November 5, 2024 • 33 mins
Oh how we love our pets! They are the family members who give us the unconditional love we all need. So how can we know we are doing our best to keep them healthy?
In this episode, Dr. Judy Jasek, an integrative veterinarian, joins me to explore a fresh take on pet care that goes beyond the basics!
Dr. Jasek shares her favorite pet health tip before diving into the differences between integrative and conventional veterinary care and what inspired her own journey into holistic medicine.
- Wondering which food brands are best for your furry friend?
- Curious about natural therapies like mistletoe for cancer and ozone for wellness?
- Want to know more about practical tips for using homeopathy at home?
We’ve got you covered!
Hear an inspiring story of a pet’s incredible healing journey with integrative treatment, and to top it off, Dr. Jasek discusses what pet parents need to know about costs and benefits when choosing integrative care—don’t miss this episode packed with insights to support your pet’s health!
Learn more about Dr. Judy Jasek:
https://ahavet.com/about/
Suggested Resource Links:
- Dr. Jasek's Vet Practice, website
- Rabies Vaccine - webinar
- Cancer and Gut Health - video
- American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA) - website
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ivelisse Page (00:06):
Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page, and thanks for listening
to the Believe Big podcast, theshow where we take a deep dive
into your healing with healthexperts, integrative
practitioners, biblical faithleaders, and cancer thrivers
from around the globe.
(00:34):
Welcome to today's episode onthe Believe Big podcast.
My name is Ivelisse Page, andit's always a pleasure to be
with you.
I am very excited about today'spodcast guest, Dr.
Judy Jasek, an integrativeveterinarian.
Over the years, we have gottenmany questions about pet health
and mistletoe, and we thought wewould connect with Dr.
(00:57):
Jasek about making sure our petsare well taken care of.
Dr.
Judy graduated from ColoradoState University with degrees in
zoology and veterinary medicinein 1988.
After founding and transforminga conventional clinic into an
integrative medicine practice inColorado, She sold the practice
(01:18):
in 2015.
With over 35 years ofexperience, Dr.
Judy now practices on a smallerscale, utilizing telemedicine
globally.
Her holistic approach focuses onsupporting pets natural healing
abilities through nutrition,supplementation, and
detoxification.
(01:40):
Forgoing quick fix solutions.
She specializes in alternativecancer treatments like ozone and
mistletoe, and she continues toinnovate in veterinary care.
Recently, relocating toTennessee with her husband to
start a rural homestead, Dr.
Judy finds joy in nurturinganimals like her German Shepherd
(02:00):
puppy, Rex.
Welcome to the show, Dr.
Jasek.
Dr. Judy Jasek (02:04):
Oh, thank you very much.
It's a pleasure to be here.
I'm grateful to be able tospread the word to more people
about how to keep our petshealthy.
Ivelisse Page (02:11):
Well, we are so excited that you're here and I
have so many questions for you.
But before we begin, I know ourlisteners are always wanting to
know what our guest's favoritehealth tip is.
So you can share a personalhealth tip, or you can share one
that you give for your pets.
Dr. Judy Jasek (02:28):
I say it's the same.
It's good nutrition and we haveto feed the body properly.
Like I was saying before theshow, I think a lot of why
cancer shows up is toxicity andwe live in a toxic world.
So the better we can support thebody, whether it's our bodies or
our pet bodies.
through appropriate nutrition,the better chance we have of the
(02:49):
body handling it's a toxic loadthat it's exposed to.
Ivelisse Page (02:53):
A hundred percent, you know, we always
hear and, and say that food ismedicine.
And so that is a great healthtip for sure.
So can you explain whatintegrative medicine and
veterinary care entails and howit differs from conventional
practices?
Dr. Judy Jasek (03:11):
I think it really starts with the mindset
and how we look at disease orsymptoms.
Um, if, if we look at disease orsymptoms as something we have to
fight, or there's an invader inthe body, then we're left with
symptomatic treatments or,treatments that attack things
like antibiotics in the case ofcancer, chemotherapy, radiation,
(03:34):
we're just like in an attackmode.
My approach is more about, Ilook at the terrain of the pet
and how do we support thenatural healing ability of the
body?
Because health is the naturalstate of the body.
Ours, pets, I mean, nature hasit down, right?
Nature knows how to be healthy.
Our bodies want to be healthy.
(03:57):
And unfortunately, conventionalmedicine I think for the most
part gets in the way of that inshort term for emergencies.
Yeah, it's great.
You know, your pet gets hit by acar, gets a cut, has a broken
leg.
Absolutely go to the ER and getfixed.
But for any type of chronicillness, including cancer, we
(04:17):
have to be taking a differentapproach to health.
And that is, um, looking at howdo we support the natural
healing ability of the body.
Ivelisse Page (04:26):
So what inspired you transition from conventional
practice to an integrativemedicine practice?
Dr. Judy Jasek (04:33):
I just didn't see it working.
I was trained conventionallylike every other vet and maybe I
got about eight or 10 years outof school and you're quite
indoctrinated.
I didn't even call it educationanymore.
I call it indoctrination.
I didn't see it back then.
I see it very clearly now.
Yeah.
But you're tied to what youlearned is kind of all, you
haven't been out in the realworld very much.
(04:54):
I was in school practically mywhole life up until that point.
But then I just look at mypatients, like, this is it.
This is all we can do.
And, for all the supposedmedical advances, pets were not
getting better overall.
They were getting sicker.
And I just felt like I wasbecoming a pawn of the
pharmaceutical industry.
(05:16):
You know, the pharmaceutical repcomes in and they buy the
practice lunch and they tell youtheir latest, they pull out
their latest bag of tricks,whether it's new vaccines or new
pharmaceuticals.
And, and, and they teach you howto sell them based on fear.
Like what can you make yourclients afraid of, to sell these
products.
And then of course, how muchmoney you can make selling them.
(05:36):
And that's the way it's done.
And I'm pretty sure it's similarin human medicine as well.
And I just thought this isn'tpractice.
This isn't healing.
This isn't why I got into thisprofession.
I'm just a drug peddler.
And so that just wasn't sittingwell with me.
Then there was a rather largelearning curve after that.
But like I said before, it'sreally, it's the mindset.
(05:57):
Once you change how you look atpractice, Then you seek those
avenues and you know, it's when,when the student is ready, the
teacher appears.
I think when you're open totaking in new information, then
you, you learn about resources.
So I started learning aboutherbal medicine, homeopathy,
more about nutrition.
(06:19):
You know, in vet school, youjust taught to sell the hills.
typical prescription diets.
Now, I don't recommend anythingbut a fresh food diet, ideally
raw, a big proponent of rawfeeding for dogs and cats.
Ivelisse Page (06:32):
Yeah, so are there any food brands in the dry
food industry that you think arehealthy for, say, dogs, for
example?
Or is there an affordable rawfood, option that you have
found?
Dr. Judy Jasek (06:47):
Nothing in the kibble industry would I consider
healthy.
They're all about 50 percentprocessed carbohydrates, all of
them.
No matter what their claims are,no matter how healthy they say
they are, the quote unquoteprescription diets that you buy
at the vet, um, are just as bad.
If you actually read theingredients, you may as well
just go down to the grocerystore and buy a Prina, because
(07:09):
it's about the same.
That's such a scam, the wholeprescription diet thing.
Um, it needs to be fresh foodfeeding.
And is it more expensive thanbuying your cheap kibble?
Sure.
But you know, what's the cost ofyour pet's health?
You know, what is that worth toyou?
Um, and if you think buying thefood is expensive, try treating
cancer.
And not to mention theheartache.
(07:32):
To me, it's a very worthwhileinvestment.
If you think about the vet billsyou're going to save, and just
the heartache.
You don't want to watch your peteven have chronic itchy skin or
chronic ear infections orchewing at their feet.
All these inflammatory signs wesee, um, let alone cancer.
(07:53):
And the diet is huge, by far themajority of new cancer patients
that I see coming in have beenon a kibble diet and on the
typical, um, vaccine schedule.
Um, I, I do think the vaccinesplay a big role, especially in
young pets getting cancer, butthen over time, not getting
proper nutrition is, is huge.
(08:16):
And we do have, we actually,have an awesome nutritionist
working with us in our practice.
Anybody can come in.
They don't have to work with medirectly.
My consults are more expensive.
Anybody can get a nutritionconsult for$65 and she will help
you put together a plan.
She really knows the industry.
She knows, she owns a naturalpet food store here in
(08:39):
Tennessee.
And so she knows the pet foodbrands actually way better than
I do because just don't have thetime to keep up on all that, but
she's in that business.
So.
She can actually help walk youthrough getting the most
affordable diet and speciesappropriate and well balanced
diet for your pet.
Ivelisse Page (08:58):
That's amazing.
I'm going to definitely call herand connect with her.
And we'll also put your contactinformation in our show notes
for anyone else who's interestedin making sure that their pet is
on the right foods.
I, I agree 100%, just like withourselves, you know, people say,
Oh, eating organic is expensive.
Well, so is sickness.
(09:18):
And so, you know, if you're notable to eat all organic, Then
avoid the dirty dozen, you know?
So we share tips with people onways that you can affordably eat
well.
Um, and so I'm sure the same isfor our pets.
And, I'm so glad that youmentioned about the vaccine
schedule.
We have a puppy that's a yearold now, and they just wanted to
(09:38):
give him everything.
And I just said, listen, he'sjust such a little guy.
Like, I don't want to infuse hisbody with so much, just like I
would with my kids.
I'd be very careful with what Igave them and when and, um, and
the schedules now that they givethem so many more vaccines than
in the past.
So my puppy right now has justthe one required by law, which
(10:01):
is the rabies.
But how do you work with vets?
Because, like you said, reallyintimidate people, or they say
you have to get these done, orI'll drop you as a patient, and
so how does one find a vet thatcan really be gentler on the
puppies, or even just, um, onyour dogs themselves, you know,
(10:23):
with this vaccine schedule?
What advice would you have forindividuals?
Dr. Judy Jasek (10:27):
It's become a really tough one and it's gotten
so much worse after Covid.
Vets have always recommended thevaccines, but they didn't
require them to walk in the doorlike they're doing now.
And I actually put together awebinar on rabies, which I'd be
happy to send you if you want topost it on your site because I
get into the whole veterinarynarrative and basically punch
(10:51):
holes in it and just invalidatetheir claims that they need to
do it for safety things such asThey'll say, well, you know, I
have to protect my staff.
So your pet needs to bevaccinated against rabies.
Well, even if you believe, Ipersonally believe the whole
rabies thing is just a bigfallacy, but say you believe
(11:12):
there's actually rabies virusand this vaccine is protective.
Well, it's not protectiveinstantly, you know, it would
still take a couple weeks.
So the fact that they just wantto vaccinate your pet on the way
in the door is it doesn't evenmake sense from a safety
perspective.
And it also goes against theactual inserts.
In my webinar, I cite, um, theactual package inserts from some
(11:37):
of the vaccine manufacturersthat say it should only be given
to healthy animals.
If the animal is not healthy,then they can't guarantee the
response to the vaccine.
So they're actually goingagainst even the manufacturers.
It's just become so ubiquitousand everybody's doing it.
So there are very few choices.
(11:58):
More people need to push back.
I don't have any faith that thethoughts are going to change at
all.
Um, I think it's, it's going tobe people, enough people pushing
back one or two crazy clients,they'll just send them on their
way, but if enough people pushback.
I'm actually looking intoapproaching legislatures here in
Tennessee because there's somuch evidence now that viruses
(12:23):
have never been isolated and I'mactually working with some
people and have a lot of goodevidence that um I've gone back
to the times of Louis Pasteurwhere the whole rabies narrative
actually started.
No evidence whatsoever the viruswas over found.
It was basically a made upnarrative.
And I would like to make anattempt to take that to the
(12:46):
legislature here in Tennesseeand see if we can actually
change the laws.
It's a class C misdemeanor herein Tennessee to harbor a pet
without a current rabies shot.
Um, so, and I would suggest ifpeople really want to change, it
comes down to us.
The vets aren't going to change.
Yes, you can push back at yourvet's office.
(13:07):
And in the short term, you know,have that honest conversation
with your vet.
Say, hey, I don't want to dothis.
Will you work with me or do Itake my business elsewhere?
You can ask about titer testing,which is where you just measure
an antibody level.
And if there's adequateantibodies, theoretically, the
pet should not need avaccination.
(13:27):
So if they would accept anantibody level, a titer test,
and that might get you aroundthe vaccinations.
Um, some places, like Ipracticed in Colorado for many
years, they actually had amedical exemption for rabies.
It was a state form, so I couldwrite those.
The local vets may or may notaccept them.
(13:49):
Sadly, it's come down to thepoint I tell people don't go in
for wellness exams.
You need to take responsibilityfor your pet's health, just like
you need to take responsibilityfor your own health and know
when your pet's ill.
You know if your pet's ill andit's going into the wellness
exams that you're going to getpushed the vaccines, the
(14:10):
heartworm, flea and tick medic,all these medications.
Clinics make hundreds ofthousands of dollars a year
selling that stuff.
And it really is just a moneygame.
So don't go in.
Just, just don't go in.
If your pet's sick, if your petis seriously sick, like you're
really concerned, it's bleeding,it's hurt, go to the emergency
clinics because the emergencyclinics are not as plugged into
(14:32):
that whole wellness thing.
And I think in most all cases,you could go in and say, Hey,
look, I got another vet I workwith on the vaccines.
If they even ask from what Ihear, the ERs don't tend to ask
because they're not, that's,that's not their business model.
I mean, I hate to say it thatway, but it's the truth.
They're there just to take careof your pets on an emergency
basis.
It's just that I have anothervet I work with on those
(14:53):
vaccines if they ask, and don'tgo into the vet for wellness
care.
Ivelisse Page (14:58):
That's really great advice.
I was excited to hear that youuse mistletoe therapy in your
practice.
That's something that we reallyappreciate we work with
integrative practitioners on thehuman side, all over the
country, really helping peopleto integrate that into their
care.
So can you talk a little bitmore about cancer and dogs
specifically and how mistletoehelps them?
Dr. Judy Jasek (15:21):
Mistletoe is amazing.
Um, I started using mistletoeprobably six or seven years ago.
If your client asked me about itand I hadn't really heard about
using it therapeutically forcancer, but I was able to find
another veterinarian in Floridathat was using it and he was
kind enough to share hisprotocols with me.
And I have found, I was alreadyseeing a lot of cancer patients,
(15:44):
cause I was doing naturaltherapies and a lot of ozone
therapy, which I also use.
Um, but adding mistletoe in, Ifeel like really helped with the
more aggressive cancers.
I mean, you know, everything is,it's a big variable.
Like we can never predictoutcomes, right?
We never know what's going tohappen.
(16:06):
Sometimes I start working with acancer patient, they're pretty
far down the road, and we've gota lot of catch up to do.
But I would say overall, withouta doubt, that adding mistletoe
in has improved treatmentresults and improved quality of
life.
You know, I know humans reportthat, um, they feel better on
(16:27):
mistletoe and even emotionally,which is hard to evaluate in our
pets.
But I think it's important thatthey feel more optimistic, more
hopeful.
And, I found in pets, sometimesit helps increase their
appetite.
Certainly with the discomfort oflike the tumors, because it can
treat tumors.
And I look at cancer.
(16:48):
Yes, it's great if we can makeit completely go away, but
oftentimes that's not realistic,but I look at it.
Can we make it manageable?
Can we control it to the pointthat the pet can still live a
good quality of life?
And that's not always possible,but I think adding in things
like mistletoe, it becomes muchmore possible.
Ivelisse Page (17:06):
That's amazing.
And you mentioned ozone.
Explain to our listeners whatozone therapy is.
Many people may not evenunderstand what that is.
Dr. Judy Jasek (17:14):
Yeah.
And it's, it's great too,because it's something else
people can do at home.
Like when I do mistletoetherapy, I send people the
supplies and just teach them howto do the injections at home so
I can stay out of the vet'soffice.
Um, but so ozone is, um, O3.
So the oxygen in the air that webreathe is O2.
It's two oxygen atoms.
Ozone is O3.
(17:34):
So that third oxygen atom makesit very reactive, which makes it
very effective at bothoxygenating tissues in the body
and helping the cells to useoxygen more efficiently.
And all disease states,including cancer, thrive in low
oxygen environments.
So, the more we can oxygenatethe body and improve the oxygen
(17:56):
utilization, the healthier thebody is, you know, we talked
about supporting the terrain andso then we're supporting immune
system function.
We're supporting the body's ownability to deal with the cancer
and we're creating an unfriendlyenvironment for the cancer
because disease doesn't likethis high oxygen because it's
(18:18):
healthy for the, healthier forthe surrounding cells.
It's given in a multitude ofdifferent ways.
So when I would see patients inperson, I would do a blood
treatment where you draw blood,you mix the blood with the ozone
gas and re inject.
But at home, people can dorectal.
I mean, I used to do rectal inthe clinic too, but, um, you can
(18:39):
very easily do rectal ozone,which is where you take just a
soft silicone catheter, you putit up your pet's bum, and you
just inject the ozone gas rightinto the colon and then it's
absorbed systemically and it'svery therapeutic for any GI or
abdominal lesions.
And it's a little weird, youknow, to get used to, but it can
(19:00):
be very effective and you canbuy, there's a, a company called
O3 Vets and they sell a littlekit, a little ozone generator
kit for home use.
It's around$800 or$900, which, Imean, if you think of how much
it would cost to go into aclinic to be getting ozone
therapy.
(19:21):
If you can swing the upfrontinvestment, I think it pays for
itself very quickly and you cando these rectal administrations
at home and you can do it more,like usually traveling to a
clinic, you might only get in acouple times a week, but if you
have it at home, you can do itfour or five times a week.
And, um, there's somerespiratory therapies you can do
(19:41):
at home.
So I think that's a really greatoption, because I really like to
empower pet parents to do morefor themselves at home.
Not only does it help the pets,but I think it also helps create
a more positive energy becauseit helps instill hope.
And instead of sitting backfeeling hopeless, waiting for
(20:03):
your pet to die, which is whatpeople are sent home with on the
conventional side, they can bedoing something proactive.
They're taking a part in thesolution instead of just being,
feeling so frustrated andhopeless.
Ivelisse Page (20:16):
Yeah.
And I also think that stressplays a huge part like it does
for ourselves.
And if they're in their own homeenvironment, the pets are more
relaxed and they're happier andthey're not stressed from being
at the vet clinic or whereverthey are being treated.
So that has so many benefits ofit.
Uh, you had also mentionedhomeopathy.
(20:37):
I use it here at home.
I've used it with my kids sincethey were babies for, goodness
30 years we've been usinghomeopathy and I actually used
homeopathy with my late pet thatpassed away last year towards
the end and it just was reallyhelpful to help him with pain,
you know, that he was having.
And so explain to individualshow homeopathy can help pets
(21:01):
when they're ill, whether it's acold or cancer.
Dr. Judy Jasek (21:04):
So homeopathy is kind of a it's sort of a form of
energetic medicine.
So the way homeopathic remediesare made, they take an organic
substance such as, uh, well,APIS, these are an example.
APIS is used for allergies.
So they actually take bee pollenand do a homeopathic dilution.
(21:24):
So they make it very dilute.
It's like 1 to 10,000 or100,000.
And the more dilute it is, themore potent it is energetically.
It's a little backwards fromwhen I first started learning,
it sounded backwards if youthink about it logically, but
energetically they become morepotent, the more dilute they
are.
So there's no organic substancein there, but the essence of
(21:47):
that substance is there.
And we use, it uses the conceptof like treats like, so you use
a homeopathic, um, version of abee pollen, it's called Apis,
and that can help with allergysymptoms because, and it doesn't
even have to be a bee sting, anyallergic reaction can respond to
(22:09):
something like, APIS.
And I know there's Carcinocin,which is a popular one for
cancer in general.
And then different parts of thebody are depending on where the
cancer is growing in the body.
Other remedies can also behelpful.
It's also very constitutionallybased, which in mistletoes, a
(22:34):
lot like that too, in that thedifferent forms of mistletoe,
it's the mistletoe is harvestedfrom different host trees.
So there's pine and fir andapple and oak and the
constitution of the mistletoevaries with the host tree and
then the constitution of themistletoe is matched up to the
constitution of the patient.
(22:55):
It's a little easier to do thatin people because people can
report in more detail whatthey're feeling with pets we're
left with kind of monitoringtheir behavior, but, um, but we
can still do it.
And, you know, I do use multipletypes of mistletoe.
So, um, yeah, I think homeopathycan be a great adjunct.
(23:16):
I think the way I look at it iswe have to approach it from many
different angles.
It's not just one thing.
So we start with the nutritionalbase.
And honestly, I, I feel stronglyif you don't do that, you're
kind of wasting your time withthe other stuff.
You're just not going to havegood results, but then yeah, we
can do the ozone, the mistletoe.
I do a lot of Chinese herbalmedicine too.
(23:39):
So the Chinese herbs, thehomeopathy, they're all
approaching the situation from alittle different angle.
And I do believe that there's anadditive effect.
And I also look at theindividual pet.
The majority of pets that I workwith, probably, 98 percent do
well with mistletoe.
Some just don't tolerate theinjections or there's just some
(24:01):
issue.
They're just super sensitive toit.
So we don't use that therapy.
You know, some will need herbsin their food, just won't touch
their food.
If we put herbs in, well, it'smore important that they're
eating.
So we don't do the herbs.
So sometimes we do have to pickand choose based on what is
resonating the best with thepatient.
And then we look at response totreatment.
And that's another bigdifference in this approach, as
(24:23):
opposed to conventionalapproach, because conventional,
you have your diagnosis.
It's this type of tumor.
It's the stage and these stagesand the naming of things is
getting more and more detailed.
Then there's a treatment planthat goes along with it.
And they really treat thediagnosis, not the patient.
I think we need to be treatingthe patient.
Ivelisse Page (24:42):
Exactly.
100%.
Can you share a specific successstory where integrative
treatments made a significantdifference in the health of a
pet?
Dr. Judy Jasek (24:53):
Sure.
So, um, there was one, I'llshare, I'll share a story about
a kitty.
This kitty came to me, had had abladder tumor removed, so she
was completely blocked.
She could not urinate.
So I, and I'm not by the way, anadvocate for just lopping off
tumors or even doing aspiratesor biopsies.
(25:15):
From my perspective, I reallydon't need to know exactly what
it is.
And I find that sometimes thatcan inflame the situation and
make it worse.
And surgical regrowth, regrowthafter surgery tends to be super
aggressive and much harder totreat.
So I usually like to avoid thoseif possible.
This kitty had a completeurinary blockage and she, um,
(25:40):
she had to have surgery or shewould have to be euthanized.
So they opted for the surgery.
So I know going in to pay chanceof regrowth fairly high, but we
started treating, we did, theydid the raw food diet.
Um, we were doing Chinese herbs,doing ozone, mistletoe
injections.
Um, they were doing the, theworks.
It's a very, very diligent petparent, really followed through
(26:04):
with everything.
And, honestly, in a case likethis, with the chance of
regrowth being high, I wouldhave thought, you know, maybe we
can give her six or sevenmonths.
Well, we did a follow upultrasound at six months and
there was no sign of regrowth.
Matter of fact, the radiologistcould just kind of barely see
the surgical scar where thetumor had been removed from the
bladder.
(26:24):
That kitty ended up living, Ithink I started working with
her.
She was already elderly, like 14or 15 years old.
And, um, cancer never came back.
And she lived to be, I think 19and died of other, you know, age
related things.
Cancer never came back.
And that's a case where I eventhought, gosh, I don't know how
(26:46):
long we'll be able to help herbut there was never a recurrence
of the cancer.
Ivelisse Page (26:51):
That's incredible.
Incredible.
And so what advice would yougive to pet owners who are
considering integrative medicinefor their pets, but aren't sure
where to start?
Dr. Judy Jasek (27:01):
That's, that's a tricky one because there's not
very many vets that reallysupport that.
I'm actually working, by theway, with, um, so Uriel
Pharmacy, you may know UrielPharmacy, because that's where
we buy our mistletoe from.
They're the only distributor inthe U.
S.
They have a foundation calledAnthroposophia Foundation where
they are educating humanpractitioners on anthroposophic
(27:25):
medicine, which basically iswhat we've been talking about.
Mind, body, spirit, medicine.
Um, they want to start aveterinary division.
So I started working with themand I'm hoping, you know, we can
get some educational programsgoing so that more vets can
become educated and feelconfident in practicing this
way, create some community andmentorship.
(27:48):
Um, but probably the best optionright now is to go to the AHVMA.
So that's the American HolisticVeterinary Medical Association.
That's our national associationof holistic vets.
And they do have a vet finder.
So you can put in your zip codeand see if there's any members
in your area, you know, otherthan that, it's word of mouth,
(28:12):
you can do online searches.
I've had a lot of people find mein Facebook groups and I don't
spend any time on Facebook.
I just don't really care forsocial media, but I've had a lot
of people find me in like the,so the cancer groups.
There's online community groupsfor different, different types
of cancer, different healthconditions.
So you can go in there and justkind of word them out, you know,
(28:35):
see who you can find.
But yeah, it's anybody that's,um, you know, willing to lean
that way even a little bit inpractice.
That's a really great idea tosupport them.
Ivelisse Page (28:44):
That's great.
That's great.
And we can put those links aswell in our notes.
And I know people are probablywondering, you know, the cost
difference.
Is there one between integrativeand conventional pet care?
And how do you advise pet ownerswhen navigating the costs?
Dr. Judy Jasek (29:00):
I think if you're going in for standard
exams and things, I think it'sIt probably isn't all that, all
that much more.
Um, it kind of depends on whatyou're getting.
I mean, a lot of integrativepractitioners, like they want to
do things like acupuncture.
They want to do more things aspart of the wellness exam, like
(29:20):
do an acupuncture treatment ormaybe do a chiropractic
adjustment because those thingsare really important to health.
So that can increase the initialcost.
My consults are more because I'mmore specialized in what I do,
but I think if you could justfind a general practitioner that
just even if you find one that'sjust a little more open minded.
(29:43):
What I have found is that whenmy clients go in, because I do
telemedicine, so all of myclients have to have a local
vet.
So when they find one, that's alittle more open and interested
in learning, then, um, that I'lleven work with that veterinarian
and help teach them.
I've had a number reach out tome and ask me about my mistletoe
(30:05):
protocols, because they, theclient comes in and says that
they're doing mistletoe, andthen they're curious about that.
So if you can find somebodythat's even a little bit more
open minded.
Um, you know, that's a start.
And I think encouragingveterinarians that kind of want
to go that direction is reallyimportant.
And you know, I suggest youmight just have to pay for some
(30:28):
office visits and go in andinterview some vets in your area
before you need them.
Because when you need them, andyou're panicked and emotional
because your pet's sick or hurt.
You just want to get them takencare of.
It's not the time to be runningclinic to clinic to find one
that's in alignment with thetype of treatment you want.
But I think if you go ahead oftime or you're calm and you just
(30:48):
pay for a basic office visit,whatever that is.
So you want to do a pre visitinterview, maybe even take your
pet in for an introduction, um,and just tell them, you know,
what your philosophies are andjust sit down and be honest,
just start with just an honestconversation and see where they
stand.
And if they say, you know, nope,you know, you can't walk in the
door, had a rabies shot.
(31:09):
Okay.
I'm going on to the next clinic,you know?
So if you do that ahead of time,then you're not going to feel
quite so flustered.
Um, because I mean, a lot ofpeople just end up getting that
shot because just want their petto get care.
And I know I understand that,but you know, if you, if you do
the, search ahead of time.
You won't, we know none of us,we don't make good decisions
(31:30):
when we're scared and emotional.
Um, so do that decision makingahead of time and then you'll
feel more prepared.
Know where the emergency clinicsare.
Where can you get 24 hour careif your pet is, is sick or hurt?
So have a list of questions, uh,you know, and just go in or
maybe even just start with aphone call.
Just ask the receptionist andyou get a feel for it and say,
(31:51):
hey, can I meet the vet ahead oftime?
And if they're not open to that,then I probably wouldn't go in
there.
Ivelisse Page (31:57):
That's great advice.
Well, thank you, Dr.
Judy, for joining us today.
And we're so grateful for all ofyour insight and helping us make
sure we take care of our petfriends really well.
And so, uh, wish you all thebest and thank you again for
your time.
Dr. Judy Jasek (32:12):
Thank you, appreciate being here.
Rebecca Arcarese (32:15):
Hi, I'm Rebecca Arcarese, Development
Director for Believe Big.
As 2024 comes to a close, yourgenerosity can make a life
changing difference for a cancerpatient.
At Believe Big, we empowerpatients and their families with
significant resources and muchneeded hope.
Your donation today will help usprovide essential care,
education, and a community ofstrength for those in need.
(32:38):
Together, we can help morepeople face, fight, and overcome
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Visit www.believebig.org andmake your gift today.
Thank you.
Ivelisse Page (32:55):
If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to
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Be sure to visit believebig.orgto access the show notes and
discover our bonus content.
Thanks again and keep BelievingBig!
Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page, and thanks for listening
to the Believe Big podcast, theshow where we take a deep dive
into your healing with healthexperts, integrative
practitioners, biblical faithleaders, and cancer thrivers
from around the globe.
(00:34):
Welcome to today's episode onthe Believe Big podcast.
My name is Ivelisse Page, andit's always a pleasure to be
with you.
I am very excited about today'spodcast guest, Dr.
Judy Jasek, an integrativeveterinarian.
Over the years, we have gottenmany questions about pet health
and mistletoe, and we thought wewould connect with Dr.
(00:57):
Jasek about making sure our petsare well taken care of.
Dr.
Judy graduated from ColoradoState University with degrees in
zoology and veterinary medicinein 1988.
After founding and transforminga conventional clinic into an
integrative medicine practice inColorado, She sold the practice
(01:18):
in 2015.
With over 35 years ofexperience, Dr.
Judy now practices on a smallerscale, utilizing telemedicine
globally.
Her holistic approach focuses onsupporting pets natural healing
abilities through nutrition,supplementation, and
detoxification.
(01:40):
Forgoing quick fix solutions.
She specializes in alternativecancer treatments like ozone and
mistletoe, and she continues toinnovate in veterinary care.
Recently, relocating toTennessee with her husband to
start a rural homestead, Dr.
Judy finds joy in nurturinganimals like her German Shepherd
(02:00):
puppy, Rex.
Welcome to the show, Dr.
Jasek.
Dr. Judy Jasek (02:04):
Oh, thank you very much.
It's a pleasure to be here.
I'm grateful to be able tospread the word to more people
about how to keep our petshealthy.
Ivelisse Page (02:11):
Well, we are so excited that you're here and I
have so many questions for you.
But before we begin, I know ourlisteners are always wanting to
know what our guest's favoritehealth tip is.
So you can share a personalhealth tip, or you can share one
that you give for your pets.
Dr. Judy Jasek (02:28):
I say it's the same.
It's good nutrition and we haveto feed the body properly.
Like I was saying before theshow, I think a lot of why
cancer shows up is toxicity andwe live in a toxic world.
So the better we can support thebody, whether it's our bodies or
our pet bodies.
through appropriate nutrition,the better chance we have of the
(02:49):
body handling it's a toxic loadthat it's exposed to.
Ivelisse Page (02:53):
A hundred percent, you know, we always
hear and, and say that food ismedicine.
And so that is a great healthtip for sure.
So can you explain whatintegrative medicine and
veterinary care entails and howit differs from conventional
practices?
Dr. Judy Jasek (03:11):
I think it really starts with the mindset
and how we look at disease orsymptoms.
Um, if, if we look at disease orsymptoms as something we have to
fight, or there's an invader inthe body, then we're left with
symptomatic treatments or,treatments that attack things
like antibiotics in the case ofcancer, chemotherapy, radiation,
(03:34):
we're just like in an attackmode.
My approach is more about, Ilook at the terrain of the pet
and how do we support thenatural healing ability of the
body?
Because health is the naturalstate of the body.
Ours, pets, I mean, nature hasit down, right?
Nature knows how to be healthy.
Our bodies want to be healthy.
(03:57):
And unfortunately, conventionalmedicine I think for the most
part gets in the way of that inshort term for emergencies.
Yeah, it's great.
You know, your pet gets hit by acar, gets a cut, has a broken
leg.
Absolutely go to the ER and getfixed.
But for any type of chronicillness, including cancer, we
(04:17):
have to be taking a differentapproach to health.
And that is, um, looking at howdo we support the natural
healing ability of the body.
Ivelisse Page (04:26):
So what inspired you transition from conventional
practice to an integrativemedicine practice?
Dr. Judy Jasek (04:33):
I just didn't see it working.
I was trained conventionallylike every other vet and maybe I
got about eight or 10 years outof school and you're quite
indoctrinated.
I didn't even call it educationanymore.
I call it indoctrination.
I didn't see it back then.
I see it very clearly now.
Yeah.
But you're tied to what youlearned is kind of all, you
haven't been out in the realworld very much.
(04:54):
I was in school practically mywhole life up until that point.
But then I just look at mypatients, like, this is it.
This is all we can do.
And, for all the supposedmedical advances, pets were not
getting better overall.
They were getting sicker.
And I just felt like I wasbecoming a pawn of the
pharmaceutical industry.
(05:16):
You know, the pharmaceutical repcomes in and they buy the
practice lunch and they tell youtheir latest, they pull out
their latest bag of tricks,whether it's new vaccines or new
pharmaceuticals.
And, and, and they teach you howto sell them based on fear.
Like what can you make yourclients afraid of, to sell these
products.
And then of course, how muchmoney you can make selling them.
(05:36):
And that's the way it's done.
And I'm pretty sure it's similarin human medicine as well.
And I just thought this isn'tpractice.
This isn't healing.
This isn't why I got into thisprofession.
I'm just a drug peddler.
And so that just wasn't sittingwell with me.
Then there was a rather largelearning curve after that.
But like I said before, it'sreally, it's the mindset.
(05:57):
Once you change how you look atpractice, Then you seek those
avenues and you know, it's when,when the student is ready, the
teacher appears.
I think when you're open totaking in new information, then
you, you learn about resources.
So I started learning aboutherbal medicine, homeopathy,
more about nutrition.
(06:19):
You know, in vet school, youjust taught to sell the hills.
typical prescription diets.
Now, I don't recommend anythingbut a fresh food diet, ideally
raw, a big proponent of rawfeeding for dogs and cats.
Ivelisse Page (06:32):
Yeah, so are there any food brands in the dry
food industry that you think arehealthy for, say, dogs, for
example?
Or is there an affordable rawfood, option that you have
found?
Dr. Judy Jasek (06:47):
Nothing in the kibble industry would I consider
healthy.
They're all about 50 percentprocessed carbohydrates, all of
them.
No matter what their claims are,no matter how healthy they say
they are, the quote unquoteprescription diets that you buy
at the vet, um, are just as bad.
If you actually read theingredients, you may as well
just go down to the grocerystore and buy a Prina, because
(07:09):
it's about the same.
That's such a scam, the wholeprescription diet thing.
Um, it needs to be fresh foodfeeding.
And is it more expensive thanbuying your cheap kibble?
Sure.
But you know, what's the cost ofyour pet's health?
You know, what is that worth toyou?
Um, and if you think buying thefood is expensive, try treating
cancer.
And not to mention theheartache.
(07:32):
To me, it's a very worthwhileinvestment.
If you think about the vet billsyou're going to save, and just
the heartache.
You don't want to watch your peteven have chronic itchy skin or
chronic ear infections orchewing at their feet.
All these inflammatory signs wesee, um, let alone cancer.
(07:53):
And the diet is huge, by far themajority of new cancer patients
that I see coming in have beenon a kibble diet and on the
typical, um, vaccine schedule.
Um, I, I do think the vaccinesplay a big role, especially in
young pets getting cancer, butthen over time, not getting
proper nutrition is, is huge.
(08:16):
And we do have, we actually,have an awesome nutritionist
working with us in our practice.
Anybody can come in.
They don't have to work with medirectly.
My consults are more expensive.
Anybody can get a nutritionconsult for$65 and she will help
you put together a plan.
She really knows the industry.
She knows, she owns a naturalpet food store here in
(08:39):
Tennessee.
And so she knows the pet foodbrands actually way better than
I do because just don't have thetime to keep up on all that, but
she's in that business.
So.
She can actually help walk youthrough getting the most
affordable diet and speciesappropriate and well balanced
diet for your pet.
Ivelisse Page (08:58):
That's amazing.
I'm going to definitely call herand connect with her.
And we'll also put your contactinformation in our show notes
for anyone else who's interestedin making sure that their pet is
on the right foods.
I, I agree 100%, just like withourselves, you know, people say,
Oh, eating organic is expensive.
Well, so is sickness.
(09:18):
And so, you know, if you're notable to eat all organic, Then
avoid the dirty dozen, you know?
So we share tips with people onways that you can affordably eat
well.
Um, and so I'm sure the same isfor our pets.
And, I'm so glad that youmentioned about the vaccine
schedule.
We have a puppy that's a yearold now, and they just wanted to
(09:38):
give him everything.
And I just said, listen, he'sjust such a little guy.
Like, I don't want to infuse hisbody with so much, just like I
would with my kids.
I'd be very careful with what Igave them and when and, um, and
the schedules now that they givethem so many more vaccines than
in the past.
So my puppy right now has justthe one required by law, which
(10:01):
is the rabies.
But how do you work with vets?
Because, like you said, reallyintimidate people, or they say
you have to get these done, orI'll drop you as a patient, and
so how does one find a vet thatcan really be gentler on the
puppies, or even just, um, onyour dogs themselves, you know,
(10:23):
with this vaccine schedule?
What advice would you have forindividuals?
Dr. Judy Jasek (10:27):
It's become a really tough one and it's gotten
so much worse after Covid.
Vets have always recommended thevaccines, but they didn't
require them to walk in the doorlike they're doing now.
And I actually put together awebinar on rabies, which I'd be
happy to send you if you want topost it on your site because I
get into the whole veterinarynarrative and basically punch
(10:51):
holes in it and just invalidatetheir claims that they need to
do it for safety things such asThey'll say, well, you know, I
have to protect my staff.
So your pet needs to bevaccinated against rabies.
Well, even if you believe, Ipersonally believe the whole
rabies thing is just a bigfallacy, but say you believe
(11:12):
there's actually rabies virusand this vaccine is protective.
Well, it's not protectiveinstantly, you know, it would
still take a couple weeks.
So the fact that they just wantto vaccinate your pet on the way
in the door is it doesn't evenmake sense from a safety
perspective.
And it also goes against theactual inserts.
In my webinar, I cite, um, theactual package inserts from some
(11:37):
of the vaccine manufacturersthat say it should only be given
to healthy animals.
If the animal is not healthy,then they can't guarantee the
response to the vaccine.
So they're actually goingagainst even the manufacturers.
It's just become so ubiquitousand everybody's doing it.
So there are very few choices.
(11:58):
More people need to push back.
I don't have any faith that thethoughts are going to change at
all.
Um, I think it's, it's going tobe people, enough people pushing
back one or two crazy clients,they'll just send them on their
way, but if enough people pushback.
I'm actually looking intoapproaching legislatures here in
Tennessee because there's somuch evidence now that viruses
(12:23):
have never been isolated and I'mactually working with some
people and have a lot of goodevidence that um I've gone back
to the times of Louis Pasteurwhere the whole rabies narrative
actually started.
No evidence whatsoever the viruswas over found.
It was basically a made upnarrative.
And I would like to make anattempt to take that to the
(12:46):
legislature here in Tennesseeand see if we can actually
change the laws.
It's a class C misdemeanor herein Tennessee to harbor a pet
without a current rabies shot.
Um, so, and I would suggest ifpeople really want to change, it
comes down to us.
The vets aren't going to change.
Yes, you can push back at yourvet's office.
(13:07):
And in the short term, you know,have that honest conversation
with your vet.
Say, hey, I don't want to dothis.
Will you work with me or do Itake my business elsewhere?
You can ask about titer testing,which is where you just measure
an antibody level.
And if there's adequateantibodies, theoretically, the
pet should not need avaccination.
(13:27):
So if they would accept anantibody level, a titer test,
and that might get you aroundthe vaccinations.
Um, some places, like Ipracticed in Colorado for many
years, they actually had amedical exemption for rabies.
It was a state form, so I couldwrite those.
The local vets may or may notaccept them.
(13:49):
Sadly, it's come down to thepoint I tell people don't go in
for wellness exams.
You need to take responsibilityfor your pet's health, just like
you need to take responsibilityfor your own health and know
when your pet's ill.
You know if your pet's ill andit's going into the wellness
exams that you're going to getpushed the vaccines, the
(14:10):
heartworm, flea and tick medic,all these medications.
Clinics make hundreds ofthousands of dollars a year
selling that stuff.
And it really is just a moneygame.
So don't go in.
Just, just don't go in.
If your pet's sick, if your petis seriously sick, like you're
really concerned, it's bleeding,it's hurt, go to the emergency
clinics because the emergencyclinics are not as plugged into
(14:32):
that whole wellness thing.
And I think in most all cases,you could go in and say, Hey,
look, I got another vet I workwith on the vaccines.
If they even ask from what Ihear, the ERs don't tend to ask
because they're not, that's,that's not their business model.
I mean, I hate to say it thatway, but it's the truth.
They're there just to take careof your pets on an emergency
basis.
It's just that I have anothervet I work with on those
(14:53):
vaccines if they ask, and don'tgo into the vet for wellness
care.
Ivelisse Page (14:58):
That's really great advice.
I was excited to hear that youuse mistletoe therapy in your
practice.
That's something that we reallyappreciate we work with
integrative practitioners on thehuman side, all over the
country, really helping peopleto integrate that into their
care.
So can you talk a little bitmore about cancer and dogs
specifically and how mistletoehelps them?
Dr. Judy Jasek (15:21):
Mistletoe is amazing.
Um, I started using mistletoeprobably six or seven years ago.
If your client asked me about itand I hadn't really heard about
using it therapeutically forcancer, but I was able to find
another veterinarian in Floridathat was using it and he was
kind enough to share hisprotocols with me.
And I have found, I was alreadyseeing a lot of cancer patients,
(15:44):
cause I was doing naturaltherapies and a lot of ozone
therapy, which I also use.
Um, but adding mistletoe in, Ifeel like really helped with the
more aggressive cancers.
I mean, you know, everything is,it's a big variable.
Like we can never predictoutcomes, right?
We never know what's going tohappen.
(16:06):
Sometimes I start working with acancer patient, they're pretty
far down the road, and we've gota lot of catch up to do.
But I would say overall, withouta doubt, that adding mistletoe
in has improved treatmentresults and improved quality of
life.
You know, I know humans reportthat, um, they feel better on
(16:27):
mistletoe and even emotionally,which is hard to evaluate in our
pets.
But I think it's important thatthey feel more optimistic, more
hopeful.
And, I found in pets, sometimesit helps increase their
appetite.
Certainly with the discomfort oflike the tumors, because it can
treat tumors.
And I look at cancer.
(16:48):
Yes, it's great if we can makeit completely go away, but
oftentimes that's not realistic,but I look at it.
Can we make it manageable?
Can we control it to the pointthat the pet can still live a
good quality of life?
And that's not always possible,but I think adding in things
like mistletoe, it becomes muchmore possible.
Ivelisse Page (17:06):
That's amazing.
And you mentioned ozone.
Explain to our listeners whatozone therapy is.
Many people may not evenunderstand what that is.
Dr. Judy Jasek (17:14):
Yeah.
And it's, it's great too,because it's something else
people can do at home.
Like when I do mistletoetherapy, I send people the
supplies and just teach them howto do the injections at home so
I can stay out of the vet'soffice.
Um, but so ozone is, um, O3.
So the oxygen in the air that webreathe is O2.
It's two oxygen atoms.
Ozone is O3.
(17:34):
So that third oxygen atom makesit very reactive, which makes it
very effective at bothoxygenating tissues in the body
and helping the cells to useoxygen more efficiently.
And all disease states,including cancer, thrive in low
oxygen environments.
So, the more we can oxygenatethe body and improve the oxygen
(17:56):
utilization, the healthier thebody is, you know, we talked
about supporting the terrain andso then we're supporting immune
system function.
We're supporting the body's ownability to deal with the cancer
and we're creating an unfriendlyenvironment for the cancer
because disease doesn't likethis high oxygen because it's
(18:18):
healthy for the, healthier forthe surrounding cells.
It's given in a multitude ofdifferent ways.
So when I would see patients inperson, I would do a blood
treatment where you draw blood,you mix the blood with the ozone
gas and re inject.
But at home, people can dorectal.
I mean, I used to do rectal inthe clinic too, but, um, you can
(18:39):
very easily do rectal ozone,which is where you take just a
soft silicone catheter, you putit up your pet's bum, and you
just inject the ozone gas rightinto the colon and then it's
absorbed systemically and it'svery therapeutic for any GI or
abdominal lesions.
And it's a little weird, youknow, to get used to, but it can
(19:00):
be very effective and you canbuy, there's a, a company called
O3 Vets and they sell a littlekit, a little ozone generator
kit for home use.
It's around$800 or$900, which, Imean, if you think of how much
it would cost to go into aclinic to be getting ozone
therapy.
(19:21):
If you can swing the upfrontinvestment, I think it pays for
itself very quickly and you cando these rectal administrations
at home and you can do it more,like usually traveling to a
clinic, you might only get in acouple times a week, but if you
have it at home, you can do itfour or five times a week.
And, um, there's somerespiratory therapies you can do
(19:41):
at home.
So I think that's a really greatoption, because I really like to
empower pet parents to do morefor themselves at home.
Not only does it help the pets,but I think it also helps create
a more positive energy becauseit helps instill hope.
And instead of sitting backfeeling hopeless, waiting for
(20:03):
your pet to die, which is whatpeople are sent home with on the
conventional side, they can bedoing something proactive.
They're taking a part in thesolution instead of just being,
feeling so frustrated andhopeless.
Ivelisse Page (20:16):
Yeah.
And I also think that stressplays a huge part like it does
for ourselves.
And if they're in their own homeenvironment, the pets are more
relaxed and they're happier andthey're not stressed from being
at the vet clinic or whereverthey are being treated.
So that has so many benefits ofit.
Uh, you had also mentionedhomeopathy.
(20:37):
I use it here at home.
I've used it with my kids sincethey were babies for, goodness
30 years we've been usinghomeopathy and I actually used
homeopathy with my late pet thatpassed away last year towards
the end and it just was reallyhelpful to help him with pain,
you know, that he was having.
And so explain to individualshow homeopathy can help pets
(21:01):
when they're ill, whether it's acold or cancer.
Dr. Judy Jasek (21:04):
So homeopathy is kind of a it's sort of a form of
energetic medicine.
So the way homeopathic remediesare made, they take an organic
substance such as, uh, well,APIS, these are an example.
APIS is used for allergies.
So they actually take bee pollenand do a homeopathic dilution.
(21:24):
So they make it very dilute.
It's like 1 to 10,000 or100,000.
And the more dilute it is, themore potent it is energetically.
It's a little backwards fromwhen I first started learning,
it sounded backwards if youthink about it logically, but
energetically they become morepotent, the more dilute they
are.
So there's no organic substancein there, but the essence of
(21:47):
that substance is there.
And we use, it uses the conceptof like treats like, so you use
a homeopathic, um, version of abee pollen, it's called Apis,
and that can help with allergysymptoms because, and it doesn't
even have to be a bee sting, anyallergic reaction can respond to
(22:09):
something like, APIS.
And I know there's Carcinocin,which is a popular one for
cancer in general.
And then different parts of thebody are depending on where the
cancer is growing in the body.
Other remedies can also behelpful.
It's also very constitutionallybased, which in mistletoes, a
(22:34):
lot like that too, in that thedifferent forms of mistletoe,
it's the mistletoe is harvestedfrom different host trees.
So there's pine and fir andapple and oak and the
constitution of the mistletoevaries with the host tree and
then the constitution of themistletoe is matched up to the
constitution of the patient.
(22:55):
It's a little easier to do thatin people because people can
report in more detail whatthey're feeling with pets we're
left with kind of monitoringtheir behavior, but, um, but we
can still do it.
And, you know, I do use multipletypes of mistletoe.
So, um, yeah, I think homeopathycan be a great adjunct.
(23:16):
I think the way I look at it iswe have to approach it from many
different angles.
It's not just one thing.
So we start with the nutritionalbase.
And honestly, I, I feel stronglyif you don't do that, you're
kind of wasting your time withthe other stuff.
You're just not going to havegood results, but then yeah, we
can do the ozone, the mistletoe.
I do a lot of Chinese herbalmedicine too.
(23:39):
So the Chinese herbs, thehomeopathy, they're all
approaching the situation from alittle different angle.
And I do believe that there's anadditive effect.
And I also look at theindividual pet.
The majority of pets that I workwith, probably, 98 percent do
well with mistletoe.
Some just don't tolerate theinjections or there's just some
(24:01):
issue.
They're just super sensitive toit.
So we don't use that therapy.
You know, some will need herbsin their food, just won't touch
their food.
If we put herbs in, well, it'smore important that they're
eating.
So we don't do the herbs.
So sometimes we do have to pickand choose based on what is
resonating the best with thepatient.
And then we look at response totreatment.
And that's another bigdifference in this approach, as
(24:23):
opposed to conventionalapproach, because conventional,
you have your diagnosis.
It's this type of tumor.
It's the stage and these stagesand the naming of things is
getting more and more detailed.
Then there's a treatment planthat goes along with it.
And they really treat thediagnosis, not the patient.
I think we need to be treatingthe patient.
Ivelisse Page (24:42):
Exactly.
100%.
Can you share a specific successstory where integrative
treatments made a significantdifference in the health of a
pet?
Dr. Judy Jasek (24:53):
Sure.
So, um, there was one, I'llshare, I'll share a story about
a kitty.
This kitty came to me, had had abladder tumor removed, so she
was completely blocked.
She could not urinate.
So I, and I'm not by the way, anadvocate for just lopping off
tumors or even doing aspiratesor biopsies.
(25:15):
From my perspective, I reallydon't need to know exactly what
it is.
And I find that sometimes thatcan inflame the situation and
make it worse.
And surgical regrowth, regrowthafter surgery tends to be super
aggressive and much harder totreat.
So I usually like to avoid thoseif possible.
This kitty had a completeurinary blockage and she, um,
(25:40):
she had to have surgery or shewould have to be euthanized.
So they opted for the surgery.
So I know going in to pay chanceof regrowth fairly high, but we
started treating, we did, theydid the raw food diet.
Um, we were doing Chinese herbs,doing ozone, mistletoe
injections.
Um, they were doing the, theworks.
It's a very, very diligent petparent, really followed through
(26:04):
with everything.
And, honestly, in a case likethis, with the chance of
regrowth being high, I wouldhave thought, you know, maybe we
can give her six or sevenmonths.
Well, we did a follow upultrasound at six months and
there was no sign of regrowth.
Matter of fact, the radiologistcould just kind of barely see
the surgical scar where thetumor had been removed from the
bladder.
(26:24):
That kitty ended up living, Ithink I started working with
her.
She was already elderly, like 14or 15 years old.
And, um, cancer never came back.
And she lived to be, I think 19and died of other, you know, age
related things.
Cancer never came back.
And that's a case where I eventhought, gosh, I don't know how
(26:46):
long we'll be able to help herbut there was never a recurrence
of the cancer.
Ivelisse Page (26:51):
That's incredible.
Incredible.
And so what advice would yougive to pet owners who are
considering integrative medicinefor their pets, but aren't sure
where to start?
Dr. Judy Jasek (27:01):
That's, that's a tricky one because there's not
very many vets that reallysupport that.
I'm actually working, by theway, with, um, so Uriel
Pharmacy, you may know UrielPharmacy, because that's where
we buy our mistletoe from.
They're the only distributor inthe U.
S.
They have a foundation calledAnthroposophia Foundation where
they are educating humanpractitioners on anthroposophic
(27:25):
medicine, which basically iswhat we've been talking about.
Mind, body, spirit, medicine.
Um, they want to start aveterinary division.
So I started working with themand I'm hoping, you know, we can
get some educational programsgoing so that more vets can
become educated and feelconfident in practicing this
way, create some community andmentorship.
(27:48):
Um, but probably the best optionright now is to go to the AHVMA.
So that's the American HolisticVeterinary Medical Association.
That's our national associationof holistic vets.
And they do have a vet finder.
So you can put in your zip codeand see if there's any members
in your area, you know, otherthan that, it's word of mouth,
(28:12):
you can do online searches.
I've had a lot of people find mein Facebook groups and I don't
spend any time on Facebook.
I just don't really care forsocial media, but I've had a lot
of people find me in like the,so the cancer groups.
There's online community groupsfor different, different types
of cancer, different healthconditions.
So you can go in there and justkind of word them out, you know,
(28:35):
see who you can find.
But yeah, it's anybody that's,um, you know, willing to lean
that way even a little bit inpractice.
That's a really great idea tosupport them.
Ivelisse Page (28:44):
That's great.
That's great.
And we can put those links aswell in our notes.
And I know people are probablywondering, you know, the cost
difference.
Is there one between integrativeand conventional pet care?
And how do you advise pet ownerswhen navigating the costs?
Dr. Judy Jasek (29:00):
I think if you're going in for standard
exams and things, I think it'sIt probably isn't all that, all
that much more.
Um, it kind of depends on whatyou're getting.
I mean, a lot of integrativepractitioners, like they want to
do things like acupuncture.
They want to do more things aspart of the wellness exam, like
(29:20):
do an acupuncture treatment ormaybe do a chiropractic
adjustment because those thingsare really important to health.
So that can increase the initialcost.
My consults are more because I'mmore specialized in what I do,
but I think if you could justfind a general practitioner that
just even if you find one that'sjust a little more open minded.
(29:43):
What I have found is that whenmy clients go in, because I do
telemedicine, so all of myclients have to have a local
vet.
So when they find one, that's alittle more open and interested
in learning, then, um, that I'lleven work with that veterinarian
and help teach them.
I've had a number reach out tome and ask me about my mistletoe
(30:05):
protocols, because they, theclient comes in and says that
they're doing mistletoe, andthen they're curious about that.
So if you can find somebodythat's even a little bit more
open minded.
Um, you know, that's a start.
And I think encouragingveterinarians that kind of want
to go that direction is reallyimportant.
And you know, I suggest youmight just have to pay for some
(30:28):
office visits and go in andinterview some vets in your area
before you need them.
Because when you need them, andyou're panicked and emotional
because your pet's sick or hurt.
You just want to get them takencare of.
It's not the time to be runningclinic to clinic to find one
that's in alignment with thetype of treatment you want.
But I think if you go ahead oftime or you're calm and you just
(30:48):
pay for a basic office visit,whatever that is.
So you want to do a pre visitinterview, maybe even take your
pet in for an introduction, um,and just tell them, you know,
what your philosophies are andjust sit down and be honest,
just start with just an honestconversation and see where they
stand.
And if they say, you know, nope,you know, you can't walk in the
door, had a rabies shot.
(31:09):
Okay.
I'm going on to the next clinic,you know?
So if you do that ahead of time,then you're not going to feel
quite so flustered.
Um, because I mean, a lot ofpeople just end up getting that
shot because just want their petto get care.
And I know I understand that,but you know, if you, if you do
the, search ahead of time.
You won't, we know none of us,we don't make good decisions
(31:30):
when we're scared and emotional.
Um, so do that decision makingahead of time and then you'll
feel more prepared.
Know where the emergency clinicsare.
Where can you get 24 hour careif your pet is, is sick or hurt?
So have a list of questions, uh,you know, and just go in or
maybe even just start with aphone call.
Just ask the receptionist andyou get a feel for it and say,
(31:51):
hey, can I meet the vet ahead oftime?
And if they're not open to that,then I probably wouldn't go in
there.
Ivelisse Page (31:57):
That's great advice.
Well, thank you, Dr.
Judy, for joining us today.
And we're so grateful for all ofyour insight and helping us make
sure we take care of our petfriends really well.
And so, uh, wish you all thebest and thank you again for
your time.
Dr. Judy Jasek (32:12):
Thank you, appreciate being here.
Rebecca Arcarese (32:15):
Hi, I'm Rebecca Arcarese, Development
Director for Believe Big.
As 2024 comes to a close, yourgenerosity can make a life
changing difference for a cancerpatient.
At Believe Big, we empowerpatients and their families with
significant resources and muchneeded hope.
Your donation today will help usprovide essential care,
education, and a community ofstrength for those in need.
(32:38):
Together, we can help morepeople face, fight, and overcome
cancer.
Visit www.believebig.org andmake your gift today.
Thank you.
Ivelisse Page (32:55):
If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to
help support our podcast, pleasesubscribe and share it with
others.
Be sure to visit believebig.orgto access the show notes and
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