Each month Dr. Deva Khalsa V.M.D. answers selected questions on veterinary issues. Dr. Khalsa 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.
Hi Dr. Khalsa,
My 5 year old (male, indoor and neutered) cat is coughing every day after eating, for at least 6 months now. It’s a short and dry, non-productive cough like when we clear our throats. His mouth is closed when he does it, not like when he has a hairball or asthma attack, and he sticks his neck out. He doesn’t seem to suffer from it or have any discomfort. Less than a year ago he had an asthma attack, went to the emergency and got a cortisone shot and was ok for a while but kept having some wheezing, sneezing and snoring so he took another shot, antibiotics, had a number of X-rays done, but the lungs always looked the same.
Dr. Khalsa:
It sounds like asthma which is due to allergies. It is not so easy to treat. Ipecac 6c three times a day for a month or more and change to hypoallergenic food with novel protein like rabbit and peas.
A Success Story
One of my free range hens was suffering for weeks with a white discharge from her vent. She refused to let roosters mount her and was not laying eggs. When one aggressive young rooster tried to mount her she would not lift her tail, no mattter how hard he bit her neck and dug his claws into her back. Instead of going in the coop at night she was hiding in our foyer to get away from the roosters. From the internet description, I diagnosed her with “vent gleet”, which is a candida infection. I started giving her yogurt every morning, which she loves, which seemed to lessen the discharge somewhat. Then I decided to give her homeopathy. Based on her symptoms: white vaginal discharge, yeast infection, fear of men (roosters), aversion to sex, painful sex, I gave her Sepia 200c in her water. The next day I gave her Candida 30x. Two days later she laid an egg, and another one the next day (today). She still has a bit of discharge and is afraid of
roosters, but apparently her reproductive system is functioning.
Bonnie Camo – MD
Hi Dr. Deva,
My 13 year old Jack Russel cross bred female started scratching herself severely, everywhere, but concentrated on the right butt and around the tail (which are now hairless). This started a few weeks after a tick bite. I took her to the vet who said she has an allergy to something or other and prescribed cortisone. It has helped, but the treatment is winding down now and the scratching is starting up again.
Please can you give me some advice?
Thanks
Kira
Dr. Khalsa: She likely has food allergies along with environmental allergies and something is coming up in the spring that is aggravating her and pushing her itch level up above threshold. The tick bite could have irritated things too. You can try baking soda mixed with water and you spray it on the itchy spots to stop the itch/scratch cycle. Dogs have many more Mast Cells in their skin then we do, so they itch their bodies as a result of inhalant allergies.
Dear Dr. Khalsa,
I have a 4 yr old dog that has a pterygium in each eye. The only option given me is surgical removal. This is very expensive and my understanding is that there is a high recurrence rate. Anyway, is there any homeopathic remedies that might help?
Thanks!
Susan Thompson
Dr. Edward deBeukelaer answers: (Dr. Khalsa was traveling when this question arrived) :
Dear Susan,
The first question we need to ask is whether the pterygium needs treating. It is very possible your dog may be able to live with it without any problems.
From a homeopathic point of view there are no typical ‘homeopathic treatments’ for this condition. A homeopathic treatment is decided on the dynamic disease in the patient and not on a diagnosis of a disease. Therefore based on the very little information you offered in your question it is impossible to say anything sensible in relation to the condition of your dog.
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Below is an article I wrote on NAET allergy elimination technique, which I practice in my office.
Nix Allergies with Naet
Deval Khalsa, VMD
Originally published in Animal Wellness Magazine Augt/Septr 2011
Suppressing symptoms with medication is just a band-aid solution. Allergy elimination techniques go right to the root of the issue, and help get rid of adverse reactions for good.
Nellie’s allergies began when she was just over a year old. The typical regime of steroids and antibiotics helped only while she was taking them. When her mom tried to cut back on the medications, her itching and scratching returned with a vengeance. I tested Nellie using NAET (Nanbudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique), then used it to reprogram her system so she would become free of allergies to the identified foods and environmental triggers. She began to improve after the first visit. “As the treatments progressed, she scratched less and less, the hair grew back under her neck and on her paws, and her skin returned to normal,” says her mom. “After a few months, she stopped scratching altogether. Her coat is now soft and bright, and she feels like a brand new dog As far as I’m concerned, NAET and the other allergy elimination techniques that have stemmed from Dr. Nambudripad’s work, are the best thing for treating allergies since sliced bread.
Path of avoidance
Typically, a person with an allergic dog follows a path of avoidance. Ingredient labels are carefully read in order to circumvent foods the dog is allergic to. However, allergic dogs will often subsequently become allergic to ingredients in new foods if they eat them day after day. For example, a dog that was never allergic to lamb may become so because of repeated exposure.
It doesn’t have to be that way. If you’ve been running this gamut for years with your own dog, it may be hard to believe that allergy elimination techniques like NAET can transform an allergic dog into one with no allergies. It might seem too good to be true, but in the hands of a competent veterinary practitioner, it’s quite probable. Let’s find out how.
A discovery in self correction
Dr. Devi Nambudripad, the founder of NAET, was very ill with allergies all her life. I wouldn’t be exaggerating too much to say she was allergic to almost everything under the sun. She lived exclusively on polished white rice and broccoli. One day, she decided to “take a walk on the wild side” and have a carrot. She started to pass out so gave herself an acupuncture treatment to keep herself from going into shock. She simply fell asleep and awoke 45 minutes later with a supreme feeling of well being. She researched her experience and found that when you hold an allergenic substance within your body’s electromagnetic field, while receiving a treatment for the adverse allergic reaction, your body systems somehow self correct. The body recognizes the electromagnetic signature of the substance while being encouraged, by the stimulation of acupuncture points, to start the process of healing, repairing, correcting and harmonizing. It’s interesting to note that when we enter the realm of energetic holistic medicine, we leave the field of biology and enter the field of physics. Every day, new research in physics challenges old beliefs about how the body works and heals. Even though the Chinese recognized energy pathways (called acupuncture meridians) over 6,000 years ago, it has taken the advent of new scientific methodology to recognize how changes in energy fields affect and determine health.
Friends and enemies
The autonomic nervous system plays an integral role in recognizing what the body’s computer has deemed an enemy. It then calls the immune system into action to defend the body against the “enemy”.
Allergies occur because foods and other substances that should be considered “friends of the body” become logged in as enemies. Consider the young child who has a severe reaction to peanuts. All his friends eat peanut candies or peanut butter sandwiches without any ill effects. That’s because their immune system “computer logs” haven’t logged in the peanut as an enemy. The problem is not with the peanut itself, but the way the peanut is registered by the body Today’s dogs have more allergies than ever before because there are simply more ways to confuse the body’s systems and increase the foods and other substances that are logged in as enemies. Nature never designed these systems to be exposed to so many vaccinations, chemicals and pesticides on a routine basis.
Allergy elimination techniques such as NAET correct the autonomic nervous system’s perception of the allergic substance so it is no longer perceived as a threat. It all happens within the realm of physics on an energetic level, and translates into physical healing.
How it works
The NAET practitioner has the energetic resonance of each allergen in a vial. He or she then uses applied kinesiology to determine your dog’s reaction to the resonance of the allergens. Once an allergen is recognized, the vial is placed directly on your dog and specific acupuncture points on his body are lightly stimulated. This readjusts the autonomic nervous system’s perception of the substance and the allergic reaction to it is eliminated. It may be amazing to think that something so simple can work so well, but the proof is in stories like Nellie’s.
In my own practice, the first step is to identify what substances the patient is allergic to. In the first comprehensive assessment, approximately 500 vials specifically designed for this purpose are checked using applied kinesiology. I decide the order of treatment for the allergens and create a program for the patient. The vials are mailed to the animal’s home with clear instructions for his or her family on how to gently massage easy-to-find acupuncture points and complete the treatment on their dogs. Other veterinarians do the procedure in the office, with you and your dog returning for routine visits every week or so until the problem is resolved.
You can find veterinarians who do NAET by logging onto the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association website (ahvma.org) and checking for those nearest you who list NAET as a technique they offer. If you have trouble finding a local veterinarian, you may contact me for more information or a referral (doctordeva.com). Allergies trouble so many animals. They can surface as skin problems, ear infections, chronic diarrhea (IBD), vomiting, picky appetite and asthma. These problems often become chronic lifetime issues and need continual veterinary monitoring and medication. NAET, and the other allergy elimination treatments that have stemmed from it, don’t just relieve or suppress the symptoms the way drugs do, but remove the source of the torment. These techniques have helped many people and their best friends live happier, fuller lives.
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The second edition of my book is coming out early next year. Dr. Khalsa’s Natural Dog – It a great and useful holiday gift!
Nutrients for Cats and Dogs
Using her 30 years experience treating animals holistically, Dr. Khalsa designed nutrients just for dogs and cats. VITAL VITIES contain specially selected vitamins, minerals and super-food granules in a delicious base. http://www.deservingpets.com/ Learn more about nutrition for your pet:
https://hpathy.com/veterinary-homeopathy/deserving-pets-gives-scoop-supplements/
Visit Dr. Khalsa at her website and for consults: http://doctordeva.com/
All information provided on this site, particularly any information relating to specific medical conditions, health care, preventive care, homeopathy, homeopathic medicine, and healthy lifestyles, is presented for general informational purposes only. It should not be considered complete or exhaustive and does not cover all disorders or conditions or their treatment, nor all health-related issues. https://hpathy.com/hpathy-com-disclaimer/
my ital. grey. has had diarrhea for 4 days. no blood, not black. she acts normal, happy, plays. she hasn’t eaten anything odd. how can I help her?