Dr. Schoen and Yin Chiao

When I started this blog I promised myself I was not going to write about veterinary medicine because I already have too much veterinary medicine in my mind but, there is always an exception to the rule!
The exception, today, is Dr. Allen M.Schoen, an amazing American holistic veterinary. The first veterinary acupuncture book I purchased was written by him. It might not be the best written book on the topic (I prefer Xie’s Veterinary Acupuncture) but it is still a valuable textbook to refer to. Dr.Schoen, however, is much more than a mere acupuncturist and his books shall be read by pet owners, and by evterinarians, seriously interested in exploring the emotional and spiritual bond between animals and people.

Last year, while reading Love, Miracles and Animal Healing, I discovered Yin Chiao. Dr.Schoen introduces this Chinese herbal remedy explaining that, before using it on animals, he tried it on himself. I am doing the same and I must admit it seems to be working, together with liters of ginger infusions: the power of ancient Chinese wisdom! I am still sneezing, but fever has gone in less than two days and I am no longer voiceless. Schoen used Yin Chiao successfully on cats with upper respiratory airways infections: cats are very sensitive to drugs so it is nice to find something safe and efficacious. I would also consider Yin Chiao for dogs (kennel cough and more) and horses.
I clearly remember one of my first year veterinary school anatomy lessons: Prof. Lauria, who was quite a character, told us that “the cow is built on rumen” and “the horse is built on lung”, an assumption meant to become crystal clear in the following years. The horse is indeed built on its lungs and many of its diseases are related to this organ, large intestine comes second. Traditional Chinese medicine states the same. According to the ancient Chinese doctors, every living being belongs to one of the five elements. The five elements are: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. They are related to the four seasons (in spite of being five), to different life periods and to much more. Each animal species has its own element: cows have earth which relates to gastrointestinal tract and horses have metal which relates to lung and large intestine, not a coincidence in my opinion. We must them remember that each animal, and each person as well, has its own element (usually people are a mixture of more than one) and this can easily determined by any Chinese medicine expert, I am water element, my dog is axis water/ fire, hers is a combination often find in Arab horses.

Cats, another species which tends to suffer from respiratory diseases, have water as an element and kidney as weak organ (western medicine agrees on this) but the lung is believed to support the kidney, this could, according to Eastern medicine logic, explain everything. Going back to Yin Chiao, Schoen mentioned tablets, I could not find them and had to order drops from Holland, but it was worth. He also suggests being careful as some products bearing the same name contain aspirin and antihistamines, do not purchase them. Yin Chiao is believed to be safe for children, but it is not recommended for pregnant women. Google around to discover more, I hope I have provided some interesting hints.

P.S. The books mentioned in the article are listed below.