#33 Skin! It’s alive!


The skin. Who knew your Sadie’s outer protective layer was intimately associated with her immune system?

And when you shampoo her lovely skin, you are actually impairing Sadie’s resistance?

Oh oh.

We live in a world of “germophobia” (fear of germs), but the bottom line is, we all benefit from having healthy skin microbiomes! All those alcohol wipes and repeated washings with soap or shampoo do is mess up Mom Nature’s well-tested plans to keep us all healthy!

Join me and homeopath Julie Anne Lee as we discuss the intimate connection between healthy skin, its native flora, and general health. And how you can encourage more resiliency and diversity in this, the largest organ any of us has.

Put dirt in the litter box? A mud mask on your dog? Getting down and dirty with your creatures may just be the best thing for all of us!

Links for this episode

The Adored Beast Specials for listeners (microbiome support and more)

Apoquel: Dog Drug with a Dark Side Looking past the quick fix.

Cytopoint: High Tech Answer to Your Itchy Dog Are you using Cytopoint? Read this.

Here’s Julie’s recipe for the flora enhancing mask:

Thanks for listening!

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Thanks!

Next week: Lisa Rosamino joins me to discuss titer clinics! If you’ve ever been stopped from getting a titer by your vet (or charged hundreds of $$ for one), listen to this one. You’ll learn how to get your friendly pet store to help get the needed blood and get a titer test inexpensively.

Let us know in the comments below if this has been an eye opening episode for you or if you’ve tried some of these skin treatments that support its health.

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15 Comments

  1. Jeanette on August 29, 2023 at 9:40 am

    Where do you get love bugs?

  2. Joy Eriksen on December 30, 2021 at 10:55 am

    Loved this episode. I learned so much about the skin’s microbiome that I had not realized before. I also really like Dr. Falconer’s interview style. It was like a conversation between friends. He gave her the time she needed to say what she wanted without interrupting her all the time.

  3. Victoria Blair on November 2, 2021 at 11:55 pm

    Hey! Don’t forget us groomers! We see the skin from nose to tail. Most of my clients are on four-week grooming schedules. I notice skin issues, lumps, bumps, can smell bad teeth, have pulled rotten hair from between teeth, and told numerous clients in the 14 years I have been in business to get their pets checked out. This was such a great, great episode! Thank you for all you do!

  4. Jodi on June 11, 2021 at 12:55 am

    I have a white dalmation/pit mix . He’s completely deaf. After his third round of shots he started itching like crazy! I took him to the vet and they put him on apoquel. He was on it for a couple months before I found out how bad apoquel was for him. They had also prescribed some really harsh shampoo. I’ve been putting aloe on his bad spots but he still scratches himself til he bleeds. I can’t wait to try the yogurt mask!
    I appreciate all you do! Keep up the good work!

  5. Nancy on May 26, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    My dogs both dig moles so they are constantly dirty from digging in dirt and mud. They clean their own paws so wind up consuming dirt. My dogs rarely get a bath but I know many people who bathe their dogs weekly!!! Both of my dogs are very healthy. No gut issues.

  6. Thomas Sandberg on May 25, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    This was brilliant! Everything is connected!

    • Will Falconer, DVM on May 25, 2021 at 9:35 pm

      Right, Thomas? We’ve shot ourselves in the foot, not to mention harmed our animals, when we’ve isolated things. “Let’s just get those damned fleas with this spot on! It says it’s safe…” Or, “This ear is full of pseudomonas!! This antibiotic will kill it and our patient will be cured!”

      And down goes species diversity, biomes on skin and in the gut are whacked out of balance, and we wonder why these cases linger in illness for years!

      Hope your project to treat animals holistically and share it with the world is getting well underway.

      (Readers: if you haven’t met Thomas and his amazing work on longevity, be sure to listen to his episode #9: Thomas Sandberg: Laughing at Life Expectancy Statistics)

      • Thomas Sandberg on May 26, 2021 at 10:53 am

        Thank you, my friend! Things are moving along. Researching several interesting subjects that I will share later.

        This podcast was very informative and I wish all pet owners would listen not once but several times, I’m on my second right now, taking lots of notes. This should be a lecture at all veterinary schools.

  7. Kim Thomas on May 25, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    Any further info about Julie’s comment in reference to a dog without their sex organs (how to support)? She mentioned amino acids, and I’d like to know more about that. My dog was spayed at 10 months after one heat cycle and I’d like to proactively support her endocrine system now (at 3 years old) before she gets older and starts having problems.

    • Thomas Sandberg on May 26, 2021 at 11:00 am

      Kim,
      If you feed a raw food diet with a good variety of proteins and organ meats you should not have to supplement with amino acids in my opinion. Add an egg in there a few times a week too. I have many (thousands) neutered and spayed dogs and cats participating in my study and they do very well on a raw food diet.

      • Kim Thomas on May 26, 2021 at 3:42 pm

        We tried raw but my dog’s stomach seems a bit too sensitive so we now feed a rotation of fresh/frozen gently/lightly cooked foods. I wonder what her comment was in relation to amino acids for a de-sexed dog, maybe I misunderstood. Right before that she mentioned organs, maybe that’s what she meant? I’ve been wondering how I might stave off long-term consequences of lack of hormones proactively, before she’s older and having more issues.

  8. Lisabeth Sewell on May 25, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    Hi you all! Hi Dr. F! This is so helpful. What is the recipe for the mask that she recommends? It has probiotics + Kefir + what else? Thank you thank you!

    • Emily on May 25, 2021 at 7:44 pm

      You can find it on Julie’s blog. 3T kefir with 1/2tsp probiotic. Blog article here.

    • Will Falconer, DVM on May 25, 2021 at 9:10 pm

      Hey Lisabeth,

      I’m adding the recipe to the show notes now. Enjoy!

  9. Gail Dunsbee on May 25, 2021 at 12:13 pm

    As usual the fountain of all knowledge, keeping us on the correct path for our canine buddies, so much info, brilliant, will keep on sharing all your info.

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