Deer Antler Velvet, Bone Growth and Sperm Count

Eleven years ago, my female German Shorthaired Pointer produced Buster.  He became a Dual Champion (Field Champion and Show Champion).  His owner called me earlier this year and offered him to me as he was getting out of the dog business.  I really wanted another litter sired by this exceptional dog but that was a gamble due to his age. 

Buster arrived, a little over weight with some joint stiffness.  A trip to the vet to check his sperm count produced the following comment from the vet.  “The port wine color of Buster’s ejaculate is quite alarming…..The good news is that he is producing viable sperm cells.”  The vet recommended a three-month course of antibiotics.  Given my background, she knew I probably would take an alternative approach.  I started him on Prostate Advantage an herbal prostate formula.  Arnica 30C and Phosphorous 30C were added to his water every other day to address the blood issue.  I also added Avinotripin every day.  Avinotropin is a product made from deer antler velvet, which has concentrated growth factors. 

 

 

Three weeks later the prostatic fluid was clear and the sperm count was still low at a few hundred thousand.  One week later the sperm count was 2 BILLION (yes this was done by a lab machine), with 90 percent motility and good morphology.  Buster was also leaner,  moved freely, and could jump in the front seat of my truck.

Buster is back in business.  

Deer antlers are distinguished from horns, as they are re-grown each year.  The velvet is a soft spongy growth that supplies nutrients to growing bone.  This is the fastest growing bone structure in nature.  Growth starts in late spring and is completed by the end of the summer.  At some point in time, usually late winter, the deer shed the antlers.  These become a source of minerals for forest animals.

In Chinese medicine deer antler velvet is valued for the nutrient, minerals and hormone related issues.  The benefits reported are many.  Last year, my wife had a traumatic compound fracture of the ankle and lower leg.  After 2 months, x-ray showed one small bone that was not healing.  After one month of Avinotropin, the bone was healed. 

Amazing stuff!

Natural Born Instinct

Warning:  This blog contains graphic descriptions of the birth process in dogs.  If you are faint of heart, perhaps you should wait for the next post.

Have you ever watched a bitch have her first litter of puppies?  She will stop eating a few days before the event.  If not confined, she may go off to create a nest for the newborns.  It seems almost effortless, one slides out, she takes the pup in her mouth, tears off the sack and licks the puppy to life.  This happens again and again.  She eats the placenta and may eat any puppies born dead.  We assume this cannibalistic instinct is to keep the nest clean so as to not attract any unwanted predators.  She nestles them in a semicircle for warmth and protection.  The puppies’ eyes are closed but they are able to find a nipple for nourishment.  The mother keeps her babies’ bowels moving and clean by licking them.  She is protective and is distressed if one is removed.  The nature of instinct, an innate ability, and knowing things that were previously unknown!  Amazing!

So is instinct purely DNA?  How about the concept of cellular or body memory?  This is where life experiences have some impact on the individual and a “memory” is stored somewhere other than the brain.  Many breeders of sporting dogs believe that a dog that has been hunted will produce offspring with better hunting instincts.  Breeding emphasis is usually placed on the sire.  And yet it is the mother that contributes more to the offspring.  One reason is that while DNA is known to be in the nucleus of the cell, there is actually DNA in the cytoplasm of the egg.  But it is obvious that the overall health of the mother will reflect in the offspring.  Most human health care focuses on prenatal and postnatal care.  Preconception care is the overlooked part of a healthy pregnancy, birth, and offspring.

There were 9 pups found after work, one dead being held in the mouth of the mother. Another one died later in the evening.  The next day, I received a call from home that she had another pup that was dead.  She ate the dead pup.  The veterinarian came for an exam and administered a shot of oxytocin to stimulate uterine contractions.  This was almost 18 hours after what was thought to be the last-born.  Two more puppies were immediately born. One pronounced dead by the vet and was placed in a bag.  The other was a runt about one-fourth the size of the others.  A few minutes later, the bag is moving; that puppy is not dead. So now there are nine- four males, 5 females.  The 13^th was found in the yard the next day and was about 2 inches long.

The runt was not doing well.  There was too much competition from the littermates.  Mom was holding the pup in her mouth in the same way she held the other dead.  This one may have to be bottle-fed, so off to the store for some goats milk which was a wasted trip as the pup was too weak.  Her little head dropped off the side of my wife’s hand.  The pup needed energy.  Homeopathy?

Which remedy…perhaps phosphorous…fire!  There was no homeopathic phosphorous but there was a tube of Magnesia phosphorica 30C.  One little pellet in the side of her mouth was almost too large for this pup.  Within a few minutes there was a little more movement.  This runt was offered one of mom’s nipples that she latched onto with new vigor.  Mom kept trying to remove the pup but was denied her instinct.  Runt was allowed to nurse every couple of hours and was soon able to refuse her brothers and sisters from taking her teat.

Meanwhile, the puppy that came back from the dead is alive and well.  The biblical female raised from the dead was Tabitha interpreted as Dorcas.  Perhaps we should call her Dorcas as Tabitha for a dog just does not work.  Either one of these pups might just be a keeper.  Amazing life!