Home remedies?
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at
4:20 am
Do you use home remedies with your dog(s)?
I see some people totally against them and some people using them. Do you try home remedies? Do you go straight to the vet for every little thing? Do you use a combination of what your vet tells you and home remedies? Does your vet ever recommend home remedies?
Filed under: Homeopathy and Homeopathic Remedies
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A couple of good books to get are:
"The Nature of Animal Healing" by Martin Goldstein, DVM
"Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog" by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown, DVM.
I have used a couple of the remedies out of the books for my dogs.
My 11 y/o male Labs had an enlarged liver. After a trip to the vet, he suggested a carb diet since Shadow was not processing the protein form the food properly. That did not help. I did a bit of research and found that Milk Thistle aids the liver in generating new cells. I put him on Milk thistle twice a day, a multiple B vitamin and fed his a fish based food. In a couple months he was gaining his weight back and had his normal energy.
He is back to normal. Before all the synthetic meds, natural was all there was.
I only do when I think a home remedy will work. I am from a medical family, in the medical field and have owned dogs all my life…I feel I have a good sense of what will work and what needs a vet. I will always consult with my vet if it’s something I am not sure of or if I think it’s serious. The doctor always knows best!!
I do not go straight to the vet for every little thing but then I am a well experienced medical professional and can usually assess a situation well and no, I don’t use ‘home remedies’ that have not been thoroughly assessed as useful in specific situations. I do apply cold and immobilize broken bones prior to transporting them; general first aid and emergency care I can and do provide but as a rule I don’t suggest anyone who isn’t well experienced at specific medical interventions attempt to do them in most situations. I have sunk gastric tubes for decompression of bloated abdomens but then again, I do that frequently and in individuals more medically compromised than most dogs are when symptoms are recognized that call for it. I don’t use mud on lacerations or butter on burns or anyone of that sort of ‘home remedy’ stuff and I don’t even pretend to be capable of caring for things that are beyond my scope of experience and expertise, nor do I suggest it to anyone else.
Usually when we have problems, we go straight to the vet for every little thing. I’m too much of a worry wart to let ANYthing slide. =]
The only home remedy I use is a little hydrogen peroxide and neosporin on small cuts and scrapes. That’s the only thing my vet recommends. Other than that…it’s to the vet (I’m a paranoid dog mom)
The only one I can think of is using bactine on small cuts and scrapes to disinfect… Other than that, I bring them straight over to Dr. McCall! Great question!
My Vet has given me home remedies, and I know my dogs well enough to know when I can use a home remedy and when they need to go to the Vet or at least call him, sad thing is most people that use home remedies go the the health food stores get pill and oils and do not know what to mix the oils with, what amt to use for the dogs size same with pil and if anyone reads about natural remedies if not used properly have certainly done dame to people, they have killed them, and caused people to go into coma and not come out of them, so if they can do that to us why would I experiment with a dog who depends on me to keep them well
my pit bull
had a time when his hair on his butt was dry and patchy so i started giving him vit E and olive oil, i also made a oatmeal mash and put that on his booty
then with in 2-3 weeks it grew back so shiny that i give it to him all the time now
and i fix my horses the same way
i dont use home remedies only for the fact that, i dont know what im doing. if you know what you are doing and can help your dog then more power to you. i personally feel safer going to my vet when something needs to be done or when my dog needs meds. i personally dont use home remedies, i feel safer going to a vet, but that’s just me
The one thing i must say before answering your question:
To the person saying you use Dawn dishwashing shampoo, STOP! Dawn tests on animals and it irritates dogs skin when used.
Ok now to your question.
I only use home remedies on what my dogs vet tells me to use home remedies on. The only thing i use home remedies for are for dry skin, i use dandruff shampoo (that IS approved by my vet) . I dont go to the vet for every tiny thing, but if i even have a feeling something is wrong, i WILL call. I have OCD, so i am obsessive at times. =D
I do use some home remedies- have an excellent one for an ear infection-
BUT- I always hesitate to give out "home remedy" advice on here. Because- too many people on here look for the easy way out- they want to know how to treat a broken leg at home! WTF? Not cool! I think that a home remedy should only be used a.) if you know FOR SURE what the problem is, b.) you have discussed it with a vet and c.) you understand the reason for the home remedy, and are smart enough to take your dog to the vet IF the home remedy doesn’t work.
My dogs got diarrhea a few weeks ago- we went the home remedy route- all but 1 got better- off to the vet we went. Obviously, the home remedy wasn’t working for that one.
Giving vet advice on here is really scary, in my opinion.
It depends on the situation. I DO use home remedies on occasion.
Sometimes my vet recommends them too.
No too long ago I had a dog eat a light bulb. I used the old cotton and milk trick. I called my vet to ask what I should watch out for. The bulb passed. Dog was fine and I didn’t have to drop a couple hundred at the vet clinic. Mind you that my vet was on-call until we were safe.
I think that if you’re smart about it, home remedies can work - and Dr. W. Aggrees
I’ve learned to listen to everything my grandmother, great grandmother, etc have told me. The home remedies work just as good if not better than store/vet bought. But it also depends on the problem, some things can’t be taken care of by home remedies and need full medical care.
We rescued two 2 week old puppies a few months back (one didnt make it, the other is happy and healthy) and the vet gave us a home ingredient for the milk to use with the formula from them. Thats about all i’ve ever gotten
On the rare occasions any of my dogs have gotten diarrhea, I know how to treat that and do it myself. I also know how to clean and treat minor wounds given that greys don’t have much coat to protect their skins and tear it easier than most. The vet gave me a good antibiotic that’s great because dogs don’t like the taste and won’t lick it. I have Benadryl on hand (at vet’s advice) in case my bee-chasing dog ever actually catches one and needs it.
I think the longer you’ve been around dogs, the more you you can do yourself - or at least know what you can do and what needs the vet.
my grandma told me to use this for fleas and it actually works. use dawn soap liqued kind and baby shampoo use a litlle of each and mix together. then wet your dog but that mix on them and let sit for like a min or two then wash off you will see all the dead fleas you may have to pick them off but thats ok then you could also put some in a dish and leave it around you house someplace where the dogs cant get and the fleas will go to it. but i also use flea med since my dog is allegric to them
If it’s a small problem that is easily solved using household products or holistic methods, than I am not opposed. But, those little issues are few. Most problems need to be evaluated by a vet. If one of the dogs has a small cut or splinter or something of that sort, I have no problem dressing it at home. Anything more serious than that is brought to the vet’s attention.
I will use natural/homeopathic techniques in conjunction with (not in lieu of) veterinary medicine — as long as my veterinarian gives me the OK.