Animal Health
ON THIS PAGE
Why Natural Treatment for Animals
How can I help my animals?
Safe Natural Remedies for Animals
Bovine TB and other farm animal problems
Pet vaccines
Animal Links
THIS PAGE is work in progress. What will you find here? Some discussion of aspects of animal health that I believe are significant. What will you NOT find here? Big lists of remedies for every ailment of your cat or dog. But don't stop here - have a look!
Why Natural Treatment for Animals
Animals are our companions on this Earth. Animals inhabit all regions of the earth, from elephants in the Congo to bacteria in the Antarctic ice (yes, really), from eagles in the sky to moles in the ground; wild animals, farm animals, and domestic pets.
Animals have been involved in every aspect of human life. They are our friends, they work on our farms, they provide food, They are unwittingly involved in medical research and the production of vaccines, in warfare, and in industry and entertainment. Above all, they are part of the natural order of the earth. They eat and recycle food into the soil. In farming as in nature, this is very significant.
The category 'animals’ of course includes all insects, spiders, bacteria, nematode worms and other small beings that we may not immediately think of as animals. But on this page, I am considering the larger animals.
Animals suffer many ailments, some induced by humans, and animals deserve the best natural treatments, just as people do.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: In the UK it is illegal for anyone who is not a vet to treat animals. This is strange, because in UK law, anyone can offer human treatment! Let me be clear: I cannot treat your animals or even advise. But please read on...
Here is what I can do:
- I can discuss your animal’s health.
- I can tell you what might be appropriate for a human with the same condition.
- I can supply you (not your animal) with remedies.
- I can recommend websites or books for you to look at.
- I may be able to recommend practitioners for you to visit.
- I can recount interesting case histories I have heard - and I would love to hear your experiences.
- I can tell you of many natural remedies, such as colloidal silver or glucosamine, with interesting results in cases of animal illness, although I cannot legally 'recommend' them for your animal.
Vets and Healers
In the UK, some vets also have homeopathic training. This varies: some vets treat superficially with a few homeopathic remedies for specific ailments, while others treat more deeply, taking individual details before prescribing.
There are also some animal healers, horse whisperers etc. who are not vets, whom you may discover by local enquiry. Some vets also use other therapies to help animals: See Links, below.
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How can I help my animals?
 Although many companion animals, on the farm and at home, are special varieties bred for certain characteristics, they still share the needs of their ancestors. It may be hard to assess whether an animal is ‘happy’ as we would term it, but in my opinion, it is healthier for an animal to express any ability that it possesses. A grazing animal should graze, a carnivorous animal should eat meat, a bird should fly and a turtle should swim. This is not rocket science, it is common sense.
If we keep animals in conditions significantly different from the natural, we must expect trouble. This is especially true of highly-bred animals which lack the natural adaptability of their forebears.
Check out your animal’s diet and living conditions. Could you do more in the way of space, walks, food, exercise, variety? If you value your animal for its intelligence and emotional response, then compare how you would feel in its circumstances. Maybe, for a goldfish or a locust, confinement is not too cruel – I am not sure. For smart creatures like dogs, horses, pigs, parrots and elephants, confinement or other unnatural conditions must be torture. And how would you like to live on, say, baked beans every day of your life?
 Natural remedies can help many conditions for animals, in conjunction with common sense measures, and healthy living conditions for that animal. Many natural therapies have specialist branches for animals, eg. homeopathy, acupuncture, Bowen technique and osteopathy.
Specialist knowledge is invaluable, and prescribing yourself may be dangerous. It is essential to know what is normal for an animal before you can assess what is abnormal. Also, many animals are radically different from humans, for example, they may be allergic to certain drugs, or essential oils.
Safe Natural Remedies for Animals
Arnica - homeopathic and herbal
Homeopathy is safe and non-toxic for all animals, but specialist knowledge of the animal is still necessary for good prescribing. Arnica is a wonderful remedy for bruising, injury, over-strain or tiredness. However, it must be used in homeopathic doses to be entirely sfe. Herbal doses such as creams or drops may cause certain animals to have an adverse reactiop. The same apples to many natural remedies.
Use homeopathic Arnica in the potencies 6 or 30, widely available in health shops and pharmacies. Give one dose for tiredness, or several doses at intervals for injury or strain. The small sucrose or lactose pills dissolve easily: dogs and horses usually enjoy them direct in the mouth, other animals can take them in their drinking water.
One pill will medicate a drinking bowl or a water trough, but it should be renewed in fresh water each day as long as dosing continues. I have heard of homeopathy being given to poultry via an atomiser spray, and I use remedies for my own ducks in this way. Please take advice on how long to continue dosing.
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Colloidal silver
A natural anti-microbial, offering help against bacteria, fungi and viruses. Easily applied as a spray, it is also available in bottles.
Colloidal Silver is clear, tasteless, odourless, painless, non-staining and non-greasy. It can be painlessly applied externally to skin or even eyes (as spray), for superficial infections, and especially useful for conjunctivitis. I have used it on myself, and treated ducks and cats of my own, and recommended it for my clients, even babies.
It can also be taken internally but do not overdose. Although the amounts of silver are tiny, an overdose is toxic, and special care should be taken with small animals. Do not continue use, unsupervised, for more than a week.
Look for a product in an atomiser spray (or put it into your own spray bottle) and always check the use-by date.
Glucosamine
A natural booster for connective tissue health and joints, particularly helpful for elderly dogs. A supplement helps boost the body’s natural production of this glyco-protein. 500mg day is suitable for a medium-large dog. Allow 2 months for results. Does not interact with prescription medication.
Magnetic Treatment
May assist a variety of aches and pains including rheumatism or injury. See Bio-flow (Links) for details of cat and dog collars, and leg bandages for horses, as well as human applications! Magnetism works by assisting the oxygenation of the blood, and is used in some human hospitals. Bio-flow offer a money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose.
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Bovine TB, Foot and Mouth, and other disasters
These diseases cause catastrophic damage to dairy and beef farmers, and threaten culling of the UK badger population. In other countries, they have been, and are, managed differently.
My own opinion is that we would benefit from a long term emphasis on positive health for our animals. We must co-exist with various diseases. Neither humans nor animals can be isolated, and the healthy animal/human best resists disease. Environmental evidence has not been sufficiently discussed.
The Soil Association agrees that no single factor is likely to be responsible for Bovine TB. “Some argue that changes to the genetic make up of modern cattle breeds, with the focus on high yields and productivity at the potential expense of other traits, may have also resulted in a breeding pool that is more prone to infection with the disease.” Organic Farming magazine, Autumn 2007.
Some research on Bovine TB:
Animals are probably more likely to be infected when they are poorly nourished or under stress. Growing heifers and younger cows are most at risk.
Griffin, J. M. Martin, S. W. Thorburn, M. A. Eves, J. A. Hammond, R. F. (1996):
There is evidence that more intensive dairy farms have a higher risk of infection.
Griffin, J. M. Martin, S. W. Thorburn, M. A. Eves, J. A. Hammond, R. F. (1996):
A case-control study on the association of selected risk factors with the occurrence of bovine tuberculosis in the Republic of Ireland.
Preventive Veterinary Medicine 27: 1/2, 75-87.
Infection in housed animals is usually by inhalation.
Costello, E. Doherty, M. L. Monaghan, M. L. Quigley, F. C. O'Reilly, P. F. (1998):
A study of cattle-to-cattle transmission of Mycobacterium bovis infection.
Veterinary Journal 155: 3, 245-250
“Maize is a favourite food of badgers and there is growing evidence of links between the feeding of maize to dairy cattle and the incidence of bovine TB infection. Dick Roper believes there is a correlation between the growth of maize cropping and bovine TB outbreaks in the West Country. He believes there is a link between the outbreak of TB among badger populations and mineral deficiencies that can result from a maize-based diet.”
Organic Farming magazine, Autumn 2007
“It is not just the nutrition of the livestock which needs attention but, probably more importantly, the nutrition of the crops that provide the feed.” Written evidence from the Soil Association to the Royal Society, for the inquiry into infectious livestock diseases, January 2002; many references.
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Pet Vaccines
.jpg) There is debate about these, as there is about human immunisations. Reliable information is hard to come by, but it is likely that pet nutrition is connected with pet health, as it is with human health . The diet of cats, dogs, cage birds and other pets is significantly different from a natural diet, and living conditions are significantly different from wild conditions. This must have some effect.
Some pet diets are absolute rubbish, and bear no relation whatsoever to the natural diet of the animal. It would be strange if this did not affect health. Add to this, many pets are subject to the same pollutants as their owners: exhaust from cars; mobile phone and other electromagnetic radiation; chemicals in diet and shampoo; Teflon from carpets.
Consider your pet's health as you would your own.
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Animal Links
Some vets also use natural therapies to help animals: homeopathy, acupuncture, Bowen technique, osteopathy and reflexology to name but a few.
British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons
www.bahvs.com/
American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
http://www.ahvma.org/
Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists
http://www.abva.co.uk/
This natural medicine centre offers some free advice:
http://www.naturalmedicinecentre.co.uk/
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