Bob
Hello Bob:
Our Standard Schnauzer Sophie, who is 11 years old, had a bad seizure in February, 2012. After taking her to the vet, where they administered something to calm her down and put her to sleep, we took her to the emergency vet. They gave her sedatives to keep her from trembling. The doctors were not optimistic about a recovery. When we came to visit her, I brought some unrefined sea salt and put it in her water. She stabilized after five days and we were able to bring her home. Her back legs weren't working and she could hardly stand, and we had to carry her outside. We put a sling under her to hold her up when she tried to walk. I started offering her three bowls of water with different strengths of sea salt: 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 half teaspoon and 3/4 teaspoon per 32 oz. of water. She chose the 1/4 solution. Every day she improved; she started walking on her own, and her personality came back. When we took her back for check-ups, the doctors were pleasantly surprised to see her doing so well! I'm sure the water and sea salt made a difference. She is back to being her usual self, going for walks, playing with her toys, and bugging me for treats!
I have enclosed a recent photo of her.
Best wishes,
Marilyn - Minneapolis, MN
August, 2012
Inspiring. Thanks for your great effort. Your story will help many pets. Bob Butts
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:19:12 -0500
From: Marilyn ZUPNIK
To: Bob
Hello Bob:
I have enclosed a recent photo of her.
Best wishes,
Marilyn - Minneapolis, MN
August, 2012
Inspiring. Thanks for your great effort. Your story will help many pets. Bob Butts
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