HERBAL PET CARE
When cared for properly, our pets will thrive. They need plenty of love and respect, fresh air and exercise, and a wholesome, nourishing diet. When our pets are fed with cheap commercially prepared, processed foods day after day, year after year, many health problems can manifest.
Consider what is actually in commercial pet food. When it says meat meal or meat or poultry by-products it can actually mean poultry feather meal, connective tissues, leather meal, fecal waste from poultry and other animals, dried blood, or horse or cattle hair. These are considered "crude" protein. The crude protein content listed does not tell you the usable digestible protein the animal can use. It can even be from hooves, feathers, and often damaged and diseased animal parts rejected by the meat industry.
Carbohydrates often come from added sugar or corn syrup. Fats could come from rancid animal fats condemned for human consumption. Fiber could be from peanut hulls, hair, or even newspapers! How much vitamins and minerals are they really getting? What about the vital "life force" which comes from fresh, live plants and animals. This food is always cooked, processed, and packaged.
DIET
Optimally, it is best to prepare your own fresh pet food. It can be made quite simply. If this is not possible for you, then a good quality Lamb and Rice pet food can be obtained.
Introduce raw foods slowly if your pet is not used to them. Below is a simple formula, which you can adjust to meet your needs, or your pets needs, quite simply.
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1/3 cup EACH of Raw meat, grated fresh vegetables, and soaked or cooked whole grains. Sprouted wheat grass or alfalfa are an excellent addition. Mix thoroughly. This is to use alone, or as a base to add the following formula.
Supplement Formula:
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1 cup nutritional yeast
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2 Tbsp. Lecithin
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3 Tbsp. Spirulina
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1 Tbsp. Kelp
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1/4 cup Bone Meal (or Nettles and Comfrey for calcium)
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1/4 cup wheat germ
This formula can mixed in a large batch and stored. Add 1 Tbsp. for each 20 pounds of body weight, mixed in with their food. Moisten with a small amount of water if needed.
Add garlic for animals prone to parasites or fleas. Add 1 Tbsp. of the following Oil formula, which you can make ahead of time and store in a dark bottle in the refrigerator.
To a good cold-pressed vegetable oil such as safflower or corn oil, (for cats use olive oil), add Cod Liver oil, and Vitamin E oil or wheat germ oil. Some Flax seed oil is also an excellent addition. Mix 1 Tbsp. of this oil into your pets food daily. This is an excellent source of linoleic acids, Unsaturated fats, Vitamins A & D & E.
INTESTINAL HEALTH
Digestive enzymes play an important role in digesting and absorbing nutrients from our food. Raw, live foods, such as sprouts, do contain built-in plant enzymes which supplement the enzymes produced by our salivary glands and pancreas. These enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked. Supplementing your pets diet with digestive enzymes is beneficial for avoiding deficiencies which can cause allergies and diseases. This is especially important for older animals whose capability of producing these enzymes decreases with age, although symptoms can show up in kittens and puppies.
The digestive enzymes should contain a balanced formula of enzymes. Protease breaks down proteins, Amylase works on carbohydrates, and lipase is a fat-breaking enzyme. Supplements derived from Aspergillis (a fungus) are more effective than animal-based pancreatic supplements. These enzyme capsules can be opened and sprinkled on the food before eating it. It works wonders for me!
FLEAS AND TICKS
It is important to keep carpets and bedding very clean and well vacuumed, where fleas love to nest! Feed your pet extra garlic and nutritional yeast. Shampoo your pet frequently when infested with a mild shampoo. Add a couple of drops of Pennyroyal essential to the shampoo for additional flea repelling qualities (don't over do it, it is very strong). Add a few drops of pennyroyal oil on your dogs collar regularly. Use citronella and eucalyptus oils for cats, as they hate pennyroyal! Make a spray by adding a few drops of pennyroyal, eucalyptus, and rosemary oil to a spray bottle of water. Shake well and spray it on your pet, or its bedding, carpets, furniture. To make an oil, add a few drops of the same oils to a small bottle of a fixed oil, such as any vegetable oil. Shake well. Rub a small amount of oil on your hands, then rub into your pets coat. (Use citronella oil instead of pennyroyal for cats) Earth Animal has an excellent herbal flea powder that is sprinkled on their food to help repel fleas and ticks!
DEWORMING
Plenty of garlic is the key (1/2 -3 cloves daily), along with some herbs, to effectively rid your pet of worms. The following is an Herbal De-Wormer formula: (most effective with hookworms)
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4-5 Tbsp. of finely chopped FRESH herbs OR 3 Tbsp. dried powdered herbs (Mix - garlic, cayenne pepper, wormwood, eucalyptus, rosemary, ground pumpkin seeds)
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1/2 cup oat bran or wheat bran
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1/2 cup water
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2 Tbsp. Slippery Elm bark powder
Stir water into bran and let sit for 10 minutes. (Add 3-4 more Tbsp. water if using dried herbs). Add herbs. Mix in slippery elm powder and stir until thickened. If too watery, add more slippery elm. Shape into balls and give directly, storing remainder in refrigerator, covered. (If using dried herbs, you can dry the "pills" by setting on a cookie sheet in a slow oven (150-200 degrees) until hardened.)
HEARTWORM
Building your pets immune system by providing good nutrition, and adding Vitamin C to their diet, will help prevent heartworms. HAWTHORNE is a wonderful heart tonic that helps melt the plaque on the artery walls. It also helps to normalize the heartbeat. Also used is Arsenicum Album which is a homeopathic dose of arsenic. There is another homeopathic remedy which is the heartworm Potentized and administered every month as a routine. 98% effective if given monthly. Have the dogs blood checked every fall for heartworm as early detection is essential for treatment!
RINGWORM
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Use Kloss's disinfecting liniment (contains Echinacea, Goldenseal, Myrrh, Cayenne)
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Mix Black Walnut Hull and Goldenseal powder together. Add Tea Tree oil to make a paste and apply to areas.
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Avoid sweets!
CUTS AND WOUNDS
Disinfect with Kloss's liniment (dilute if needed), use a good herbal salve (with comfrey, calendula, hypericum, plantain) topically. Give Echinacea and Goldenseal internally if its serious or infected.
EAR MITES
Use Mullein flower/Garlic Ear Oil! Put a couple of warm drops in each ear several times a day, a few times a month. Very effective!
ECZEMA
This is often caused by an over toxic system and over stimulated immune system.
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Give Omega-3 oil daily (Flax Seed Oil), plus Fish liver oil, and Vit. A daily.
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Add Supplement formula (see above) to food daily.
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Brush animal daily.
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Use a good herbal salve with comfrey, calendula, hypericum daily. Apply liberally. St. Johnswort (hypericum) Oil can be massaged into skin.
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Include in diet - Dandelion roots, Echinacea, and Kelp powders
MANGE
Fur is thin, patchy, or completely gone. Provide the following:
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Add the supplement formula and oils to diet. Be sure a good diet and fresh water are given daily!
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Rub Kloss's liniment on the skin daily. Dilute with water if needed so it doesn't sting.
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Use a good anti-fungal salve made from Black Walnut hulls, chaparral, Tea Tree oil. Rub on twice a day.
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Give your pet a mild herbal nervine such as Valerian or Chamomile to relax its nervous system.
HOT SPOTS -Hot spots and excessive dry itchy skin are caused by an over toxic system (often caused by allergy to ingredients in their food or to fleas), and an over-stimulated immune system. It is recommended to balance the immune system and cleanse the body:
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To give plenty of good Omega 3 oils, add 1 Tbsp. Flax Seed oil over their food daily.
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Add Nutritional Supplement formula (see page 1). Can include Echinacea powder, kelp, garlic, dandelion root.
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Brush the animal daily to remove shedding dry hair and to stimulate the sebaceous oil glands to secrete more oil.
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Apply herbal salve liberally to sore areas. Be sure it includes comfrey, calendula, and St. Johnswort. It is soothing and prevents the dog from licking it off right away. St. Johnswort oil can also be rubbed into irritated areas.
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Give 1 capsule of Goldenseal powder daily if the area become infected.
DISTEMPER
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Give Goldenseal, Echinacea, and Dandelion roots in daily doses, several times a day.
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Plenty of Lemon water daily! Add honey or mix with meat broth.
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Make a thick vegetable gruel of marrow bones, vegetables, potato peels, and slippery elm powder. When fever has broken, feed this gruel and honey.
DIARRHEA-Black berry root - make a thick decoction (simmer roots, covered for 30 minutes) Feed a teaspoon full every 1/2 hour until better.
ALLERGIES -It is important to determine if they are caused by food additives (frequently corn, beef, or soya), fleas, grass or pollen, hormonal imbalance, or an auto-immune disease. Change their diet to a home made meal or a good lamb and rice diet. Control the fleas on your pet and in your home. Vitamin E and good oils added to diet. Try Echinacea and Goldenseal instead of antibiotics. Several Homeopathic remedies are also available according to the allergy.
TO MAKE HERBAL TABLETS:
If needed to make some herbal pills to feed your pet, simply mix the desired herbs (in powered form). Use 1/2 cup of herb mix, add 1 Tbsp. of honey, and just enough water to make a paste. Thicken with slippery elm powder if needed. Roll into little balls (the size of dry dog or cat food) They can be rolled in flour or slippery elm powder if desired. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a slow oven (150*) for an hour or two until they are hard. Store in a container. Give 1-2 of these "pills" in your pets food daily.
RECOMMENDED READING:
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Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats - Rodale Publishing.
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Herbal Care for Dogs and Cats by Juliette DiBaricli Levy.
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"Natural Pet" Magazine.
Jane Smolnik is an Iridologist, Herbalist, Intuitive Healer and owner of Crystal Garden Herbs. For a free catalog of herbal animal remedies, please check this website, call or write to : Animal Botanicals, 438 Will Dean Rd. Springfield, Vermont 05156 (802) 885-5500. |
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