Natural cure?

[jessienkitty]

i wasn't quite sure where to put this so i apologize to the mods ahead of time if this is in the wrong spot. haha.

My family and i are chemically sensitive and we cant use alot of the things on our pets like you guys would (flea dips, etc.).

my mom has a friend who's family is even more sensitive than ours is and they have alot of pets. they are so sensitive that they cant use little things such as ear mite medication for their animals. my mom's friend said that instead of the medication for ear mitesthey use olive oil.

my mom is going to call the vet tomarrow anyways and i was gong to have her ask about this but i was just wondering if you guys have ever tried anything like this before or what you thought about natural cures/medications for animals? stupid subject i know but i was just wondering.

 

[jcribbs]

I personally don't know of anything but I just wanted to say the NOTHIG is a stupid subject or question if it a valid concern of your.

Keep an eye on this possibly someone will know the answer. In the meantime I would do an online search for animal holistic cures and see if anything pops up.

Wish you luck,
Jenn

 

[libby74]

I agree with Jenn; I'd do a search for natural/holistic pet care & see what you come up with. This may sound odd, but I can remember my Dad having a heck of a problem with ear wax when I was a kid. The doctor had my Mom warm some olive oil & drizzle it in his ear. (boy, that doesn't even sound nice) I'm not sure what it was supposed to do--maybe make the wax soft enough to clean out? Just thought I'd mention it.

 

[jessienkitty]

hmm thats really interesting Libby. thanks

 

[marishka]

My german shepherd gets a lot of reoccuring ear infections that the medicine wasn't totally beating. So we'd go back to the vet, get some more medicine, and be back there in 3 months with the same problem. So she told us to try this natural recipe, and it cleared it up (and smelled a lot better than the ear medicine!). So, now we tend to try the holistic approach first (uncless medically he needs a certain medicine, and we don't skimp on heartwork prevention, etc.)

I think a great balance between holistic and western medicine for animals is awesome. We found a great book, but I can't find it right now

, but I will look and let you know what it is called!

 

[jessienkitty]

thanks!! that's great!

 

[jessienkitty]

i did a search online for tthe book you may have been talking about. is it Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook by James M. Giffin, MD and Liisa D. Carlson, DVM? that is like the only one i could find. my mom and I are going to Barnes and Nobels today so i'm going to see if it is there.

 

[stephanietx]

I'm a firm believer in home/natural/holistic remedies if it'll get the job done. Often these remedies take longer to "cure" the problem, but it's generally easier on the system, less invasive, less expensive, and just as effective. You can do a search for holistic cat treatments and find lots of information.

Stephanie

 

[dawnofsierra]

I absolutely support your desire to utilize natural alternatives for your cats with your Vet's guidance, as I get nervous just thinking about using any sort of chemical product anywhere near my girls.

 

[jessienkitty]

yeah my mom is a "natural everything" kind of person. (plus if you or your animals are allergic to some chemicals it could really mess you up

so we just decide not to take the chance) yeah if it has to be regular meds ofr the animals then we'll do it but i think i'm going to go to the bookstore and buy that book i said in the other post for her and bring it to the vet and see what he thinks.

 

[zissou'smom]

I used olive oil on Zissou's ear mites and they're not gone but they're better. The vets treated them twice to no avail, so I wanted to try something else. I know sometimes the otc ones burn their ears, so I wasn't doing that!

She was not a big fan of having oil in her ears. I was worried it would go rancid but it didn't. It also loosens up goopy wax stuff in their ears and that comes out too.

You need only two small drops, and then use cotton balls to clear out the upper ear after letting your cat shake its head a few times (trust me, they will definitely shake their head. Put two little drops in one ear, then close it with your hand and sort of massage it down in there, then do the other one. If you just put it on and leave it, they'll shake it all off without it doing anything.

It works by smothering and drowning the mites. Then they just come off.

 

[jessienkitty]

hmm thats really interesting Zissou'sMom. thanks for the tip!

i think since Val has come in contact with the cat and kittens i'm going to watch for earmite signs in them too.

i went to the bookstore and found a book called The Doctors Book of Home Remedes for Dogs and Cats it is by a whole variaty of vets and it tells you different things you can do for certain situations (ear mites, fleas, car sickness, cataracts, dandruff, and alot more) at your own home. in some of the sections like ear mites and stuff like that it will actually tell you when you need to bring your cat or dog into the vet's office. it is great! i highly reccomend it. i think every cat or dog owner should have this book. i am 15 and I think its useful. just a tip...

BTW my mom loves it. this will definetly cut down vet bills. i cant tell you guys enough about how awesome this book is!

 

[jen]

My vet suggested mineral oil on kittens who are too young to put ear mite meds in their ears. So next time I have the problem with ear mites or wax I am going to try thatl. I don't see how it would necessarily kill the mites though. Does it like drown them in oil? I don't see it preventing them from coming back.

 

[jessienkitty]

in the book it says something about it smothers them. it says you should clean out their ears first so that the little buggers can't hide under the particals of god knows what in there.

 

[marishka]

Sorry it took me so long to reply, just got back from a 4th of July party

The book is "Natural Pet Cures: Dog & Cat Care the Natural Way" by Dr. John Heinerman. I don't totally agree with everything he says, (if I remember right, he had some weird views on breeding animals...that I didn't agree with) but it had some good natural remedies for stuff that wasn't life threatening. I still would say talk to your vet since they're you're best resource, but most vets will let you know if a natural remedy would be a good way to go or if you need to use medicine because it could harm the animal if you don't (my vet is great about that. I use a different vet than my parents go to for this specific reason, and she also is an avian vet

).

The book you have probably has the same stuff and recipes in it, though. I only have this one because I bought "Natural Cures and Remedies from the Bible" (which I love...more interesting to read than anything else) and this came with it for free!

Good luck to ya, let me know how you like your new book!

 

[jessienkitty]

yeah i love the book so far. i have actually been reading it just to read it. lol. i'll bring it to my vets when we go up and see what he thinks. i'll look for the book that you have to. (i want to be a vet so i figure any animal books that look interesting to me now could be useful in the future)

 

[marishka]

heh, I know what you mean! When I got this one book for school on some Intravenous therapy stuff that I didn't know about, being the dork that I am I sat down and read it like it was a novel or something.
Anyway, you'll have sooooooooo much to read in college that you won't particularly enjoy (probably double than me considering you're going to be a vet!) you might as well read all the stuff you can stand now...