Veterinary Homeopathy

Ask the Holistic Vet – August 2021

cat veterinary exam
Written by Deva Khalsa

Dr. Deva Khalsa answers veterinary questions each month. This month she discusses UTI issues in male cats, kennel cough, teeth cleaning without anesthesia, hyperthyroidism in cats and much more.

Dear Dr. Khalsa,
My male cat was diagnosed with urinary tract issues and had an emergency blockage removal recently. The vet said it’s likely he may block again and advised to feed prescription royal canin/prescription hills to avoid blockage. Those are not foods I would have chosen. I’m wondering if there is a healthier alternative for this problem. Would raw work?
Thank you
Ken

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

One of the biggest problems that we have with cats and blocking is that they are not water drinkers.  The amount of water that the cat drinks is very important as far as diluting the urine. The urine is basically a chemistry experiment and what is important is the dilution of the urine and pH as far as crystals.

The food is not nearly as important, although a good quality of food is, of course, important for health.  The first thing you have to do is make sure your cat drinks more water. You can do that by feeding wet food. Weruva has some good wet/canned foods and has the most liquid of any wet food and you can actually add water to that wet food, in addition.

The next most important thing is the pH of the urine, because different crystals grow in different pH’s and if the urine is properly acidic the struvite/triple phosphate crystals will not grow. So there’s a product on the market, Wysong Biotic pH and you want the one that actually lowers the pH of the urine and the jar tells you how much to put in.

Before you do this, you have to make sure that you do have struvite triple phosphate crystals and that you actually want to lower the pH because when the pH is seven, crystals will grow. But if you push down to five or six they won’t grow.

The next thing that’s important is to find out that it’s not calcium oxalate crystals, because this will not work if this is the case. The calcium oxalate crystals are far more rare.  You are welcome to put your cat on a prescription food to avoid blockage for a while, and there’s a reason for this.

There’s likely more gravel left in his bladder, sort of like a balloon with sand left in it. Using a special food for a while in addition to wet food with a lot of water will help flush out the rest of the crystals.  Lastly, without taking the case, I don’t recommend homeopathic remedies for this, because if there is a bunch of sand left in the bladder and I give a remedy that helps them flush them out, there’s nothing that keeps them from blocking up that very thin part of the urethra that males have at the very end of their urethral tract.  It’s better to work on dissolving them by changing the pH.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,
My 11-year- old Border Collie was exposed to kennel cough yesterday. The last time he got kennel cough he was ill for many weeks. Is there anything I can do homeopathically or otherwise, in the next few days to prevent this from developing?
Thank you
Frank

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Frank,
Kennel cough is very easy to treat holistically. In fact, the vaccination does not prevent kennel cough at all. The Bordetella or kennel cough vaccination does not prevent the disease. This is from my Alma Mater the University of Pennsylvania and any other place that has information about this vaccination. It simply lowers the intensity of the disease, if it works at all.  That said, it’s very easy to treat holistically. You can use colloidal silver, and the brand that I like is Sovereign colloidal silver, which is easy to get at the health food store, or Argentum 23 colloidal silver.  And then there are two remedies to use and these are Aconite 30 x and Antimonium tart 30 x and they can be given together 3 to 6 times a day and usually it handles the entire problem in a day or two.


Dr. Khalsa,
My 5-year-old cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I’m finding that this ailment is more common than I thought. What causes it?  Are there any natural remedies?
Thank you
Clarence

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Clarence,
It depends on how hyperthyroid your cat is. Hyperthyroidism can cause a number of problems. One of the problems that occurs is with the heart and that can cause heart failure, because it forces the heart to pump harder and more frequently overtime, exhausting the heart.

With mild hyperthyroidism homeopathic remedies can work if started early and followed carefully. Also, Chinese herbs can help with mild hyperthyroidism but you have to chase the cat around and get those herbal pills down their throat two or three times a day for the rest of his life.

With these two holistic approaches blood tests have to be taken much more often to check and see that the program is working. Initially I was very hesitant about radioactive iodine in cats with hyperthyroidism, but it actually works well and the iodine has a very short half-life with the cats excreting it quickly.  It basically destroys the thyroid.  I know that may sound harsh but somehow cats make thyroid in other parts of the body, so even with this treatment their thyroid levels are normal and they don’t have to take medication for the rest of their lives.

As hyperthyroidism masks and hides kidney failure, the procedure is to give the cat a drug that selectively destroys the thyroid, and then test that the thyroid levels are normal and the kidney function is all still okay. After confirming that the cat has functioning kidneys, you can then go on to the radioactive iodine.


Hi Dr. Khalsa,
My new rescue cat was abused, tortured. The result of that was a tail amputation and her leg has been left badly damaged. I’m waiting to find out the next step for her leg surgery, however she’s in pain. She’s been with me 3 days now and I can see she’s in pain. What can I give her?
Thank you
Miranda

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

I would give Hypericum for the pain in any potency and give it very often. You can also give Chamomilia 30x for the pain.  When the surgery occurs, you should  of course give Arnica quite often. After all the surgery is done, I would recommend a remedy to be given twice a week and that would be Natrum mur 200c for about two months. This will help with the deep emotional trauma that has occurred.


Hi Dr. Khalsa,
Is it safe to dust my cat with diatomaceous earth for fleas? I’ve read conflicting information?
Nathan R.

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Yes, it is safe. But brush excess off thoroughly


Dr. Khalsa,
My cat grooms himself a lot. He’s not a long hair. His poop is filled with hair. I know some is normal but this is a lot! Sometimes it causes hard poops. He never gets hair balls. Is this still normal?
Thank you
Patricia

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Patricia,
Your cat could have allergies and that could cause that, so there’s a couple things that you could do. First, you could actually brush your cat and help remove all that fur. You can also try the homeopathic remedy Arsenicum album 30c which is for hyperesthesia in cats and can also help with allergies. Give 30c potency three times a day for two weeks and see if that decreases the grooming.

Lastly, you can put your cat on a special diet that is restricted, using rabbit for about a month or two and see if that stops the grooming and then you’ll know that it’s an allergy to something that your cat is eating. It takes a while for that to kick in, so you have to give the special food for a month or two and no snacks that have fish or chicken or beef, etc.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,
After a jaunt in the woods with my Basenji dog, I found a couple Lyme ticks in his fir.  I can’t tell if he was bitten.  What do I do?
Thank you
Ava Kline

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

I’m not sure what to tell you with this, as not every tick carries diseases and not every dog that gets infected by a tick gets the disease. Your dog could be bitten by fleas and not have any problem. The typical SNAP test that everyone is doing at the vet clinic was found to be giving 30% false negatives – so often times dogs can have Lyme disease and test negative on the IDEXX SNAP test.

Importantly, just about all dogs are on toxic flea and tick preventative but, still often, get Lyme disease. In other words, most dogs are on flea and tick stuff and there are still many of these dogs that get Lyme from ticks, so the toxic tick preventive is not working  Obviously, the ticks are infecting them and Lyme disease is being transferred into the dog. That said, Lyme disease takes 24 hours to transfer while other tick-borne diseases can be transferred in an hour or two.


Hello Dr. Khalsa,
Can you tell me how to help my diabetic kitty? I can’t get her to eat any of the low carb food. She is so thin that she has to eat. Are there any pointers to help get her off insulin?
Thank you
Clara

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Clara,
You can go to www.Raemakersnutrition.com on the web and order Raenmaker’s veterinary professional immune support. This product after being given for a month or two (maybe three) often makes diabetic cats non-diabetic, but what you have to do is really watch the sugar as it goes down to avoid insulin shock.


Hi Doctor Khalsa,
I need to get serious about my dogs’ teeth. They had a dental a little over a year ago and both had complications from the procedure. I do brush their teeth, is there a safer way to clean the teeth?
Thank you
Charles Davies

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Charles,
The best way to clean a dog’s teeth is give them raw bones. If they’re a little dogs, they can have raw chicken necks. Additionally there are products that help eat away the tartar. One of them is Zymox toothpaste which has an enzyme in it  that dissolves tartar.  There are also non anesthetic dental procedures and there are people who train in cleaning a dogs teeth by sitting next to them and just cleaning their teeth without any anesthesia. I had someone in my practice who did that, and they are available – you just have to research.


Hello Dr. Khalsa,
My puppy has parasites, Toxocara canis. I’m using Verm-X as a worming treatment, but unfortunately, it’s not working for him.  Is there a safe option?
Thank you
Craig

Dr. Deva Khalsa,

I would use Panacure which is made up of Fenbendazole that you can get over the counter at 1-800-PetMeds (1-800-738-6337). In fact, I simply recommend that people use this (dose – depending on the weight of the dog) in their dog food as a powder for three days once a year to worm their dogs.

I actually think that’s better than a fecal test, because the typical flotation test that veterinarians use gives 70% false negatives. There is a DNA test where they check for the antigens of the worms but it’s very expensive and it’s just easier to worm them with over-the-counter Panacure once a year. Sometimes it’s hard to get because it’s been found to cure cancer and many people are buying this product to cure their own cancer.  Does it work for cancer and people? I don’t know, and  there is a lot of research on the web about it right now. However, it is excellent to use once a year just to get rid of the worms.

Visit Dr. Khalsa at her website for information and consults (including phone 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.

Available from: 

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

1 Comment

  • Dear Dr Khalsa
    I adopted 2 male kitties from a rescue. I was told at the rescue they are good friends. one is a short haired black & white tuxedo, VERY energetic, tmcastrated late (has prominent jowls), territorial will not let the other castrated male on the cat tree, in the bedroom, on the bed & will eat first, resource guarding. The other male, Joshua, is long haired, orange, timid, gradually coming out from hiding, however adjustment is hindered by Bubba’s aggressive “play” & territoriality. Bubba is a constant talker, extroverted, friendly to humans. I think Bubba & “Shua” both need treatment. if you jeed more detail I am happy to pay you for your services & sm a homeopathy believer

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