Natural Healing for Healthy and Happy Pets!

Natural Healing for Healthy and Happy Pets!

The purpose of this column is to help you learn about many of the herbs that nurture your pet's body systems and to be able to use them with confidence.  For so many pet owners this is an unheard of concept.  Fortunately, for our animal friends, this idea is becoming more accepted and sought after.  I often hear people ask with wonder, "You can give herbs to animals?"  The answer is "Yes, of course."  If you lift up their paws and stand them upright, they are basically the same as their owners.  We have all the same body systems; urinary, digestive, intestinal, circulatory, nervous, glandular, respiratory and structural.  Some of the body systems may differ slightly, as in the intestinal system for a dog, which is somewhat shorter than that of its owner (this is to allow for the digestion and quick passing time of all the protein the dog needs).  

An herbalist uses herbs to heal and balance the body, thereby allowing the body to nurture itself--without the use of drugs or invasive procedures such as surgeries.  In my practice, I stress PREVENTATIVE health care and education.  While I continue to help people and pets that are severely ill with life threatening diseases after all conventional therapies have failed, I would prefer to help at a point BEFORE these problems have become a desperate issue.  I constantly see that changes in diet and the use of natural supplementation can add many pain free years to a pet's life, and it is indeed rare that I ever have to take my own pets to the veterinarian for any problems that I cannot solve myself with natural approaches.  

As you can well imagine, my work with animals has been a very rewarding experience.  You see, animals will respond very quickly to herbs and nutritional approaches.  They do not have a preconceived notion about natural healing.  Never do you hear a dog say, "Well, she wants me to take this, but I don't know.  It if keeps her happy I'll do it, but I don't think it will do any good."  You give your pet the energy-food and it will balance and heal.  It is an indescribable feeling to see an animal that was scheduled to be destroyed, now walking, running and being enjoyed by its family.  I will share some of these experiences in subsequent columns.  

Your pets become sick for the same reasons you do.  There are many causes of illness, including exposure to environmental toxins and pollution.  Maintaining a healthy pet requires that they get sufficient exercise and rest, have clean water, proper digestion and elimination.  But I believe there is nothing more important than nutrition and food.  To give your pet his best chance at great health, it is necessary to supplement his food, whatever brand you choose.  There are many different brands of pet food, all promising to give your pet the best possible nutrition.  Some foods are so full of fillers, indigestible proteins and chemical preservatives that I will not waste the ink to discuss them.  You know which ones they are--the chain stores sell them in 50 pound bags for $9.99! 

Fortunately, there are many good quality foods with little or no chemical fillers.  I always advise my clients to read the labels on the different foods and base their decision on the quality of the food and not the price.   However, I do not believe that there is ANY perfect pet food, not even "home-made" food.  There are some good foods, there are even some great foods, but no "perfect" food.  Even home-made foods, unless they are thoroughly researched and prepared, are deficient in vitamins and minerals.  I have seen what those deficiencies do to your pets.  Poor nutrition means poor health, and that means veterinary bills.  All of my animals receive herbs, even when they are healthy.  I know that by supplementing with herbs, vitamins and minerals that they will stay healthy. 

If given a choice, your pet's body, in its innate wisdom, will always choose what is healthy.  Unfortunately, your pet is not in control of his life, you decide what he is fed, or how to deal with any health problems.   Improper diets or the lack of supplementation is the root cause for all problems, other than genetics, faced by your pet.  Conditions as simple as flatulence--and that is not simple if you are in a room with a 90 pound Doberman with gas--or as difficult as cancer, can all be prevented with a proper diet and supplement program.  

The other major cause of your pet's deteriorating health is improper and unnecessary drug use and surgeries.  When you and your pet go to a veterinarian, the usual first attempt at helping your pet is likely to be antibiotics.  When and if that doesn't work, then prednisone or cortisone are often prescribed.  Surgery is a last resort.  I am NOT saying there is no place for veterinary medicine, and I do not mean to imply anything else.  If one of my pets was hit by a car, I would not give him echinacea and then hope for the best!  No, I want a veterinary hospital and the best it has to offer to put things right, even if that means surgery.  After that, I will take it from there and give him the natural approaches he needs to heal his body.  Only herbs, which are foods, can do that.  Drugs suppress or stimulate the body into or out of action.  They do not heal and are not "health care", they are "disease care". 

While there are certainly other situations that require conventional veterinary care, I am glad to see that many local veterinarians are stressing the importance of using natural health care whenever possible and resorting to drugs and surgery only if necessary.   The biggest differences in the two types of care is that natural herbal care will treat the body as a whole unit because you cannot stimulate, suppress or remove one part of the body without affecting another part.  Nutritionally, the body is supplemented so that all systems are working to their peak potential.  Herbalists do not treat specific conditions.  Instead, they nutritionally feed the body, allowing it to take care of itself.  Knowing this, you must then understand that the symptoms displayed by your pet are not necessarily the root cause of the problem.  When your dog shows a symptom of something, for example, vomiting or diarrhea, it is only that--a symptom.  It is not the problem.  The symptoms are the body's way of trying to eradicate the offending problem.  If your dog suddenly develops diarrhea, and he has not been in your sight 100% of the time, there is the strong possibility that he has just eaten something--like a dead fish along the river, that contains bacteria.  His body will do whatever it can to push out the offending bacteria.  He may throw up.  He may have diarrhea.  He may go off his food for several days.  If you give him a drug to stop these symptoms, you are stopping his body's attempt at healing itself by pushing out the offending bacteria.  It will then remain in his body and can create problems at a later date.   Herbs will give the body the strength it needs to push out and cleanse.  This allows your pet to heal and re-balance the energies of his body. 

Using herbs is not like taking a drug so that 20 minutes later the symptoms are suppressed or the body is stimulated into action.  Rather, herbs slowly nurture and heal what is wrong with the body.  Although many of my clients have seen immediate healing results, it is more common that natural approaches are going to take some time.  Remember, herbs are foods.  These foods will produce healthier cells and eventually healthier organs which can then heal the body.   I know this often poses a problem for the pet owners.  They want their beloved pet to be free of symptoms quickly.  Drugs offer a short term fix only.  In the long term they only toxify the liver, kidneys and other detoxifying organs of the body.  Long term problems then necessitate the need for more drugs for another short term fix, and so on and so on.    Have you ever wondered why so many pets are developing cancers, diabetes and other serious health issues at very young ages?  The pets we knew as children were often fed table scraps, not commercially prepared food.  Drinking water was more pure back then. We did not have as much pollution.  Expensive veterinary care with the present array of drugs was not as available as it is today.  Nowadays, we use so many "preventative drugs" each year for fleas, etc. that our pets are full of toxins and chemicals.  This in turn leads to toxicity in their detoxifying organs which then leads to disease and poor health.  I am not advocating a return to just table scraps, but rather to foods without chemicals and toxins.  It does not make sense to make your pet's body completely toxic in order to combat fleas.  It makes more sense to turn to natural, safe methods of healing and to maintain good health by supplementing nutritionally.  In my next column, I will discuss many different safe, non-toxic and natural approaches to flea control.  

(This column is authored by Carol Koenigsknecht, Herbal Practitioner and owner of Terra Ken Herbals.  She is available for consultations, classes and lectures, and can be reached via her website at http://www.TerraKenHerbals.net or by phone, (706) 797-0091.  She also owns and operates Carol’s Critter Care, a pet-sitting service.)

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this column is intended for educational purposes only.  It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.  Please seek the advice of a QUALIFIED veterinarian or health care practitioner before using any herbs, supplements or other natural approaches to health discussed in this column.