Veterinary Homeopathy

Ask the Holistic Vet – April 2021

vet
Written by Deva Khalsa

Dr. Deva Khalsa answers veterinary questions each month. This month she answers questions about a cat who lost his meow, a dog with allocoprophagia, an overly aggressive dog, and much more. Send your questions by the 7th of the month to [email protected] Please include as much detail as possible.

Dear Dr. Khalsa,

My 15-year-old male cat Buddy sees the vet every 2 months for bloodwork/exam, and he’s doing amazingly! His health issues are minor, and he is happy. He eats a raw food diet, along with a few supplements like probiotics, Omega 3’s, and others.  He’s been eating raw for a few years and does great on it.

Since the summer of 2020, Buddy has mostly lost his meow. He does meow sometimes, but mostly when he goes to meow, it sounds like he has laryngitis, or no sound comes out at all! It’s not causing any problems and I don’t feel the need for an ultrasound, and my vet says it’s normal for an older cat to lose their meow. But he has always been a VERY vocal and loud cat, and it makes me sad because I don’t want him to be uncomfortable or frustrated in any way. Is there anything I can do to help bring his meow back? Or, should I not be concerned?

p.s. His health issues: hyperthyroidism controlled by 3.125 mg twice a day of methimazole (he’s been on this med several years with no side effects).,,. also high blood pressure controlled by a tiny dose of .32mg per day of amlodipine. He previously had stage 1 cardiomyopathy; his heart has returned to normal size. His kidneys were previously stage 2/3 ckd; they have improved to stage 1/2.

The only thing that’s gotten worse is his heart murmur up to a grade 3, my vet said probably from age. He has also gone mostly deaf over the past year, my vet doesn’t know why.

Thank you
Jennifer

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Jennifer,
First of all, on an older cat I like to use a minimal dose of the Methimazole so his thyroid stays mid-range or a tiny bit higher. For example, if the normal range of the T4 (which is the parameter most likely tested) is 1 to 4 then I like to keep them at 2.5 or so. In the middle and a bit higher. Even 3.0 is very fine with me as up to 4 is normal. This keeps them healthier. Oftentimes, veterinarians put them on the amount and then see the T4 is 1.2 or something like that and are happy. When I see this, I titrate the dose down and most cats are on a dose of 2.5 mg twice a day.  If it is within normal range, it has no detrimental effect on his heart.

The next thing is blood pressure. Just for an FYI – in Europe in many places the MD’s don’t’ take the blood pressure in the doctor’s office – they want the patient to do it at home when relaxed to get a real reading. Just so… after a car ride and sitting in the waiting area of a veterinary office we get invalid high readings for blood pressure in animals.

In the case of dogs, I often suggest the vet tech come and take it in the car, where most dogs are less stressed and excited- before they enter an exam room. The difference is oftentimes remarkable.  What I am trying to say is that I am not certain at all that he really has high blood pressure.

I use stem cell activating products for the heart and for aging and loss of function and will attach an article here. They are by script only and would need a veterinary script.   http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/AW_V20I4_Stem-cell-secrets-1.pdf

In the meantime, you can use CALM unflavored (magnesium) a small pinch in his food every day for his heart. Even twice a day is fine.  You can give Arnica 6x twice a day also for his heart or even put it in his drinking water.  Lastly, try Gelsemium 30x three times a day for 14 days and then once a day for the following 14 days and see if that helps his meow.

I do not know if/where the meow problem occurred in relation to his starting high blood pressure meds, etc… so I do not know if any drug is contributing to the problem.  As far as the deafness… you may want to first flush out his ears with 50% warm water and 50% hydrogen peroxide once a week for 3 weeks and let him just shake it out to make sure there is no wax or debris to start.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,

I have a 4 -year-old Staffordshire Terrier cross who eats other dog’s/cat’s faeces (allocoprophagia) when she is outside off lead.  She does not eat her own faeces.  She is a scavenger and constantly looks for discarded food outside.  She gets good food at home morning and evening, but yet she’s always looking for more.  She is about 2 kilos overweight and has great energy, running around the fields and forests. She is a rescue dog who was thrown from a car at 4 months old with her brother.  They were on the streets for about 10 days fending for themselves and very frightened.  They went to a rescue centre for about 6 months and her brother was adopted to another family.  Sher was too frightened to go outside so stayed in the rescue centre longer where she was always looking for food.  I adopted her when she was just over 3 months and it took several months for her to go outside and when she did, she used to stand on one spot and tremble all over.  After 3 months she gained confidence and loves going in the car and has become very social with other dogs and people.  She loves the company of other dogs to run with and would avoid any fights.  She always looks for comfort and petting from anyone who will pet her.

I appreciate your help
Gillian

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Gillian,
Worms, Worms, Worms… is what you have to think. I do not know where you live but worms are insidious and fecal flotation tests are 70% FALSE NEGATIVE. Being a rescue the statistical probability that she has worms is high.  And eating all these feces only suggests more of a contribution to the problem.

There are two common types of tapeworm in dogs. One comes from eating dead or live carrion. Another comes from fleas. If a dog has HAS fleas there is GREAT likelihood he or she has tapeworms from fleas. Panacur- Fenbendazole- is available as a powder that you put in the food for three days over the counter at 1 800 pet meds. It is a great product and has been being used to cure cancer for the past few years in both people and pets.

But it does not kill the tapeworms from fleas and these are important to treat. You have to just treat for tapeworms as they DO NOT MAKE the eggs that show up in the fecal floatation tests (remember 70% false negative anyway).

Tapeworms segment and crawl out the butt.  You do not necessarily have to see them for your dog to have them. Their cuticle prevents them from being digested in the gut. Droncit is the best drug to kill tapeworms from fleas and you need two doses at 14 days apart in order to make sure the head of the tapeworm dies (it has a much thicker cuticle and the drug punches holes in the tapeworm’s protective cuticle).

There is one other drug- Drontal that kills both kinds of tapeworms along with roundworms, hookworms and whipworms. Now, if you have worms (and you might want to do a fecal to check for the latter 3- and there is a DNA test at IDEXX that is more accurate) then they are in your soil and you have to worm repeatedly as the eggs have washed in and will hatch into larvae which will crawl up from the ground onto the grass blades and crawl through your dog’s feet—- get into the bloodstream (subway) and get off at the stop labelled ‘gut’.

You can also use Shen Calmer herb for a few months to settle her spirit and this is a permanent fix when it works and they relax wonderfully with it.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,

My 13 year old Schnoodle has kidney disease and I have her on a renal diet (with chicken broth cause she’s so spoiled) and a few supplements. Do you have any  suggestions?  I want her to live forever.

Thank you,
Nancy

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Nancy,
There is a lot to do for kidney disease.  I am going to attach an article I wrote on this problem and it goes into much detail.  http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/Kidney-Function-Deva-1-1.pdf


Dear Doctor,

My dog is 10 years old. She is a Black Lab and German Shepherd. She is developing cataracts and also lately she does not have much appetite.  She eats just once a day now, but used to eat 3 times a day just a few months before. I cook for her like chicken or beef and yams or carrots, green beans, oats. But now she doesn’t show interest in food. Please help. What can I give her for nutrition?

Thanks a lot
Ranjit Grewal

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

She needs a full blood test and needs her liver and kidneys checked along with her thyroid. Her not eating is a symptom of something much more serious. She also needs the vet to palpate her abdomen feeling for masses and an abdominal ultrasound is also likely indicated. As far as cataracts, they may actually be nuclear sclerosis and I will attach an article on cataracts for you to read. Right now, this is the least of her problems. We need a full medical work up on her.   http://www.doctordeva.com/cataracts/


Dear Dr. Khalsa,

I have a 15-year-old Labrador. His current symptoms are coughing (mostly dry honking followed by a gag), urine dripping (when getting up mostly) and stiffness in his legs). The vet found a slight heart murmur 6 months ago but she wasn’t concerned enough to want an Xray, but I know he should get one to diagnose properly. She also thought he possibly has a collapsing trachea.

I am giving him COQ10, Hawthorne root, B complex and Chondroitin/ glucosamine/msm complex daily. He gets low dose naltrexone every second day and also I add dandelion/burdock/rutin/milk thistle daily in rotation (one each month). Is there anything else I can do?

Thank you kindly
Petra

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Petra,
When doctors see a problem, they make up a differential diagnosis list of what is most likely to be causing the problem.  When veterinarians see a male dog dripping, prostate cancer is on the top of the list. Or an enlarged problematic prostate.  Or urinary paralysis of the bladder. Or a urinary tract infection. Or hypothryroidism.

Get a routine urine by cystocentesis to check for an infection. Do a chemistry panel, CBC and thyroid test (the thyroid could also be the cause of the weakness in the hind end if it turned out to be low and this is easy to fix and the thyroid- if low – can cause bladder atony also).

If his thyroid is low, treat with L thyroxine and if this is causing the bladder and hind leg weakness problem it will start to clear up in several weeks of thyroid meds (he would be on them for the rest of his life).

If, on the tests, everything is fine, he would need an ultrasound (better than an                x ray… save the money and go straight to this with a board-certified radiologist) to check for prostate cancer. You would have ruled out a bladder infection with the routine urine.

Typically, small breeds get collapsing trachea and he is not a breed in which it is typical. What is typical and occurs when they are walking around hypothyroid is a laryngeal paralysis which can cause them to aspirate and get aspiration pneumonia and can be quite serious. Usually, this problem is preceded by long term, unattended to hypothyroidism.


Hello Dr. Khalsa,

Duchess joined our family as a puppy.  As she reached adulthood, she let her older collie sister know that she was the new boss by attacking her. Skye, the older collie, did not fight back except to protect herself.  This happened maybe a half dozen times.  Other than that, the two of them got along pretty well.

After Skye passed, Duchess appeared sullen and lonely.  We thought it would pass but her joy never seemed to return.  Also, the two young girls who were a part of her puppyhood had left the house for college.

When Duchess was 4 we adopted a female Belgian Shepherd puppy in hopes that they would keep each other company.  Duchess was a good big sister to her, playing with Cricket and being quite tolerant of her antics.

However, now, Duchess is very aggressive towards Cricket, attacking her to the point where she has drawn some blood. Cricket submits and cries while Duchess continues to snarl and keep her in submission.

If we go near, Duchess renews her vigor and needs to be physically pulled off of Cricket.  When she is pulled off of Cricket, she snarls and snaps at the human who is pulling her off.  She has bitten her favorite human in the process as well.  Not drawing blood, but definitely leaving a mark.

We now keep the dogs separate, playing a revolving door game to make sure they are not together indoors especially.  It can happen outside as well. For some reason, although Cricket is bigger and can run faster, she submits to Duchess’s aggression.

Words I would use to describe the situation are:  Unpredictable, startling, vicious, stressful, chaotic, and controlling.

Duchess is hyper sensitive to sounds and will flinch when the wood shifts in the wood stove or when we touch her to pet her while she’s resting. She’s always on edge.  When one of the cats is resting in the room and one of the adults moves to get up out of a chair, for example, Duchess jumps up from resting and goes after the cat.

It’s as though she sees it is her responsibility to discipline the cat – who wasn’t doing anything but being a cat.  If she gets a hold of the cat she will shake it in her mouth.  I’m not sure she would kill it if we didn’t intercede, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Duchess is a very intense hunter, sitting by a gopher mound for hours into the dark, in the rain, waiting for the gopher to come out.  She also stares at Cricket or one of the cats waiting for them to make a false move.

My daughter’s dog came for a visit. When that smaller Wheaton approached my other daughter for petting, Duchess attacked the dog pulling out a clump of fur and skin – again about the size of a quarter. We felt Duchess was acting out of jealousy, and was (unnecessarily) guarding her favorite human.

The other thing I need to say is that we had an electric fence and static training collar that was used in hopes of keeping her from going in the road and from attacking.  We have since stopped that, worrying that it may have caused some of her behaviors.

Duchess has been vaccinated for rabies. Unfortunately, we had her mistakenly vaccinated again at the two year mark when 3 years was indicated. We were using a different vet and thought it had been three years.  She has not been vaccinated for anything else beyond the puppy vaccines she had before we brought her home.

Although she can be a very cuddly dog when alone with one of us, her behavior with our other animal friends keeps the whole household on edge.  I even have found myself wondering if she would turn on me when I go to pet her. I feel a restraint from both of us.

She tends to run cold, and likes to be under covers.  She isn’t especially thirsty.  She loves carrots and will sit in front of the refrigerator to ask for them.

I have tried in the past:

Silica 30C for smelly anal glands when she was young – worked very well

Lachesis 30C and 200C when she was attacking Skye and when we had a summer of many snake visits – also when she was young.  Seemed to help at the time.  Also tried it more recently for this aggressive personality, to no avail.

Arsenicum 30C and 200C – noticeable joy after this dose, but didn’t continue, so after some time gave her 1M.  No noticeable change.

Crotalus horridus 200C most recently.  After this was the attack on Cricket that actually drew blood.

We would love to have a happy home where all feel safe to exist.

Thank you,
Jean Dettweiler  – Homeopath

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Hi Jean,
Lachesis is the first remedy I would think of here. I would give her one dose of Sulphur 1m to open the case up. I would follow this with Nat mur 200c – twice a day for a week.   Then, I would give Ignatia 1M twice a week for two weeks.  Of course, I am not following it up…. but I would then be thinking of giving Lachesis 10m three times in one day and maybe again just like that at some time if I see improvement but not enough. Additionally, there is Shen Calmer, a Chinese herb that calms the spirit and is given for about 2 months and then it continues to work.


Hi Dr. Khalsa,

My dog is a Cockerpoo and has had skin problems for many years now. He did have a dandruff type skin that caused terrible itching to both his ears and his normal skin. After taking him to a Vet where he had a scrape test and sent to a laboratory, the result was a yeast infection.

After going to see a homeopathic Vet we eventually got rid of this (or seemed to) and his skin became lovely and clear. We changed his food and he eats raw food now. However this last year he has been itching really badly although no return of the dandruff problem. He has started to have bald patches on his skin. His skin has no lesions or pustules just plain normal skin under the bald patches which are around his neck, the base of his haunch, an area on his tail about 2 inches long and the inside of his back legs.

I did give him some Sulphur as he is a very hot dog but after having some Sul 6c several times a day for 2-3 weeks and also spraying him with Colloidal Silver the base of his back seems much improved and his neck seems to be possibly starting to improve but not all the patches and it feels as if we have hit a plateau. I wondered about giving him Phos as he follows us everywhere to the point he will want to be touching one of us (mainly my husband and I am a poor second). Phos is listed in loss of hair but obviously not in a Vets Repertory.

I did wonder to give him Carc for the allergy but not sure.

Hi left ear gives him dreadful problems and looking at your letter from last month on Malassezia it certainly sounds like that especially as the vet recently said it was yeast when we gave up and took him to the vet. He wanted to give him some shampoo called Malaseb which is for fungal problems but he gave us that the last time and it made him so bad all over we had to stop it. That was the only advice he gave us.

He barks a lot and gets a bit nasty if we come across another male dog especially  if it is a big one. He has been reluctant lately to eat his food but usually comes back to eat it, not always though.

He is now 12 yrs old and has never been vaccinated and has had everything we could give him for his health. We are giving him K9 SURE which is a Super Green Food we sprinkle on his food. It is a mix of herbs known for vitamin, mineral and essential Fatty Acid (Omega Oils), also Animology Digestion which contains 6 billion live bacteria, supports regular bowels and contains pre and Pro Biotics. This is in England.

Any help would be gratefully received.
Barbara Camelford

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Dear Barbara,
Thank you for your excellent history. What I do not know is the size of the circles and if they are bilaterally symmetrical. It’s time to check his thyroid. He is of that age.  The bald spots may be from a hypothyroid condition as there are no signs of infection or yeast as far as you wrote.

Also, they may be ringworm but they sound too large for that. Bacillinum 200c works like a dream come true with ringworm in dogs and cats. Now…whenever you feed the same food over and over again, dogs get allergic to it.

Food sensitivities and intolerances are 15x more common than allergies and the rx is delayed by 7 – 28 days.  So the itching is likely ‘allergies’ and the above. Check out my site www.allergyelimination4pets.com and we treat pets from the other side of the pond all the time.

Lastly, most of the time you think you are getting Omega 3’s but they are not there. Article attached to explain it all. I suggest you make an appointment with me:  www.doctordeva.com

http://www.doctordeva.com/oxidation-how-exposure-to-air-heat-and-light-can-ruin-your-dogs-supplements/


Hi Dr. Khalsa,

My cat loves to eat grass, especially just before she’s about to eat a regular meal. If she sees us preparing her cat food, she rushes over to the bowl of wheatgrass and munches it first before eating.  She eats it like she’s driven to. Is this a sign of a health problem?

Thank you
Janice

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

No Janice, this is very healthy, and chlorophyll is very healthy for the body. I would grow her kitty greens as grass does not digest and kitty greens make greens they can digest. You can also put a pinch of barley powder in her food. She just knows what makes her healthy. Read my article attached. It’s talking about dogs but the same is true for our most wonderful feline friends.

http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/going-green.pdf

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.

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

  • Hi I have 12yrhusky elevated alk phosp was told might be Cushings currently on denamarin to bring it down 400 not showing signs just anxious licking lips but was told has cracked enamel on back tooth and hyperplastic gum spot by tooth was told by vet might heal on its own if not have to take her in in a week-10days was on apoquel stopped giving it to her 2days ago very worried

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