Veterinary Homeopathy

Ask The Holistic Vet – April 2022

Written by Deva Khalsa

Dr. Deva Khalsa answers veterinary questions each month. This month she answers questions about appetite loss, mange, a lump from a stye, ear mites, grooming a half-feral cat and more. Send your questions by the 7th of the month to [email protected] Please include as much detail as possible.

Dr. Deva Khalsa answers veterinary questions each month. Send your questions by the 7th of the month to [email protected] Please include as much detail as possible.

Hi Dr. Khalsa,
I took our young dog to get spayed. They ran a blood test and said she has Lyme disease. So far, we have given her a clove of raw garlic in her food, which seemed to help her symptoms (only symptom she had was licking her paws and gnawing on them). She got a rabies vaccination but no other ones. They wanted to give her doxycycline but I declined, since I know that probably won’t help and can cause other problems. She’s a Jack Russel Mix, very friendly, high energy but not one to snap or bite. I hope this is enough information for you. Is there an alternative way to treat the Lyme?
Thank you!
Jen Murdock

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Lyme disease is a bioweapon produced on Plum Island, right outside of Lyme, CT. It is a stealth pathogen, meaning that it hides in the body in several forms. In one form, it wraps its tail around itself and looks like a spore.  It can then evade the immune system. The tail of this spirochete bacteria antigenically resembles the glomeruli tubules in the kidneys.

Some dogs develop what is called Lyme nephritis where the tubules get holes- sort of like French drains- and protein escapes. This develops further into kidney failure.  I recommend a yearly routine urine as this protein loss is a way to catch Lyme Protein Losing Nephritis early.

I recommend doxycycline with Lyme disease and I recommend giving it for a full month at the full dose. I also recommend giving the Borrelia series by DesBio which you can find on my side at www.doctordeva.com and click on Dr. Deva’s Store.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,
Please help my 12-year-old “Sweet Puppy” Shitzu. He has a bulging neck disk which made him paralyzed in his legs until day 2 of Prednisone and Gabapentin. They say he will need surgery anyway. His other tests show he is healthy. What can I do to stop these toxic meds and treat with homeopathy, I have been giving him Arnica. He is the love of my life.
Laurie Enger

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Laurie,
A disc is not a hard object. It is actually a fluid filled sac that is fluctuant and with correct chiropractic manipulation the bulge can be reduced which will also reduce the pressure on the nerves coming out of his spine.  The real trick is finding a good human chiropractor that knows how to adjust dogs or a good veterinary doggy chiropractor- easier said than done.

I do not know where you live but there are a number of exceptional chiropractors all over the country.  You would keep him on the Pred and Gabapentin and get the neck and rest of the back adjusted a few times to normalize the pressure and help to reduce the disc. Acupuncture is also a good adjunct therapy but the fact is that it is a mechanical problem of alignment and this is the primary thing that has to be handled.  Hypericum 30x given six times a day will help with nerve damage.


Hello Dr. Deva
I am a huge fan of yours! Love your advice and holistic health care tips.  My name is Vinita and my fur pet’s name is Hooper. He is a Shihtzu, not sure of his age, maybe 4 or 5.  I had adopted him 2 years back. We switched his diet from royale canine to raw food. His transition took a while but he is now 100 percent raw fed. Hooper currently has a stye like lump on his eye lid, and I have checked with vets, who said nothing to worry just keep a watch it does not grow.

For 2 years the stye has not grown but I would like your advice if there is anything I could give him for it. Also, he was never socialized, so whenever he meets other dogs or walks in an area where there are dogs he starts drooling.  I think he is not afraid, but just never plays with dogs or toys. Is there any way I could stop that?
Thank you
Vinita Bhatia

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Vinita,
The stye on the eye is not a problem. Oftentimes, when I had a practice, I used to take a small gauze surgical sponge in between my fingers and just pinch them off! They bleed for a minute, but you apply pressure with the gauze. I do not recommend you try this but you may want to bring this up with your veterinarian.

You can try live Aloe plant – the goo in the leaf- and it has to be cut within 3 days to have active enzymes- and place this on the stye 4 x a day for a week and see if there is any change at all. If it has gotten smaller, continue. If no change, discontinue.

Socialization is just that. If you can find a friendly dog and let him slowly explore and play in a very gradient fashion, you will be socializing him. That’s a behavioral process that is too long to explain here but there is no substitute in homeopathy for socialization.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,

I have a 12-year-old mixed breed dog. He has not had any shots since his rabies booster at 3 years old.

  1. His breath has gotten much worse lately, and his teeth are definitely not clean—they’re a lovely shade of brown. His breath smells so much like fish, but we don’t feed him fish other than some scraps once a week when we eat salmon.  Is there anything we can do about this, besides getting a deep scaling of his teeth?  I would rather not put him under anesthesia at this point in his life.
  2. I noticed he has been licking/chewing his paws more often than he usually does. My other dog (who passed away last May) had mange right around this time last year, and the vet said it would be nearly impossible for this dog to NOT have it as well. But he never showed any symptoms of hair loss, only chewing his paws
  3. He is starting to slow down a little physically. I noticed sometimes he stumbles on the stairs or has a hard time getting into and out of the car.  I do give him a mobility supplement with turmeric and glucosamine, but I’m not sure if it’s helpful or not.  Do you recommend anything else?

Thank you so much in advance for your help!!
Best,
Ilana Meyers

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Check his thyroid in relation to the stumbling and weakness and find a good doggy chiropractor. The breath could be digestion or the teeth or an organ failure problem. A brown discoloration or some brown tartar does not mean he has bad teeth. A veterinary exam will help to clarify this.

I do not know what you feed him, but you may want to add some barley greens or a greens powder. At his age, he needs and deserves a full blood panel to check out his kidneys and liver, among other things. You can add a thyroid test to that asking for a Geriatric screen with T4 added for thyroid. It gets less expensive when you do add-ons.

Kidney or liver problems can also cause bad breath.  As far as his feet, it could be Malassezia yeast or contact allergies with grass and the like. His chewing in no way indicates the presence of mange. You can read my article The Intense Itch of Malassezia here:

http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Intense-Itch-Of-Malassezia-Deva.pdf


Hi Dr. Khalsa,
We’ve been battling ear mites for far too long. I’m officially reaching the end of my sanity, and I can imagine our fur babies are too. I used castor oil when we got our little girl (she came to us with mites) and it did not work. Now all of dogs and cats have ear mites. Can you suggest something?
Thank you
Marie

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Ivermectin is the ticket for ear mites, given orally or in the ear. The 1% solution is available at feed stores, although hard to find as so many have purchased it for the recent virus.  Recently, if you search for Bimectin you can find it.

As I do not know the ages and weights of your pets, I am not going to offer you any dosage schedule. Veterinarians have used ivermectin for ear mites for many decades and so you can ask your local veterinarian. It is a very safe drug and you should check out the history and how it was discovered.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,
The vet said my dog has mange and started Iver treatment and another med for itching. I hate to give the meds but nothing I was doing was touching it. My question is, do I need to somehow treat the outside areas he is in usually? Do I need to do something to treat our house?
Thank you
Leslie

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

There are several kinds of mange. One is Sarcoptic Mange also known as Scabies. There is also Demodex.  I am assuming that we are talking about Sarcoptic Mange. You have to treat the house and wash everything so that any of the eggs are not in the bedding or the carpeting.

As far as the outdoors it depends on what your situation is outdoors. Usually there has to be the presence of other animals. The foxes can leave it but that’s very unusual. Most of the time it jumps from one animal to the other like from one dog to the other. It’s very difficult to treat the outside areas for this but then again it just doesn’t sit in the grass, commonly, like flea eggs


Hello Dr. Khalsa,
My little 15.8 year old Chi/X has appetite loss due to Vetmedin for his heart murmur. Can you suggest a homeopathic remedy or anything else to help stimulate his appetite again?
Thank you
Jenny

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

When there is a drug that decreases the appetite a homeopathic remedy often doesn’t work. Additionally, many times these drugs are not necessary depending on the state of the heart. I use Stem Cell activating pills to regenerate the heart and it works unbelievably well.

I’ve had dogs that were supposed to die in three months and their heart became totally normal within six months. These are very effective and people who have consulted me about their dog’s heart problems could not be more pleased. These are by script only. If you would like to make an appointment with me, we can actually adjust his medication so that he’s on things that are much healthier that help much more.

It doesn’t mean he will go off all his heart medication’s but we’re going to analyze each medication and decide what he really needs. The heart is a pump, it is a mechanical instrument and when the muscle gets weak the pump does not work and so the stem cell activating pills work to make the muscle strong again.  www.doctordeva.com


Dear Dr. Khalsa,
I have a long haired half-feral cat who has mats after winter. She’ll tolerate me trying to brush some of them, but then she’ll snap mean and has clawed our family just from a mat pulling. We’re gonna try to shave the mats off, but need to try to sedate her some. Benadryl? Half pill? I’m having a friend come over and help hold or shave.
Thank you
Melinda

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

I have never used Benadryl to sedate a cat and would not suggest it.  Why don’t you simply bring her to a groomer or a veterinarian who can sedate her with a commonly used short acting product and get the job done in no time and get it done right?

Maybe there is local rescue group who can suggest a person who helps in this way with feral cats. I would hate for you to think you have her sedated with something and get mauled in the middle of the project or get just so far and then have to give up again.  It’s actually easier on the cat to get sedated, shaved and have the sedation reversed (takes a half hour) and it is less stressful.

Dr. Khalsa’s Newsletter:

Sign up for my newsletters by going to www.doctordeva.com, scrolling down and entering your email.  When you get a reply you simply confirm you want to receive the newsletters. You will get informative articles, videos and lots of helpful information. Some of the letters are pre-created in an order so that you can learn as you go, and I also send out email BLASTS with new and interesting information in between.  Welcome to the family!

Kindest regards,
Dr. Deva Khalsa 
215-944 3036
[email protected]
www.doctordeva.com
Visit Dr. Khalsa at her website for information and consults:
http://www.doctordeva.com/

Editor’s note: Dr. Khalsa’s new book was just released:
The Allergic Pet –Holistic Solutions to End the Allergy Epidemic in Our Dogs and Cats
Dr. Khalsa shows how to strengthen the immune systems of dogs and cats without invasive techniques or pharmaceutical drugs.

https://www.amazon.com/Allergic-Pet-Holistic-Solutions-Epidemic/dp/1621871827

also….

The second edition of Dr. Khalsa’s Natural Dog is now available. It’s an exceptional book with information not offered in any similar work. I recommend it highly!

About the author

Deva Khalsa

Dr. Deva Khalsa V.M.D. is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, a Fellow and Professor of the British Institute of Homeopathy and has lectured both nationally and internationally. She is the co-author of ‘Healing Your Horse: Alternative Therapies’ and Dr. Khalsa’s Natural Dog‘. Her practice includes homeopathy acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, nutrition, N.A.E.T, J.M.T. and other modalities. Her philosophy is to use whatever it takes to restore health. Dr. Khalsa’s practice is in New Zealand but she consults by internet and phone with pet owners from the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Europe and the UK. http://www.doctordeva.com

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