Hypothesis on Worming
http://www.rawlearning.com/worming.html

We are told that we should de-worm our dogs and cats regularly. In some
cases, worms can cause severe problems. Hence it appears a logical
argument that we should ensure our dogs don't contain worms at any time.
Right? Well perhaps not.

There is compelling evidence in human research that there is a
relationship between de-worming practices and an increase in auto-immune
diseases.

Check out this documentary from the BBC, who have looked at the research
done by Dr Joel Weinstock and his team. To read more about the
fascinating research about how this developed, click here.

Effectively, what has happened is that by implementing practices where
people are wormed regularly, this has affected the person's immune
system is such a negative way, as to bring about responses in the body
resulting in auto-immune diseases.

So what's the connection to dogs? Let me explain a bit....

Much of the research that is started with humans can be later applied to
dogs (and cats, etc).

Now, while I am not a medical practitioner, nor a vet, I am practiced at
doing research, having a Masters Degree in Human Resources. As such, I
feel competent to be able to give a hypothesis for what is happening
with our canines.

H1 (my hypothesis): that the proliferation of unnecessary
de-worming practices is directly related to the significant increase in
auto-immune diseases in dogs.

H0 (the null hypothesis): that there is no relationship.

Note: I also believe that our current obscenely over-done vaccination
schedule we unnecessarily enforce on our pets, and the flea treatments
used, also contribute to auto immune disease, but that is for a
different study. I also believe the feeding of commercial pet foods to
our animals contributes as well.

Background - in years gone past, auto immune diseases were nowhere near
as apparent as what they are now. In countries where active and constant
de-worming of dogs is a common problem, it appears that auto-immune
diseases in dogs are more apparent. In countries where there is not the
infiltration by pharmeuceutical companies influencing vets, there
appears to be considerably less auto-immune disease.

Are worms dangerous?
Like almost everything, the answer is complex. Yes worms can kill. If a
dog is so unhealthy that the worms have built up to dangerous levels,
then yes the worms can cause considerable damage, and sometimes lead to
death.

However, if you raise your dog on an appropriate raw diet, have minimal
(if any) vaccinations, and limit its exposure to flea treatment, then
the dog should have a good platform upon which to build its overall
health. A healthy dog can manage worms easily.

Rather than necessarily being an embarrassing and awful condition,
perhaps we need to change our mindset where we think instead, "good - my
dog's immune system is now being stimulated for an appropriate response.
This will help the immune system develop well."

I like to think the anology of the way we raise our children - if we
protect them from all stimulus, "just in case something happens", they
won't grow to learn how to manage the more difficult things in life.
Such "protection" while feeling good and "responsible" at the time, is
not necessarily providng the best learning environment for our child. As
with our dogs where we try to create the right health environment
(appropriate raw diet, limitation of poisons), we wouldn't throw our
child into the middle of a busy road and expect them to work it out safely.

Like the stimulating environment you provide your child, and the
parameters you do provide, with dogs, you don't just expect them to
survive everything without your supervision.

You need to think carefully around the worming practices of your dogs.

Look at the ways the vet/pharmaceutical industry sets our puppies up to
be prime candidates for auto-immune disease -

* We are encouraged to worm dams in whelp
* We are told to worm puppies at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks of
age, and then at 6 months, and twice a year (sometimes more) after that.

If my hypothesis is true - that there is a direct relationship between
de-worming and auto-immune disease, then our dogs are prime targets for
auto-immune disease.

Unfortunately, the ones who benefit the most from this are the
pharmaceutical companies. Firstly they sell and heavily promote worming
products, then if a dog comes down with an auto immune disease, they
then get to sell a much more expensive life long treatment strategy,
while continuing to sell worming products to the pet owner of that dog.

Where to from here?
The reality, is that you are extremely unlikely to get any support from
your vet regarding my hypothesis.

If we look at the raw diet scenario, that provides a clear example of
how the veterinary world works. Bear with me for a bit here while I
explain -

ie: the pet food company sales reps have taken over research
regarding canine nutrition in just about all universities, invariably
through direct and indirect sponsorship, scholarships, and by actually
writing the textbooks (let's not talk about conflict of interest here).

The student vets are taught how wonderful these products are, and
are steered away from appreciating natural diets. The vets then go on to
practice invariably recommending commercial dog diets which invariably
lead to a plethora of health ailments. The vets then get paid a lot of
money to treat these illnesses and conditions.

A small number of vets saw past all this and have always
recommended an appropriate raw diet, or have learned in such a way as to
change their practices. On the internet, confused pet owners sought
information not provided by their vets, and found, mostly to their great
surprise, that commercial pet foods were the cause of their dogs' health
problems.

The resistant seen by vets around the world to the new ability of
pet owners to network and objectively search for information, has been
enormous.

In fact, on one hand while I think it has been very frustrating
to see the blocked learners influencing negatively the learning
processes of pet owners, I also think it's somewhat laughable.

Here with are with vets around the world following a code of
ethics that invariably begins with the statement "first do no harm", yet
here they are on a daily basis recommending inappropriate feeding
practices which lead to health problems in dogs, cats, ferrets, etc.

The good news is that due to the increasing education of pet
owners, vets are now finding themselves forced to start seriously
looking at raw diets.

Now, back to my point. If vets still can't "get it" on the idea of raw
diets being fantastic, it will probably be a huge leap for them to come
to grips with worms actually being a good thing.

Look, I'm with you - I don't want to see worms around. But look, if it
means I can considerably decrease the chances of my dogs getting
auto-immune diseases, then I think this is a far lesser "evil".

My dog has an auto-immune disease, what do I do?
Firstly I'd appreciate if you could send me an email outining the
background of the animal (age, breed, disease etc) your current feeding
practices, flea treatments used, vaccinations, and worming schedule.

Let's start seeing if we can create a formal study. However, we will
need hundreds of cases before we can formalise an outcome. If there is a
university that would like to become involved, please email me.

In summary
We don't have the answers to why your dog may have contracted an
auto-immune disease. It is likely there are a variety of causes.
However, we'd like to take on board some of the conclusions reached with
the human research, and see if we can find a similar correlation in
dogs. We well may find that there is a correlation. We may have to go
back to the drawing board.

Let's work together to see if we can find an outcome.

My best to you and your animals,

Jane Anderson
May 29th, 2004