News for You and Your Pet
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January 1, 2010
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Dear ,
Happy New Year!
May 2010 be filled with abundance, love and joy!
 -What's new with Ingrid?
I had a wonderful holiday season. In addition to spending time with good friends, I also enjoyed quiet time reflecting on what a phenomenal year 2009 was for me. I'm eager to embrace 2010, I know it's going to be another fantastic year. I have plans for some exciting new offerings that I'll be sharing with you in the coming months!
-In This Issue:
Most of us go to the internet when we're faced with a health problem, whether it's our own, or our pets'. But how do you know that the information you google is reliable? Dr. Nancy Kay, a veterinarian who is passionate about teaching people how to better care for their furry family members, shares some great information about how to find accurate pet health information online in the first article of a two part series, Everybody's Gone Surfin'.
'Tis the season to make - and break - New Year's resolutions. Why not set New Year's intentions instead? Read my article and find out what the difference is, and why setting intentions practically guarantees success.
I hope 2010 is off to a great start for you and your furry family members. I'm looking forward to another year of sharing information with you on topics ranging from alternative and holistic health to conscious living to creating a happy life for you and your pets.
With warm regards,
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Everybody's Gone Surfin' (Part One)
How to Find Accurate Pet Health Information Online
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By Nancy Kay, DVM
When you or a loved one develops a medical issue, chances are you'll be inclined to do some Internet research. While I say, "More power to you!" other medical professionals might roll their eyes at the thought of "wasting" valuable time discussing potentially "whackadoodle" notions gleaned from cyberspace.
Part one of "Everybody's Gone Surfin" will teach you how to find instructive, accurate, worthwhile Internet information while avoiding "online junk food." Part two (coming soon to your home computer) will provide tools to assist you in comfortably discussing what you've learned online with your veterinarian, in a way that promotes collaborative discussion. By the way, although I'm a veterinarian teaching people how to better care for their furry and feathered family members, please know that this information also applies to your own health care.
So, let's begin. How can you determine whether or not a Web site is dishing out information that is worthy of your time? Here are some general guidelines:
1. Ask your veterinarian for her Web site recommendations. She might wish to refer you to a specific site that will supplement or reinforce the information she has provided. 2. Veterinary college Web sites invariably provide reliable information. Search for them by entering "veterinary college" or "veterinary school" after the name of the disease or symptom you are researching. 3. Web addresses ending in ".org," ".edu," and ".gov," represent nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and governmental agencies, respectively. They will likely be sources of objective and accurate information. 4. If your dog has a breed-specific disease, pay a visit to the site hosted by that specific breed's national organization. 5. Avoid business-sponsored Web sites that stand to make money when you believe and act on what they profess (especially if it involves purchasing something). 6. Be ever so wary of anecdotal information. It's perfectly okay to indulge yourself with remarkable tales (how Max's skin disease was miraculously cured by a single session of aromatherapy; how global warming is the cause of hip dysplasia), but view what you are reading as fiction rather than fact. As fascinating as these National Enquirer type stories may seem, please don't let them significantly influence the choices you make for your dog. 7. I really love disease-specific online forums. Check out those sponsored by Yahoo ( http://groups.yahoo.com). Not only do they provide a wealth of educational information, members can be a wonderful source of emotional support- always a good thing for those of us who share our homes and hearts with an animal. If you are considering joining an online forum, I encourage you to look for a group that focuses on a specific disease (kidney failure, diabetes, etc), has lots of members, and has been around for several years. For example, an excellent Yahoo group K9KidneyDiet (addresses issues pertaining to dogs with kidney failure) has 3,391 members and has been up and running for eight years. A large group such as this typically has multiple moderators who provide more than one point of view (always a good thing) and greater round-the-clock availability for advice and support. Look for presentation of cited references (clinical research that supports what is being recommended). Such groups should have a homepage that explains the focus of the group and provides the number of members and posts per month (the more the better). They may have public archives of previous posts that can provide a wealth of information.
Listed below are three Web sites that discuss Addison's disease (an illness that can affect dogs and people- John F. Kennedy was diagnosed with Addison's disease). Now that you are an expert on evaluating Web sites, here is a little test of your skills. Which one of these three sites is worthy of your time and attention? Have a look and let me know what you think!
Keep an eye out for Part Two of Everybody's Gone Surfin' in which I will give you some tools for comfortably and effectively broaching the subject of your Internet research with your veterinarian!
Wishing you and your four-legged family members abundant good health,
Dr. Nancy Kay
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New Year's Intentions
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By Ingrid King
Another New Year, another round of New Year's resolutions. Lose weight, eat healthier, begin a fitness program, spend more time with family and friends, enjoy life more -- these are probably some of the most popular New Year's resolutions on most peoples' lists. They're also the resolutions most likely to be broken by the end of January. Maybe it's time for a shift in consciousness when it comes to New Year's resolutions. Instead of making resolutions this year, why not set New Year's Intentions?
The definition of intention, according to Merriam Webster, is "a determination to act in a certain way", whereas the definition of resolution is "the act of determining." There's a subtle difference, but one (intention) implies that we are actually determined to do something differently, whereas the other (resolution) simply states that we've decided to change something. The difference from a vibrational perspective is far greater than these definitions suggest. Our thoughts create our reality. Law of Attraction teaches us that like attracts like, so when we focus our thoughts on what we would like to create in our lives, we attract it to us. Setting an intention is nothing more than focusing our thoughts on a desired outcome.
Using the example of wanting to lose weight, rather than making a resolution to loose weight, which focuses on the extra weight we're trying to get rid of, it makes more sense from a vibrational perspective to set the intention that we're going to have a healthy, slender body that feels good. The universe doesn't distinguish between thoughts about what we want or don't want, it will attract what we think about. So if we continue to think about how we don't want to be overweight or how we need to drop those extra pounds, we're only going to attract more of what we don't want into our lives -- which, in this case, is extra weight! If, however, we focus our thoughts on how great it will feel to have a healthy, slender body that feels good and moves well, we're well on our way to achieving our goal.
Now that's not to say we don't still have to exercise more and eat right, but by setting the intention and focusing our thoughts on the desired outcome, we will naturally want to make the choices that are in alignment with our desire. Our choices become what I like to call "inspired action" -- the action of eating better and exercising more will feel like the next logical step rather than a battle or a chore.
We all have the power to choose our thoughts. This New Year's, why not choose to set intentions that will put you on the road to success, rather than making resolutions that are doomed to fail?
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