Monday, December 6, 2010

Homeopathy Can Be Used to Prevent the Parvo Virus as Well as Cure it

Here in Western Australia, we are experiencing an outbreak of parvo virus. This prompts me to talk about disease prevention in general.

Just before we get into this sensitive and emotional area, I want to introduce Dr Richard Pitcairn. He is probably the foremost homeopathic vet in America. After he graduated at veterinary college, he worked for 5 years in an immunology laboratory.

When he left, his said something along the lines of, “vaccination is a good theory, but doesn’t work in practice”. Yes, it apparently prevents the disease it is targeting, but there’s much more to it than that. So what did he mean?

He believes, as do homeopaths in general, that vaccination simply changes the virus, allowing it to mutate. So the disease apparently disappears, but others come up. In the case of the distemper vaccine, he believes that the virus mutated to the parvo virus. This disease is much more virulent, deadly in fact. So the more mild disease of distemper has been replaced by a more dangerous, new disease.

Medical progress?

This goes some way to explaining the reason why so many new diseases are emerging.

It is often considered that a virus will remain in the environment for a period of time after an epidemic. The thing is, all healthy bodies are teeming with micro life. This includes all sorts of bacteria and viruses. It’s part of life. They all have a job to do, and generally do it well, when all things are equal.

It is the lack of the health of the body that allows a bacteria or virus to grow out of natural control. The pathogen is there all the time. But conditions have to change to allow it to take hold. In other words, the ‘soil’ (in this case your dog’s health) has to change. In a single case, this can come about from a single energetic shift such as a shock, a fright, an injury, a grief, a medical procedure, accumulated toxin load, etc. In an epidemic, it can come about from a collective energetic shift.

Although energetic shifts are common and happening all the time, it’s when the dog or the collection of dogs (or anyone) get energetically or emotionally stuck in this area. Then pathology develops.

Keeping a dog healthy with quality, natural food, a loving home, freedom to be who they are, will do far more than a vaccine to prevent a disease, will. This is because you are keeping the ‘soil’ healthy. A healthy dog will be able to resist all canine diseases.

Although many homeopaths believe this to be the best way to manage health care, in these days of having to ‘do’ something, this is often not felt to be enough by some.

So HP (homeoprophylaxis) was born. HP is a way of potentising (energising a substance according to homeopathic principles) the disease discharge that you want to prevent. So, to prevent parvo, you would give the HP Partvo in potency. This works in accordance with the natural laws of stimulating the body’s response at the point of entry of a virus - the nose or mouth. It is very efficient and has no side effects.

Dr Isaac Golden, a Victorian (Australia) homeopath, is probably the only person in the world who has a PhD on this subject, for children. His experience spans over 20 years of gathering clinical information.

Interestingly, he discovered that those children who had been on the HP programme, were much healthier, not only than the vaccinated children, which he expected. But they were also much healthier than the children who had not received any immunisation at all. This surprised him, as he felt that they would be the healthiest.

I follow his programme, not only for children, but have copied it for animal immunisation, too.

Parvo virus is most dangerous in puppies, as they do not have a fully developed immune system. They have also usually just experienced multiple traumas - taken from their mother and family, put in a new home often with no other dogs and often left on their own, vaccinated, put in a pet shop and other highly stressful conditions.

However, homeopathy is able to treat this condition successfully, as it can any other. This is because it treats the symptoms of the animal, rather the symptoms of the disease.

As an addendum - many vets are moving away from annual vaccination that has been so common for the past few decades. Now they prefer to test for antibodies (the titre test) and vaccinate only when they are not present. Often this amounts to vaccinating animals every 5 - 7 years, in some cases never after the first one.

If you have to vaccinate an animal, opt for the single disease, rather the multiple one. The multiple ones do more harm. And speak to a homeopath prior, for advice on how to minimise the damage.

Catteries and kennels are changing, and now many do not require a valid vaccination certificate. Shop around.


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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Homeopathy Helps at the End

This week, my dog Shenzi died. She was 14 and had had an uncertain start to life, so I feel she probably did well. Last year was the first time in her life she had became ill. Intense homeopathic care dealt with her issues then, but this year it seemed it was her time.

She has never had any veterinary care, except for sterilisation. She has never had any commercial (and highly toxic) worm, heartworm or flea preparations. She was never vaccinated (another highly toxic drug). She has always been fed a quality natural diet.

One morning, she didn’t manage to eat all her breakfast. This was serious as she would normally consume everything in sight, plus clean up after my other dog and the cats, plus visit next door for any clearing up after their cats and dogs.

That night, she declined her normal evening walk, as well as her bone. The next day she lay quietly in her bed, moving little. She died during the night.

The whole process took less than 48 hours, from the initial signs to the end. At no stage did she indicate any distress. She did appreciate being offered her water bowl, and being carried outside to urinate, but wanted nothing else.

I believe that time is important in preparing for the transition.

This is such a different picture of the end for those animals fed commercial pet food and constantly on drugs. Then, the end can be drawn out, fearful and painful.

Allowing your pet the freedom to go when they are ready is, I believe, to be far more humane and far less controlling than when you decide to kill them. Treating them naturally throughout their life ensures they have the best and healthiest chance in life and go quickly at the end.

Even without this, homeopathy very adequately deals with any anxiety, fear or pain prior to the end, allowing them to either slip away quietly, or to bounce back, if they are not ready to go.

I believe compassion comes with not trying to control everyone. If we don’t speak the language, how on earth can we tell what an animal is going through? The fact is we can’t. It’s far more common to project our ideas onto them and make a decision based on this. I believe all that does is to make us feel more comfortable, especially in the eyes of the public. But is it what the animal wants?

Apart from this, there is always the danger that the vet did not, in fact, kill your animal. That your pet may wake up, either after you buried him, or in a rendering plant, where euthanased animals are taken, mostly to be turned into pet food.

This happened to one dog, who thankfully, had not been buried or disposed of. What about the others?

Family dog put to sleep, wakes up hours later

I have also found that my grief for an animal who chose when to go is far less than when I have had them killed (in the long distant past). I attribute this to the fact that they chose their time, rather than me in my controlling state, going against their wishes.



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Monday, September 6, 2010

Homeopathy Heals Paralysis in Dachshund

I find it rather a sad reflection of humanity, that people mess around so badly with animal breeds, creating weaknesses in the name of sport, entertainment, profit, tradition and other non-essential aspects. Perhaps the Dachshund is a typical example.

Initially bred to go down small holes to catch burrowing animals, the breed is still very much alive today, with all the same inherent weaknesses that come from a long back.

Rex, a 6 year old Dachshund had already undergone one back operation, costing thousands of dollars, He had suffered badly afterwards, whimpering and crying, showing pain and distress. His people vowed never to do the same again, even if they could afford it.

But, as often happens a year or two after an operation, the problem returned.

This time, they had some experience of what homeopathic treatment could do, so they brought him to see me.

Some aspects of the problem were obvious and easy to treat. But only having an objective viewpoint of the problems can be challenging for a homeopath. So I tend to rely a lot on the animal’s reaction to a remedy, to decide whether or not it is needed. Some dogs really get into this, and clearly show their preferences. Others are either more closed or more excited. Rex was the latter, always excited to come and see me, eagerly taking in all the exciting new smells and scents, perhaps enjoying the energy the stock of remedies give out.

So he wasn’t much help to me. I’d often have to guess what he might be experiencing, send him home with a selection of remedies and wait for him to show his people what he needed.

Initially he experienced acute pain, a complete paralysis of his back, no reaction to stimulus of his back feet, dragging his back legs to get around, with a painful spot on his back.

The first thing that he needed help with was the pain. This settled back to virtually nothing within 24 hours.

Then we had to get on to the paralysis. Rex loved his remedy for this and took it enthusiastically, but progress was slow. However, Rex was happy, eating well and comfortable.

He made it absolutely clear he desperately needed the remedy for damaged tendons, by getting excited at the mere mention of the remedy’s name.

Despite the slow progress, things were progressing. Rex’s family were brilliant, providing him with love, massage, a support sling to get about and encouragement, ingredients essential to any restoration of health.

For my part, I spent a lot of time researching and reading. This amount of after hours attention is not uncommon in homeopaths..

After just one dose of the last remedy, he got up, and started to walk all by himself, on all four legs. He was, not surprisingly, very wobbly. His muscles needed to regain their strength, but he was walking,

This was a phone call I had been eagerly awaiting, and it called for celebration. However, it was not unexpected. His people were happy to put in the time I needed to cover all angles. Often this aspect is not given to us homeopaths, which is a pity. It’s not always easy to see the way forward, but it becomes clearer with time.

The cost of the treatment to Rex was simply the inconvenience of not getting around for a few weeks. The cost of his homeopathic treatment to his people amounted to 5% of the cost of the earlier operation.

Would you like to know more about how to have a naturally healthy dog?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Are You the Cause of Your Dog’s Problems?

As a professional homeopath, I am quite passionate about homeopathy and its wonderful abilities. But there are areas where no treatment can work, however good or appropriate. And one of these areas is when there is a MAINTAINING cause.

If you constantly eat badly, you can never expect good health. This is more true in pets, with all the commercial pet food, than it is with people, who may occasionally have a decent meal.

Another area is understanding the species.

Most people have no idea what natural dog behaviour is all about. Instead, they think the dog should comply with their requirements.

Hang on a minute, aren’t we supposed to be intelligent? Why then aren’t we the ones who adapt to our dogs, rather than expect them to adapt? After all, we invited them into our homes and lives.

Dogs have a very strong social structure and if this is not maintained, all sorts of problems can result. I’m sure you know of people who treat their dogs too harshly, and others who treat their dogs too leniently.

What’s the right mix?

Dogs are pack animals. Within a pack is only one pair of leaders, the alpha male and alpha female. This means that the majority of dogs are followers, not leaders.

Dogs elect their leaders on the qualities they can bring to the pack - wisdom, safety, good hunting skills, etc.

To be a good leader, you have to exhibit the same qualities. This means that anger and irritability are a no-go area. No dog respects this. In fact, no animal does.

Anxiety and fear don’t show good leadership qualities either. And don’t imagine you can hide them from a dog - you can’t.

But most importantly, you need to think like a dog, to understand the language of dogs. Your behaviour needs to reflect this. I know of no other person who has grasped this so well as Jan Fennell. Inspired by Monty Roberts (one of the first natural horsemen a couple of decades ago), she learned ‘dogese’ from watching hours of videos on wolves and their relationship with each other.

It’s inspiring, illuminating, easy to grasp and simple to apply after you understand you need to change habits of a lifetime...

Her website is Jan Fennell, the Dog Listener

She has trained people from all over the world. She has had her own shows on TV, she has written books and created DVDs.

A few years ago, a dog came for a consultation. He was excitable and constantly raced round the clinic, barking. We couldn’t hear ourselves think, let alone discuss the problem.

I had recently read Jan’s book and seen a few TV shows. So I decided to put her ideas to the test.

Outside the clinic door is a short corridor. Each time the dog barked, I shut him in the corridor. As soon as he was quiet, often only seconds, I let him back in. When the barking re-started, he was shut out again.

He rapidly learned. I think it took about six times, after which he sat beside his person, quiet, still and calm.

I had not become irritated, or used my voice, let alone raised it. We were able to proceed with the consultation uninterrupted.

It may only have taken about 10 minutes, but the impact on the dog (and on us) was profound.



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Monday, July 5, 2010

Can You Separate Your Dog's Health from Your Own?

When I first became interested in a natural diet and health care for my animals, I was invited to a public talk, given by my veterinarian. She was heavily into alternative health care and soon after, she gave away the veterinary side of her practice all together

Even though this resulted in a substantial income reduction, she felt she could no longer carry out procedures which she knew to be harmful. Her biggest bug bear was vaccination.

Her talk inspired me. She narrated how she had been visiting a relative overseas, who wanted her to treat her cat.

The cat was very timid, spending much of the day hiding under the bed covers. Geraldine, my vet, observed that this was exactly how her relative, Odette was. She was hiding at home, hardly daring to leave her home unless it was absolutely necessary.

Geraldine was an old hand at observing the similarities between people and their pets, so she set about treating Odette, rather than her cat. She decided to use the Bach Flower Essences.

Odette kept in touch, and over the coming weeks and months, reported her progress. She was becoming increasingly brave, venturing out and about at an increasingly regular rate.

AT THE SAME TIME, almost in step with Odette's improvement, her cat started venturing around the house and then outside. He even wanted to spent a night outside on occasion, something that was completely unusual as it was formally very fearful for him.

And yet, he had received no treatment AT ALL!

Why am I telling you this?

Natural therapists know only too well that animals seem to take on the  same attributes as their humans. It's as if they are helping us carry the load, by sharing it. Or perhaps they are reflecting back to us, who we are.

Whatever it is, your health is inextricably linked to that of your animals.

If you want the best for your dog, then the first thing to do is to start by sorting out your own problems. Lighten up. Seek appropriate health care, preferably holistic, preferably homeopathic. By sorting yourself out, you have gone a long way to sorting out the health of your dog.

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Monday, May 31, 2010

Rabies Vaccinations in Dogs and How to Reduce the Side Effects

Rabies vaccination in pets is one of the mandatory vaccinations in some parts of the world. And yet it has the highest rate of serious side effects of any vaccine. Nasty side effects, even death can result.

If this is a mandatory vaccine in your area, there is little you can do to avoid the vaccine, but plenty you can do to limit, even prevent the side effects.

Typical side effects can range from a mild fever, lasting just a few hours, to lethargy, to vomiting, to abnormal aggression, to separation anxiety, to compulsive disorders, to epilepsy, to seizures, to loss of consciousness, even death.

Other symptoms include autoimmune disorders, allergies, digestive problems, skin problems and a cancer at the site of the injection.

Although all these symptoms are common side effects from any vaccine, the rabies vaccine is one of the worst ones.

The nervous system is attacked, which creates this wide range of serious side effects. The muscles can be affected, as can be the spine and brain. This is similar to the rabies disease itself.

Although side effects are normally recognised as only lasting for a few days afterwards, up to a maximum of 45 days, in truth they can last the whole life of your dog.

How can you minimise this, or prevent it altogether, especially if your dog has reacted in the past?

First, you need to ensure your dog is as healthy as possible. Focus on raising the immune system. One of the most successful ways of doing this is to feed your dog a quality raw meat and bones diet. This does wonders for their immune system.

Make sure your dog gets plenty of exercise out in the open, and lots of love.

If your dog has already reacted badly to a rabies vaccination, you need to consult with a professional homeopath, who can generally undo the damage done.

Then on the day prior, to the vaccine, give your dog the homeopathic medicine Ledum 30c about three times. Immediately after the vaccine, dose your dose every five minutes for about half an hour. Then taper off.

If any symptoms appear that day, re-dose the Ledum.

However, if symptoms continue to develop, and Ledum isn’t helping, now switch to Hypericum 30c. Dose according to the symptoms and the improvements.

Hypericum is a great homeopathic medicine for nerve damage caused by a puncture wound (in this case a vaccine), so should resolve all associated problems.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Learn to Listen to Your Dog

Humanity, being the arrogant lot we are, tend to think we know best especially when it comes to our much loved pets.

However, I have come to realise that we know very little. That the animals do in fact know much more.

One of things animals face is the total ignorance of some veterinarians of their basic needs. Dogs with injuries are often told to bed rest, even though this drives them to distraction, being the active animal they are.

Medication dulls their senses too, making it more difficult for them to listen to what their body is telling them. Pain after injury is the best way to tell a dog not to move. Not a pain killer then forced rest.

Let me give you an example.

One of my dogs came to me after he had been run over. He had spent a month at a vet's clinic, with the normal toxic drug load. The combination has been a constant headache for me to heal his injuries. Some progress has been made over the years, enough to give him quality of life if not total freedom from the injuries.

He recently hurt an old injury after racing around. He loves nothing better than his evening walk with dozens of racket-hit tennis balls. He always races after them, then races back to me to throw it again. This time, he walked forlornly back to me. Then he turned, ball in mouth and headed for home.

After a couple of misses, I hit on the correct homeopathic treatment for him. He chose how much running to do himself. He enjoyed a gentle run after the first ball, but for about a week after he had hurt himself, he regulated his running to this. After one run, he simply headed for home, ball in mouth.

When he felt better, he naturally ran more, by returning the ball to me for more throws.

Although his homeopathic treatment helped his healing, it didn't mask his symptoms. He was still in control. He decided how much running his body could manage.

By learning to listen to your dog, you can judge what he needs, far better than the majority of vets.

Monday, May 10, 2010

How to Treat Tapeworms in Dogs, Naturally

One of my dogs, who is about 12 years old, became so ill recently, I thought she was nearing her end. However, after intense homoeopathic care, she bounced back.

My animals are all fed a healthy raw diet. This prevents worm proliferation and flea infestation. I am in the habit of checking my cats and dogs stool regularly for tapeworms. Tapeworms are the most common worms in cats and dogs. They are easily visible in fresh stool as white, moving grains of rice. As they die, they yellow.

As long as there is no evidence of worms in a dog's stool, then you don't have to be concerned.

However, treating my dog had taken my attention away from my regular inspection of their stool. I was more interested in looking to see how she was coping with life. It wasn't until she squatted down to do a bowel movement beside me, that I noticed it was wriggling with life.

Worms take advantage of an ailing animal to proliferate. An ailing animal, even though eating, will not be able to digest as quickly. And it's this slow digestion that allows worms to breed out of control. Which is why cooked food promotes worms - it is digested much more slowly than raw food.

I created a tapeworm complex remedy (made up by combining several homoepathic remedies) years ago, but have never used myself. Many people have used it to good effect, but I never had the need to.

Now was my chance.

I gave her the remedy twice a day. She was very happy to take it. After a couple of days, I put it in her water, so she could freely dose herself. She also had access to another bowl of water, with no remedy in. This is important. Allow the animal to dose themselves as and when required.

After a couple of days, I noticed the worms had reduced to about 50%. After a week, there was only the odd worm. It probably took about 10 days for the stool to be completely free of worms.

How much better this approach is than the harmful chemical wormers that kill off the worms, but also harm the host.

I can't guarantee this Tapeworm Complex will work on dogs fed a commercial dog food, as this is the cause of so much ill health.

To order, you need to click on the appropriate link under Complex of Choice on the right hand side.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Finding Home Remedies for Killing Fleas May Come From Changing Your Perspective

In looking for the best home remedies for killing fleas, it is worth trying to come at the problem from a different angle. This approach of killing off anything that offends or irritates you may be the real cause of the problem.

We humans are a very selfish species. No other species has our intolerance. No other species goes to war on killing those who offend us, be they insects or countries.

Did you know that flea pesticides contain nerve gas? The top pet flea pesticides may poison the fleas, but they also poison your pet, and you in the process, albeit slowly.

I’m not suggesting that you encourage fleas in your home or your pet, but instead of killing them off, a better approach is to look at why you have them. If you know what that is, and address that, then the fleas will go on their own.

Everyone knows that furry animals harbour fleas. But do they in the wild? Wouldn’t that hamper their existence?

In fact healthy wild animals tend to have few parasites. Unhealthy wild animals are much more susceptible to parasites. So it appears it’s all about good health.

What’s different between domestic and wild animals, of the same species?

Apart from the freedom, it’s essentially diet and medical treatment.

Diet plays a crucial role in the health of everyone. Pet food is notoriously low quality and packed with cheap, and harmful ingredients. There are no standards for pet food, so anything can, and does, happen.

By feeding your pet a diet that reflects that of their healthy wild cousins, you can alter the pH of your pet to the point their skin is no longer attractive to fleas. Or their gut to worms. They become healthier and happier.

A diet of quality raw meat and bones achieves just this.

Good though this is, it’s unlikely to eliminate every single flea from your pet, so you may still need to consider another, supportive action, if that’s your aim.

Some homeopaths who treat pets, have a homeopathic complex (several medicines in low potency) which are excellent at further improving the pH of your pet.

Other dietary home remedies include brewers yeast as a supplement, garlic in the diet or apple cider vinegar in their water (i teaspoon per pint or 500 ml).

Effective aromatherapy oils which discourage fleas are cedarwood, eucalyptus, terebinth, lemon, rosemary, lavender and mint. These are diluted (three drops to 1/4 of a pint or 180 ml) and combed through the fur.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Eczema in Dogs and How to Treat it Effectively and Naturally

Eczema in dogs is common. Eczema is a condition where patches of skin become rough, red and inflamed. Tiny blisters can occur. Itching is prominent and bleeding can occur.

In the natural health industry, in particular in homeopathy, the skin is looked upon as the first organ of choice by the body, to release toxins safely. The skin is the least important organ of the body, and eruptions only cause cosmetic grief and local irritation.

When eczema or any skin eruptions are suppressed by steroids, zinc creams, calamine lotion or the like, then the body is denied the use of the skin. So it has to search for other organs to release the toxins from. These become more important organs, such as the kidneys, the liver, even the heart.

So by suppressing the eczema in dogs, you may discover he later gets a heart problem. Stop the skin treatment and the heart problem is likely to disappear and the skin eruption return.

It’s more beneficial for everyone concerned to get to the cause of the problem. Why do so many dogs suffer from eczema?

There are two probable causes. Diet and anxiety.

Processed dog food is generally highly toxic, despite the claims on the label. Preservatives such as formaldehyde and ethoxyquin are used. These are highly toxic and would never be permitted in human food.

By switching your dog to a quality, home prepared, raw meat and bones diet, you may be adding years and quality to his life. And the eczema is likely to be banished to the past.

Two important ingredients in this raw diet, that help dogs with eczema are raw liver and sunflower oil. The liver needs to be rationed to once or twice a week, otherwise vitamin A can become a problem. Daily sunflower oil (just a few drops) provides the dog with their perfect omega 3.

Anxiety is another reason dogs can get eczema. Dogs are pack animals. They need you, as their pack leader, to demonstrate the qualities of a natural leader. This means calm strength, communication and fair play.

Getting angry is not how a natural leader operates. Clear boundaries need to be set and a gentle but firm approach to enforce them.

Communication is essential. When you disappear in the morning, off to work, you need to tell your dog where you are going and when you are likely to be home. They hear you loud and clear. It’s humans who have the problem in not hearing them.

Communicating clearly with them is likely to remove at least some of their anxiety, if not all. This in turn is likely to remove the eczema.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Natural Diabetic Dog Food May Cure the Diabetes

Natural diabetic dog food, or the food best suited to feed a diabetic dog, may cure the diabetes.

If you have been feeding your dog a processed dog food up until now, then I suggest that this is the cause of the diabetes.

Although dogs are carrion feeders, so can live on pretty much anything, including rotting meat or a purely vegetable diet, this can be natural for them, in the wild. Their stomachs can easily digest rotting flesh.

What their system can’t manage is to process all the ingredients that go into processed dog food.

It starts its life with low grade meat, often with a high fat content, as all the good cuts of meat go to the human market, where higher prices can be had. Meat by-products (slaughter house waste, carcasses from veterinarians, farms, zoos, vivisection companies, road kill and the like) make up the bulk of most pet food.

This is then cooked at high temperatures and pressures, killing off what little nutrition remained.

Cheap fillers are then used to bulk this out. Fillers than may include melamine from China or anything cheap on the work market. Such as sugar.

Then toxic preservatives are added (which are not permitted in human food) to ensure a long shelf life.

Isolated and synthetic appetite stimulants and ‘nutrients’ are then added to ensure your poor dog eats it. The ‘nutrients’ can’t be absorbed and can cause joint stiffness and kidney stones.

Does any of this sound like the ‘perfectly balanced’ dog food the label may be proclaiming.

Once you start feeding a diabetic dog food that reflects the natural diet of a wild dog, you can be sure that the diabetes will either disappear or improve enormously.

This means raw meat which has all the nutrition naturally required. It means no filler, especially not sugar. It means organ meat in proportion to the muscle meat found in a carcass. It means only naturally occurring, easily digested dietary supplements.

But what it means most of all, is you taking control of the health of your dog, not leaving it to others who loudly proclaim their superior product but are, in reality, much more interested in your wallet than in the health of your dog.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Continuous Itching From Terrible Allergies in Dogs

Continuous itching can be a problem when you have terrible allergies. And dogs don’t care if their scratching annoys you. If they have an itch, they must scratch it. So the continuous itching needs to alert you to the cause. For the moment, put the treatment on hold. Just look for the cause.

Once you know the cause, then you can remedy that. End of continuous itching.

There are a few possible causes, but by far the most common is the diet you feed your dog.

Commercial dog food comes in alluring packets. Millions is spent on advertising the major brands. But little is spent on the inside of the packet, the contents. In fact, the cheaper the cost, the more the profit for the manufacturer.

Lets look at some of the ingredients of a typical commercial dog food. Much of the ingredients won’t be listed, but there are ways of finding out what they are.

Meat by-products are the end product of a rendering plant. A rendering plant is where all dead animals or their unwanted parts, are processed. Euthanised pets and zoo animals, road kill, dead farm animals from cancers etc, rejects from slaughter houses.

This ‘meat’ is then bulked out with a cheap filler. Many cheap fillers consist of anything that has been over-produced, such as sugar. Other fillers can consist of rejects for human consumption, such as mouldy grain. Melamine from China, that is responsible for killing many pets, is still being used.

To ensure a long shelf life for this product, toxic preservatives are added at some stage of the production. Examples include ethoxyquin (made for the rubber industry and causes agent orange like symptoms) and formalin (excellent for preserving dead bodies).

Do you consider any of these ingredients either healthy for your dog, or might perhaps contribute to his allergies? How would you fare on such a diet? Would you be healthy and allergy free?

If your dog has a continuous itch or has terrible allergies, start his treatment with a change of diet, preferably to a home made quality raw diet. After the initial de-tox period, his health is likely to return to that he enjoyed as a puppy.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Treating Cystitis in Dogs With Diet and Homeopathy

Cystitis in dogs is sadly not than uncommon. Cystitis is basically inflammation of the bladder. Consequences are frequent, and painful urges to urinate.

In humans, one of the common causes is at the start of sexual activity, so there is no reason to suppose this may not be true in dogs.

However, I believe there is a much more simple and easily resolved cause.

Any disease can be naturally prevented if your dog has a healthy immune system. If this is not healthy, then all manner of diseases can occur, normally focussing on those that are a weakness in your dog.

One of the main areas that cause a lowering of an immune system is an inadequate diet. Practically every processed dog food will achieve this, single handedly.

They start of with low quality, non nutritious ‘meat’ (normally meat by-products). This is then bulked out with cheap, non nutritious filler. Then chemicals are added to preserve, to colour, to stimulate appetite, to try to redress the nutritional shortfalls.

How do you imagine your dog can be healthy on such a diet?

Do you put the wrong fuel in your car?

I’m guessing that you don’t because you know what will happen.

So how do you expect your dog to operate efficiently on a low quality ‘fuel’?

So the first thing you need to do, to help the cystitis in your dog, is to address the diet. Putting them on a raw meat and bones diet may be all that is necessary to cure the cystitis in your dog, if it is acute, recent and mild.

The more serious or more frequent cystitis may need some help. Typical help is with antibiotics, but this doesn’t get to the cause of the problem, and further lowers the immune system.

A better solution is one which works by quickly raising the level of immunity, so the dog can cure himself.

This can be achieved with homeopathic treatment. However, for it to work, the most appropriate medicine needs to be selected based on the cause and/or the personal symptoms.

Staphysagria is a common medicine used to treat cystitis in dogs and across the board species wise.

In sterilised animals, the cause of the cystitis may be anger at the operation, in which they weren’t consulted. However, it’s unlikely that you will see the anger, as it is generally well suppressed.

Apart from the frequent urge and painful urination, other symptoms that Staphysagria may resolve are a skin eruption in sweet, loving and sterilised animals.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Urinary Tract Infection in Dogs and its Natural Treatment

A urinary tract infection in dogs is normally treated with antibiotics. And although this may help to resolve the condition temporarily, it usually comes back.

Are there any alternatives? Of course there are. There are always as many ways of treating an ailment as there are sufferers of the ailment.

Here, we’re focussing on its natural treatment.

First of all, it’s worth knowing what the cause is. The cause of any health disorder comes down to a low immune system. In dogs, this is usually as a result of a poor diet. A diet of processed, commercial dog food, even those recommended by veterinarians, are the main cause of a lowered immunity. (In private, vets may tell you not to feed commercial dog food.)

A good diet is essential for a healthy body. Garbage in, garbage out.

Dogs evolved to eat raw meat and bones. Not the meat by products, the cheap filler, the highly toxic preservatives, the isolated and synthetic low cost nutrients that passes for nutritious dog food.

So this area needs to be addressed as quickly as possible, before further ailments start to appear.

However, a urinary tract infection in dogs needs immediate treatment, in the short term.

The best way to do this is with homeopathy. Homeopathy raises the immunity quickly. In moments.

So your best option would be to consult a professional homeopath who treats animals.

But if you don’t mind doing a bit of work yourself, you may be able to work out the most appropriate medicine for your dog/s condition, yourself.

Homeopathy works by matching the patient’s symptoms to those of the most appropriate medicine. This is more difficult in animals than in people as we most of us can’t access their subjective symptoms. We can only use their objective symptoms.

Bear in mind that homeopathy doesn’t rely on the disease label. Instead it relies on the individual symptoms of the patient. So the labels ‘urinary tract infection’ or ‘cystitis’ or ‘bladder infection’ are not important in the selection of the most appropriate homeopathic medicine.

The homeopathic medicine Nux vomica is one of the most common medicines for a frequent urge to urinate, but only small amounts are passed. Sometimes you will notice a tinge of pink, indicating blood is present.

Other important symptoms to consider are:

  •  feels the cold very much, great desire for heat and warmth
  •  worse first thing in the morning - moods, sneezing
  •  may be constipated, only able to pass small amounts or none at all despite the urge
  •  is more irritable than normal

Nux vomica is a great liver medicine. It will help de-tox the liver, which is the organ most affected by ingesting toxins.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Natural Dog Health With Homeopathy and a Raw Diet

It’s hard to improve on natural dog health because it’s impossible to improve on nature. Dogs evolved on a raw meat and bones diet. Their system works best with this. Difficulties arise with:

  •  cooked food (notice any cookers in nature?)
  •  with the poor quality meat (in even the best commercial dog food)
  •  the unnatural filler (melamine, sawdust, crushed nutshells as dog food?)
  •  all the chemicals that give it acceptable (to humans) colour, preservatives to give it a long shelf life (despite the claims on the label)
  •  the isolated and synthetic nutrients which are difficult to digest

Huge health problems arise when dogs are fed a diet of commercial dog food, most of which tends to disappear as soon as they are put onto a raw meat and bones diet.

However, some health issues remain, despite the best diet. Although most dog health problems are caused by an unhealthy diet, there are some which aren’t.

Grief affects dogs as much as it affects us. The loss of a much loved companion or human can create ‘stuck’ grief in dogs, that is grief they can’t work through and recover from.

Pets also have a tendency to take on our ‘stuff’. If we are stuck in grief, they can share the load, or take it on completely.

Grief that is unresolved can move into depression. A depressed dog is a sorry sight, as most dogs are happy and loving.

Dealing with problems such as these, with homeopathic medicines, can complete the natural dog health circle.

The homeopathic medicine Natrum muriaticum (Nat mur) is one of the most common medicines in the treatment of grief.

Other symptoms that may develop from the grief (or without grief) are:

  •  a dry nose and dry mucous membranes
  •  anaemia
  •  abdominal ascites, dropsy or oedema
  •  nephritis, or inflammation of the kidneys - urine is difficult to pass, taking time to come
  •  involuntary urination
  •  pain at the end of urination, which may be difficult to see
  •  a great thirst

Nat mur is made from common rock salt. So if the diet has been high in salt (as many commercial dog food is), then this could have been the cause of the ill health.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Kennel Cough and How to Prevent it Without Vaccination

Kennel cough can be a problem in dogs who live in close proximity to each other, such as in a kennel situation.

It comes about because the dog’s immune system is compromised. Several factors contribute towards low immunity. Here are the top areas that cause problems:

  • Living in kennels is not natural for dogs and causes them stress. This may be unavoidable if you are on holiday, but shouldn’t be their normal life style.
  • Feeding your dog processed or commercial pet food. This is an unnatural and nutrient poor diet. It’s better to give a quality raw meat and bones diet.
  • If your dog is stressed by anything. This could be that your family unit is not happy, or another animal intimidates your dog, or your dog can’t settle when you are away at work. There are many factors. Dealing with them holistically will help you dog at a deep level.
  • Giving your dog medication and vaccines. Look for natural health and immunity.
  • Dog training can be harsh. Look towards a more holistic approach, one that deals with problems by looking at it from the dog’s point of view. Jan Fennell, an excellent UK dog trainer, works at this important level.

Apart from improving your dog’s immune system, how can you prevent kennel cough?

One of the best ways is to use a homeopathic immunisation program. Let me explain.

I once visited a cattery who also accepted cats who had received a homeopathic immunisation program, rather than exclusively the usual vaccination. The owner told me something I had long suspected - that the cats who had received the homeopathic immunisation didn’t ever seem to present with problems.

But the cats who had received their usual vaccination frequently showed symptoms of the disease they were supposed to be protected against.

Not long ago, I adopted three kittens. One of my cats was sneezing at the time, and I didn’t want the kittens to get cat flu. So I gave them the homeopathic immunisation nosode for cat flu. Even though the sneezing cat was their favourite companion, and became almost a surrogate mum for them, they never developed cat flu symptoms.

So if you want a natural, effective alternative to the normal kennel cough vaccination, one with no side effects, visit a homeopathic vet and ask for the kennel cough nosode.

And deal with problems holistically.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Treatment of Canine Bladder Infection - With Natural Solutions

The treatment of canine bladder infections is pretty much the same as with humans, when you are using homeopathy.

Homeopaths always start off any new consultation with a search for the cause of the problem. In dogs and cats, the cause of many disease are their diet. People tend to think that processed dog food is wholesome and nutritious..

Easy it may be. Wholesome and nutritious it is not. Holistic vets around the world are very much aware that when a pet’s diet is switched from processed food to a quality raw food diet, many serious diseases disappear. As a result, their business is reduced.

Holistic vets are happy about that, as they want quality of life for their patients, not increased income.

So, you need to start by changing the diet of your dog, if you want to see a difference. No amount of treatment, natural or otherwise, will be effective until you address the cause.

With that in place, the choice of homeopathic medicines can be very effective, fast and permanent. But you need to be able to match your dog’s symptoms with those of the most appropriate medicine.

With pets, it can be more difficult to match these symptoms as we can only use the objective symptoms. Subjective symptoms can’t be used, as we can’t talk to them and ask them about these.

However, that simply means you have to be more observant, and especially, be objective. Don’t try to put words into your dogs mouth, as it were.

The treatment of canine bladder infection can be resolved with the homeopathic medicine Pulsatilla, provided the symptoms agree.

The key symptoms of the urinary tract within this medicine are:

  •  bladder pain which is worse at the end or urination, so the dog may yelp then
  •  bladder pain which is worse when retaining urine, so the dog may have frequent attempts to urinate
  •  there may be involuntary urination especially at night when asleep, when coughing, sneezing or passing flatus

You also need to match the psyche of the dog to the medicine. In Pulsatilla, this is a loving but shy and timid dog who is easily influenced. That doesn’t mean they can’t be irritable. In fact the mood can change quickly from timidity to irritability.

Those who do well on this medicine tend to be warm blooded, with an intolerance or worsening of the symptoms when warm or hot, and an improvement in a cool environment.

There is also a lack of thirst, but this may be difficult to see in dogs fed dried food, as that will make them more thirsty than normal.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Gingivitis in Dogs Can Be Prevented

Gingivitis in dogs is common when they are not fed bones, as part of their diet. Bones have a serious contribution to oral hygiene in carnivores (cats) or omnivores at the carnivore end (dogs).

It’s a sad fact that many people feel that raw bones are harmful to a dog’s health. But how can they be, when you consider that’s exactly how wild dogs evolved?  (Cooked bones are a different matter.)

In all my years of having and treating cats and dogs, I have never come across one who had a problem ingesting raw bones. Occasionally there has been a problem with getting a piece stuck on a tooth, but they have always been able to remove it without assistance.

Only twice have I come across a dog with a piece of bone getting wedged across the mouth. Most dogs will allow you to loosen it.

The enormous advantages that a dog gains from a daily bone far outweighs the minor inconveniences of these rare problems. A daily bone will keep your dog’s teeth clean and free from tartar, will keep the gums healthy, will provide a naturally balanced  supply of minerals for healthy bone growth and will keep your dog happy.

An overfed dog will tend to bury bones. That’s a hint - don’t overfeed your dog.

Gingivitis in dogs needs to be treated before you can expect a dog to be able to crunch up on bones. Gingivitis can be painful, as it’s an inflammation of the gums.

The homeopathic medicine Mercurius is an excellent medicine to heal gingivitis in dogs and humans alike. But, as always with homeopathic medicines, you need to be able to match more than one symptom of the medicine to your dog’s gingivitis.

So let’s have a look at the strong keynotes of Mercurius.

  •  there is a narrow temperature tolerance - hot or cold food (or weather) is painful
  •  symptoms are worse at night, so your dog may whine or become restless
  •  your dog may have a lot of slimy saliva
  •  your dog’s breath may smell foul
  •  your dog may have a history of repeated and recurring antibiotics for ear as well as mouth problems

Monday, February 8, 2010

Dogs Depression and How to Treat it Naturally

Dogs depression is best dealt with by treating the cause. How do you know what that is? Here are some pointers, but you will also need to do the homework of working out what is relevant for your dog.

Depression most commonly occurs from unresolved emotions. Dogs can be as much affected by this as we are. Examples include shock, fright and grief.

It’s worth remembering that dogs have a weakness in their hearts. So any stress that affects their heart is likely to cause deep problems. A healthy heart can mean an open and loving dog. An unhealthy heart can mean an closed, introverted, depressed dog.

Pets also have a habit of taking on our unresolved emotional burdens..This means that the best we can do for out pets is to keep on top of our own problems.

Let’s look at grief. The loss of a much loved companion or human may take time to work through. Or they may not be able to.

Unresolved emotions create physical health problems.

By treating your dogs depression, and other health issues, with homeopathic medicines, you will be treating the cause. This is how homeopathy works. The unresolved emotion creates a blockage in the immune system. Clear that, and the good health returns with the return of the healthy immune system.

But to use homeopathic medicines effectively, you need to be able to match your dog’s symptoms with those of the curative medicine.

The homeopathic medicine Natrum muriaticum, or Nat mur, is a common medicine which can resolve emotional blockages such as grief. Apart from the grief and the closed heart, you will need some physical symptoms on which to base the choice of Nat mur. Some of its strong physical keynote symptoms are:

  •  oedemas, dropsy or ascites
  •  anaemia
  •  nephritis or inflammation of the kidneys, with difficulties passing urine - it comes slowly and/or there is incontinence
  •  dislike of warmth, especially that of the sun
  •  past history of herpes infections (mouth, genitals), so possibly many antibiotics
  •  weariness, weakness
  •  sore back

With the resolution of the grief, will come the disappearance of the physical health problems.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Natural Treatment of Eczema in Dogs With Homeopathy and Diet

The natural treatment of eczema in dogs is normally by working out what the cause is and then ensuring the treatment follows natural laws.

First lets look at the likely cause.

Disease is all about a struggling immune system. Disease cannot happen when the immune system is in good working order.

There are many factors which may be contributing to your dog’s low immunity - diet, lack of exercise, medical drugs and vaccines, flea and worm treatment, your health (or lack of), harsh training methods and probably a million more.

By virtue of its daily consumption, I consider diet to be one of the most important contributors to a lack of immunity. Processed pet food, often considered to be ‘nutritionally complete’ or ‘naturally balanced’ may be conning you by their pretty packets. But your dog suffers by the nutrient poor food inside.

Just think for a moment. All quality meat goes for human consumption, where the price is high. So pet food comes from the waste. Couple that with a lack of working laws for pet food, a plentiful supply of unethical pet food manufacturers and you have a recipe for disaster.

Of course, not all pet food manufacturers are unethical, but how do you know who isn’t?

Holistic veterinarians from around the world have discovered an enormous boost in the health of their patients when they can convince their people to make a change to a healthy, non processed, mostly raw meat and bones diet. That alone may be the only natural treatment of eczema in dogs you need. That alone may cure the problem.

The skin is the main organ for de-toxing. It is the least important skin of the body. When a dog has eczema, it shows that they have only fallen one notch of health. Suppress that, and it falls another notch, with another more important organ, such as the kidneys or heart, taking the brunt of the de-tox.

The homeopathic treatment of eczema in dogs works by boosting the immune system, so the dog can cure himself. However, if the cause remains, perhaps the diet, it will return. And return. And return.

The homeopathic medicine Rhus tox is a great eczema treatment as long as the eczema is uncomplicated (by past drugs), is better in hot weather and is intensely itchy.

For more appropriate homeopathic treatment of eczema in dogs, a homeopath who treats animals may be your best option.

Monday, January 25, 2010

What You Need to Know About Commercial Dog Food Before Buying Any More

People tend to think that commercial dog food, especially if it has been recommended by their veterinarian is of good quality and is giving your dog the best chance in life. Right?

Wrong!

While vets should be the best people to advise about dog food, sadly they’re not. Why? Because the top commercial pet food manufacturers now financially contribute to many veterinary schools. They have a foot in the door. They can, and do, influence the students.

After all you generally don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

In most countries of the world, there are, at least some basic laws governing the quality of human food, whether it’s fresh produce, meat or fast food.

In no country are there laws (which are enforced) that insist commercial pet food manufacturers use quality ingredients. That means anything can, and does, go.

After all, if meat is of good quality, wouldn’t you sell it to the highest market - the human market? So, it’s only the poorest quality meat, more often meat by-products (such as hair, intestines and contents, chicken feet, brain, skin, grizzle, fat, etc) that goes for dog food.

This means that the overall nutrient quality is as poor as it gets, as different proteins have different nutritional absorbability.

Pet food is always bulked out with inert (or not as the melamine scam from China testifies) filler. Typically, this filler will be the current cheapest carbohydrate. There’s often a world glut of something, driving down the price. It may be sugar one year, wheat the next.

Do you think the addition of sugar into your dog’s diet will serve to improve his health?

Why do you think that diabetes in dogs is on the increase?

Dogs may bulk out their food in the wild, but it would be on fresh plant matter that’s available, such as fruit or leaves.

Cooking destroys many vitamins and enzymes which are critical to the overall health of your dog.

As most dog food is dried pellets, which keep indefinitely at room temperature, preservatives must be used. Some manufacturers claim they have not added preservatives. Look carefully at the wording. They did not add it. This may be true. But preservatives will always have been added to the meat before it was delivered to the manufacturers.

It’s impossible to keep meat products at room temperature indefinitely without the use of strong preservatives. Preservatives that would never be allowed in human food, because of their poisonous effect.

So your dog may be well fed as far as volume is concerned, but will be starving for quality food. How can your dog remain healthy if he’s fed garbage?

Most people would be appalled at the process that goes into the making of commercial pet food. That would be a really good incentive not to feed it. I’m attempting to give you a glimpse behind the scenes, so you can give your dog the best dog food available within your budget and within your time available.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Canine Cruciate Ligament - Natural Treatment

Canine cruciate ligament injury is common. Or becoming more common. I believe that there is one particular area that causes this. And that is the diet.

Dogs are typically fed a diet of processed food. This does nothing for their overall health, as commercial dog food is commonly low in quality, nutrient poor and high in chemicals.

A poor quality diet will lower the immune system of the dog, making it much more difficult to recover from injuries and to ward off disease.

However, redressing the damage already done, by a poor quality diet, is unlikely to help your dog’s current cruciate ligament problem. Important though it is to immediately implement dietary changes, something else is needed, too. Something that will boost the immune system quickly, so that your dog can start healing himself.

Homeopathy works by doing just that - boosting the immune system quickly. This is done by carefully selecting the most appropriate medicine for the job in hand. Then the frequency of dose needs to be worked out and how long that medicine is needed.

Periodically, other homeopathic medicines may be indicated as symptoms change.

All this is best left to the skills of a professional homeopath who treats animals.

However, there are some common homeopathic home prescribing medicines many of which may help in the short term, or completely resolve the case if the damage is uncomplicated or not serious.

The more serious or complicated the problem, the more likely professional help is needed.

Any injury is best started off with the use of medicinal Arnica. If the injury has just happened and is a minor injury, this may be all that is required.

However, the more complicated the injury is, or the more serious, the more likely professional homeopathic help is likely to be needed.

The homeopathic medicine Ruta is a specific for canine cruciate ligament injury, as it is for other animals, including humans. However, the personal symptoms of the dog are needed to match those of the medicine, for it to work.

The main symptom of Ruta, apart from the injury to a ligament, is a weakness. This means your dog may collapse or tend to sit or lie down a lot more than normal.

Any tendon or ligament damage tends to result in inflammation, to prevent further damage occurring. The past use of anti-inflammatory drugs may interfere with the action of Ruta. Expert help may then be required from a professional homeopath, to get things moving again.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Dog Ear Infection Treatment With Diet and Homeopathy

If you are looking for an effective dog ear infection treatment you may have to look at overhauling your ideas of a good dog diet, in the process.

You see, processed dog food has been found to be the cause of many serious diseases, by holistic veterinarians around the world. Once they can persuade their dog people to change their perceptions of a what a good diet is, then the animals start to come good, with no extra treatment.

It’s much more sensible to address the cause of any problem, rather than look for a band aid and ignoring the cause.

The fact is, processed dog food, whoever sells it and tells you it is nutritious, is harmful, low quality and nutrient poor.

A quality raw diet, on the other hand, is natural, high quality and nutrient dense. Less food is needed to provide for more quality.

The cost works out at about the same.

You will simply need to put in a little more time.

But your dog will love you and appreciate you all the more.

Once that is firmly in place, you need to decide whether treatment is necessary. This will depend on the severity of the ear infection. If it’s mild, you might like to wait and see. (A diet change over to quality can instigate a detox process of vomiting, diarrhoea and skin eruptions for a few days - hang in there!)

However a serious infection may necessitate you to look for an effective dog ear infection treatment. The most effective treatment of any disease is by raising the immune system. The good diet will go a long way to achieving this. But that will take some time before you see results.

Homeopathy is a fast and effective way to raise the immune system. To use the medicines, you need to be able to match the symptoms of your dog to those of the best medicine.

Pulsatilla is a common home prescribing homeopathic medicine which can resolve ear infections, provided the symptoms agree.

The ear symptoms of Pulsatilla are that the ear pain is worse at night, worse from heat or being in a warm environment. There is some improvement in a cool environment. There can be diminished hearing with the pain, too.

The psyche of a Pulsatilla type is mild, gentle, timid, loving and easily influenced. They love being petted and having attention lavished on them. They really dislike being on their own, always preferring company.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Natural Treatment of Dogs Anemia With Homeopathy

The natural treatment of dogs anemia can work very well when using homeopathy. Homeopathy works by raising the level of the immune system, which is obviously very low in a dog with anemia.

The homeopathic medicine Natrum muriaticum (Nat mur) is made from rock salt. And it is the excessive intake of salt that can be the cause of many maladies, such as anemia. Excess salt puts all the other nutrients out of balance.

Most commercial dog food has too much salt in, so if you are feeding your dog a commercial brand of dog food, this is most likely the cause of the anemia. So by continuing to feed commercial dog food may make this a recurring theme in your dog’s health.

By giving the source of the problem (in this case, the salt) back in a homeopathic (or energetic) form, you are undoing the harm done in the first place.

To select a homeopathic medicine which will have the desired result of raising the immune system, you need to match your dog’s symptoms with some of those of the medicine.

The symptoms of Nat mur include:


  •  chronic anemia
  •  a high thirst
  •  ascites, dropsy or oedema
  •  dry mucous membranes, such as the nose
  •  thin, watery nasal discharge
  •  obstructed nose, so mouth breathes
  •  oral herpes - vesicles (blisters), aphthous ulcers, etc
  •  nephritis, or kidney inflammation with involuntary urination
  •  weak limbs, tender back
  •  loss of hair, with itching

You don’t need to have all the symptoms, but certainly at least three. Nat mur is also a great medicine in the treatment of depression that developed from unresolved grief. Unresolved emotions can play havoc on yours dog’s health just as much as it can on yours. By resolving the grief, the others symptoms disappear, too.