Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn and Susan Hubble Pitcairn

Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats, Third Edition. Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM PhD and Susan Hubble Pitcairn. Emmaus, Pa: Rodale Publishing, 2005.  large paperback, 466 pages, including end notes, index, and recipes.


Although some of the general suggestions in this book are okay-- home cooking for animals, paying attention to the conformation of an animal when picking one out to take home, description of medical problems-- I am wary of many of the specific ideas in this book.


Rabies vaccinations or titres showing immunity are practically a must. There are no [non-alternative] peer-review journal articles to my knowledge that establish the effectiveness of Bach Remedies [r, tm etc, no copyright infringement intended] or coffee enemas for dogs or cats or human beings for that matter. And there is no way that I am adminstering any concoction containing deadly nightshade to any animals in my charge, period. I am just not doing that. Period. End of discussion.


sapphoq reviews says: It is dismaying that the Pitcairns do not footnote the research studies that they base their conclusions on. For this alone, I recommend giving Complete Guide a miss.

Rock Paper Tiger by Lisa Brackmann

Rock Paper Tiger, Lisa Brackmann.  New York:  Soho Press, Inc., 2010.  e-book, 274 pps.

The first in a series, Lisa Brackmann introduces Ellie McEnroe, divorcee and Iraqi war vet who is living in Beijing.  She has a Chinese name-- Yili-- and a passel of Chinese artsy friends.  The ex-husband Trey Cooper is no prize.  He went native in a big way.  End of marriage.

Ellie also has memories.  These are the sort of memories of the war in a hot and sandy hellpit and some of the things that some of the American service people did to some of their prisoners.  Not nice things.  The sort of memories that give one a bout with P.T.S.D. which used to be called combat fatigue many years ago.  Ellie had gotten a Purple Heart.  Even that medal could not take away the pain.

Lucy Wu is a big time art dealer who keeps attempting to contact Ellie.  An artist friend of Ellie has been forced underground and has given her permission to show and/or sell some of his paintings.  These are not ordinary times.  The ordinary things do not happen.  There is a game involved, a sort of virtual world.  The characters talk to each other and Ellie is helped out when she herself has to go on the run.

sapphoq reviews says:  The virtual world in Rock Paper Tiger is not driven by materialism or capitalism.  It is instead driven by art.  Lisa Brackmann's first book was excellent and so I immediately read the other two books [also reviewed here].  I hope she keeps on writing and publishing.  Highly recommended.