[QUESTION]  06/02/2009: Mica from Cavite, Philippines: "My miniature poodle is suffering from overgrown nails. You see, at his hind foot, at the left, at the right most "finger"(which in humans is called the thumb), we didn't know that his nail dug itself into the skin. we only knew it when we saw him occasionally licking it. it is like a ring... same thing at the other side but this time it did not grow forward, but DOWNWARD. there were "things" that got stuck underneath and it kept on growing until it pierced him. we couldn't do anything because whenever we touch it, he growls and attempts to bite us(but he doesn't bite, he just presses his teeth against our hands). please help..."

06/02/2009: Linda from York County, Maine: "Mica - sounds like a trip to the vet should be made pronto....your poodle may need a sedative so his paw can be handled and the nail can be clipped & extracted. Hopefully a good eye will be kept on this 'dew claw' in the future. Good luck..."

06/05/2009: Mica from Cavite, Philippines: "Thank you very much!! :) Will do what you have said. I am really happy that this site really helps lessen people's problems, like me. :3"

05/18/2011: Nicole from Golden, Co: "Recently my husky broke a nail on his left rear paw and I rushed him the the vet emergency only to be told they could try to trim it back but now that the nerve was exposed and it would just have to grow back. I went home with pain meds and antibiotics and it was a long week trying to keep it clean and bandaged. Now about a month later he has done it to the other rear paw and he actually ripped it off himself. Upon further investigation it looks like almost all of the nails on his back paws are seperating from the quick or nerve... Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Any suggestions on what I should do about it?"

05/31/2011: Misschris from Nolanville, Tx: "Get some bentonite clay and hydrate it and pack his injured paw with it. It will help with the pain and healing. It is also anti inflammatory, so no anti biotics are needed. There might possibly be an underlying problem if he pulls the nails himself. But let him heal first and then see what happens. Change the packs daily until you see desired results."

09/23/2011: Michele from Cuenca, Ecuador: "Did you get any advice or soloution for your dog's nail breaking problem? My best friends dog is having the same problem. Thanks!"

10/12/2011: Tracy P from Chicago, Il/usa: "I am finding many of these comments & suggestions very helpful, thank you. I have a 2 year old Chi-Russell that seems to "aggravate her nail beds" to the point of bleeding by scratching the door whenever left alone. I notice her forepaw pads appear swollen & her forepaw nail beds are inflamed & bleeding. She licks them all the time. I clean them with peroxide every time I notice it. WHAT CAN I DO? I feel so sorry for my baby!"

05/15/2012: Whitney from Bossier City, La: "I am really thankful for your site. Last night I heard my 5 month old maltese crying and noticed he was licking his pointer finger( first nail next to dew claw), and when I went to comfort him, I realized that he had hurt himself and being that he is white, I could see a painful amount of blood. I was so upset and sad for him, it broke my heart. Thankfully I came upon your site, and dipped his paw in baby powder and had him chew on a chew stick so he would stay put for a while. Today there is no bleeding. Thank you SO much for this site."

07/18/2011: Cathy from Cape Coral, Fl, Usa: "After reading blogs on molasses for dogs I have put our 2 older Dobermans on it. Our 10 year old female had been having difficulty getting up, and she wasn't interested in a lot of activities. Our 9 year old male still has lots of energy but I felt it would be advisable to start him on the same regimine as a precautionary measure. Our female, after 2 weeks is doing so much better, even trying to get our male to play yesterday. We haven't been able to find any information as to whether molasses for an arthritic cat would be safe? Our 16 year old Calico has been diagnosed with severe arthritis in her hips and is on a chrondrotin/glucosamine product which after 2 weeks has really helped, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be advisable to also give her molasses. Can you advise as to whether it's safe, and if so what the correct dosage for a 10 lb cat would be?

Thank you, Cathy"

05/09/2012: Teri from Willard, Ohio: "My 10 year old male black lab is really suffering from arthritis in his hips. I tried glucosamine, but he is not responding to that anymore. He also has diabetes for which I give him insulin twice a day. I'm wondering if I can give him the BSM without increasing his blood sugar levels. I can try the alfalfa but am unsure of how much. Same with the ACV. Can someone please help with amounts? I can't stand to see him suffer-he's my baby!"

[YEA]  10/10/2011: Lanehausen from Austin, Texas: "I was friends with Alan & Louise Shepard (the astronaut & wife) through a close friend at work in 1996 or so. On a trip to Wimberley, Tx, to visit thier daughter and husband (my friend), they brought a small aging mixed chihuahua with arthritis so bad he could hardly get around. I shared with them, my dad's teachings of giving aging dogs alfalfa tabs crunched up in thier food to help give the joints natural lubrication. In the following weeks I received a letter from Alan & Louise thanking me so much for the tip as their dog was rejuvenated and walking like he had not done in years. Try it, it works. 500- 1500 mg tabs in the food will do it."

05/09/2012: Teri from Willard, Ohio: "How much for a dog weighing 102 pounds? My black lab is suffering and I can't stand it! Please help"

[BETTER BUT NOT CURED]  12/10/2011: Lelfda from Redding, Ca: "My Yorkie is 11. 3 years ago, he was diagnosed with diabetes. 2 shots a day for the rest of his life. I have tried everything. I got the book "One Minute Cure" and discovered more uses for H2O2. Started putting 3 drops into Bobby's water. He shares it with 2 cats and another Yorkie, so they all are benefiting from the extra O2. The Vet told me that usually by the second year of diabetes, a dog will lose their eyesight. Bobby is a lucky one. He was born with no tear duct on his left eye and been blind in it for years, so only has one eye. After starting the H2O2, he has been able to jump up on my recliner, which he hadn't done in a couple years. He acts years younger. I'm hoping the diabetes will go away and he will be able to get off the insulin."

05/09/2012: Bustherh from Auburn, Maine, Usa: "I have a 13 year old cat who was diagnosed with diabetes about 3 years ago. The vet told us that she needed to start on insulin immediately!!! We are poor so we simply did not have the money for the outrageous prices he quoted us. She had been eating cheap dry food all of her life which is usually like half flour or something similar. We just switched her to the best wet food we could afford and 3 years later there has been no difference at all in her quality of life as far as can be perceived by us. We also put colloidal silver in the water cooler which we all drink from."

[YEA]  03/30/2012: Robtyea from Wrightsville, Pa/usa: "Food Grade H2O2 is safe for pets, at lower doses. I have quite a number of cats and kittens, and have been giving them Food Grade H2O2 in their drinking water for about a month.

I have a female cat that developed large tumors on her underside. It was getting to the point that it was difficult for her to walk. My wife and I knew that we might have to put her down. The cat has been with us since she was born, and isn't very old. We could not bear the thought of losing her. I ask my wife for one week, to see if I could come up with a treatment.

I had been studing and researching Food Grade H2O2 for some time. I already had some on hand.

I believed it would work, but how to get it into her system was the problem. I did some research an found a product that was used on horses, for injuries. It was said to be able to enter the body thru the skin and relieve the pain. The product is DMSO. I found it to be sold locally.

I didn't have much time to create a treatment, and really didn't have a lot of choice. I made a mixture of DMSO and Food Grade H2O2 ( I used the H2O2 as a carrier to enter the body). I disinfected the area with a 3% solution of H2O2 and applied the mixture with a Q-tip to the largest tumors. (make sure whatever means used to apply and mixture of DMSO is clean, as it will carry anything it comes in contact with into the blood stream). Within 24 hours the tumors had reduced by 25%. I was amazed at its power. I have been treating her now for 10 days and the tumors are all but gone.

I believe those who doubt, will continue to doubt until they are infected with a serious disease and pray for a treatment to heal them. The answer is Food Grade H2O2. I have witnessed the power of Food Grade H2O2 and truly believe it may be a treatment for all serious diseases in animals and humans. (H2O2 and DMSO are not approved for human use by the FDA, what a shame.)"

05/08/2012: Kathleen from Charlotte, Nc/usa: "I'd like to know more details. My GSP canine has multiple benign tumors, most concerned with the ones in her belly area (I see a change in her poop). Tested, show benign but growing - spreading. I was going to get her shaved and use castor oil. I've read this and would like to know 1/2 n 1/2 each mixture? Did you shave the area? Use any kind of large bandaid? I may need to use an elizabethan collar so she won't lick it. I'd love for them to be gone in 10 days. She gets grain free food n treats, filtered water, chloraphyl and Garden of Life Superfood (greens) which I think is why they are benign. I want to cleanse her lymph system as this may be the real issue as well. Thanks!"

[YEA]  08/31/2011: Lcmrockets from Austin, Tx, Usa: "Hi there, awhile back ago when I adopted my dog from the shelter he was in the early stages of Kennel Cough. A previous dog I have owned got Kennel cough once and we took him to the vet. It cost us over $100 and I think about a week later he was almost done with all his meds and he was still just as bad. I called the vet and he said it takes about 2 weeks to get over it. So I was thinking whats the point in the meds they arnt even helping. Anyways this time I went to my local health food store and kinda browsed at the books and I found one I really liked. I think its called the natural health bible for cats and dogs something like that. It said to take vit. C, so I bought a bottle of buffered vit. C made from rose hips bc they are a natural source of vit. C and gave him about half the recomended dose. He's about 50lbs so I think I was giving him about 600 to 800mg a day. It took about a week and it was gone! It worked so great and only cost me like $10! Its so exciting when natural remadies work just as well if not better than drugs! Hope this helps someone, I know all the comments people have left help me so much!!"

01/05/2012: Dr. F from Phoenix, Az: "I'm surprised that some Vet or MD hasn't hijacked this thread warning us off all natural remedies and chastising us for not taking our pets to some authority in a white coat immediately. Of course vitamin C, H2O2 and apple cider vinegar work for people and animals. There are hundreds of natural remedies that are safe and effective for infections, but BIG PHARMA and their minions are desperate to misguide us. Thankfully, we have reached a time when the illusion is unravelling."

01/09/2012: Debs from Exmouth, Devon, Uk: "Here in the UK, there has been a law passed that it is obligatory for owners to take their pets to the vet if they are unwell at all, or face prosecution. On the face of it, this is a good thing because it makes lackadaisical owners responsible for their pet's welfare but on the more sinister side, it is a way of getting owners to take their pets to the vet without being able to search for an alternative. One owner was asked by the vet manager why she hadn't brought her new puppy down for vaccinations, which just rang alarm bells for me!"

05/08/2012: Jason M from Toronto, Ontario: "Hey guys I need your help I want to try out the honey Lemon and hp ( hydrogen peroxide) but I'm not sure which hp to use? I found the food grade one but it was 35% I noticed a lot of you are using 3% is that the normal one used for cuts out of the brown bottle??? PLEASE HELP"

05/04/2012: Nettie from Salem, Mo., Usa: "I have a 18 lb Dachshund with sensitive stomach and coat. Can I use Organic (raw, unfiltered)ACV mixed 50/50 with water to spray on him for the rash and flaky skin? I just bathed him and rinsed him with plain water then sprayed the 50/50 solution on him and let him drip dry outdoors...... Is this correct? Also, with this help to deter ticks? He has seizures that seem to occur after treatment with "Frontline" or "Advantix". I need a cure for ticks. We live in a wooded area very bad for ticks!!!"

05/07/2012: Laura from Vancouver, Bc, Canada: "Hi Nettie, What is your progress now? Has it been resolved since you last posted? AVC cures alot of ailments, so it's rarely a bad thing.

Our dilemma is we desperately need Advantage Multi but cannot get any for reasons that are too complicated to explain. Would you have any, or know a friend or family member who's a Vet? We're at our wit's end over this dilemma. Please email us at: lovehealing3 (at) gmail
Laura"

[YEA]  03/21/2007: Jill from Victoria, BC, Canada: "I have a Newfoundland dog who is very prone to hotspots, and I have tried just about everything on him. He has seasonal allergies and breaks out twice a year. Here's what I do as soon as I spot one: clip all of the hair away from the spot and a good border around it, and clean the whole area with lots of hydrogen peroxide. I will usually dab on some witch hazel to help dry it out, and then dust the whole area with Gold Bond Powder. The powder stops him from licking and helps keep the spot dry, and it's also antiseptic. However, hot spots can spread into massive staph infections really quickly, and sometimes antibiotics are the only way to treat them effectively."

05/07/2012: Elizabeth from Hartford, Ct: "i want to know how to treat severe hot spots in a cat my 5 yr old cat has eplipsy and on meds about 3 yrs ago she started with this allergy have taken her to vet 3 times. she has no fleas or mites. i have her on 1/2 a allergy pill every 12 hrs but she still has bitten her legs naked and spots all over body. i have her littermates. they are all fine. i tried different canned foods, different litters, nothing is helping. please help me she is tiny. only 4 pounds and 5 yrs old. i can't afford any more vet bills. i am a cancer survivor and a widow on limited income. thank you in advance and god bless. please help tiny."

[SIDE EFFECTS]  04/08/2012: Sandyb from Shamrock, Tx: "My 7 yr old Pembroke Corgi has a history of allergies, bladder stones, and recently, contracted a Staph infection. Culture taken from inside the nose as she was having stuffed nose, crusty skin on outside of nose. Found one sore, very small on right flank. She was not herself, took her to vet, she put her on Clavamox for seven days. She appeared to worsen, took her back, changed her to Baytril and added Doxycycline. Got culture back on nose swab and put her back on Clavamox and to continue with bacterial Doxycycline. She continued to worsen, no appetite, vomiting, fever, white count had not changed, losing weight. Took her back 3/23 and she was given Covenia injection to treat the Staph and was given another round of Doxycycline to take with Covenia. She has continued to decline, no appetite, did not have fever this past Friday when took her back as she suggested she get a B-12 shot to give her some energy. On exam her left eye was completely dialated and did not grow smaller when flashlight instrument went over eye. Also the vomiting still happening about every other day to two days. She said to use Famotidine acid reducer with food to keep acidity down. I had noticed late Friday night her problem with swallowing and she would try to eat some cooked chicken but would quit after a few bites. It was apparent her throat hurt and she would cough and spit up clear slime. After a thorough reading about Doxycycline side effects I believe she now has a possible throat lesion from this med. Also, on the Covenia site it states that Doxycycline: "CONVENIA has been shown in an experimental in vitro system to result in an increase in free concentrations of carprofen, furosemide, doxycycline, and ketoconazole. Concurrent use of these or other drugs that have a high degree of protein-binding (e.g. NSAIDs, propofol, cardiac, anticonvulsant, and behavioral medications) may compete with cefovecin-binding and cause adverse reactions."

I stopped the Doxycycline Friday after she had her am pill. I am waiting to see tomorrow if she is improved at all. This morning she coughed up blood streaked slime.

Please respond to my inquiry as soon as possible. She now only takes chicken broth in a baby med dropper, no solid food at all because of apparent throat pain."

04/23/2012: Sandyb from Shamrock, Tx: "I want to amend the above post as my Corgi, Buffy did not have a reaction to the Doxycycline but last week was diagnosed with Dysautonomia, a horrid disease that strikes dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, and I read a Llama got the disease. There is no known cause, treatment is just to keep them comfortable and the mortality rate is 90% in dogs, 70% in cats. This disease attacks the neurons in the ganglia that controls the involuntary functions like eye dilation, blink function, respiratory, coronary, digestive functions. There is no cure at this time and our beloved companions either die of aspiration pneumonia or are euthanized due to poor quality of life. Our Buffy is no longer with us and we miss her terribly. This disease started in Europe in the 1900's and first canine was diagnosed in Missouri in the late 1980's. Missouri and Kansas are most hard hit with the disease but other states have reported it. Rural dogs close to pasture land and ponds are at risk vs city dwelling dogs. Research studies show some information that it could be due to pesticides and/or herbicides. I just wanted to correct the prior information I gave in my post so people will become aware of this disease that apparently increasing in number although still considered a rare disease. Thank you."

05/06/2012: Jeanir from Pittsburgh, Pa: "I know humans benefit from cayenne pepper when overdoses or accumulation of pesticides is the problem. I knew someone that was almost completely paralized and came back to normal, by using cayenne pepper everyday, he was a farmer. He still uses it everyday because he thinks it was his life saver."

11/02/2011: Amanda from Sullivan, Missoui, Usa: "My dog Ozzy is pretty old. He's a dashound mix, and he has been to the vet several times for this issue. His skin is dark, black in some spots, and it will not wash off. He itches constantly, but no fleas. It's so bad that he's chewed his hair off his tail in one spot, and he will itch untill he bleeds occasionally. I don't know what to do. I can't afford to take him to the vet right now. My only idea is that it could be allergies. He's an inside dog, but obvously goes outside to go potty, and sometimes he likes to stay out there for awhile. Inside we have kind of shaggy carpet, but we do vacuum a lot. About twice a week. He's had this problem for a long time now, about 2-3 years. I've done, and I'm still doing, everything I can think of. I've tried soothing shampoos. I've tried Frontline, and of course, taking him to the vet. But nothing seems to work. All the vet told us was that he was "allergic to fleas, " and then gave us Frontline. I ended up paying 50-70 dollars for no reason. He eats Adult Pedigree food. We used to give him Pedigree for younger dogs when he was a puppy. We've never changed brands so I don't think it's the food that he's allergic to. Any advice? Do you have any idea what this could be?"

11/03/2011: Yellah from Belton, Mo: "Ozzy might still be allergic to something in his dog food even though you haven't changed it. Some sensitivities take months or years to build up to an external result. I would suggest trying a different food, purer ingredients, or possibly making a 'clean' food at home. Look for recipes online, like boiled chicken and rice. It also might take several weeks to see a difference. Try to get any toxins out of his life, shampoo, flea treatment, etc. good luck"

11/08/2011: Linda from Toronto, Ontario, Canada: "Maybe his body is just overloaded with toxins. Perhaps too much carbs in his food. Some people have luck with supplements like Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, and a gentle switch to a healthier diet with no carbs. Maybe you could give him some Essiac Tea with his food, which also helps clean out his systems. Maybe bathing him in something gentle, with no chemicals or just warm water. Many flea collars are toxic to dogs. Good luck, our dog reacted severely to a new bed we got her. Keep trying, and good luck!"

11/27/2011: Karen from Tampa, Fl/usa: "Hi, I am writing not that I have any answers. I have a daschund, a long hair. He has the same issues you described! No fleas. but lost a good amount of fur, he looks awful. I have tried everything. The ACV does not work in this situation, it scales his skin up. His skin is dark as well, maybe from the chewing and biting. He used to lose it on his feet somewhat, but I usually took care of that with a little cornstarch or avon skin so soft. Now, I am not knowing what to do.

I put coconut oil on the bare scaly parts, I have used olive oil, medicated dog shampoo, acv, skin so soft diluted with water.... it all started when my son took him out to go potty on the front lawn. I usually walked him in the street and scooped. I have never had this problem before. If you hear anything, let me know. My dog is about 11."

11/30/2011: Pamela from New Braunfels, Tx: "Barleans Cod liver Fish oil and Barleans Omega Twin. Should help out."

12/02/2011: Teresa from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: "Everything on this site will help and here what I've read, and use now. And I have read intensively about everything on this site, My dog may have cancer in her leg and I need to eliminate allergies, yeast etc, it state a yeasty dog get cancer her issues, dandruff, itchy feet, chewing, all symptoms most dogs can get, I really see now that it is lack of omega 3 (good oils) as Earthclinic states, dry dog foods also are the culprits, their is to many grains/fillers, hulls etc, and wheats (give allergies) in them, dogs are/were carniverous animals, (like a wolf) always have been, I adjusted all this past 2 wks, and her coat is beautiful, she stop chewing feet, no yeasty ears etc. Change your food (its ingredients may be the problem) shd have NO GRAINs, NO WHEAT, use Raw meat, (I use dry & raw) add Flax oil, or fish oils Omega 3 (grain is a cancer feeder, as turns to sugar) & yeast, wheat is allergies, Their is also the turmeric or apple cider vineger treatment on this site. Please do a search on word in the search field on these 2 and read about them (they're the #1 items used on this site) for every issue you can think of. Good Luck"

12/02/2011: Teresa from Edmonton, Canada: "I just thought of something else, once I gave my cat some flea control that was too strong dose, and he was itchy and had hot ears and acted weird, finally took to the vet and they had to give him a shot steroid to counter the overdose. Maybe it's the Frontline, has something to do with making the itchy skin. (It is a drug and drugs really aren't good for us all anyways). Try the natural choices on this site look up flea treatment others use."

05/05/2012: Missy from Windsor, Ontario: "Is it possible your dog has Cushings Disease?"

10/08/2011: Ted from Bangkok, Thailand: "Dogs are unique, like people over 200 years ago, cancer is very hard to find. And the one thing they have in common is sugar. Sugar consumption is next to nothing if we go back 100 or 200 years, but dog cancer is only a relative recent phenomenon, as they started off with dog food, which contains animals that are euthanized, carbohydrates, and sweets to make them more tasty. I traced the cancer of dogs to basically two things, carbohydrate consumption and wheat products, carbohydrates that are major causes is chocolate, and other confectionary. The treatment for most dog is usually a lot easier than treating human cases, because humans are now addicted to sugar, such as fruits, pineapple, coconut milk, and others. The treatment is also easy and clear cut if you treat cancer for dogs amazingly enough, for a couple of reasons, basically their liver produces vitamin C and vitamin B complex, which are water soluble vitamins, while humans do not. The other things is most human cancer has blood sugar are above 100, with average above 120, while dogs, has 85, which gives them a good chance of success to begin with as well as consistency, since you don't even have to worry about vitamin C, vitamin B and getting sugar to normal in cancer patient, and actually most of the efforts is geared to that! So getting rid of cancer if you don't have to worry about it is quite simple in dogs. Except in dog cancer with cachexia, and that's when the liver is so toxic.

The remedy for dog cancer is as follows: reishi mushroom, bromelain, and sabah snake grass. I gave another dog, in addition to that, lysine, butyric acid, and DMSO, for the tumor that is growing and it also disappeared in 3 months. The reishi mushroom was powdered, and mix in 10% bromelain and 10% sabah snake grass powder. The two substances that I know convert cancer cells to normal cells (that I also tried) were DMSO and butyric acid, so it is a 50/50 mix. Why I don't give butyric acid to humans is they smell, but dog's don't mind! But for humans we actually have a much more expensive solution, tributyrin so we don't have to give butyric acid more often, but actually it is more like getting the patents, you can't patent butyric acid and what's wrong with giving that 5 or 8 times a day? So they operate the same, but butyric acid just metabolizes more quickly. Lysine is given to prevent the spread of cancer which does very well, I don't give threonine unless the dog also has weakened energy. The other supplements that responded well to all dogs, is the astralagus, 1000 mg. a day, works for cancer in general and other ailments such as kidney. The diets of dogs should be meats, not vegetarian, especially raw meats and organ meats. The only restrictions in cancer for humans and dogs I make is very simple just one: sugar. And all foods is best if given raw or partially cooked, as it won't cause constipation and requires less enzymes then you would to to cooked foods, so generally speaking if you get cancer you want these enzymes to digest the cancer and not have constipation, which is common in cancer patients.

So if we learn from dogs not what to do and what do, it offers an easy explanation to why we get cancer, which is no flour (especially white wheat flour), carbs, glucose, sugar, maltodextrin, and most important of all is the fructose, which is found in fruits. You can eat fruit extracts, which don't contain sugar, and reap all the benefit without the negative side effects. And it brings to the importance of water soluble vitamins, the vitamin B and the vitamin C in humans also.

Ted"

10/31/2011: Mary from San Francisco, California: "Thank you for these recommendations Ted, for dog's with cancer. (Reishi, bromelain, sabah snake grass etc.)

I would really appreciate it if you would post the exact amounts of each of the substances that you recommend and the types of substances that you use ie. powder, liquid, pills for all of them and if some of these things are applied externally.

Also if you could specify how much per weight of the dog and how many times per day.

Thank you very much, again."

05/02/2012: Nuria from Barcelona, Bacelona, Spain: "My 8 year old french bulldog was diagnosed with anemia some days ago, today she has been diagnosed a hemongiasarcoma in her spleen after getting an ultrasound test... I guess the vet is right. But is this test enough to diagnose a malign cancer? And, is surgery the only option? She has loss her appetite and has been hardly eating for the past 5 or 6 days... Then started with diarrhea 3 days ago, just when I started giving her some colloidal water... I am very confused.... She is only 8, is it ok to get her through surgery? Will the dog be ok afterwards or is just a way to give her some more months? If no surgery, what can happen to her? Will she suffer? I appreciate your help and advice.... She has never been ill until now, (they removed her uterus after an infection 18 months ago, that´s all)... , and she has always been fed with excellent food, even organic for the last 3 years... I would rather treat her only with natural remedies, but is it too late? Please, I need all the advice you can give me, thanks a lot, nuria & runa (my beloved french bulldog)"

05/01/2012: Gardengal11 from Tulsa, Oklahoma: "My 2 year old lab/great Dane had reaction to the new pill and I want to start using black walnut herb and one friend recommends rascal herb. I also found a spray of cinnamon and clove that the owner of store said would stop fleas and mosquitos from biting. Is this good for my pet and will stop the heart worm if an infected one bites him? Also he recommends the kyolic herb. He is 74 pounds Please help- no more chemicals for my dog or my family."

05/02/2012: 5 Pooches Home from U.s., U.s: "Usually you try BOTH black walnut and wormwood. You can also get them pre-mixed along with cloves. Just search it online.

For greatdane, you can give 30-40 drops twice a day. Also garlic is great for heart health and you can also give 'Healthy Heart Tonic' by Herb Pharm...I am not from the company. I have just used this for my dogs and it was great.

Good luck!"

05/01/2012: Madkatz32 from In, Usa: "We just got a 4 month old german shepherd puppy and a little gray kitten from the animal shelter. Well when you get them from the shelter they make you get their shots in order to adopt. So before I did all the research, we had them get their vaccines.

The kitten was super lovey then after the shots she kept hiding and was stand offish and seemed nervous, and she slept like all day after that. This was 4 days ago, well she's doing better but I would like to know the dosing for that Thuja for a 4lb kitten or any recomendations just to make sure that she is really better.

And then there is the puppy He is so full of energy anyway but he seems a little wired even for him and he is itching like crazy and smelly even after I bathe him and I just found alot of little pimples all over his stomach. He had his shots like 3 weeks ago. Can I give him the Thuja also? I also will not be doing the vaccines again. Please let me know, any advice welcome."

05/02/2012: 5 Pooches Home from U.s.: "Yes you MUST start on Thuja asap. I had to get my dogs vaccinated (since we are going to travel internationally) so on the way back from the vet, I stopped and picked up Thuja 30C. I immediately opened it and gave each one 5 pellets in their mouths. Give it every 4 hrs. In the morning they had it again after their breakfast. I will continue for at least 1 week just to be safe. I am also against vaccinations so I only vaccinate them when absolutely necessary. If I wasn't travelling with them, then NO vaccinations at all. Hopefully one day we will live in the world when we only have to vaccinate our pets once in their lifetime!

Also I would recommend you also give 10-20 drops of Aloe vera juice to your pets. It is a great detoxifying agent. I am going to start mine today.

Along with this, to bring your pets to meximum health and energy, you should only feel them 100% homemade food and treats. I use bananas, blueberry, etc as treats. Only 100% NON-processed, preservative free food.

Good luck! My dogs are all from shelters too and now they are thriving.. hope this helps."

12/01/2006: Laura from Hartford, WI: "We are having some other problems, she keeps getting pyoderma. The vet puts her on antibiotics and it clears, but when she is done the pyoderma comes back. Any suggestions? Thank you so much for the mange cure. I was so afraid of the dip."

01/14/2012: Sarah from Brooklyn, Ohio: "What is the exact mixture required? Do you rinse off the paste or leave it on to dry? My boxer mix's skin is infected and is turing black in spots. I have had her on and off Ketoconozole, but am afraid we are starting to tax her already low immune system due to allergies."

02/03/2012: Jane from Paramus, New Jersey: "My Spinone Italiano also keeps getting bacterial infections in the folds of her mouth. She's been on antibiotics throughout the year, it goes away and then comes back. Based upon where the infections are, she is not a candidate for the lip fold surgery. The doctors are looking for other alternatives. Any help is appreciated. She is only 7 years old."

05/01/2012: Looneygirl from Houston, Texas, Usa: "You might look up more on this info but when I went thru several breast cancer surgeries & antobotics I got the thrush or yeast infections in my mouth so bad and it was painful. The doctor would call in a prescription everytime. My nurse friend got me over the counter Acidophilus/probiotics to start using before my next surgery and then I read somewhere that Povidone-Iodine Solution, 10%. Rince in the mouth does the same thing for mouth yeast infections. I read they use this in poor countries instead of the expesive big pharma cure. It is that purple red stuff that I came home with stains with they use before surgerys. It works. Just don't let your dog drink it it should be for a wash out only. I am a big user now of iodone tinture & the bedidine for many things and also take iodine supplements which is a bit controversal but I take it in limited doses."

04/14/2012: Aurora from Los Angeles, Ca: "My 3 1/2 year old golden retriever has had a yeast infection of the vulva for two years; she literally "attacks" herself twice a day to the point where she runs in circles pulling out her tail feathers and cries with giant tears! She eats no grains (only meat and veggies) and the only fruit she has is a few goji berries and a rare bite of apple; we've tried both cooked and raw diets as well as ACV (orally and topically) in addition to doing peroxide and baking soda rinses. Also, she is extremely high alkaline and when most dogs damage the lawn from urination, my dog makes it grow greener! We're not interested in anything but holistic approaches, and some of the herbs we've tried are: Pau d Arco, oregano, turmeric, Nzymes, Syclovir (plankton). Also, in spite of her healthy, 100% organic and free-range diet, she eats grass daily.

I'm desperate to help her and plan to try CSilver and GSE next, but would LOVE some advice to see if there are other options we should be considering. Thank you!"

05/01/2012: Looneygirl from Houston, Texas, Usa: "Have you tried deluted DMSO? Please read up on this product and do a test patch on your dog before applying it external or giving it internally. I bought a bottle a couple of months ago from the farm supply and the bottle is almost empty. I have used it on me and the dog. Its good for sore muscles to skin issues and is very drying so I thought it may help with the yeast infection but my dogs yeast infections are on other parts of the body. I educated myself a bit and actually tested it on me first. I have used me & the dog around private parts but not directly on where your pet is having the yeast problem. For the past year I have been fighting hot spots & large sore due to demo mites and/or food allergy or both. These sores get larger than a quarterwhich get sencondary yearst or bacterica infections.

Now I put DMSO full strenth on them when I find them a few times a week and also use Ted's borox/perocide mix which also dries out the skin. which get sencondary yearst or bacterica infections. All of this has been verfied by my vet and I have learned to treat them my self instead of calling her and getting antibotics. DMSO is very drying and has a host of side effects and besides drying the skin out most are good side effects. My dog no longer has bald spots anywhere. She had grey with bacteria/yeast growing from red mange infections and I swear hair starting growing in 2 days. I thought the skin problems were over but since spring arrived she is getting hot spots again with yeast infections on her back/rump. She is a German Shepard with hair so thick back there I finally figured out it does not fully dry out after a bath or skin treatments. I blow dry with warm/cool air & put drops of DMSO on the sore and it is gone in 2 days. I also treated myself for mites and the home just incase. Not that I want facial hair at age 52 but I swear by this DMSO. I used it on my face a few times and it will clean out damage hair folicals and stuff that had been in my skin I guess for years no matter how much you scrub.

I have also used this on my neighbors dogs bald spots one with hormone problems and the ohter with wear spots from sleeping in the kennal. Both are growing hair again. I think the husband is ready to use this stuff on his head now. LOL. Let me know if you need some links but all you got to do is google it and read past the FDA/negative promo. I will never be with out this DMSO stuff in my home again. P. S. Beware of the sulfur smell it will produce when used in or on the body. Its worth the stink."

04/28/2012: Aida from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: "Hi, I need help here. My cat, boy has been diagnosed with enlarged liver condition and blood tested result is amylase is high - 1800. He just discharged from hospital but he is still not eating. He still vomiting. I really don't know what to do. The Vet asked us to continue give the medication. My daughter love the cat so much and I don't want to lose him. Please help."

04/30/2012: Aka Sherri from College Station, Texas, United States: "Years ago, I had a very sick cat with a liver problem. I don't remember the specific diagnosis. I just know that all her numbers were very high and she was yellow. They gave her a 20% chance of survival.

My veterinarian suggested I give her 1 capsule of dandelion root a day to promote the appetite. He didn't know if it would help, but it couldn't hurt.

He obviously had no idea of all the other benefits of dandelion root.

I followed a rigorous schedule while she was sick and she did make it. She lived another 10 years without ever being sick again, at all!

The first thing you need to know is this. As you know, a sick pet will quit eating and drinking on her/his own. Lack of food and water usually kills our pets long before the ailment ever does. It is absolutley imperative that your cat be fed and watered every 4 hours. You'll have to check with your vet about specific amounts of each.

Now for what I figured out on my own that I believe saved my cat's life in addition to the dandelion root.

Everytime I fed Samantha, she would throw up. Anti-nausia medications did nothing to help. I was beside myself until I realized that it was the bile overflowing into the gut that made her throw up. So... At every feeding, I gave her enough to make her throw up the bile. We'd take a 2 or 3 minute break. After that, she could keep down all the food, water and medications I gave her.

We also had a designated place to eat. She would not leave that area until after we finished eating. We would take lots of breaks during feeding, but she would not be allowed to leave the feeding area. I believe this helped reduce stress for her because she knew that when we left feeding area, we were done eating. I think that is much better than letting the cat go wherever she wants to go when we take breaks, then going and retrieving over and over again. By doing it that way, she knew that when she would go back to her hiding place, she would no longer be interupted and stressed by hand feeding and watering.

I was VERY DILIGENT about keeping to a 4 hour schedule. I got up in the middle of the night to feed her, again that morning, I spent my luch hour feeding her......... I went to these lengths to save her and I personally believe that is why she made it.

I really couldn't tell if she was getting any better. She didn't seem to be. When I took her back for follow up blood work, they couldn't believe the difference! They were stupified!

I had to keep on top of it for another couple of weeks and still didn't see that she felt any better.

One day, I got special dinner for my other cat because she was getting so much less of my attention since Sam became so sick. That was the day I knew Sam was going to be okay! Samantha was resting next to her when I brought the special dinner in for Booh-Kitty. Sam JUMPED off of the bed and proceeded to gobble down all of the dinner! Thankfully, I had enough for both of them.

For about a year, Sam got nothing but that food because I knew she would eat it!

As soon as Sam started eating on her own, she felt so much better, gaining all her weight back and being her usual self again! Like I said earler, she lived another 10 years. She passed having lived a full, healthy life.

Even though I don't think that vet thought the dandelion root would help, I'm forever grateful to him. That was my first miraculous experience with herbal remedies and the thing that turned me on to natural medicine.

Interestingly, dandelion root is suggested."

05/01/2012: Aida from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: "Hi Sherri, thank you so much. Where do I get dandelion root in kuala lumpur, Malaysia? Please help. I have try using aloe Vera plant on boy today morning before he eat a bit. I have to feed him but he don't want to eat at all. He only drink water on his own but not his food."

04/28/2012: Aida from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: "Hi, I need help here. My cat, boy has been diagnosed with enlarged liver condition and blood tested result is amylase is high - 1800. He just discharged from hospital but he is still not eating. He still vomiting. I really don't know what to do. The Vet asked us to continue give the medication. My daughter love the cat so much and I don't want to lose him. Please help."

04/30/2012: Aka Sherri from College Station, Texas, United States: "Years ago, I had a very sick cat with a liver problem. I don't remember the specific diagnosis. I just know that all her numbers were very high and she was yellow. They gave her a 20% chance of survival.

My veterinarian suggested I give her 1 capsule of dandelion root a day to promote the appetite. He didn't know if it would help, but it couldn't hurt.

He obviously had no idea of all the other benefits of dandelion root.

I followed a rigorous schedule while she was sick and she did make it. She lived another 10 years without ever being sick again, at all!

The first thing you need to know is this. As you know, a sick pet will quit eating and drinking on her/his own. Lack of food and water usually kills our pets long before the ailment ever does. It is absolutley imperative that your cat be fed and watered every 4 hours. You'll have to check with your vet about specific amounts of each.

Now for what I figured out on my own that I believe saved my cat's life in addition to the dandelion root.

Everytime I fed Samantha, she would throw up. Anti-nausia medications did nothing to help. I was beside myself until I realized that it was the bile overflowing into the gut that made her throw up. So... At every feeding, I gave her enough to make her throw up the bile. We'd take a 2 or 3 minute break. After that, she could keep down all the food, water and medications I gave her.

We also had a designated place to eat. She would not leave that area until after we finished eating. We would take lots of breaks during feeding, but she would not be allowed to leave the feeding area. I believe this helped reduce stress for her because she knew that when we left feeding area, we were done eating. I think that is much better than letting the cat go wherever she wants to go when we take breaks, then going and retrieving over and over again. By doing it that way, she knew that when she would go back to her hiding place, she would no longer be interupted and stressed by hand feeding and watering.

I was VERY DILIGENT about keeping to a 4 hour schedule. I got up in the middle of the night to feed her, again that morning, I spent my luch hour feeding her......... I went to these lengths to save her and I personally believe that is why she made it.

I really couldn't tell if she was getting any better. She didn't seem to be. When I took her back for follow up blood work, they couldn't believe the difference! They were stupified!

I had to keep on top of it for another couple of weeks and still didn't see that she felt any better.

One day, I got special dinner for my other cat because she was getting so much less of my attention since Sam became so sick. That was the day I knew Sam was going to be okay! Samantha was resting next to her when I brought the special dinner in for Booh-Kitty. Sam JUMPED off of the bed and proceeded to gobble down all of the dinner! Thankfully, I had enough for both of them.

For about a year, Sam got nothing but that food because I knew she would eat it!

As soon as Sam started eating on her own, she felt so much better, gaining all her weight back and being her usual self again! Like I said earler, she lived another 10 years. She passed having lived a full, healthy life.

Even though I don't think that vet thought the dandelion root would help, I'm forever grateful to him. That was my first miraculous experience with herbal remedies and the thing that turned me on to natural medicine.

Interestingly, dandelion root is suggested."

05/01/2012: Aida from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: "Hi Sherri, thank you so much. Where do I get dandelion root in kuala lumpur, Malaysia? Please help. I have try using aloe Vera plant on boy today morning before he eat a bit. I have to feed him but he don't want to eat at all. He only drink water on his own but not his food."

[YEA]  03/16/2009: Peggy McAllister from Winston-Salem, North Carolina: "ALOE VERA JUICE FOR gastric upset:

My cat was diagnosed last year with chronic renal failure. And one of the most challenging issues has been his vomiting. I have been giving him fluids on a regular basis, but because renal failure affects the acid in his gut, he would go through some periods of serious projectile vomiting. His gut would be gurgling all the time, and for months, I tried using Famotidine from the vet with little success. Then I tried George's Aloe Vera juice (it has no preservatives like benzoic acid which is poisonous to cats)...and this cat who was throwing up at least once a day has not vomited in three weeks! I give him 2-3 ml in the morning and the same dose at night. Of all the Aloe Vera's. George's seems to be the best...no taste (tastes to me like water), and you don't have to refrigerate it. Available at Whole Foods and probably other natural food staores as well.

This cat's health was going downhill fast, and since the vomiting has turned around, he's gaining weight again and seems MUCH happier (who wouldn't?)

I believe this would have greatly helped my other cat who had hyperthyroid and would vomit whenever her stomach was empty."

[YEA]  09/14/2009: Elizabeth from New York, Ny: "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

My 12 year old domestic short-hair cat, Roscoe, was diagnosed with CRF 3 weeks ago. After spending 4 days in the hospital, we brought her home and started her on the doctor prescribed kidney-friendly food. After 2 weeks of her showing a strong appetite, she suddenly started vomiting and showed no interest in food or water. She also seemed to be very uncomfortable and I noticed she was going to her litterbox often but not doing anything. After searching online, I found a post on your website written 3/16/2009 by Peggy McAllister regarding the use of aloe vera juice for her cat with CRF to help with both nausea and constipation. I took Peggy's advice and bought the aloe vera juice at my local health food store (I even sought out George's - the brand Peggy recommended as it is additive free and doesn't need to be refrigerated) and it worked like a charm! I mixed 2 1/2 ml in Roscoe's food twice a day (once in the morning and again in the evening). After only one day on the aloe, she had a bowel movement and started eating and drinking again.
I just want to thank Peggy and Earth Clinic for providing the information I needed to help Roscoe get better. It's emotionally very difficult to treat a beloved pet's serious illness, but having resources like this make things a lot easier. Thanks again!"

[YEA]  04/12/2010: Annie from Baraboo, Wi: "In February, I took my 14 1/2 year old miniature dachshund in for a dental cleaning. After running pre-surgical blood work, x-rays and ultrasound, it was discovered one of her kidneys was incredibly enlarged due to cysts and infection. Her kidney was removed and she was doing fine. Two weeks after her surgery she stopped eating and drinking, was vomiting and lethargic. She was in chronic renal failure with a BUN >130 and Creatinine of 5.4. The only option left was hospitalizing her for 36 hours of IV fluids and if it worked it may need to be repeated possibly every week. Due to her age, the fact that she had a bad back, she becomes stressed spending the night in the clinic and all she had already been through, I took her home. I wanted to keep her as comfortable as possible and decided to research Earth Clinic (which I religiously use for myself). I began Peggy's Aloe Vera Juice remedy at 2-3 ml's twice per day as well as 1 tsp ACV in her water (I used a syringe to force her to drink for the first couple of days). Within a couple of days she had stopped vomiting and began eating wet food mixed with baby food and drinking again. I continued the 2-3 ml's twice per day for appx. 1 month during which time she began eating normal amounts of wet and dry food. While continuing to eat and drink normally with no vomiting since the initial episodes, I put her on a maintenance of 2-3 ml of Aloe Vera Juice once per day. Two months later her Creatinine is down to 3.8, she's doing great and the vet was shocked. Thank you so much Peggy, if it weren't for you I don't think our little Sophie would be with us anymore!!"

[BETTER BUT NOT CURED]  04/27/2010: Holly from Decatur, Georgia: "Thank you so much for George's Aloe Vera suggestion for my cat with kidney disfunction. I bought it this morning and have given it to her 3 times today - 3 ml each time - and she has been minimally eating and drinking for the first time in three days. Baby is 15 and has been diagnosed with kidney dysfunction (a nice way of saying "failure" I guess) and hyperthyroidism."

09/23/2010: Adelynn from Singapore: "Doesn't the ASPCA list of plants toxic to cats include aloe? Other websites also say not to let a cat eat aloe. How come contributors to this discussion say aloe actually helps their cat? I'm a little worried about trying it..."

11/21/2010: Jo from Mentor, Ohio: "Hello... I just wanted to comment on giving a cat aloe vera juice to stop the symptom of vomiting. One of our cats was vomiting severely. We don't know if it was due to our having applied Frontline or due to a vet-diagnosed bladder inflection, or both. What I wanted your readers to know is this cat was vomiting up everything---food, water---nothing was staying down. We gave her one "capful" of aloe vera juice. The vomiting stopped immediately and has not returned. Since I didn't know if this was a reaction to the (vile! ) Frontline, I have put aloe vera juice in all my cats wet food everyday since. Thank you for sharing the advice about the aloe vera juice!"

10/06/2011: Veronica Andino from Boca Raton, Florida.usa: "My cat has kidney failure and I would like to know if I can give him aloe vera juice in his water and apple cider vinegar at the same time? Or one with water and the other with food? Or one or the other? Please let me know, the vet told me to put him to sleep, but he still looks good. Thanks"

[BETTER BUT NOT CURED]  10/23/2011: Jodi from Bloomingburg, Ny, Usa: "Hello,

My cat diagnoised CRF problably 4 yrs ago. She has been on a prescript diet since and doing fairly well. Recently she started getting upset stomaches daily. Shes on a pepcid med. Morning and night and a medication for her upset stomach. Recently I decided (due to this post) that I would add 3 ml. aloe vera juice to 1/2 cup of water. As well as, quarter teaspoon of slippery elm bark on her can food. It seemed to help a little in the first couple of day's. By day 4 and 5 it seemed to help a great deal. It not only stopped the lip smacking and upset ness and throwing up but now a week later she is laying more comfortable. No longer is she a loaf of bread or "meat loaf" position. Her legs our stretched out. She hasn't thrown up in a week. I hope this helps others out there. This site certainly helped me. Thank you."

04/29/2012: Beth from Brighton, Mi, Usa: "My dear old feline friend will be 17 on Mother's Day, and also is in CRF, has hyperthyroid, and acts like a crochety old lady. She's about 10 pounds and it's hard to keep weight on her. She also had fresh blood spots in her stool, perhaps hemerroids or irritated bowel. The vet gave me lactolase, and although it didn't get worse, it didn't improve much either.

I've started a regimen of a bit of coconut oil - about 1/8 teaspoon, along with 1/8 teaspoon slippery elm bark - both in her wet food, morning and night. I melt the coconut oil in her dish in the microwave for 11-12 seconds, mix with the slippery elm bark, then mix in with her wet food.

She's also on methimazole for the thyroid condition (ointment form applied to the inner ear flaps). Since I started the coconut oil, the blood in her stool has greatly diminished-almost gone! It's also helped her put on a little weight.

The slippery elm for her CRF has diminished the lip-smacking sounds of chronic dehydration (though she drinks a lot of water), also diminished is her desire to sit on her haunches (like a meat-loaf); now she'll lay on either side, sometimes even stretch out-it's wonderful!

The quality of the cold-pressed virgin coconut oil made a difference. It was pricey-but a 16 oz jar will last me at least 6 months, more than I could say for any chemical vet medication-meant to only treat the symptoms-just like human meds in the United States. Keeping us sick keeps us as a patient who will always be a return customer-our economy sadly thrives on this.

Regardless, my old friend is now a thriving geriatric feline-thanks to Earth Clinic and those of you who took the time to post!"

10/15/2009: Maria from Massapequa Park, Ny: "Hello, My name is Maria. I recently adopted a yorkie terrier from North Shore Animal League. I was told by the vet there that he has a hot spot & he needs to take the medication COSEQUIN every day for the rest of his life. I,ve been breaking the capsule & putting in his dog food every day as the vet told me to do. Now today it seems to have inflammed. I went online to look @ some home remedies & I notice that Apple cider vinegar seems to do the trick. I read how you can put it in a spray bottle. Should I dilute the vinegar w/ water & if so how much? Thank you, Maria"

[YEA]  07/22/2010: Betsypear1 from Toluca, Il, Usa: "A few months ago, after reading these successes with ACV, we used some ACV in water in a spray bottle on our dog's hot spot on the side of his face. I'm sorry that I don't know the exact proportions but it was one of the suggestions here. My husband only used it 2 or 3 times because the spray bottle broke. . . But the hot spot healed up very, very nicely and we didn't have to pay the $200 to get him sedated and shaved at the vets, as was being threatened! Very nice. :)"

[YEA]  04/29/2012: Cj from Jackson, Tn: "I came to the internet searching for options to help remedy my dog of her hot spots. Every few years she will get a hot spot (she's a pug). So, I decided to try the vinegar and water method. First of all, I gave her a bath in an oatmeal shampoo for dogs to help her overall itching. I made sure she was completely dry. Then, I used a solution of half ACV and half water. I had an old spray bottle (a previous "hot spot" medicine) and put the solution in this bottle. I sprayed this on her twice yesterday and put a cone around her neck overnight. This morning............... WHAT A DIFFERENCE! She has two hot spots, both of which are dry this morning. Yesterday, they were draining and red and inflammed. Today they are no longer red and dried out. I'm a believer! Thanks!"

[YEA]  12/23/2006: Jody from OH: "Dimataceous earth, not sure about the spelling on that... If you add a tbsp of dimataceous earth to an adult dog's, and a tsp to a puppy's food on a daily basis you will eliminate most parasites. You also can rub it into their fur for flea control as well. I have a kennel and have used this method for a long time and it works well."

[YEA]  07/28/2009: flicka_sugar from Pahrump, Nevada: "I use diatamaceous earth (or dirt as I affectionately call it) with all my animals. I have horses and cattle who get 1oz/day in the spring and fall and 2oz/day in the summer to help with fly control. The nice side benefit is I also have less problems with parasites when they are on this. I also give it to my pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, geese, alpacas, dogs, and cats. it works great and the farrier even comments on how little pest problems we have compared to other farms, which is nice to have few flies with all the animals. Also because of the effect on parasites and our local weather I only have to strongly deworm about 2x per year instead of deworming every 8 weeks for the horses and such."

[YEA]  04/10/2010: Patti from Coconut Creek, Fl: "I wanted to add I give my horses and dog DE for parasite control. I've taken it myself from time to time, too. It's very important to know that there is a Food Grade DE ....and there is diatomaceous earth product that is sold for use in pool filters. That product is toxic. Be sure to buy Food Grade diatomaceous earth."

[YEA]  05/09/2010: Lithrassa from Los Angeles, California: "my dog is susceptible to tapeworms, even with flea medicine. he's 6 and gets tapeworms once, sometimes twice, a year. i was tired of spending $75.00 each time i went to the vet for the pill. plus, i wanted to give him a natural treatment. i tried the pumpkin seeds and they worked okay. i read about diatomaceous earth and thought i'd try it. i'm so glad i did! it worked wonders. my dog is 90 lbs. so i gave him 2 heaping tablespoons in his food and later that day his stool had pieces of dead tapeworms and 1 live one. the next day i gave him 1 tablespoon and later that day his stool had only dead pieces. the third day (today) his stool was clean. so it only took two days. i gave him another tablespoon today just to be safe and i think i'll continue for another day or two just to clean out his system, but thank you for this wonderful suggestion. oh, and it costs just cents per tablespoon! nice bonus."

08/03/2010: Vcanfield from San Antonio, Texas: "I live in San Antonio. You can get diatomaceous earth at feed stores. They carry dewormers as well."

[NAY]  01/24/2011: Angela from Scotia, Ny, Usa: "I gave my cat diatamatious earth for her worm problem. She seemed to get sick and was hacking and coughung alot. So I quit giving it to her. It didnt bother my other two cats at all. Does that mean that it was doing its job??? PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE THIS OUT"

[WARNING!]  01/28/2011: Kcin Ar from Russellville, Ar Usa: "To Angela from Scotia, Ny, Usa- PLEASE never give your kitties diatomaceous earth!! I understand it can be inhaled and since it's like tiny microscopic shards of glass, it gets stuck in their lungs! I've heard of people who dusted their cat for fleas with it and it killed the cat!"

05/21/2011: Jazz from Blackpool, United Kingdom: "Yes it means the diatomaceus earth(DE) was working. As the worms die they release toxins, your cat must have a large amount of worms. However DE absorbs the toxins once u start giving DE you should not stop for at least 3 weeks until all the eggs have died."

[YEA]  04/29/2012: Hippocrates from Odin, Missouri, USA: "Hello all, A dirt poor friend of mine once had a Labrador puppy under a year old that had massive tapeworms. It was just skin and bones. So, not having money to take it to the vet and not wanting to see it die, and not having Diatomaceous Earth on hand, I had him go outside and take some Perlite (garden section of stores) and crush it into a fine, fine powder. I had him make a simple white gravy, mix in one teaspoon into the gravy and put it on his food. This was done twice a day.

Shortly after it started gaining weight, and was back to normal within the month, during which time I had him continue it for, just to make sure any eggs that might hatch would be dead.

D.E. and Perlite are similar in the physical mechanism in which they act upon the worms as an abrasive, killing them."

[YEA]  03/19/2012: Marsala from Webster, NY: "My 4 y/o Keeshond began having seizures (clusters). Started the phenobarb routine, it changed her personality and she also developed increased thirst and appetite from the meds. She began peeing in the house, couldn't hold it. I found a vet who specializes in Chinese medicine. Daisy started on Chinese herbs and a weaning schedule to get off phenobarb. My vet was not sure this would work. I also stopped feeding her commercial dog food and started giving her raw meat and bones- appropriate for her size and teeth. That was Dec 1st 2010. It is now March 2012- she has not had one seizure since the end of Nov 2010. She is still on the herbs-(successfully weaned off phenobarb over 6 week period) vet says the herbs won't hurt her- is somewhat of a liver cleanse. The vet doesn't particularly like that I feed raw food- but both my dogs (also a 10 lb Shitz-poo) are thriving, wiht beautiful coats and teeth and great digestion. It is amazing how small their poops are. After 6 mos of exclusively raw, I changed to one cooked meal in the morning and raw chicken necks at night. The cooked meals are rotated: beef- chicken-fish each weak with some veggies, eggs and rice. The cooked food gets ground egg shells and kelp mixed in for extra minerals. For those of you who have seizure dogs- there is hope. Look into a raw diet. Stop poisoning your dogs with commercial foods that have been totally stripped of nutrition then fortified with added in vitamins and minerals which are never quite like getting it from actual foods."

[YEA]  04/28/2012: Taylor from Baltimore, Md: "My dog Penny has been seizing for years, started out once or twice a year until it progresses and became monthly and then weekly. We tried phenobarbital, keppra, and bromide.. Some helped for a little bit but she still had a seizure about once a month. In November of 2011, she had a cluster of 9 seizures in a 48 hour period and was hospitalized. A friend of mine suggested I look at raw feeding and I started reading success stories with regards to raw food and epilepsy.

December 2011 I switched my dogs cold turkey to the prey model raw diet. Penny is now 5 months seizure free and counting! Additionally, both my dogs have more energy, no doggie gas, and their teeth are unbelievable! Moving them to this diet was the best thing I could have done."

[YEA]  02/17/2008: Marion from Renton, Washington: "My female cat had multiple UTI's over a year. After several episodes of expensive antibiotics I decided to take a holistic approach. She has been taking 250mg. of vitamin C added to a tsp. of canned cat food for the past 3 months, and so far no UTI's."

08/22/2008: Emew from Seattle, WA: "Hi. My kitty has been having crystals recently, and the methioform chewables seem to help, and she takes them like a treat. This week she had a relapse, and I adjusted her dosage, then took her in so the vet could check the urine. She was feeling better, and the pH was good. Anyway, I was asking him about cranberry supplements, and he said that was probably a good idea, but to be sure there was not added vitamin C, because it could contribute to the oxalate crystals, that occur in urine that is too acidic. There are so many different opinions out there on this topic, its hard to say what's right for our kitties. I just thought I'd let you know what my vet said today. Good luck!"

12/26/2011: Jen from Vineland, Ontario: "i really don't know if i'm too late or not as it is obvious that my cat has a blockage, he isn't peeing, not bright, blood in urine and dripping and i can already feel the mass in his bladder, i do not drive and its of course holidays, and the only emergency clinic is over two hours away.. which i really can't afford, do you think i should try this method still , or is it way too late since the mass is already there.... if so how much and how often... if i have to pull all nighters i will.. thanks. jen"

03/15/2012: David from Hastings On Hudson, Ny: "I thought I'd share my experience dealing with my cat's FLUTD.

A few months ago I came home from a weekend trip, and found pools of blood all over the apartment, and my cat walking in a funny, hunched-over manner. The following week was an absolute nightmare as my cat continually peed blood on my bed, the floor, and carpets--anywhere but the litter box. When he did attempt to urinate, he would howl with pain. It was horrible. After bringing him to the vet, he was diagnosed with FLUTD.

The vet said that the best treatment was to put him on a strict diet of canned "Royal Canin SO. " This didn't sit well with me since this is a non-organic brand. I avoid non-organic foods myself as I'm just not willing to consume the pesticide residues on the government's assurance that it's okay (same assurance they gave cigarette smokers for several decades). I also just didn't like the idea of feeding my cat the same pre-packaged, non-fresh stuff for the rest of his life (imagine a human living on baby food or a protein shake his whole life).

On a whim, I called up a local natural pet food store and told them my problem. They asked me if I had ever tried feeding my cat raw food. I said that I had (a slight fib, since I fed him mostly dry organic kibble, and only raw from time to time as a treat). They said that they were very surprised to hear that he had FLUTD considering that I had fed him raw.

I then remembered that the cat's symptoms had seemed to subside briefly the 2nd day of the nightmare week, about 6 hours after I had given him a raw treat.

After this advice, and considering the evidence, I put him on a 100% raw diet (I had a bag in the freezer the whole time, from which I fed him the occasional treats). I also forced some drops of apple cider vinegar down his throat (I had heard about that home remedy on a forum).

Suffice to say that in 24 hours, all FLUTD symptoms disappeared completely. His apparent health and urination returned to normal. After a few weeks I stopped forcing him to drink the apple cider vinegar.

A month later, I tried putting him back on a dry diet for the weekend (I had to go out of town). When I returned, he had started to pee blood again. I immediately returned him to a 100% raw diet, and he has never had a problem since.

I understand there are some folks out there who have an aversion to raw food or have heard horror stories. All I can say is that I am not a fanatic, I just want to share the story of how my cat was saved in the hopes that this information could save others. I have read other forum postings recently about pet owners whose cats were killed by FLUTD, and they never tried raw food. Mine was cured within 24 hours, so you will find out quickly if it works for you or not, I think.

I do not grind my own food. I buy bags of Primal. The food comes pre-blended in little frozen biscuits. Unfortunately it is not cheap ($20 and up per bag, which lasts about 3 weeks), but I am one of those pet owners who really loves his pet, so to me it is worth it.

I hope this story and info can be of help to others!

Ben"

04/25/2012: Hope from Sacramento, California: "Bravo Ben! I wish I had known this a year ago when my cat was quite ill, but it was kidney failure and he was 18 years old..... and I did try it as a last resort, but it was too late.

I now have 2 young rescue cats, not yet 1 year old and I researched too, even though they are healthy, and decided to start them on 100% raw with Primal several months ago, and they Love it and look and feel fabulous!

I will never again give them kibble, as I tried to supplement the raw diet with it and they threw up every time!

With just raw, they are perfectly fine and happy and Healthy!

Thank you for making people aware of the benefits of raw for cats..."

04/26/2012: Jr from Coloma, Mi: "How on earth do you get your cat to eat raw after being on kibble? I have a cat that I have been trying to eat raw and she just won't do it. I even took her food away for two days and she still wouldn't eat the raw food."

[YEA]  02/17/2008: Marion from Renton, Washington: "My female cat had multiple UTI's over a year. After several episodes of expensive antibiotics I decided to take a holistic approach. She has been taking 250mg. of vitamin C added to a tsp. of canned cat food for the past 3 months, and so far no UTI's."

08/22/2008: Emew from Seattle, WA: "Hi. My kitty has been having crystals recently, and the methioform chewables seem to help, and she takes them like a treat. This week she had a relapse, and I adjusted her dosage, then took her in so the vet could check the urine. She was feeling better, and the pH was good. Anyway, I was asking him about cranberry supplements, and he said that was probably a good idea, but to be sure there was not added vitamin C, because it could contribute to the oxalate crystals, that occur in urine that is too acidic. There are so many different opinions out there on this topic, its hard to say what's right for our kitties. I just thought I'd let you know what my vet said today. Good luck!"

12/26/2011: Jen from Vineland, Ontario: "i really don't know if i'm too late or not as it is obvious that my cat has a blockage, he isn't peeing, not bright, blood in urine and dripping and i can already feel the mass in his bladder, i do not drive and its of course holidays, and the only emergency clinic is over two hours away.. which i really can't afford, do you think i should try this method still , or is it way too late since the mass is already there.... if so how much and how often... if i have to pull all nighters i will.. thanks. jen"

03/15/2012: David from Hastings On Hudson, Ny: "I thought I'd share my experience dealing with my cat's FLUTD.

A few months ago I came home from a weekend trip, and found pools of blood all over the apartment, and my cat walking in a funny, hunched-over manner. The following week was an absolute nightmare as my cat continually peed blood on my bed, the floor, and carpets--anywhere but the litter box. When he did attempt to urinate, he would howl with pain. It was horrible. After bringing him to the vet, he was diagnosed with FLUTD.

The vet said that the best treatment was to put him on a strict diet of canned "Royal Canin SO. " This didn't sit well with me since this is a non-organic brand. I avoid non-organic foods myself as I'm just not willing to consume the pesticide residues on the government's assurance that it's okay (same assurance they gave cigarette smokers for several decades). I also just didn't like the idea of feeding my cat the same pre-packaged, non-fresh stuff for the rest of his life (imagine a human living on baby food or a protein shake his whole life).

On a whim, I called up a local natural pet food store and told them my problem. They asked me if I had ever tried feeding my cat raw food. I said that I had (a slight fib, since I fed him mostly dry organic kibble, and only raw from time to time as a treat). They said that they were very surprised to hear that he had FLUTD considering that I had fed him raw.

I then remembered that the cat's symptoms had seemed to subside briefly the 2nd day of the nightmare week, about 6 hours after I had given him a raw treat.

After this advice, and considering the evidence, I put him on a 100% raw diet (I had a bag in the freezer the whole time, from which I fed him the occasional treats). I also forced some drops of apple cider vinegar down his throat (I had heard about that home remedy on a forum).

Suffice to say that in 24 hours, all FLUTD symptoms disappeared completely. His apparent health and urination returned to normal. After a few weeks I stopped forcing him to drink the apple cider vinegar.

A month later, I tried putting him back on a dry diet for the weekend (I had to go out of town). When I returned, he had started to pee blood again. I immediately returned him to a 100% raw diet, and he has never had a problem since.

I understand there are some folks out there who have an aversion to raw food or have heard horror stories. All I can say is that I am not a fanatic, I just want to share the story of how my cat was saved in the hopes that this information could save others. I have read other forum postings recently about pet owners whose cats were killed by FLUTD, and they never tried raw food. Mine was cured within 24 hours, so you will find out quickly if it works for you or not, I think.

I do not grind my own food. I buy bags of Primal. The food comes pre-blended in little frozen biscuits. Unfortunately it is not cheap ($20 and up per bag, which lasts about 3 weeks), but I am one of those pet owners who really loves his pet, so to me it is worth it.

I hope this story and info can be of help to others!

Ben"

04/25/2012: Hope from Sacramento, California: "Bravo Ben! I wish I had known this a year ago when my cat was quite ill, but it was kidney failure and he was 18 years old..... and I did try it as a last resort, but it was too late.

I now have 2 young rescue cats, not yet 1 year old and I researched too, even though they are healthy, and decided to start them on 100% raw with Primal several months ago, and they Love it and look and feel fabulous!

I will never again give them kibble, as I tried to supplement the raw diet with it and they threw up every time!

With just raw, they are perfectly fine and happy and Healthy!

Thank you for making people aware of the benefits of raw for cats..."

04/26/2012: Jr from Coloma, Mi: "How on earth do you get your cat to eat raw after being on kibble? I have a cat that I have been trying to eat raw and she just won't do it. I even took her food away for two days and she still wouldn't eat the raw food."

[SIDE EFFECTS]  04/08/2012: Sandyb from Shamrock, Tx: "My 7 yr old Pembroke Corgi has a history of allergies, bladder stones, and recently, contracted a Staph infection. Culture taken from inside the nose as she was having stuffed nose, crusty skin on outside of nose. Found one sore, very small on right flank. She was not herself, took her to vet, she put her on Clavamox for seven days. She appeared to worsen, took her back, changed her to Baytril and added Doxycycline. Got culture back on nose swab and put her back on Clavamox and to continue with bacterial Doxycycline. She continued to worsen, no appetite, vomiting, fever, white count had not changed, losing weight. Took her back 3/23 and she was given Covenia injection to treat the Staph and was given another round of Doxycycline to take with Covenia. She has continued to decline, no appetite, did not have fever this past Friday when took her back as she suggested she get a B-12 shot to give her some energy. On exam her left eye was completely dialated and did not grow smaller when flashlight instrument went over eye. Also the vomiting still happening about every other day to two days. She said to use Famotidine acid reducer with food to keep acidity down. I had noticed late Friday night her problem with swallowing and she would try to eat some cooked chicken but would quit after a few bites. It was apparent her throat hurt and she would cough and spit up clear slime. After a thorough reading about Doxycycline side effects I believe she now has a possible throat lesion from this med. Also, on the Covenia site it states that Doxycycline: "CONVENIA has been shown in an experimental in vitro system to result in an increase in free concentrations of carprofen, furosemide, doxycycline, and ketoconazole. Concurrent use of these or other drugs that have a high degree of protein-binding (e.g. NSAIDs, propofol, cardiac, anticonvulsant, and behavioral medications) may compete with cefovecin-binding and cause adverse reactions."

I stopped the Doxycycline Friday after she had her am pill. I am waiting to see tomorrow if she is improved at all. This morning she coughed up blood streaked slime.

Please respond to my inquiry as soon as possible. She now only takes chicken broth in a baby med dropper, no solid food at all because of apparent throat pain."

04/23/2012: Sandyb from Shamrock, Tx: "I want to amend the above post as my Corgi, Buffy did not have a reaction to the Doxycycline but last week was diagnosed with Dysautonomia, a horrid disease that strikes dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, and I read a Llama got the disease. There is no known cause, treatment is just to keep them comfortable and the mortality rate is 90% in dogs, 70% in cats. This disease attacks the neurons in the ganglia that controls the involuntary functions like eye dilation, blink function, respiratory, coronary, digestive functions. There is no cure at this time and our beloved companions either die of aspiration pneumonia or are euthanized due to poor quality of life. Our Buffy is no longer with us and we miss her terribly. This disease started in Europe in the 1900's and first canine was diagnosed in Missouri in the late 1980's. Missouri and Kansas are most hard hit with the disease but other states have reported it. Rural dogs close to pasture land and ponds are at risk vs city dwelling dogs. Research studies show some information that it could be due to pesticides and/or herbicides. I just wanted to correct the prior information I gave in my post so people will become aware of this disease that apparently increasing in number although still considered a rare disease. Thank you."

05/06/2012: Jeanir from Pittsburgh, Pa: "I know humans benefit from cayenne pepper when overdoses or accumulation of pesticides is the problem. I knew someone that was almost completely paralized and came back to normal, by using cayenne pepper everyday, he was a farmer. He still uses it everyday because he thinks it was his life saver."

04/01/2012: Rukmini from New Delhi, India: "My cat, Chaki, has been diagnosed with CRF. I have been reading about pet remedies on your site. There have been reccomendations for a particular brand of Aloe Vera, which is not available in India. Can I give her a tiny bit of fresh aloe vera pulp from the plant which I have in a pot? I can put it into her food and should camouflage nicely. If so how much of it should I give? Chaki is in CRF but not yet acute. Would be most grateful for some info on this. - Rukmini"

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Rukmini, try food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) for your cat. Companies in U.S. Sell it, but one website in particular has many impressive testimonials for both cats and dogs (and people), and they send it out internationally. It's inexpensive to buy, though shipping is not inexpensive. DE has clay in it, which is known to absorb and eliminate toxins from the body. Our dog had kidney failure from Lyme disease. She would lick and lick a particular spot of earth in the backyard. I now know she was trying to ingest clay, which I've since learned animals often do when they're unwell. Try mixing a tsp. of DE into her food. If she won't take it that way, dust it on her fur; she'll lick it off. Low protein food is standard protocol for kidney issues. Coconut oil is also said to be helpful for the kidneys and liver. Try mixing a tsp. of it also into her food. Again, if she refuses it, apply it to her fur; she'll lick it off. Aloe is good for digestive issues, though the fresh pulp can be bitter. Taste some yourself and see. It's worth a try for your cat, but at a separate time from the coconut oil and DE. We learned about coconut oil on Earth Clinic; since then have read more. I'm sure both DE and coconut oil will help your cat. Thank you, Earth Clinic."

04/22/2012: Aida from Kuala Lumpu, Malaysia: "My cat, boy aged 8 yrs has been diagnosed (high in amylase blood test) and also X-Ray shows abdnormal large liver. I have been reading about pet remedies on your website. Is there any particular brand of Aloe Vera, which is not available in Malaysia. Can I use my pot plant Aloe Vera for my cat? If so how much so I give it? At this moment my cat is under medication (liver, antibiotic and vomit pills), however my cat still vomit and he reluctant to consume liquid which we are trying to give it to him. His is having abdomen pain too. Would be very grateful for some advise and info on this. - Aida"

04/11/2010: Lissy from San Juan, Puerto Rico: "Hello,

I am new to this site and like reading home remedies for dogs. Recently my Shih-tzu was diagnosed with dry eye symptom on both eyes and ulcer in the right eye. She is 3 yrs old and the vet recommended an antibiotic cream, drops and a regular cream to treat her daily. I want to know if anyone has had this experience and can let me know if there is a natural home remedy that I can try instead of the expensive medications.

Thanks!"

[YEA]  07/14/2010: Liz from Tampa, Fl: "My dogs had dry eyes until I started feeding the highest quality brand foods such as ______. Since I cannot list the name, I will tell you it is made in Canada, which has many high quality pet food companies. You get what you pay for and the pet food industry is not regulated well enough. The main thing to help dry eye (in my opinion) is to make sure they are getting Omega 3 oils. Supplement w/ salmon occasionally: I give mine canned salmon 1- 2 times a week (w/ other supp. , ingredients, etc. ). I've yet to see healthier looking English Bulldogs!"

[YEA]  01/08/2011: Ssr from Tally, Fl: "Cod liver oil can be used in a dog's eye to lubricate when they don't make their own tears. I have a shih tzu also and ulcers are common which can require eye removal. Don't ignore the dryness. It's uncomfortable and can exacerbate the situation. The best remedy is Optimmune which requires a vet prescription but not only lubricates but also increases natural tear production. If you are opposed to pharacuticals, try 2 drops of cod liver oil in each eye twice a day."

02/06/2011: Mapleleaf65 from Vancouver Bc, British Columbia Canada: "Whether its an animals eyes that are dry or a humans , I have found that the best thing you can use is pure honey-A drop or a bit , just gently smear it on the sides of his eyes inside. Honey is antiseptic and helps to cool the optic nerves as well as moisten the area and opens up the tear ducts as well , thus lubriucating the eyes. We use it all the time for babies and humans , yes it will sting for a second or two but it does the trick-"

04/22/2012: Lidia from Dallas, Texas: "Vet ointment containing white petroleum and light mineral oil for dry eyes. My dog has yeast infections caused by food and mold allergies. She is now on holistics food, no grains. Plenty of organic raw vegetables, has improved tremendously. Her eyes were aways itchy and red, I kept the eye drops three times a day. Then I read an article about dry eyes, I ordered the ointment, three days later she had completed recovered. I wish I had known about the dry eyes then."

12/29/2011: Marie from Luton, England: "My girl irish staffordshire bull terrier dog gave birth to 7 puppy's in june this year. We have sold 2 of the puppies- one red girl and one dark brindle girl, 4 of the puppies have demodex manage diagnosed by my vet. They have had 2 lots of bathing in the liquide prescribed by my vet, one of 2 of the puppies are clear now but one of the puppies that was badly infected has become ill and he was vomiting anything that he did eat. My vet has seen him and we thought as he was not eating that he may have eaten something that he shouldn't have he has had an x-ray but the vet couldn't find anything. He gave him a course of antibiotics just in case. The puppy has picked up but he is still not eating much, he is drinking a bit now so he's not dehydrated. He is still very active and looking interested in everything that is going on but still not eating much. I have tried offing rise and plain paster but he refuses it, I have tried the vet tin food but he has refused that too, and now we're trying wag dry food with chicken and veg. He is eating a bit of it and now his poo has gone runny so I've been giving him some cooked chicken and he has eaten this but it has still not put his poo back to normal.

My question is could the demodex mange be causing some other illness? Also he is very thin and this upsets me to see this as he was the biggest puppy, now he looks so thin and you can see his rib cage. Is there anything I can give him to get him to put some weight on and put his poo back to normal? Please help me I can't afford the vet bill at this time as I don't work and I have ill health. thank you"

04/22/2012: Diana from Belleville, Il/usa: "To help the immune system, give some probiotics, like acidophilus. Antibiotics kill off the good bacteria with the bad ones. Antibiotics can cause diarrhea & constipation because the good bacteria aren't there to help the food digest. Probiotics help replace the good bacteria. Also oils in with food, vegetable oil, a little cod liver oil, extra vitamins. I hope your dog got better. Rub oil on skin to kill mites & relieve itching. Possibly make a paste of ground oatmeal for itching."

03/29/2012: Deanna from Millsboro, De Usa: "I have been treating bam bam for about a month now with the peroxide and borax treatment. He is doing great. I have cut back to only doing the treatments once a week now but he still gets flair ups (red bumps) when I do the treatments. It was great to finally see hair growing back. My question is how long do you do these treatments? How do you know the mites are gone. Thanks"

04/22/2012: Diana from Belleville, Il : "Have you tried rubbing oil on the skin, any vegetable oil. I had heard the oil coats the insect's skin & since they breathe through their skin, it suffocates them. I would also try things they can eat to build up the immune system. Garlic was mentioned, also sulfur, eggs contain sulfur, also MSM from the vitamin section, which is a sulfur compound. And the brewer's yeast helps for some B vites."

[YEA]  07/19/2008: Francine from Playa Del Rey, CA: "I wanted to share my experience with castor oil. One week ago I discovered a large lump on the throat of my dog, the size of a golf ball. Remembering I had found info about castor on your site, I quickly started aggressively applying it to the tumor. I personally have been brewing and drinking essiac tea for years. I keep the left over sludge and started putting that in my dogs food. Remarkably, the tumor is now gone. A little of a week has passed and after applying the castor oil almost 5 times a day. Thank you so much. On a side note, I have been using the oil on my face for beautiful skin, on my strained veins on my legs, which have been disppearing, and my mother in law's dog with tumors also as well as an enlarged liver, has been applying it to her dogs tumors and liver area, after a visit to the vet, the second tests showed the liver had shrunk to normal."

10/07/2008: marie from Woburn, MA: "When using castor oil on a dog for a non cancerous tumor, do I need to warm the castor oil, and if so, for how long?"

10/07/2009: Victoria from New Milford, Ct: "Valerie I saw that you used castor oil successfully on your dog's cyst and you also indicated that it had burst. I purchased castor oil for my Boxer's cyst, which has also burst, and noticed that the castor oil has a warning which states "do not use on open wound." So I am wondering if you used it on your dog when the wound was still open. My Boxer keeps licking the wound and so it never seems to have the chance to heal. I was hoping that the castor oil would heal it quickly, but don't want to use it if using it on the open wound is dangerous.

Thanks VG"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  11/16/2009: Dee from Metairie, La: "Did you get any response on the burst cyst and castor oil? I was putting castor oil on a large cyst / lump on the back of my dog's neck every day for about 2 weeks. All of a sudden it grew larger and got hard as a rock. It now has burst slightly. Any idea on what to do? What happened with your pet?"

[YEA]  11/29/2009: Dee from Metairie, La: "Update on my dog with cyst on neck that slightly burst after 2-3 weeks of castor oil. The original 3"lump turned into the size of my hand overnight. Slight opening of skin occured but no real expulsion of pus. Brought him to vet and excision of huge neck bulge resulted in massive pus/infection. Dog put on mega antibiotics, etc. Almost 2 weeks has passed and original lump is now gone too.... He has another checkup this week. Incision was kept open and cleaned 2-3 x daily to expell infection and cleaned with water under pressure and expelled as well. He was put on Clavamox, Zeniquin, Benadryl and Cimetidine. He weighs 112# Rhodesian Ridgeback. He is excellent and improved after 1-2 day of mega antibiotics.

I can only assume that the castor oil prompted the cyst to progress that had been lying under his skin for a long time.

Vet was puzzled that she thought he had been bitten by a snake. I assured her that he had NOT......no snakes in my yard. I repeatedly told her it probably was the castor oil........she doubted that is what caused the progress in the abcess."

EC: Thank you for the update, Dee!

04/11/2010: Brittney from Cebu, Philippines: "can you pls tell where to buy castor oil here in cebu city coz i realy need it??"

08/09/2010: Myst from Portland, Usa: "This is frustrating. A fluid filled cyst and a fatty solid tumor are not the same thing. A cyst is easily popped and drained with a knife or even a needle, but what about a fatty tumor?
Does the castor oil force a cyst to become so large it ruptures? Therefore would it be BAD for a fatty tumor that will never rupture but continue to stay a mass?"

09/04/2010: Lynn from Sacramento, Ca: "I'm confused also. I don't understand how the castor oil works on malignant tumors. My dog has 4 tumors in her mammary gland. Will the castor oil pack help with that? Thanks!"

08/15/2011: Mari from Poulsbo, Wa: "Has anyone found the castor oil treatment to be effective on mammary gland tumors?"

12/24/2011: Linda from Toronto, Ontario : "I was just reading on www.castoroilhome.com,

"Castor oil primarily contains ricinoleic acid, a fatty acid component that is notable for its many healing benefits for the human body. Ricinoleic acid possesses the ability to draw toxins and other poisonous components out of the tissues, thereby restoring the health of parts of your body that have been infected.

Castor oil, a natural plant oil extracted from the castor bean seed, is said to pull out tumors from the body, according to American psychic Edgar Cayce. It is often recommended for the treatment of tumors near the surface.

Aside from reducing or dissolving tumors, castor oil is also regarded as a natural remedy for other swellings in the skin. It can be massaged on bunions, moles, warts, calluses, and cysts. There are also reports that uterine fibroid tumors and ovarian cysts that are benign or non-cancerous may also be addressed by castor oil.

They also said, don't use it on cancerous growths as it may aggravate the condition."

04/14/2012: Edith from Ventura, California: "My nine year old poodle-mix has had what seems to be a fatty tumor that is a little larger than an eraser. When she was three years old, this was just a skin tag, but over the years it grew and it became mostly round and white.

After benefiting from so many of the remedies here on this site, I decided to try castor oil on the tumor to see if it would go away. Every night, for three weeks, I rubbed a bit of castor oil on the tumor and nothing seemed to be happening.

At exactly the third week, my dog started licking the tumor a lot for the first time and when I checked her, the tumor had split open and there seemed to be a bit of blood and pus. I panicked since I was afraid that she would get an infection (and with the bad economy, I have no money for either of us to go to a doctor at this point) so I put hydrogen peroxide on it to clean it and wrapped it in a bandage so that she couldn't lick on it.

I kept cleaning it regularly and keeping it wrapped, though the wrapping comes off easily and she starts licking it more.

The problem is that the tumor seems to not be healing. The open spot is there and it doesn't look right and I'm afraid to continue to put castor oil on it when it is like this, so I have been continuing to keep it clean with H2O2. I feel really bad that I put my girl through this when the tumor wasn't really bothering her to begin with.

Right now, the tumor is open on top and looks lumpy inside and there is a dark center (reminds me of the dark center that warts have).

I hope that this doesn't mean that this is a cancerous tumor. I just wanted to post this so that you will know what you might be getting into with the application of castor oil. It definitely does something."

04/21/2012: Edith from Ventura, California: "An update on Castor Oil and my 9 year-old poodle mix's abnormal growth:

Three weeks of nightly castor oil made the growth rupture.

I then treated it for two weeks alternately with hydrogen peroxide, alcohol and antibiotic ointment, and kept it covered to prevent licking.

After a month, the once large eraser-sized growth is now a flat, reddish, hardened and dry spot. I'm still not confident that this is a good thing since I would like for it to be completely gone. I think that I will let it rest for a week and then begin the castor oil treatment again.

Thanks for everyone's comments. They really help!"

09/05/2005: Ted from Bangkok, Thailand: "As to the tumor growth for dogs, there is a possibility as follows:

1. Alkalize your dog. Take a tablespoon of POTASSIUM citrate in his drinking water per liter of water. Add one tablespoon of potassium bicarbonate. Citrate and bicarbonate are necessary in 1:1 portions. Add a big pinch of sea salt.

2. Take about 1 teaspoon of a 5-10% fulvic acid solution to the 1 liter of water. Your dog will have some diarrhea on the first 1-2 days trying to expel the toxin, and he will be in much better shape.

3. ALWAYS ADD THE DECHLORINATOR they sell in petshops, used for the aquarium fish tanks. Add about 10 drops per liter. The chlorinated water is causing the dog's cancer.

4. Get castor oil (mix with some aloe vera oil to aid skin absorption) and apply thickly to the area of tumor. Apply this after taking a bath. Do this daily. Also apply castor oil around the neck areas of the dog. It will raise the dog's immune system. Once a month, you may apply some iodine in the tumor area also. It seems to help.

5. If your dog is old, which means over 10 years, old. Give the dog a cheap vitamin D2, at 20,000 I.U. every other day for about a week or a month as you see fit. It will raise his immunity. If you feed it for a month, don't be surprise, that the dog will develop large muscles.

6. Try mixing his food with some FRESH olive leaves. Fresh olive leaves are anti-tumor.

The three things the dog will benefit the most is the potassium bicarbonate, fulvic acid and castor oil. the others are supporting features of the tumor. If you want his skin condition to improve, get your dog to take bath using only sodium perborate. Do not dry. Add sodium perborate until it no longer dissolves. Please note, the DOG MAY eat the sodium perborate crystals. It has no effect on the dog, but it DOES GET RID of a lot of fleas. Sodium perborate and/or fulvic acid seems to improve my dog's hearing. A year ago my dog was stone deaf. Now his hearing is back! Yes bloodroot paste maybe good for the dog's tumor, but the ones I have used on top seems to work better, but as always, combining them together is better, I think. Yes iodine seems helpful with the dog's cancer."

02/17/2012: Nick from Pavillion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: "I decided to read more about tumours and found some pretty nifty information here at this castor oil page. After reading through tons of reviews, I've seen many people saying that the castor oil is extremely effecient in helping reducing and ultimately even completely removing the tumour. Is this true? I love my pet a lot but I don't know if I should spend hundreds of dollars on a doctor to get it removed. Others have said that they have used castor oil and saved a lot of money because of that.

Can someone with experience please advise me on this issue? If it is indeed recommended to use the castor oil, how should I apply it and how frequent should it be applied on the tumour? Thank you so much."

04/21/2012: Diane from Vancouver, Bc Canada: "Hi Ted, I have a 13 yo female Wheaton cross. She was doing mostly great but has had ongoing problems with ear infections. Last week an apparent abcess burst in her ear and the smell of the pus was unbelievable! I took her to the vet and he sedated her and flushed out the ear. She is now on clavamox, zeniquin and prednisone. I hate giving her all these drugs but know that if there is a major infection in there something has to be done. I am usually a believer in holistic cures but I felt frightened and the vet is now saying there could be a tumor inside her ear. The biggest problem is I can't see what is happening, and she is very lethargic now, probably due to the meds. What do you recommend I do as topical remedies are obviously not possible. Thanks for any help... Diane"

[YEA]  12/08/2009: Matoni from Buffalo, New York: "I recently started using minced fresh garlic on my 6 month old collie for fleas, heartworm. This was recommended by a friend whom is very knowledgeable on animal care. Just use very little (minced) from fresh garlic bulb, 5 times a week. You might want to use an eye drop of Black walnut from a health store to get rid of fleas with the garlic. Hope this helps."

01/20/2012: Doglover from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: "I would like to share my experience with you. My dog a Min Pin, female always had been a healthy dog without fleas ot ticks. We took her to a garden one day just to let her run around. When we returned she was her usual self, but the following day she started scratching. Whenever she does that, I always add a pinch of turmeric that I ground myself to her food. I did these for two consecutive days and on the third day, we found an onslought of dog ticks on the wall next to her bed. That's when we realised she had ticks from the garden. We then searched her for more and removed all the remaining ones.

I then searched through the internet for info after my daughter told me to give her garlic. I then cooked her food with 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of turmeric. I smashed the cooked garlic together with her food. The following day we found the remaining ticks coming out and some of them had NOT drunk her blood as we found out when we squashed them. Her stomach did bloat a little though, I think garlic does it, but she was fine after that.

Now two days in a week I add two cloves of garlic and a pinch of turmeric into her food. In addition to this , I also add organic virgin coconut oil(2 drops) to her food every alternate day. This keeps her hair glossy and she does not constipate. Never overdose on garlic. And you don't have to give it everyday! But please stay away from ONION. It is definitely dangerous for dogs! Don't give left overs that have been cooked with onion and garlic as you do not know the amount that has been added.

Oh yes! I forgot! Whenever you remove ticks, rub the bite area with turmeric. Get whole dried turmeric and ground them yourself. That way, you get pure turmeric. Hope this helps."

03/25/2012: Richard from Ontario, Canada: "In response to Tshona who wrote:

[DEATH REPORTED] 08/25/2011: Tshona from Scottsdale, Az replies: "Garlic IS deadly for dogs. My poor sheltie just died a few days ago from eating 3. 5 ounces of dried garlic he got into. He was totally healthy and fine before that. He was throwing up, became lathargic and with 8 hours was DEAD. I wish I would have know it is toxic to dogs, I would have taken him to the vet and they could have used charcoal on him, blood transfusion to replace the bursting blood cells and/or oxygen treatment. It causes a certain type of anemia and eventually kidney failure."

Tshona: Virtually anything can be toxic if the levels are high enough. Water is actually toxic to humans at 90g/kg body weight. (25 8oz. Glasses for a 150 lb. Person) 3.5 ounces of garlic powder is approximately equal to 30 teaspoons of garlic powder. One EIGHTH of a teaspoon of powder is equal to one clove. So your dog ate the equivalent of 240 cloves of garlic. That amount would likely be toxic to a human as well. Don't beat yourself up over this. With that amount of garlic, and by the time you saw symptoms, it's unlikely a vet could have saved him even if you'd taken him to one.

Garlic is safe. In the correct doses. All things in moderation."

04/17/2012: Holistichelen from St Petersburg, Florida: "re: garlic for dogs - I have been using garlic to eliminate fleas on my pups for about 30 years. I started with a brand of garlic - opened the capsules on the food. It was about 3 months and NO MORE FLEAS. I now use a great product that has no excipients in the garlic. My pups will eat the capsule like a snack. 1 am 1 pm and 1 in their food. The more a dog weighs, the more garlic needed. Wire Haired Terrier - about 25#s - 3-4 capsules daily until you know there are no more fleas. Reduce by 1 cap at a time until you find the right dose. I also believe that it helps with heartworms and the heart."

12/22/2011: Vicky from State College, Pa. Usa: "I have just learned that my 11 yr. old cat has a malignant tumor on her small intestine. I am heartbroken. Can anyone tell me how much liquid and also the powdered version of Essiac I should give her? I have read this is quite helpful for tumors.

Hope someone can help me. Vicky "

12/29/2011: Lindy from Mill Park, Victoria, Australia: "Hi Vicki, my Blue Burmese is 16 years old with a cancerous tumour in her mouth/jaw. I give her one essiac capsule (contents mixed into her food) in morning and one again at night feed. I am now also adding 2 teaspoons of colloidal silver water to her regular drinking water each time I fill the bowl. If you have trouble getting your cat to eat the food with the essiac in it, try mixing the essiac capsule contents into a little butter. My cat used to just lick this off the spoon. Now though she is having difficulty eating so I have to syringe feed her at the moment. Good luck with your kitty. Make sure you buy original Essiac - look at web site "all things healthy" they are a NZ distributor of the original essiac formula (which is copyrighted) and will despatch to all countries."

02/23/2012: Kenipela from Brantford, Ontario: "My cat didn't show cancer on his xrays or in his blood work but he has a big lump by his nose/mouth and his lip is swollen so much he gets food stuck up under it and his eye swells part closed some days, it comes and goes.... The vet said that she's pretty sure it's a tumor though it's not acting like a typical cancerous tumor... I can't afford to do the biopsy/test as it's close to about $600 or so for all that, & I can't afford cancer treatments. Did the tea help u at all?"

04/15/2012: Fiona from London, England Uk: "Hi Maria and All, My 18 year old cat has just recently been diagnosed with lymphoma. I had already ordered Essiac tea from _______ when I found the swelling by her throat.

It's early days yet but I'd like to tell you that I recently read in a book by Dr Cass Ingram (naturopathic style doctor) that sardines are a good (almost) complete food and great for the immune suppressed. It seems the only thing missing is Vitamin C. She loves sardines anyway and has taken Essiac on it's own and with the sardines which pleasantly surprised me.

I'm going to put vitamin C in the form of sodium ascorbate in her food (to bowel tolerance by starting with 100grams 3 times a day and when her stools become runny with any increase in dosage that'll be the sign to reduce it to where her stools remain firm). Another thing is to look at enzymes and probiotics to help their digestion so they get all the goodness from their food; flaxseed oil, a good vitamin supplement; barleygrass, spirulina, chlorella. I'm not saying all these are right for your cats but they are recommenede by various naturopathic vets. I give my cats a combined spirulina and astaxanthin supplement as well a combined digestive enzymes and probiotics powder mixed into their food. A drop of apple cider vinegar in their mineral water too. Please avoid tapwater at all costs.

I recommend a book by Martin Zucker called "The Veterinarian's Guide To Natural remedies For Cats" which is a collection of many veterinarians' approaches and advice on the whole gamut of feline health issues including the foundation of good health, nutrition.

Kelp (and other brown seaweeds as I understand) has anti-tumour properties. serrapeptase is worth investigating as it dissolves dead tissue; fulvic acid is something else worth researching due to it's enormous health properties.

Lots of love and care goes a long way to helping your pets feel better and a relaxed atmosphere so please do not stress yourselves, there is hope despite what the allopathic vets/doctors may say

I wish you and your beloved animals well and the best of health to you all,

kind regards, Fiona"

[YEA]  08/18/2007: Carol from Toronto, Canada: "My dog has been on the hormone pill Stilbesterol for years to control her urinary leakage that apparently is common after spaying a female. After working with a naturopathic vet, she put her on Plantago Homicord, a homeopathic remedy which naturally stops the leakage without side effects. Just a few drops daily, then reducing the amount to a maintenance dose. For example my dog now only needs a few drops 1x a week."

03/09/2008: Lynne from Gainesville, Georgia: "I just want to know about the article from Carol from Toronto, Canada who wrote about the homeopatic plantago homicord that cured her dog's incontinence. I cannot find the product anywhere I've looked and would really like to know where I can get it."

03/11/2008: Lisa from Carmel, NY: "Lynne had asked Carol where she got the Plantago Homicord. I just ordered some from zooscape.com. I am going to try it for my dog's incontinence and see how it goes. It certainly sounds promising."

10/16/2008: Norah from Ottawa, Ontario: "You can order from NutriChem Pharmacy in Ottawa. They ship worldside.
www.nutrichem.com or 613-820-4200"

12/07/2008: Carol from Toronto, ON: "The plantago homicord I use is from a company called Heel (heel.ca) ordered through my vet. Global Pets has something similar called LeaksNoMore but I have not tried that one personally. My vet's receptionist's dog stopped responding to the Plantago Homicord after many years of use and she tried the LeaksNoMore and said that worked wonders for her when the other one stopped being effective."

04/14/2012: Melinda In Mississippi from Tupelo, Ms: "Our 5 year old yorkie, Gigi, began having serious problems with incontinence after we had her spayed. She was on proin drops which helped (but did not cure) for a while. I changed her food (to EVO) which actually cured her for a couple of years. Now it is back with vengeance! We are in-and-out of the vet with her, and there are no underlying medical issues (urinary tract infection or crystals). She is again taking the proin drops, but it isn't helping. She has ruined our furniture, rugs, everywhere she lays. We put blankets down everywhere she typically lays and then we are washing, washing, washing blankets. We love her, but if we don't get some relief for her soon…. Well, I don't know what we will do. I have been reading about raw apple cider vinegar and Plantago Homicord. Can I use both of these together or should I only try one at a time? How much of the Plantago Homicord should I use? She weighs about 7 lbs. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!"

[YEA]  07/19/2008: Francine from Playa Del Rey, CA: "I wanted to share my experience with castor oil. One week ago I discovered a large lump on the throat of my dog, the size of a golf ball. Remembering I had found info about castor on your site, I quickly started aggressively applying it to the tumor. I personally have been brewing and drinking essiac tea for years. I keep the left over sludge and started putting that in my dogs food. Remarkably, the tumor is now gone. A little of a week has passed and after applying the castor oil almost 5 times a day. Thank you so much. On a side note, I have been using the oil on my face for beautiful skin, on my strained veins on my legs, which have been disppearing, and my mother in law's dog with tumors also as well as an enlarged liver, has been applying it to her dogs tumors and liver area, after a visit to the vet, the second tests showed the liver had shrunk to normal."

10/07/2008: marie from Woburn, MA: "When using castor oil on a dog for a non cancerous tumor, do I need to warm the castor oil, and if so, for how long?"

10/07/2009: Victoria from New Milford, Ct: "Valerie I saw that you used castor oil successfully on your dog's cyst and you also indicated that it had burst. I purchased castor oil for my Boxer's cyst, which has also burst, and noticed that the castor oil has a warning which states "do not use on open wound." So I am wondering if you used it on your dog when the wound was still open. My Boxer keeps licking the wound and so it never seems to have the chance to heal. I was hoping that the castor oil would heal it quickly, but don't want to use it if using it on the open wound is dangerous.

Thanks VG"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  11/16/2009: Dee from Metairie, La: "Did you get any response on the burst cyst and castor oil? I was putting castor oil on a large cyst / lump on the back of my dog's neck every day for about 2 weeks. All of a sudden it grew larger and got hard as a rock. It now has burst slightly. Any idea on what to do? What happened with your pet?"

[YEA]  11/29/2009: Dee from Metairie, La: "Update on my dog with cyst on neck that slightly burst after 2-3 weeks of castor oil. The original 3"lump turned into the size of my hand overnight. Slight opening of skin occured but no real expulsion of pus. Brought him to vet and excision of huge neck bulge resulted in massive pus/infection. Dog put on mega antibiotics, etc. Almost 2 weeks has passed and original lump is now gone too.... He has another checkup this week. Incision was kept open and cleaned 2-3 x daily to expell infection and cleaned with water under pressure and expelled as well. He was put on Clavamox, Zeniquin, Benadryl and Cimetidine. He weighs 112# Rhodesian Ridgeback. He is excellent and improved after 1-2 day of mega antibiotics.

I can only assume that the castor oil prompted the cyst to progress that had been lying under his skin for a long time.

Vet was puzzled that she thought he had been bitten by a snake. I assured her that he had NOT......no snakes in my yard. I repeatedly told her it probably was the castor oil........she doubted that is what caused the progress in the abcess."

EC: Thank you for the update, Dee!

04/11/2010: Brittney from Cebu, Philippines: "can you pls tell where to buy castor oil here in cebu city coz i realy need it??"

08/09/2010: Myst from Portland, Usa: "This is frustrating. A fluid filled cyst and a fatty solid tumor are not the same thing. A cyst is easily popped and drained with a knife or even a needle, but what about a fatty tumor?
Does the castor oil force a cyst to become so large it ruptures? Therefore would it be BAD for a fatty tumor that will never rupture but continue to stay a mass?"

09/04/2010: Lynn from Sacramento, Ca: "I'm confused also. I don't understand how the castor oil works on malignant tumors. My dog has 4 tumors in her mammary gland. Will the castor oil pack help with that? Thanks!"

08/15/2011: Mari from Poulsbo, Wa: "Has anyone found the castor oil treatment to be effective on mammary gland tumors?"

12/24/2011: Linda from Toronto, Ontario : "I was just reading on www.castoroilhome.com,

"Castor oil primarily contains ricinoleic acid, a fatty acid component that is notable for its many healing benefits for the human body. Ricinoleic acid possesses the ability to draw toxins and other poisonous components out of the tissues, thereby restoring the health of parts of your body that have been infected.

Castor oil, a natural plant oil extracted from the castor bean seed, is said to pull out tumors from the body, according to American psychic Edgar Cayce. It is often recommended for the treatment of tumors near the surface.

Aside from reducing or dissolving tumors, castor oil is also regarded as a natural remedy for other swellings in the skin. It can be massaged on bunions, moles, warts, calluses, and cysts. There are also reports that uterine fibroid tumors and ovarian cysts that are benign or non-cancerous may also be addressed by castor oil.

They also said, don't use it on cancerous growths as it may aggravate the condition."

04/14/2012: Edith from Ventura, California: "My nine year old poodle-mix has had what seems to be a fatty tumor that is a little larger than an eraser. When she was three years old, this was just a skin tag, but over the years it grew and it became mostly round and white.

After benefiting from so many of the remedies here on this site, I decided to try castor oil on the tumor to see if it would go away. Every night, for three weeks, I rubbed a bit of castor oil on the tumor and nothing seemed to be happening.

At exactly the third week, my dog started licking the tumor a lot for the first time and when I checked her, the tumor had split open and there seemed to be a bit of blood and pus. I panicked since I was afraid that she would get an infection (and with the bad economy, I have no money for either of us to go to a doctor at this point) so I put hydrogen peroxide on it to clean it and wrapped it in a bandage so that she couldn't lick on it.

I kept cleaning it regularly and keeping it wrapped, though the wrapping comes off easily and she starts licking it more.

The problem is that the tumor seems to not be healing. The open spot is there and it doesn't look right and I'm afraid to continue to put castor oil on it when it is like this, so I have been continuing to keep it clean with H2O2. I feel really bad that I put my girl through this when the tumor wasn't really bothering her to begin with.

Right now, the tumor is open on top and looks lumpy inside and there is a dark center (reminds me of the dark center that warts have).

I hope that this doesn't mean that this is a cancerous tumor. I just wanted to post this so that you will know what you might be getting into with the application of castor oil. It definitely does something."

04/21/2012: Edith from Ventura, California: "An update on Castor Oil and my 9 year-old poodle mix's abnormal growth:

Three weeks of nightly castor oil made the growth rupture.

I then treated it for two weeks alternately with hydrogen peroxide, alcohol and antibiotic ointment, and kept it covered to prevent licking.

After a month, the once large eraser-sized growth is now a flat, reddish, hardened and dry spot. I'm still not confident that this is a good thing since I would like for it to be completely gone. I think that I will let it rest for a week and then begin the castor oil treatment again.

Thanks for everyone's comments. They really help!"

[YEA]  08/10/2008: Deb from Dallas, TX: "Just writing a comment about my Chihuahua-Terrier dog, Julio. Heartworm meds are toxic to our animals. My beloved pet would have periodic seizures. When I stopped the heartworm medication, the seizures stopped. One Vet had him on them, another said why are you giving them to him? Does he have heartworms? He said he would not give them to him. I was grateful that it wasn't about $$$$, but about my pet. If an animal gets heartworms (most indoor door pets are not exposed to mesquito larvae,) which causes heartworms. A small amount of VCO in their diet will provide essential fatty acids, and is a natural cure for parasitic host. During hot summer months, I use 1/2 tsp. of Cloud Nine herbal dip in 16 ounces of water in a sprayer bottle to repel fleas, or mesquitos that would otherwise zoom in on my pet. You have to be diligent. Shake the bottle each time, and apply before taking your pet out.(be sure to apply to their undercoats, and paws too) A good brushing each day, and using the spray will help too. I hope this is a helpful tip for all pet lovers.
Thanks, and God Bless!
Deb"

03/29/2012: Tami from New Albany, Indiana: "I have a Bishon Frise who gets extremely sick after taking Interceptor, a heartworm medication. His vomit contains small blood clots and he will be sick for days. He also becomes itchy with hot spots. I stopped all heartworm meds in November of 2011 and all symptoms ceased. What is VCO? And how is it used? I will definitely use garlic, but how much and how often do I give the garlic? Are there directories to help me locate a Holistic vet?"

04/10/2012: Jr from Coloma, Mi: "I have been advised by the homeopathic person I am working with to never use heartworm meds. She has advised me to use pure co-Q-10 every day to protect my dogs heart. She works strictly with animals and said she has never had a dog come down with heartworm using this. Just thought I would pass that on. My dog is a Lab/Newfoundland mix and weighs 100 lbs. I give her one pill a day. I guess I can't give the name brand but perhaps if you google CoQ10 Food Complex you will find it."

11/04/2011: Alison from Ormond Beach, Fl: "Went to vet last week and the vet said my 9 yr old lab's spleen is enlarged. He was very sick this time last year. Specialists could not figure out what was wrong with him. They found his adrenal glands/lymphnodes to be enlarged indicating the body was fighting something, (reactive). Had bloodwork done and had him scoped from both ends, nothing. He was losing weight, not much of an apetite, drinking lots of water, salivating constantly, shortness of breath, bark was weakening, laying down a lot, was almost hard to wake him at times. Vet put him on Phenobarbitol to see if it was something with his brain (connection to salivary glands), that didn't work. Finally they put him on steriods because he was losing so much weight and antibiotics. I am not sure what helped him more, but his apetite and energy came back. They told me to keep him on the steroids but he was peeing all over the house so I stopped giving him the steroids and he remained strong.

A few months after, I was talking to my new neighbor and she was complaining about the moles destroying her yard and that she had applied 3 different products to try to kill them months ago. My dog and her dog are both grass eaters and she said at that time (when using mole killing products) that her dog got very sick and was staring at the wall a lot and not eating and she thought it was dying but couldn't take it to the vet, (no money). I didn't put two and two together until after the conversation since she said it happened in December and then backed it up to November and then started talking about something else, (my dog got sick in Oct, so if maybe she thought about it long enough she may have backed it up to October). My theory is that my dog ate the grass along the fence and was poisoned by the products she put down... Even though the vet and specialists said there was no evidence of poisoning, (something about that posion has a half life or something). I am not sure if poison takes on another form if it is absorbed by grass and then is eaten??

Now it's a year later and the vet says she can feel that his spleen is enlarged but does not feel any lumps. Two weeks ago I fertilized my lawn and watched as best I could to make sure he didn't eat the grass. I caught him a couple times and he is starting to lay down a little more than normal and then the vet gave him a rabies shot which made him more tired. He has bounced back a little but I would really like to try vitamin K but not sure how much to give him... He is 59 pounds. Can anyone tell me how much? Can I feed him spinach, he likes it raw."

04/09/2012: Marianne from Huntington Beach, Ca: "Can the type of dog food a dog eats cause an enlarged spleen? Our dog has an enlarged spleen, however all bloodwork, urinalysis and fecal came back normal. She had an ultrasound and it's not cancerous either. The only change since her last checkup was that we switched dog food brands for weight management. She shows no symptoms and acts normal."

[YEA]  09/11/2006: Jayme from Vancouver, WA: "My toy poodle had an "infection of the stomach lining" when she was three. The symptoms were:
Lethargy
Thirst
Vomiting (sometimes with little flecks of blood)

Now, she's ten and just had similar symptoms. Our vet didn't do much for her except tell me to "put her down." I didn't take their advice last time. This time, knowing what their "advice" would be, I decided to search what those symptoms would be called in a human. Peptic Ulcer was the result. For humans, the recommended dosage was 45 drops of each for the Cat's Claw extract and Bilberry extract as well as 2-3 Slippery Elm pills.

I did 1/3 of the dose for a human and it works like a charm. :) Advice I have for those of us who are pet guardians: Make a list of the symptoms, get an animal communicator (www.communicationswithlove.com was who I used) to talk to your animal, then search for a cure for humans rather than dogs."

08/08/2009: Ingrid from Geneva, Oh: "The vet thinks my dog may have an ulcer. She just finished up carafate. She was on that and Pepcid 1/2 tablet twice a day for 20 days. She did pretty well. But after about a day and a half off the carafate she's been gagging and burping, also threw up a bit of water or something. I've only been giving her boiled chicken and chicken/vegetable baby food. I'm starting her on the carafate again tonight. Are there any side effects to the cat's claw, bilberry or slippery elm? My dog is 14 years old and weighs about 11 pounds.Does it cure the problem or do you keep your pet on it indefinitely? Thanks for any help!"

10/09/2009: Crazydogjack from New Castle, Pa, USA: "I used aloe vera juice to cure my acid reflux and ulcer issues successfully so when my dog was having acid reflux issues I did a little research and found out it was safe for animals and I've been giving him 1 oz. twice a day. He is doing great now. I read that it should be 1 oz. per 10 lbs. body weight in animals. Make sure to buy the juice and not the topical type. I always make sure it is organic too. Best of luck!"

04/08/2012: J from Washington, D.c., District Of Columbia: "Is it okay to buy the aloe vera plant and give him the juice directly from the plant?"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  05/16/2010: Robyn from Hampton, Tn: "I bought a bottle of brewers yeast at walmart for flea control as I read somewhere it might help.

It made my german shepherd so sick and he got an ear infection right away. I had to take him to the vets to get meds. The vet would not give me oral antibiotics, but gave me ear drops. I wish I had bought fish antibiotics and looked up the dosage from revival animal health or drs foster and smith for him. He ended up biting me really badly because he didnt want the drops put in his ear and I ignored the threat display to get them in his ear and he attacked me...not that it was his fault..he is a wolf hybrid german shepherd and he has a large set of teeth.

Never use brewers yeast for flea control it doesnt work and it causes illness.

ON the contrary, I have a big steel pot I use for all my animals water and every time I fill it up I put a cap ful of apple cider vinegar in it, the best kind is the kind at the health food store but I just use the kind at the dollar store, and it starts working in about two weeks. They dont even notice it is there and it cuts the yeast out of their bodies and the fleas dont really like the taste of it and I also mop with it and I love it for all it does!"

[YEA]  12/13/2010: Blankie from Fajardo, Pr Usa: "For years I have used Brewer's Yeast until now and that is because it has been difficult to find it here in Puerto Rico. I used to buy it at Walmarts and Walgreens Pharmarcy but it has been discontinued. I have always used it for my dog and her hair is shiny, she is quite healthy. She is always outside and she loves to sleep on sand (major factor for fleas and ticks) and she has no fleas nor ticks. I have used it on all the dogs I have had. The ones that died were of all ages (15 yrs) but never due to anything they ate or that I gave them."

04/08/2012: Mikki from Youngsville, Nc Usa: "I wanted to add to this a little as well. Some dogs do have a high yeast count in their body's and giving them supplemental yeast could result in a yeast infection of the skin or ears. But as a general rule, brewers yeast is effective on flea prevention and is very safe for your dogs. If you are concerned that your dog might develop a yeast infection talk with your vet about assessing yeast levels on their skin before you begin."

"WARNING!!!
DO NOT CONFUSE BORAX WITH BORIC ACID!
DO NOT USE BORIC ACID IN PLACE OF BORAX!

Ted from Bangkok, Thailand writes, "The best cure for dog mange is to mix a 1% hydrogen peroxide solution with water and add borax. Dissolve thoroughly. Wash the dog with it once a week. Do NOT WASH THE solution left on the dog with ANY WATER. Do not wipe the dog dry. The solution will take effect on mange. The treatment period should not be longer than a month or two. The dog will probably not be resistant as the treatment is painless. This has worked well for me."

More Exact Measurements (excerpted from various emails on our Reader Question & Answer Section)

Ted replies, "A definitive recipe is add 1-2 tablespoon of borax per 500 cc of 1% hydrogen peroxide solution. To make a 3% hydrogen peroxide to 1%, roughly get one part of 3% H2O2 plus two parts of water. Then apply them on the dog. Wash with this solution daily, no rinsing. If it doesn't go away, I have found mites, or mange to have a large "beehive" hidden somewhere. In which case, quarantine the dog in a small area that is 100% sterile."

"Approximate measurements are 1 bottle of 500 of 3% H2O2, plus 1000 of the cc of water, plus heaping 3 tablespoons of borax. Stir until most of borax is dissolved. The borax is past the point of saturation here so you will see some borax around. Technically the concentration is around 1.5% H2O2, and this is a bit stronger because by the time we finish with it, the H2O2 gets reacted with other things, and by the time we used it is is usually ends up near a 1% solution anyway."

"You need to get put as much borax until it no longer dissolves in a pail of water and forms a precipitate. This is a saturated solution of borax. Add H2O2 to about 1% concentration to a pail of water. Soak the entire dog, several times. Keep the dog wet for some time. The borax will destroy the eggs from laying under the skin which causes the mange. Get some solution and spray or use this to wipe all floors so the dog will not get re infected. Repeat this every week when bathing. This is not a perfect cure, but it my dog now no longer have mange. My dog was completely cured. You can try other chemicals such as sodium perborate, which is more convenient since you don't need to add the hydrogen peroxide."

"The solution (borax or preferably sodium perborate) is to be applied AFTER the shampooing and rinsing. The sodium perborate should remain on the dog after the bath. You will not rinse this at all. It must remain on the dog throughout the day so that it will act continuously on the bugs."

"However, I do recommend a less toxic form of borax, which is sodium perborate if you can find one. The secret is that borax (plus hydrogen peroxide) will work better then most other remedies I have tried, this includes mineral oil, neem oil (no, neem oil does not kill the mange as effectively as sodium perborate) I have tried it. In my "mange colonies" and commercial brands to kill insects don't work. Hydrogen peroxide DOES NOT KILL mange, I USED IT SIMPLY USED IT AS A CATALYST for ordinary borax in case you cannot obtain sodium perborate. Mineral oils simply prevent oxygen from reaching mange, but that didn't stop it. I have tried naphta, bentonite clays, DMSO, potassium permanganate, light fluid, etc. They all worked temporarily, and it just came back. I must make a strong statement that the formula (borax+h2o2 or sodium perborate) works bests and it is broad spectrum. You can use it to control mange, mites, fleas, and lyme disease (initiated by those crawly insects). I have actually compared side to side with neem oil, mineral oil, apple cider vinegar and others here in Bangkok and this is the most wide spectrum cure I have found. Borax prevents denaturation of DNA/RNA in dogs and I currently use this as life extension for dogs. For example a ribose sugar, deoxyribose sugar, and various sugar that causes accelerated aging in dogs can be slowed down with supplementation of dogs indirectly when you do the borax wash. "

"Prepare peroxide 1% solution, add 2-3 tablespoon of borax to that cup. Stir and wait for a couple of minutes for the borax to dissolve. The formula doesn't require an exact science. The importance is to add enough borax until the solution is no longer soluble and well past saturation."

"...The reason why it is not working is YOU CANNOT RINSE THE DOG OF borax and peroxide solution with any shampoo or water. After bathing the dog, keep the dog that way, no drying no rinsing. This is why the dog has not improved. Also BORAX is added DIRECTLY to the 1% hydrogen peroxide solution and no water is added separately, otherwise the solution is too weak."

TED'S UPDATE
7/12/2006: "I have reviewed all the dog's mange treatments both by my own tests and by many contributors. It appears that many people have trouble obtaining materials, such as sodium perborate hydrate, so I revised the remedy to hydrogen peroxide plus borax solution applied only once or so every week. The solution of sodium perborate hydrate is very much similar when borax and hydrogen peroxide is added. Some have either substituted hydrogen peroxide with benzoyl peroxide.

The problem about benzoyl peroxide is the upper limit by which you can use it without effect the dog as it is somewhat more toxic if given beyond a 10% concentration. 5% is usually a safe concentration. Benzoyl peroxide because of its toxicity is somewhat of an insecticide, while hydrogen peroxide is not, what it is in the original formulation is that it is a penetrant allowing the borax to go through the skin. Now some did not like hydrogen peroxide due to its limited supplies, so they make use of apple cider vinegar. For me a regular vinegar will do. Both a vinegar and hydrogen peroxide has two similarities. It is both a penetrant and when added with a safe insecticidal material such as borax, which has an toxicity on LD 50 equivalent to that of salt, this is the preferred method. However, one should not use boric acid since there are reported deaths associated with boric acid but not borax.

Boric acid is not recommended for use as it is much more toxic than borax. Borax's toxicity is about 3000 mg/kg, which is the equivalent toxicity to about that of salt. (check wikipedia). The idea is to make a solution of borax so that the solution can cover the entire body and penetrate through the skin of the dog to kill the demodex mites, for example. To use a spot treatment by pure powder will take an infinitely long time as it does not get to it through the dog's skin.

In some cases, people have tried neem oil, mineral oil. Both of these have similar effectiveness, but in different ways. Neem oil prevents the Demodex fleas from laying eggs by modifying their hormones, while mineral oils are moderately toxic only to the demodex eggs, not necessarily killing them. However, both are very limited based on my tests in really killing the insect. You see borax will both kill the eggs, modifying the hormones and their eggs by drying them all at once. The weakness of borax is limited solubility and limited penetration of the skin which you need either vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, benzoyl peroxide (toxic), MSM or DMSO solution. Ideally 10% DMSO should be preferred.

Pine Sol has limited insecticidal effectiveness, being a contact insecticidal, and does not provide lasting killing power once it has evaporated and does not kill living fleas, but it does kill their eggs somewhat. Only a fairly concentrated solution works and it does not prevent re-laying of stray eggs by the dog. In other words, the use of neem oil, mineral oil, benzoyl peroxide, and vaseline will not prevent the recurring of mange since eggs are not just on the dog, but can be anywhere in the house. Therefore re-infection is at issue. The one magic that borax has over its neighbors is that the borax powder that the dogs leaves in the house will kill the eggs even after the dogs no longer has mange and re-infection is therefore next to impossible. However, borax has limited effect on killing the larger mites and fleas, but not mange.

I found that adding 1/8 teaspoon per liter of water of borax added to the dog's water will cause the larger fleas to dry up and die at the same time. My dog for some reason likes to eat something like more than 1 gram of the sodium perborate crystals whenever he feels sick and the fleas just die off. The borax modifies the dog's blood and kills the mange inside out. This is why borax, i.e., sodium perborate, is required for mange, but not anything else due to preventive re-infection of the mange by the powder of the borax that destroys the eggs where the dog sleeps and where it walks around throughout the house.

VASELINE: The problem about using vaseline as an insecticide is that it has limited killing of eggs, but its weakness is that it is not a penetrant, and therefore the frequency of applications will take at least once every other day. Additionally, the hair of the dog will prevent proper application.

Some have went so far as to not use a solution of borax with hydrogen peroxide as a rinse then followed likely, perhaps a borax powder after bath. On the argument of being effective only as a spot treatment. Since dogs do not have sweat glands, not using a rinse will prevent the borax from absorbing into the skin to kill the mange under its skin. So this is not going to work. You need both borax as an insecticide, the water as the solution which to spread it to the skin surface, and a reliable penetrant to get it through the skin, such as vinegar, msm, DMSO, or even hydrogen peroxide. A benzoyl peroxide is both a penetrant and insecticide, but at higher concentration is somewhat toxic for dogs and as a result you are pretty much limited by the maximum concentration not to exceed beyond 5% being a preferred safety. I would prefer to limit myself at 3%.

I therefore suggest, not to get you lost in the woods, is that whatever formulation you use, always stick with borax and borax derivatives, such as sodium perborate monohydrate being the main insecticidal chemicals for the dog.

Pyrethrum is o.k. but in very low concentration of about 0.1% - 0.2% to prevent skin irritation for the dogs near the skin infection areas. The second mix you need is always the penetrant and the third formulation is appropriate dilutions in water. To provide lasting killing effect, non of these chemicals should generally be non-volatile insecticidal mixtures, which unfortunately most recommended are, with exception of perhaps borax and bentonite. Bentonite causes eggs to dry, so they can be used also, but they have no insecticidal mixture as borax and borax can performs both killing the insect, modifying the hormones to prevent egg laying, becomes a stomach poison for the insect, and at the same time causes their eggs to dry up.

I therefore will remain very flexible about what penetrants you use including hydrogen peroxide, benzoyl peroxide (limited concentration), and vinegar. It must be noted that when formulating any mange it must be noted that they must be non-volatile and the chemicals should cause microscopic residues around the house so that re infection of mange is prevented, including mites and fleas.

I think this wraps up the basic theory and application of mange treatment, and hopefully other people will make a more effective formulations in the future at least equal or better than the original formula I have proposed. Just want to tell you that there are many ways you can treat mange, but the issue is one of toxicity, re infection, toxic levels, which portion kills it and how, and which is the penetrant which is the key to it all. Penetrant is important, the chemical must reach the target demodex under the skin. Usually hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, DMSO, and MSM will do that. It must be reminded again that borax, to work most effectively, is to prepare a solution without washing it off, followed by a small amount of borax powder to be applied if you wish. Any other application other than this such as using as purely powder form is NOT going to work.""

01/06/2012: Laurie from Charles Town, Wv: "Someone asked quite a long time ago whether the cider vinegar was to be used full strength or diluted (when substituting it for the peroxide), but there was never an answer to that question. Does anyone (including Ted) have an answer? I prefer to use cider vinegar rather than peroxide. Thanks in advance if anyone can help!"

03/17/2012: Linda from La Cruz De Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mx: "Ted, What would be the recipe using DMSO? I have Borax, H202, ACV, and some DMSO. Would using the DMSO be the most effective choice?"

04/07/2012: Sammi from Bixby, Oklahoma: "@Jen from Phoenix. Could you possibly send me some pics of your dog's Mange? We have a blue pitbull that started with a spot on her head that seems to itch & cause her pain. Over a few weeks a spot the size of a dime showed up on both her front & back leg. After taking her to the vet today I feel like we got no where. She did a skin scraping but saw nothing. She recommend using a neosporin/benadryl mixture & said it's probably allergies but could be mange. I'm just very worried about her & want to be sure we are getting her the best treatment we can. Thanks so much! My email address is sammibyrne [at}yahoo (dot) com."

04/03/2012: Typingnut from Clemmons, Nc: "My 14 year old dog fell off of the bed last night onto our wood floor. One of his teeth came out and he picked it up in his mouth. I was able to get it and throw it away. I gave him an over the counter low dose muscle relaxer and today he is of course, not feeling well and oozing some watery, yellow discharge. I broke up a penicillin 500 pill in half and then quartered it and gave it to him this morning. Do you have any other suggestions on what to do? His health has been failing and I know it is time to have him put down, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do for him right now. P. S. He won't eat or drink right now. I haven't tried a dropper yet, but I will soon if he doesn't drink anything. Thanks!!"

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Typingnut, If your dear dog goes much longer without drinking water, please add some food grade diatomaceous earth (DE), a tsp or two to a cup of water, perhaps with a little raw honey mixed in, and give with a syringe. The clay in the DE is healing, and pulls out toxins from the body. After the first couple of syringings, try adding a little raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) to the mix, perhaps 1/2-1 tsp. to a cup of water. Shake the bottle first. ACV provides minerals, as do DE and honey, and is antiseptic. You may find DE at a feed store, but make sure it is labeled Permaguard (if I may say that, Earth Clinic?), which is approved by the FDA as food grade. DE may be ordered online, and has quite a following of dedicated users both for people and pets. Alternatively, a local health food store may carry Bentonite clay, which requires more care to hydrate, as it clumps readily. Your dog will do fine fasting for days with water, DE or clay, and honey and ACV. It is natural for animals in the wild to fast when they are unwell. Please refrain indefinitely from putting him down. If it is his time to go, he will pass on peacefully at home, with God's Grace."

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Typingnut, A further note for your dear dog--After a few days, I suggest adding some gently melted, liquid unrefined virgin coconut oil to the warmish syringe solution with the food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). It is healing and strengthening, and is said to aid in absorption of calcium and magnesium."

04/06/2012: Laura from Newnan, Ga: "My beautiful male orange tabby has always had a very healthy and thick coat. He began licking all the fur off his tummy and now he has licked the area inside his legs excessively. In those areas he only has peach fuzz now. Any suggestions?"

04/07/2012: Gardener from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Laura from GA, Your cat will benefit from food grade diatomaceous earth (DE), added daily at least 1 tsp. To his food, increasing to 2 tsps. Or so a day. If he refuses to eat it, dust his fur with it daily; he will lick it off. This advice comes from the many pet testimonials on a certain website that sells DE. Pet owners say DE restores their pets' thick and lustrous coat (good for humans, as well), and stops abnormal behavior such as compulsive licking. You may find DE at a feed store, but make sure it is labeled Permaguard, which is approved by the FDA as food grade. Great for eliminating parasites also, inside and out. I also recommend adding unrefined virgin coconut oil, warmed gently to liquid, to your cat's food daily, about a tsp. To start with, increasing gradually to a Tbsp. Or so. Again, if he refuses the food, apply the oil to his fur so he'll lick it off. Coconut oil helps to expel fur balls, by the way. Also apply healing coconut oil to his raw skin; it's soothing, antibacterial and anti-fungal You might also try adding DE to coconut oil to make a salve and gently massage it onto the bare areas, as one cat owner did with good results, according to her testimonial on the aforementioned website for DE."

04/07/2012: Chickeedoomama from Oob, Me: "My 1 year old yellow lab recently had TPLO surgery to replace his knee. Does anybody have any suggestions on supplements to heal and speed up the recovery process?"

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Chickeedoomama from ME, Judging from all the testimonials on a certain website that sells the product, food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) will help your dog's knee heal faster after his surgery. DE contains silica, which strengthens bone and connective tissue. You may find DE at a feed store, but make sure it is labeled Permaguard, which is approved by the FDA as food grade. Otherwise it may be ordered inexpensively online. Just mix a tsp. Of DE into his food, increasing gradually to a Tbsp. I'd also give him unrefined virgin coconut oil in his food, which is said to aid absorption of calcium and magnesium. I'd start with a tsp. And increase gradually to a Tbsp. Or so. After his knee is healed you could cut back perhaps to one or 2 tsps. In his food. Warm it gently to liquid first. Unrefined coconut oil is said to protect from the harmful effects of heated (seed) oils in commercial pet food (and in ours).

You could also give him a kelp supplement or tablets at meal time. According to D. C. Jarvis, M. D. In his book Folk Medicine, researchers at Cornell Univ. Found that broken bones healed 20% faster when supplemented with kelp. They found that kelp raised the calcium level of blood.

Additionally, you could give him a comfrey supplement, or better yet, the homeopathic form of comfrey, known as Symphytum. The comfrey plant has been known for centuries as Knitbone, for its aid in healing of bones. Give away from food and store the container away from odors such as cooking or toiletry odors. Avoid excessive handling of the little pills before giving themto your dog."

04/03/2012: Typingnut from Clemmons, Nc: "My 14 year old dog fell off of the bed last night onto our wood floor. One of his teeth came out and he picked it up in his mouth. I was able to get it and throw it away. I gave him an over the counter low dose muscle relaxer and today he is of course, not feeling well and oozing some watery, yellow discharge. I broke up a penicillin 500 pill in half and then quartered it and gave it to him this morning. Do you have any other suggestions on what to do? His health has been failing and I know it is time to have him put down, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do for him right now. P. S. He won't eat or drink right now. I haven't tried a dropper yet, but I will soon if he doesn't drink anything. Thanks!!"

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Typingnut, If your dear dog goes much longer without drinking water, please add some food grade diatomaceous earth (DE), a tsp or two to a cup of water, perhaps with a little raw honey mixed in, and give with a syringe. The clay in the DE is healing, and pulls out toxins from the body. After the first couple of syringings, try adding a little raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) to the mix, perhaps 1/2-1 tsp. to a cup of water. Shake the bottle first. ACV provides minerals, as do DE and honey, and is antiseptic. You may find DE at a feed store, but make sure it is labeled Permaguard (if I may say that, Earth Clinic?), which is approved by the FDA as food grade. DE may be ordered online, and has quite a following of dedicated users both for people and pets. Alternatively, a local health food store may carry Bentonite clay, which requires more care to hydrate, as it clumps readily. Your dog will do fine fasting for days with water, DE or clay, and honey and ACV. It is natural for animals in the wild to fast when they are unwell. Please refrain indefinitely from putting him down. If it is his time to go, he will pass on peacefully at home, with God's Grace."

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Typingnut, A further note for your dear dog--After a few days, I suggest adding some gently melted, liquid unrefined virgin coconut oil to the warmish syringe solution with the food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). It is healing and strengthening, and is said to aid in absorption of calcium and magnesium."

04/03/2012: Rala from Mississauga, Ontario: "Good morning, I would really appreciate if someone could help with me with their feedback, as 10 days ago I sent to EC my concern and have not yet heard back from anyone. I am not sure whether your answer would be directly to my email address or somewhere on EC website.

My message was regarding my 4 cats : 14 years female, my 3 male cats 12 and the 2 others 10 years old. My cats have been losing a lot of weight, This loss of weight may mean that they have worms (although I don't see them and if this is the case what type of worms are they, that can't be seen ?). The worms might be in their blood. I know some natural cures can be an answer. I have read so much on EC, however, which of all those can be the cure and no side effect in case the cause of the weight loss is not the worms. Would you recommend : Garlic or tobacco or chewing tobacco or cayenne pepper or clay powder or pumpkin seeds or diatomaceus earth or 100%apple cider vinegar. Or ginger ??? please help. My email is bousseima(at)hotmail.com. Many thanks - Rala"

04/07/2012: Judy from A Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Rala from Mississauga, Please try food grade diatomaceous earth (DE), 1 tsp. Mixed into each of your cats' food. If they refuse to eat it, dust it onto their fur so they will lick it off. DE is the best anti-parasite remedy, judging by the many testimonials on a particuar website in the U.S. DE does contain some clay. Besides eliminating all kinds of worms and other parasites, inner and outer, DE will most likely eliminate whatever other health issues your cats might have."

[SIDE EFFECTS]  04/01/2012: Abhishek from Kolkata, West Bengal, India: "Good day, My 3 month old Dalmatian had a severe reaction to the rabies vaccine he received yesterday. Within 20 minutes of receiving the vacc, namely Rabvac1 Fort Dodge, his face, gums and eyes became heavily swollen such that he was even having difficulty keeping his eyes open, and his mouth was continuously itching. He also vomitted. Immediately we took him back to our vet, and he confirmed it was a vaccine reaction and administered 3 more injections, out of the three one was Avil, and i'm not sure about the other two injections he gave. After about 30 - 40 minutes of receiving the antiallergic treatments his condition started getting better. We brought him home, and after about an hour more again the symptom started appearing... I called the vet and he asked me to switch off our airconditioner and keep him warm. Surprisingly true as he was, on increasing the room temperature he started getting better, and by the next 3 - 4 hours he was eating, and playing as well. The slight swell was still there on his muzzle and slight signs of eye bags visible. My vet has prescribed BETNESOL (Betamethasone Sodium phosphate) oral drops 10 drops twice a day for 3 days, I gave the first 10 drops at night and then again in the morning. From today morning his face was absolutely normal, though his activities are slightly sluggish, he's sleeping a lot more than usual and drinking a lot of water on his own which is unusual (we usually make his meals water rich to feed him more water, he never drinks on his own). I have a feeling his throat is itching and some slight irritation may still be remaining on his face though apparently is normal. And within one day I can feel he has lost some weight.

Kindly let me know if there is anything more to worry about regarding his condition, is there any chance that the reaction might reoccur, will his health be okay or will worsen. Is his sluggishness and the feeling of weightloss just temporary due to his adjusting to the vaccine or is it something to be concerned about.

Will highly appreciate your guidance

Best regards, Abhishek"

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Abhishek from Kolkata, W. Bengal, please try food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) for your puppy. It has some clay in it, which is known to pull out toxins from the body. It will help to eliminate the toxic effects of the vaccine. Just mix a tsp. Of the powder into his food. If you continue to give it to your pup, a wonderful benefit is that DE will keep him worm free. Companies in the U S. sell it; it's inexpensive, though mailing will compound the cost. One website in particular has impressive testimonials for pets, as well as for people. It's important to buy only DE that is low in crystalline silica and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be food grade."

04/01/2012: Rukmini from New Delhi, India: "My cat, Chaki, has been diagnosed with CRF. I have been reading about pet remedies on your site. There have been reccomendations for a particular brand of Aloe Vera, which is not available in India. Can I give her a tiny bit of fresh aloe vera pulp from the plant which I have in a pot? I can put it into her food and should camouflage nicely. If so how much of it should I give? Chaki is in CRF but not yet acute. Would be most grateful for some info on this. - Rukmini"

04/07/2012: Judy from Small Town, Nh, Usa: "Dear Rukmini, try food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) for your cat. Companies in U.S. Sell it, but one website in particular has many impressive testimonials for both cats and dogs (and people), and they send it out internationally. It's inexpensive to buy, though shipping is not inexpensive. DE has clay in it, which is known to absorb and eliminate toxins from the body. Our dog had kidney failure from Lyme disease. She would lick and lick a particular spot of earth in the backyard. I now know she was trying to ingest clay, which I've since learned animals often do when they're unwell. Try mixing a tsp. of DE into her food. If she won't take it that way, dust it on her fur; she'll lick it off. Low protein food is standard protocol for kidney issues. Coconut oil is also said to be helpful for the kidneys and liver. Try mixing a tsp. of it also into her food. Again, if she refuses it, apply it to her fur; she'll lick it off. Aloe is good for digestive issues, though the fresh pulp can be bitter. Taste some yourself and see. It's worth a try for your cat, but at a separate time from the coconut oil and DE. We learned about coconut oil on Earth Clinic; since then have read more. I'm sure both DE and coconut oil will help your cat. Thank you, Earth Clinic."

04/22/2012: Aida from Kuala Lumpu, Malaysia: "My cat, boy aged 8 yrs has been diagnosed (high in amylase blood test) and also X-Ray shows abdnormal large liver. I have been reading about pet remedies on your website. Is there any particular brand of Aloe Vera, which is not available in Malaysia. Can I use my pot plant Aloe Vera for my cat? If so how much so I give it? At this moment my cat is under medication (liver, antibiotic and vomit pills), however my cat still vomit and he reluctant to consume liquid which we are trying to give it to him. His is having abdomen pain too. Would be very grateful for some advise and info on this. - Aida"

[QUESTION]  05/24/2009: bb122467 from Orpington Kent, United Kingdom: "I have a 4 year old maltese who has a liver problem. I am searching for a remedy that could help him improve his liver condition. I've read from your site about ACV. Has anyone tried ACV to cure liver problem in dogs. Please help me my maltese means so much to me."

04/06/2012: Sumana from Moscow, Russia: "I have yorkshire terrier which is suffering from bad liver condition he also vomit sometimes which contain little amount of blood but not often, but he is very active. Now according to doctor, recommends I am giving him royal canine hepatic food. But he don't like it. So I want to know, is there any other homemade which I can give him and if there is any medicine yes which can protect his liver?"

03/20/2012: Jenn from Los Angeles, Ca: "So I'm pretty sure I've tried EVERYTHING I could possibly try to help with my German Shepherd's diarrhea. I don't know if she will just have chronic diarrhea for the rest of her life, or if she is having problems with something around her. My dog has always been pretty mellow (she is almost 8 now) but loves to run around outside. From the vet's recommendation, I have been feeding her low residue prescription dry food ($$$) with some boiled chicken on top. I mix in a boiled egg from time to time. I have also been giving her some dog vitamins for the lack of nutrients when she eats the low residue food. She is allergic to glucosamine and has a very sensitive stomach. I do not feed her any people food except the chicken and egg.

I have taken her to the vet. He has ran blood tests and taken stool samples and I get the same answer each time. Just give her Flagyl. This helped for a little while and then when she was done with the prescription her stool would be fine.

She has been on the low residue food for a long time and I wonder if that may be one of the problems. Up until last week, everything was fine. She'd eat twice a day and finish everything. Now she won't touch the dry food, she will not even GLANCE at the chicken even when I wave it right under her nose. She is avoiding the white rice. Right now, all I can get her to eat is some boiled egg and turkey.

What can I do? The only options I can think of is to take her to a different vet or feed her turkey forever. I would like to try more of the options I've found on earthclinic but I would like to know if there is a more severe problem that I should address."

03/29/2012: Rachael from Baccaro, Nova Scotia: "I have experience with this topic.

For starters - get your vet to do a full allergy panel on your dog - that means proteins, plants, trees, allergens such as mold, etc. Also run testing for phosphate, calcium, protein, etc. You should know them and get a copy of the reports from the lab. Keep them in a folder so that when you get followup bloodwork done, you know the old levels and the diet change will make on the next testing.

My dog is allergic to poultry and beef, grasses, alfalfa and others. The poultry and beef gave him the runs/IBD until I realized there was a problem. Bagged and canned dog food contain bi-products - those bi-products are not regulated by the government and can contain tumors and any other rejected meat or internal organs that are not safe for human consumption (I learned this through a vet when he visited several processing factories for pet foods). No wonder our beloved pets have so many illnesses.

Corn, Soy products, glutein (wheat products), even rice can be an allergen.

One thing that helped clear him up a bit was organic carrots - fed as a treat - no more store purchased treats.

Once you get the allergy report back - if he is not allergic to dairy products or rice - you can give the following (this helped my dog tremendously):

1 cup brown rice with 2/3 cup cottage cheese. I fed this to him three times a day by fork because he didn't want to really eat by himself and didn't mind the extra attention I was giving him - the benefit was any pills such as vitamin supplements were neatly hidden in a scoupful of food.

My dog has thyroid issues and his calcium was elevated, so I cut the cottage cheese back.

Another thing you can do is get free range organic eggs. 1 egg contains approximately 1. 5 oz of protein - that's what I read and anyone can correct me here. I cook 1 egg in oatmeal so that he gets a full cup of food. I have added some supplements to this - including switching coconut and olive oil. I also give him a B vitamin, C to help absorb the B's (I make a capsule up with Ascorbic Acid - pure vitamin C).

For snacks until dinner time I give him a 1/2 a small organic green bell pepper, a hardboiled egg and a carrot when he wants one.

Dinner - I boil spagetti squash and give him a small amount, also green beans and zuccini, sometimes I add peas, asparagus and a small amount of other vegetables but he prefers the brown rice with his protein. I typically give him 2 to 3 oz of Haddock at night - sometimes with a bit of the fish juice (I boil the fish).

If your dog has high phospate levels and you are home cooking - make sure to throw out the veggie juice from the pan - even though it contains the vitamin nutrients, it also will contain the phosphate). Another phosphate reducer for white potatoes is to slice into 1/8th inch pieces, soak in water for 1/2 hour, boil 10 min. rinse and boil again for 5 - this will reduce the phospate almost into 1/4th.

I am writing the above so that you have a broad range of help. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or want to know anything else I do - grout_r(at)msn.com"

06/04/2007: Evans : "Thank you so very much for taking the time out from your very busy schedule to answer my letter. I want to thank you for all the advice on the Hypothroidism but I have a question for you to answer whenever possible. Can I give Charlie the humic acid, sea salt, iodine and magnesium even though the dog is taking soloxine for the Hypothyroidism? I want to take this time to give you on update on your Miracle Cure. Today I gave Charlie his third consecutive bath of peroxide and borax I almost cried. You, Ted, of course know that when a dog has demodectic mange when you touch his back for whatever reason the dog begins to scratch automatically with his hind leg and his skin wiggles constantly on touch. Today I was pouring the mixture on him and I was rubbing it in with my hand the dog didn't make any of the movements I just explained. I am so very grateful to you this is just the third bath. This poor dog has cataracts, on his eyes, one has peripheral vision the other is a little better, one of his ears because of the scratching and itching got swollen like a balloon the vet wanted to operate I said no, so he drained the liquid and now the doggie has a shriveled right ear but I don't care as long as he didn't have to go through the surgery which the vet gave me no guarantee that the ear would be well again. Next time I write to you I will send you a picture of my doggies. Specially Charlie who is so very grateful to you, he thanks God for you. I mentioned that I tried the borax and peroxide solution on Milús lump on his lip, I think it has shrunk a bit, I sponged it again today and I cleaned their ears with this solution because sometimes they get this brown stuff inside the ears. Thank you again for your valuable time and information."

01/02/2011: Frank from Plfd, Nj/usa: "Iodine for Hypothyroidism? I have my Akita/malmute mix on Soloxine, for the hair and fur thats thinning and hot spots. (rat tail) I also added in 2mg of Melatonin, as per my vet- Now, after 3 months of this junk, hes been on antibiotics for the last 2 months, which seems to be easing the hotspots, that I have also been spraying with acv/water @50% each. He also has an area of maybe 4x6 inches, where the hair completely denuded, and is light pink. This seems different in color and more dramatic than the hot spots. But rarely itches or seems uncomfortable. I believe that he will have to live on the antibiotic and the other junk.

Does anyone Know the correct dosage of Iodine, for a 90 lb, 9 year old dog. ( or an alternative for treating hypothyroidism/skin issues). Except for the recent addition of Proin, for slight "leaks", he is in great shape. Also just switched to a lamb protein based dogfood. Can you give Iodine w/soloxine? He already gets ACV, as do I every day. (1-2 caps). Any help would be wonderful. Many thanks for the best site on the internet, and the most "giving" bunch of folks, especially Ted. Happy new year to all,
Frank"

05/14/2011: Debbie from Montgomery, Il, United States: "Hello, I have a 55 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback mix whom I just adore, he had a thyroid profile done last week and the results should be back(sent to MSU) in a few days. I don't want to use any synthetic hormones as I know once you do there is no going off them. From what I have read the meds that are usually prescribed are filtered through the liver. My dog Sam has issues with his liver not being able to filter toxins and has had mulitiple seizures. He get acupuncture and prescribtion herbs to control the seizures and has been seizure free for almost 2 years (July).

I stumbled across this website when researching cysts (he has those now and I found a natural remedy to try for that). I read about iodine, mag., sea salt, and humic acid, Vit A as options. Sam gets Kelp which contains Iodine, and he gets mag daily and has been on these for a few years now. Sam is fed high quality dog food (dry with some canned to hide herb taste) and he gets a mulitude of supplements daily and he is an active 9 1/2 year old dog. He is not overweight like many dogs with hypothyroidism. Again he is not been dx yet, but he has two thin fur spots and started being dog aggressive. I will be surprised if his thyroid isn't off. I was wondering what is the recommended amt of each of these supplements and where do you get humic acid? (what is it?). Thank you from Debbie and her dog Sam"

[YEA]  08/17/2011: Charlie from US: "My 9 year old golden retriever developed 2 bald spots on his back in places where he couldn't scratch (he did not seem itchy), the skin had turned black in those spots and he also had thining fur in a T shape on his back towards the tail. I looked it up and they seemed to be symptoms of hypothyroidism. Before taking him to the vet I tried Ted's suggestions, added kelp powder, lugol's solution, vitamin C, vitamin A, humic acid, plus thyroid granule, L-tyrosine, astragarus, selenium and coconut oil to his food. In 2 months his fur grew back, the T shaped thinning spot disappeared and the black color from the bald spots lightened everyday. I am hypothyroid as well and am on synthroid for life and I did not want that for my dog.

I got my humic acid from bioag.com pet section. Thank you Ted, you are awesome."

03/29/2012: Rachael from Baccaro, Nova Scotia: "I have to share some troubling information on thyroid drugs for pets.

My beloved husky has been on the Lthyroxin drug for years. At times the medicine was reduced because he became weak on it - it was having a reverse reaction, then increased because he needed it.

Recently he has developed incontinence and anemia. I took him off the drug for a week and things cleared up, although I know his thyroid was low. Once I gave him the drug again, within 30 min his gums went greish white, his eyes drooped and he appeared low on energy, he also started being incontinent almost immediately.

I have been giving him a very small amount of sea kelp and something from Pet Alive called Thyyro Pet - but I don't believe the levels I am giving are correct. I have just started this for the obvious alergic reaction to the drug. So I know I need to give things a bit of time. I tried him last night on L-tyrosine at the appropriate dose and again this am but it does not have a good effect on him, he seems lethargic.

Yesterday morning we took him to the vets to have a full blood panel done - this includes vitamin levels - B12 for Folic Acid Anemia, glucose levels, phosphate and a ton of other levels to see what is going on.

I have had to cook for him naturally now for many years. When he started on the drug I had tried all sorts of dog foods - read up on the crap especially the preservatives and animal biproducts and realized I needed to cook for him. I have tried to keep it as balanced as possible but the poor guy is allergic to several things that make it a challenge. For one, he can't eat beef or any type of poultry, we tried him on other meats but the only thing that works is Haddock and eggs. I have hens now so that I can make sure they don't eat things he is allergic to (thus passing down allergens through food). He has several other types of allergies which if I listed would make too much of a story here.

I need to share with your readers that it is critical to get an allergy panel done on their pets - food allergies cause skin, ear and other health issues. It's also critical to know blood levels for so many different things - liver, kidney, calcium, protein, I could go on.

I am having to ad vitamins and have researched a tremendous amount on nutrition. In my research I found that certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies can lead to if not cause hypothryoid - those are Zinc, Folic Acid (also deficiency causes folic acid anemia) and Selenium. There are others of course and I am not a professional, but the first two were very alarming - since I had to keep my boy off red meats and other known allergens, he may not have been getting the proper nutrition needed.

I am constantly trying to find solutions to a perfect balanced diet, the trouble is, there's too much information out there which conflicts. After taking information from several areas I have to draw my own conclusions on what might help.

The vets were a joke and I took him to several. One didn't believe dogs were allergic to anything, another tried to sell me on their canned and bagged foods, even though I specifically said he has known allergies to them, another tried to prescrible his thyroid drug - ten times his dosage - I think he wanted my boy to get very sick so that he could make more money - sick bastard.

I have had to go this alone. Basically requesting a vet draw blood and asking for the tests I think he needs, I am planning on checking anything that is elevated through additional tests once I can control whatever the issue is with diet and nutritional supplements.

If you can offer any help on something that will help his thyroid, please write back to me asap. thanks in advance."

[YEA]  08/10/2008: Deb from Dallas, TX: "Just writing a comment about my Chihuahua-Terrier dog, Julio. Heartworm meds are toxic to our animals. My beloved pet would have periodic seizures. When I stopped the heartworm medication, the seizures stopped. One Vet had him on them, another said why are you giving them to him? Does he have heartworms? He said he would not give them to him. I was grateful that it wasn't about $$$$, but about my pet. If an animal gets heartworms (most indoor door pets are not exposed to mesquito larvae,) which causes heartworms. A small amount of VCO in their diet will provide essential fatty acids, and is a natural cure for parasitic host. During hot summer months, I use 1/2 tsp. of Cloud Nine herbal dip in 16 ounces of water in a sprayer bottle to repel fleas, or mesquitos that would otherwise zoom in on my pet. You have to be diligent. Shake the bottle each time, and apply before taking your pet out.(be sure to apply to their undercoats, and paws too) A good brushing each day, and using the spray will help too. I hope this is a helpful tip for all pet lovers.
Thanks, and God Bless!
Deb"

03/29/2012: Tami from New Albany, Indiana: "I have a Bishon Frise who gets extremely sick after taking Interceptor, a heartworm medication. His vomit contains small blood clots and he will be sick for days. He also becomes itchy with hot spots. I stopped all heartworm meds in November of 2011 and all symptoms ceased. What is VCO? And how is it used? I will definitely use garlic, but how much and how often do I give the garlic? Are there directories to help me locate a Holistic vet?"

04/10/2012: Jr from Coloma, Mi: "I have been advised by the homeopathic person I am working with to never use heartworm meds. She has advised me to use pure co-Q-10 every day to protect my dogs heart. She works strictly with animals and said she has never had a dog come down with heartworm using this. Just thought I would pass that on. My dog is a Lab/Newfoundland mix and weighs 100 lbs. I give her one pill a day. I guess I can't give the name brand but perhaps if you google CoQ10 Food Complex you will find it."

[YEA]  01/31/2007: Vince F : "I haven't had a lot of luck with vets, so I try home remedies when I can think of or find them. I think cayenne Might work on worms also. I think Hooks attach, and might not consume it, but it just might make the environment inhospitable. Could try it in food, but better may be in a capsule, so it released in the intestines. I have empty capsules from things I wanted to try working in my stomach, so you could empty one of things you have in capsules, to try it. I'd try it with and without salt. Don't know if salt would make a difference.

Another thing to try is garlic. I had an aquatic turtle that had a tape worm. I think I might have given it to it, by feeding it a fly I killed. They used to sell dried flies as turtle food, and I Thought I'd give it Fresh Food. (( A few days later I see a white tape coming out of it's butt. I didn't want to get near the tank, for fear I might get some water on me, and didn't know if the eggs would be floating. Called a chemist friend who had lots of pets and Asked him if he knew a remedy. Ones in pet store were for mammals, and one cap was for 2 lbs of animal, and the turtle probably weighed a few oz. He kept land tortoises, but had no idea what to try. I pestered him and he remembered that his barber told him his mom used to give them garlic to prevent worms. Had to figure how to get garlic into an aquatic turtle, and put some garlic powder wrapper in a small piece of thin, minute steak, and offered it on a tiny spatula. It ate it and the next day the tape was gone. From my experiences, I like to mix as little as possible with something I am giving, in case it gets mixed in and not as effective. When I needed to take Loads of salt to function in the heat, no matter how much I put on food, it didn't do what taking it straight with water did, so I say, keep it simple if you can when trying something. Garlic inside a capsule would be the simplest if they won't eat it, and don't give an awful lot, since it can thin the blood. "

02/07/2009: Shayanna Stene from Prince George, British Columbia/ Canada: "I found out on another website that Garlic can be poisonous to many types of animals like cats for example"

EC: There is a great article about this subject on our Garlic for Dogs page: http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/garlic_for_dogs.html#ARTICLE

01/20/2012: James from Lagrange, Ga: "The day I found out my dogs had tapeworms I took them straight to the Vet. He gave them a dose of the chemical meds that is made to kill tapeworms, then said to bring them back in in two weeks for another dose. So in two weeks they got the follow up dose as directed. The vet told me that the first dose would kill the adult worms, and the follow up was to take care of the newly hatched eggs.

But the meds didn't work the vet had instructed me to bring a stool sample upon each visit so he could be sure. He took one look at the sample which was loaded with little tapeworm segments that were still moving alive and well. He said the chemical meds he gave them should have killed them and there wouldn't be any visible segments by the second appointment. He then gave them a higher dose of a different kind of chemical med, and instructed me to come back again in two weeks with another stool sample. We returned to the vet with the same results as last time. The vet said these days the worms are becoming immune to the chemical dewormers, and the meds he used are the only two kinds available that will kill tapeworms in dogs.

He then said the only other option was to try natural remedies because giving them an even higher dose of the chemicals would be unsafe and with no guarantee for success. I believe the vet I use is one of the best because he cares more about the animals welfare than the money. He proved this to me by saying (besides being safer for them a natural cure won't cost you out the ass like these drugs are doing.)

So like everyone should do before trying any new or old cure I did lots of research on different things that were said to kill parasites in dogs and in humans as well. Not that I have tapeworms I just thought it would be better to find something that someone used on a person with no ill effect cause some people will feed anything to a dog and say it is safe. Things like Gunpowder I read that article and thought OMG!!! THAT POOR DOG!!! .... Gunpowder burns the lining of the stomach and intestines leaving them scared and the dog will always be in pain for the rest of his now shortened life.

I came across diatomaceous earth on the wolf creek ranch website. Here is a word from the wise never fully trust the info given on any product if the main place giving the info is also selling the product. I fell for it and bought a 20lb bag of the stuff. The bag I bought also had calcium bentonite clay in it. Which is also said to rid the body of parasites. The site said to give dogs under 100lbs 1/4 teaspoons per dog per day and if no results were shown in ten days to double the dose. Now bare in mind I was taking the stuff myself to see if I had any bad side effects and upping the dose for myself before each time I gave my dogs extra. (yes I love my babies that much) 65 days later we were taking a cup a day yes that is one cup for each dog and one cup for me, and their worms had done nothing but gotten worse. They went from having 5 or 6 tapeworm segments in their morning poop to having 30 to 40 in every poop, I stopped giving them the DE seeing how it is nothing more then a scam for the most part. Yet on the other hand it is a good source of minerals. But it will not kill internal parasites even an idiot could see if I was giving a 60lb dog a full cup which is 192 times the recommended dose with no results there is no hope for the product. And also I would never put this on any animals skin because it will dry and irritate on contact believe me I got it on my hands and arms everyday while preparing their food. By this time their coats were very dull and there skin was flaky. The worms were draining the life out of them.

I had already called around to other Vets in town to see if they had any other chemical meds that my vet didn't carry but they all sell the same thing. This was it for me I had enough so I came up with my own plan of action to me by this time it was WAR!! . And I had lost a lot of ground but I refused to lose the fight. I had some capsules of ginger on hand that I was taking for myself. I counted out 40 of them and took them apart, I then stuffed them with as much fresh ground cayenne pepper as would fit. Then I went to the supermarket and bought the biggest clove of garlic I could find elephant garlic. And by the way I mulled all of this over with my vet before hand and he said this would be safe as long as I didn't do it once a month he then said it would be a good idea to do this twice a year just like I'm describing.

day 1 step 1: I made my dogs fast for one whole day and that night before bed I let them eat as much raw cucumber as they could stand. Raw cucumber seeds will kill parasites. Then I gave them 10 cayenne pills each, and straight to bed we went.

day 2 step 2: I let them munch on cucumber all day as much as they wanted. Then that night before bed. I took the whole big thing of elephant garlic and minced and crushed it till it was a paste I added 4 tablespoons of olive oil and mixed it with two cans of dog food, I also put the ginger powder from the pills in. Then split it between the two of them. My dogs are twins from the same litter and they are the same weight as well. After plenty of water to wash it down I gave them another 10 cayenne pills each, then straight to bed we went.

day 3 step 3: Once again they ate cucumber all day and that night I gave them dry dog food.

day 4 last step. First thing in the morning I gave them each a Child's dose of Castor Oil which is 3 tablespoons mixed with a cup of warm milk. That night they ate more dry food.

Now they have no intestinal parasites and their coats are like show dogs and their skin is in the perfect condition. They have a ton of energy and are even able to think more clearly. I know this because before when they had the worms they acted like they didn't understand any command such as sit, stay, or come. I have raised them their whole life Cesars way. We go on daily walks and practice the basic commands everyday. But when the parasites got bad they didn't care to walk and they wouldn't listen. Now that the war against the parasites is over my Friends are back to their old selves again and they sit and stay with one snap of a finger believe it or not just like Cesar's dog Junior or Daddy.

Please know the steps I took was as a last resort and under vet supervision and guidance. Although it worked perfectly and without any side effects remember every dog is different. So it is best to try the vet first then go from there and make sure to do your homework.

Thank you for your time I hope this helps. James"

03/25/2012: Chispa from Mississauga, Canada: "Earth Clinic and EC readers, I would URGENTLY need your help. I have 4 cats (the mother and her 3 male children) they have been losing a lot of weight. Two of them I can feel their bones when trying to brush them. I have not seen any worms but I feel they have them. Now I am confused reading all the comments. What shall I give them garlic, cayenne pepper, tobacco, ginger powder, clay power, or diatomaceus earth - Please help me save them ?????"

[QUESTION]  11/13/2009: Dinky Dog from London, United Kingdom: "Hi

My 5 year old doberman bitch was spayed at 2 and has had mild urinary incontinence ever since which is starting to get worse (it increases after lots of exercise). The vet has said that it is due to the lack of hormones affecting the sphincter muscles and has put her on propalin which, although working, is expensive and makes her quite grumpy and restless. I would really like to find something natural to give her instead. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks :-)"

12/01/2009: Bagofnuts from Metairie, La: "My post is simply to say that whatever vets are doing when they spay a female is upsetting. My daughter has several females that had been spayed and they all are incontinent afterward. Something is awfully wrong with this picture. I don't believe it is strictly the hormone change (my opinion)!"

04/16/2010: Constance from Los Angeles, California: "For years, I fed my dogs 1 cup of Solid Gold Lamb Kibble with some raw meat and pureed vegetables in homemade broth. I also added some supplements. But when my girl dog turned 14 years old, she started drinking excessive amounts of water, urinating alot and had a lack of appetite. The problem escalated to incontinence. I had a blood panel and urinalysis on her suspecting a problem with her kidneys, but her Kidney function was fine. The only thing that seemed problematic was she showed slightly elevated liver enzymes on her blood panel. The Vet suggested I lower her protein percentage. So, I tried a lower protein kibble but to no avail. The Vet then prescribed medicine for her incontinence. I am very uncomfortable giving my dogs drugs unless it is absolutely necessary. Reluctantly, I gave her one pill. Then, later that day, it hit me like a lightening bolt! It was the dry kibble. I immediately took her off kibble, and within a couple of days, her excessive water drinking and incontinence stopped. She did not need any medicine. It was like a miracle, and I have come to the conclusion that dry kibble is garbage, and I don't care how "organic and natural" it states on the label. I am sorry I ever fed it to them. She is now 15 years old, and has not showed any problem with excessive water drinking ,incontinence, or a lack of appetite since. I feed my dogs real food. Her protein percentage is about 20 to 30 percent with mixed pureed vegetables, along with supplements. There are some great websites that offer information about real and raw food diets. Think about it? How healthy would any of us be if we lived on dry processed and canned foods all our lives? The same is true for our beloved pets."

08/23/2010: Lori from Tryon, Nc Usa: "Your problem with the dog food is because Solid Gold was purchased by the Diamond Dog food company and they have a very poor record and a trail of sick and dead dogs. I lost my shih-tzu to the Diamond food recall back before the larger Menu food recall. They knew the corn had afloxtoxin but used it anyway and avoided inspections. Good work getting rid of the food. That is what changed recently. They own a large portion of premium foods now including Taste of the Wild and Canidae. I had a dog get very sick on Canidae and it turned out it had a tylenol poisoning problem."

07/20/2011: Fenice from Henderson, Nevada: "I also feel that the spaying actually has some thing more to do with the incontinence issue. Really these vets seem to do a chop job for as many dogs as they can get in a day to spay or neuter. The side effects of the drugs they prescribe are awful. I wouldn't take them myself let alone give it to my dog!"

03/25/2012: Deb from St. Louis, Missouri: "My 14 year old APBT has been leaking now for about 2 weeks. I'm not sure why I haven't thought about trying ACV as I drink 3 daily "cocktails" of ACV and water myself and have been able to stop blood pressure medication and most others. I want to add that I also put food grade H2O2 and colloidal silver in their water as well. She had lost her ability to bark for over a year and after just 4 days of drinking the H2O2 and CS water she let out a sudden and very loud bark. It about scared her to death! Lol I also started using activated charcoal in her food to keep away the "old girl" gas issues. It worked from the first dose. I give her half a capsule at every meal. She is such a dignified little girl who becomes very embarrassed by her accidents so we are going to try ACV in her food this evening."

01/18/2012: Bbisaillon14 from Manteno, Il / U.s.: "Hello. I have had 2 cats for a long time. But 1 cat who's about 8-9 years old grew a cyst a little bigger than a grape. It's soft pink and doesn't bother him other than it hangs from his neck/cheek. The vet said they could remove it but it would most likely grow back, so we didn't. I've been "popping" it for a while now and clear liquid comes out. It doesn't seem to bother him other than I'm holding him with a washcloth to his face.

My mother suggested I tie a knot around it so it kills the skin and goes away but I'm afraid of the liquid not having a place to go. He is a loved animal in my home and I would hate to cause him pain. I am also afraid of infection- we havn't had any so far, but I know popping it isn't the best way. Any suggestions?"

03/25/2012: Whisky from Kl, Malaysia: "Hi folks. My cat Whisky had a sebaceous cyst (watery cyst) just outside the opening of his right ear for quite a few months, and like everyone else was told by my vet to either operate or leave it. For a while, I would squeeze the clear, odorless liquid out every week or two, and it didn't seem to hurt a bit. But I was worried of infection, so I tried pretty much all the suggestions made in this forum, but without much success. Whisky hated the taste of tumeric and getting him to take some on a regular basis was an exercise in torture for both of us.

In the end, the remedy I took was extremely effective and quick, but not for the faint-hearted. First, I grabbed Whisky and carefully drained the cyst of as much liquid as I could, making sure to take note of where the cyst opening was. I took a small needleless syringe, and filled it with about 5-6 drops of providone iodine (trust me, you won't be using all of it). I made sure to expel all the air out of the syringe tip and body. I wrapped up Whisky in towels (he doesn't react well to vets or vet-like activity), pushed the mouth of the syringe firmly over the tiny, tiny hole on the flattened cyst, and squeezed (or tried to squeeze) some of the iodine into the opening cyst. It doesn't take much - you are NOT trying to refill the whole cavity with iodine. I think I only got only a tiny amount into the cyst - the rest went on the towels, on the cotton ball I had stuffed into his ear just in case he struggled and I missed, and of course on my fingers. And it took a few attempts before I was satisfied that some had gone in.

Of course, it's not completely pain-free for him, as iodine on raw flesh can cause pain. I did get a low growl which indicated that it was a painful, but he did not hiss or react very violently, which would have meant that he was in extreme pain. Like all of you, I'm loath to do anything that causes pain to any of my cats, but I decided to do it as the cyst could turn into an abscess if it gets infected, which will be more dangerous to him in the long-run. In any case, the cyst dried up in a a matter of days and was completely gone in a couple of weeks.

By the way, this "remedy" was suggested to me by my vet. Hope this "remedy" helps someone else. It certainly helped me and Whisky."

[YEA]  12/08/2009: Matoni from Buffalo, New York: "I recently started using minced fresh garlic on my 6 month old collie for fleas, heartworm. This was recommended by a friend whom is very knowledgeable on animal care. Just use very little (minced) from fresh garlic bulb, 5 times a week. You might want to use an eye drop of Black walnut from a health store to get rid of fleas with the garlic. Hope this helps."

01/20/2012: Doglover from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: "I would like to share my experience with you. My dog a Min Pin, female always had been a healthy dog without fleas ot ticks. We took her to a garden one day just to let her run around. When we returned she was her usual self, but the following day she started scratching. Whenever she does that, I always add a pinch of turmeric that I ground myself to her food. I did these for two consecutive days and on the third day, we found an onslought of dog ticks on the wall next to her bed. That's when we realised she had ticks from the garden. We then searched her for more and removed all the remaining ones.

I then searched through the internet for info after my daughter told me to give her garlic. I then cooked her food with 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of turmeric. I smashed the cooked garlic together with her food. The following day we found the remaining ticks coming out and some of them had NOT drunk her blood as we found out when we squashed them. Her stomach did bloat a little though, I think garlic does it, but she was fine after that.

Now two days in a week I add two cloves of garlic and a pinch of turmeric into her food. In addition to this , I also add organic virgin coconut oil(2 drops) to her food every alternate day. This keeps her hair glossy and she does not constipate. Never overdose on garlic. And you don't have to give it everyday! But please stay away from ONION. It is definitely dangerous for dogs! Don't give left overs that have been cooked with onion and garlic as you do not know the amount that has been added.

Oh yes! I forgot! Whenever you remove ticks, rub the bite area with turmeric. Get whole dried turmeric and ground them yourself. That way, you get pure turmeric. Hope this helps."

03/25/2012: Richard from Ontario, Canada: "In response to Tshona who wrote:

[DEATH REPORTED] 08/25/2011: Tshona from Scottsdale, Az replies: "Garlic IS deadly for dogs. My poor sheltie just died a few days ago from eating 3. 5 ounces of dried garlic he got into. He was totally healthy and fine before that. He was throwing up, became lathargic and with 8 hours was DEAD. I wish I would have know it is toxic to dogs, I would have taken him to the vet and they could have used charcoal on him, blood transfusion to replace the bursting blood cells and/or oxygen treatment. It causes a certain type of anemia and eventually kidney failure."

Tshona: Virtually anything can be toxic if the levels are high enough. Water is actually toxic to humans at 90g/kg body weight. (25 8oz. Glasses for a 150 lb. Person) 3.5 ounces of garlic powder is approximately equal to 30 teaspoons of garlic powder. One EIGHTH of a teaspoon of powder is equal to one clove. So your dog ate the equivalent of 240 cloves of garlic. That amount would likely be toxic to a human as well. Don't beat yourself up over this. With that amount of garlic, and by the time you saw symptoms, it's unlikely a vet could have saved him even if you'd taken him to one.

Garlic is safe. In the correct doses. All things in moderation."

04/17/2012: Holistichelen from St Petersburg, Florida: "re: garlic for dogs - I have been using garlic to eliminate fleas on my pups for about 30 years. I started with a brand of garlic - opened the capsules on the food. It was about 3 months and NO MORE FLEAS. I now use a great product that has no excipients in the garlic. My pups will eat the capsule like a snack. 1 am 1 pm and 1 in their food. The more a dog weighs, the more garlic needed. Wire Haired Terrier - about 25#s - 3-4 capsules daily until you know there are no more fleas. Reduce by 1 cap at a time until you find the right dose. I also believe that it helps with heartworms and the heart."