What kind of plant does green tea come from?

Have you ever wondered where green tea comes from? Have you ever wondered what the plant looks like? If not, you can rest assured that you are probably a normal human being. If you have, you are like me, and that may be something to worry about.

There are people who can "divine" what effects a plant will have on your physiology based on its "look." So take a moment and consider all the things green tea can do for your health and then take a look at the picture of Camellia sinensis (hint: it's the green, leafy plant pictured at the top of my blog's homepage!)



The image is from Henriette's Herbal website. As stated in my earlier post, she is the go to person for info on herbs.

Green tea, Camellia sinensis! Enjoy a cup or 3 a day!

Infinite blessings,
Poodle

All time FAVORITE site for info on all things HERBAL

You are in luck! I have found a wealth of legitimate information on herbs to share with you. This is the single best site I've found for information on herbal remedies, both culinary and medicinal.

Henriette's Herbal

Infinite blessings,

Poodle

pet nutrition link

Here's a blog by Dr. Susan Wynn. She's a well known holistic veterinarian with a strong interest and lengthy background in veterinary nutrition. Her blog is especially useful for getting alerts on pet food recalls, and tracking the recalls as well as other useful, and safe pet nutrition information.


Dr. Susan Wynn's nutrition blog


Poodle

New GPS dog tracker available

The idea is exciting and for every time it works to help find a roaming-too-far-from-home dog, it's worth it. The biggest drawback I see with it, however, is that it is attached to the collar, so if the collar is lost or removed, then there would potentially be a dead end at that point in a search. That said, I still think it's a great device for finding a lost dog!

Check out the Zoombak dog GPS online:

Zoombak GPS for dogs


Infinite blessings to you,
Poodle

We Missed It

Did you see it? We missed it, but I hope you got to see the Lunar Eclipse yesterday morning. It was supposed to be a sight to see, with June's full moon and the lunar eclipse all at the same time. I'm so sorry we missed it, but if you saw it, please tell me all about it.

Yesterday was Pooper's (surprise) birthday party. We had a good time with friends and family. Though I don't think he was very surprised, but he definitely was tickled to have everyone gathered together.

Infinite blessings to you,
Poodle

Light on Herbs

The herb in today's spotlight is Milk Thistle, known by its scientific name as Silybum marianum. You may recognize it as the purple-spikey-flowering, stalky plant you'll see growing wildly in meadows and along country roads. (Don't use plants growing along roads for herbal remedies, they are exposed to too many pollutants and environmental contaminants!)



Milk Thistle has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy for liver problems. Silymarin (the active part of the plant compound) has been used in the treatment of hepatitis C, mushroom toxicity (liver toxins), and even liver cancer and alcoholic hepatitis. Luckily, we don't see too many cases of alcoholic hepatitis in veterinary medicine! But animals on steroids for any length of time risk damage to their livers from the steroids and milk thistle may help protect the liver from steroid hepatopathy.

If your dog or cat is on steroids, has any elevated liver enzymes, or if you think could be helped by Milk Thistle please contact Dr. Busch at 215-287-3206.

Getting Ready

Namaskaram!

After meeting with the website designer, I realized a couple of things. One is that I should write up a few short blog entries in preparation for my vet website-blog. It would be good to have a few things already written in advance. He told me I'd need to commit to weekly blog entries (of approximately 200 words) to keep it (the site) looking alive and active, which of course, reflects on my practice, as being alive and active as well.

And the other thing I decided to do after visiting with him is to use only my own photos on this blog. I hope you like the picture of the lighted trees at Longwood Gardens. I know it's kinda grainy, but it reminded me of a name I'm considering for my website.

Here are some more ideas for domain / practice names:
LightOnVetDOTcom - for a few reasons: I'm often the last place owners try before euthanizing their pets, that is, they come to me for some last ditch ideas, and ideas are often expressed as light bulbs. Also, I will shed light on vet med, sharing the inside scoop on some commonly used but questionable practices in vet med, instead using more holistic and natural approaches to vet med and animal health. Not only will I shed light on some less than ideal approaches to animal health, but I will not be applying typical western vet practices on my patients. That is I will not use the commonly prescribed steroids and antibiotics for anything and everything that so many vets default to. In this sense I will be light on vet med. And there's the book, Light On Yoga, which is considered a sort of bible on yoga for yoga practitioners and I like tapping into this established approach to practice, yoga, vet med, and life in general. And it just sounds like Right-On and is just kind of a cool name I think. It feels good to me.

HaverfordHolitsticVetDOTcom - this will work as long as I'm in Haverford, currently we live in Haverford Township and it has a better "vibe" than Havertown, the part of Haverford Twnsp we live in. Havertown is more down and out during this recession than the more affluent Haverford part of Haverford Township. And it, like the other names I've listed to date can work for a mobile or stationary practice. Can't overlook the fact that this name gets the important word Holistic in the name, which my web designer stressed as being singularly important, though I've already questioned this in my last blog post...

NaturalPetVetDOTcom - seems pretty easy to remember. This is important, the web name has to be memorable and easy to spell, without any spelling variations that would make it difficult to find my website.

LotusVetDOTcom - The lotus is frequently cited in yoga practice because it is a flower that starts its life down in the muddy muck at the bottom of a murky pond and grows up through the water to blossom into a beautiful flower on the water's surface. I like the connection with yoga, the sense of reviving the down and out to the beauty of healthy lightness, and I just like the name. I hope this name is not taken yet. I am currently leaning towards this name, but a close second is LightOnVet.

Please let me know what you think of my ideas. Please share your ideas and you know I will let you know once a name is picked.

Until next time, Infinite blessings to you,
Poodle

Help! I need a name

June's New Moon has started and I do feel like my energy is up right now. The creative juices are flowing, but I need your help!

I met today with a web design and hosting company and it is clear I need a name for my acupuncture housecall practice. He strongly recommends have a name that identifies what it is I do. But all the obvious ones are taken:
Gone are: Animal Acupuncture, Holistic Vet, Holistic Pet Care, etc, etc.

But you all know me and my philosophy, so I was hoping you could help with this! Plus, I am not convinced that holistic, etc needs to be in the name of my practice, website, etc. Primarily because he said they can put "key words" behind the scenes of my website that would direct searches to my practice's website.

Since you all know I'm a vegan, a yogi steeping in some Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, that I do more than acupuncture housecalls, etc, I could use your suggestions for names!

Before you read my ideas below, could you please brainstorm some of your own first? I'm worried that once you read my ideas you'll be thinking in certain directions rather than coming up with your own ideas. So please take a minute and write some of your ideas down first!

Here are some I thought of: Balancing Vet (as in energy balancing to bring about an animal's health), Ahimsa Vet (this is a Hindu concept of not hurting any creature), The Vegan Vet (Vegan vet is taken), Energy Vet or Energetics Vet or Energetic Vet, Attuning Vet, Prana Chi Vet (of course all of these would be written together on a web address like - BalancingVet, PranaChiVet, etc. The reason I'm so drawn to some of these yoga-themed names is because most of my clients will know what these are, and the clients I want to attract will know what these are, too. There is a method to my madness.

So, quick, while June's New Moon is still in power, please write to me with your ideas. You can send them in the comments section below, you don't even have to open up your email.

Thank you and Infinite blessings to you!
Poodle
PS - In the past three days I've done 8 hand stands in 3 yoga classes - without crashing!