Veterinary Homeopathy

Ask the Holistic Vet – October 2021

veterinary
Written by Deva Khalsa

Holistic/ Homeopathic veterinarian Dr. Deva Khalsa answers questions each month. This month she discusses heat cycles in a young Labrador, Panacur for worming, sarcoptic mange and more. Send your questions to [email protected]

Hi Dr. Khalsa,
I have an 18-month-old yellow lab who is on her 1st day of heat cycle (3rd so far). I’m trying to find a remedy to help ease her. She acts uncomfortable by running around the house like she’s lost. I can tell she is very bothered. Where do I start with this?
Thank you
Michelle

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

I believe you are telling me that at the young age of 18 months, your female lab is in her 3rd heat cycle and when you wrote this it was the 1st day of the cycle. If this is true, she is getting far too many heat cycles for a dog her age.  A large dog should come into heat before a year of age and maybe a year later. I do not know the timing of the cycles nor the breeder’s female dogs typical timing of heat cycles.

I would recommend Pulsatilla 30x three times a day for 2 weeks and then twice a day for two more weeks. Also have Pulsatilla 200c on hand.  You would use this potency if it happened again in at a different time. Oftentimes, dogs who cycle too much often come into false pregnancy and they act like she is acting.

Emotional and confused.  One thing people need to understand is that a dog’s heat cycle is not like a menstrual cycle in a person. After each heat all the hormones and the uterine lining change as if the dog is pregnant. The uterine lining thickens, and the hormones alter. No matter what.  And it can be distressing and emotional for them.

This is why I recommend that you do spay her at about 2 years of age. There is another reason why I recommend this and that is that dogs who have an overabundance of heat cycles and a lot of emotional changes with each cycle tend to get pyometra which is an infection of the lining of the uterus and it can fill up with pus like a full football.

It is considered an emergency and is a very expensive surgery which can be done in a life-threatening situation as the uterine wall gets thin and the pus can burst out into the abdomen.  The thing is that pyometra is fairly common. Open cervix pyometra is somewhat easy to note as pus is coming out of the vaginal area but closed cervix pyometra shows nothing. In both cases the dog will drink a lot of water and have a temperature and act very sick.  It is the primary thing we veterinarians think of with these symptoms and an intact female dog.


Dear Dr. Khalsa,
I have a 4-year-old Border Collie and we roam the woods together.  He munches on plants.  Should dogs be dewormed routinely? And if so, with what?
Thank you
Jason

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Plants do not typically carry worm eggs and larva and you find this on grass in dog parks and the like.  I like to use Panacur (fenbendazole) which is over the counter at 1-800 pet-meds for 3 days in the food, dosed on the weight of the dog once a year.

It is actually healthy stuff that has changed its name to Panacur C as so many humans are purchasing the dog product to cure their cancers. Fecal flotation tests are 70% false negative which means you pay for the test and get the results and there is a 70% chance the test is wrong and telling you your dog has no worms when they do.


Hello Dr. Khalsa,
We have a wee cat that turned up under the hood of our car a couple weeks back – filthy and emaciated. He’s cleaned up and putting on weight now, but has developed what appears to be sarcoptic mange on his ears. (He does NOT have ear mites.) He’s quite young and still under 2 pounds, so I’ve been soaking his ears in 1:1 warm water/apple cider vinegar daily. (He loves it ).  Any other treatments to recommend?
Terri

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Ivermectin 1% for horses, swine, pigs and cattle would be used (at one tiny weeny drop from a needle on a syringe) in a 10 lb cat, but he is too small for that.You can try a bit of Lime Sulfur dip for dogs and you just dab it on his ears once after making it up according to directions. You do NOT dip him in it. You just mix it and dab it on the edges of his ears.


Dr. Khalsa,
My cat was diagnosed with a bladder infection. Gross amount of blood in her urine. They said they did not see stones. They recommended a prescription diet just in case. Is there a better way? Would a raw diet fix it? Thank you for your help.
Thank you
Patricia

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Usually a bladder infection is treated with antibiotics so the bugs do not travel up and cause a kidney infection. You did not mention this.  One possible thing that may help is Wysong Biotic pH – use the one that lowers the pH and makes the urine more acidic as bacteria cannot grow in acidic pH’s. I have no idea why they would suggest a prescription diet.


Greetings Dr. Khalsa,
I don’t normally do vaccines, but my 9-year-old cat cracked a tooth. The vet said that to get the dental work he would have to get the rabies vaccine.  It’s been two weeks and he’s developed a pea-size bump that is hard and rough at the site of the injection. It moves with the skin — seems surface and it’s doesn’t appear to be an abnormal color. Is there anything I can do to help him? I don’t want it to develop into a vaccine-related sarcoma.
Thank you
Alice

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

There are a lot of nasty viruses in the Rabies vaccination.  Start with Hypericum and Ledum pallustre at 6 or 30th potency 4 -6 times a day for a week or so and see if this makes the lump go down. If not, go right to the remedy Lyssin and give this at whatever potency you can get it at. 30 is fine. Give this twice a day for 3 days and then once again about 4 days later for one dose


Hi Dr. Khalsa,
I am in my 70’s and have had dogs forever.  I fell in love with sighthounds about 35 years ago when I got my first Afghan Hound.  Past 20 years have taken in rescues, mainly greyhounds who in this country are mainly used for hunting, and always rescued in terrible condition.

Emily was rescued by one of the Sighthound groups, and they could not rehome her because of the terrible state she was in.  I took her to my vet who wanted to put her on Apoquel and I said no.  I took her back 2 days later to ask why her va-gina looked wrong and why she had this strange lump on her throat.

He said don’t worry about it.

When I cream her at night and put a T-shirt and socks on her I clean her tummy and va-gina and face with Colloidal Silver, both the liquid and the gel.  Her skin is paper thin.

The slightest bump and she screams [that crazy greyhound scream] and has another scar.  She is covered in scars, as it was a shelter that let the dogs run free,  and Emily has no idea of personal space, so she got badly chomped, several times.  The nightly creaming has improved the state of the wounds from masses of bites.

I feed a local dog biscuit with aloe plus giblets and vegetables; all my dogs seem to do well on it.  I tried for a week to give her just rice and giblets and veg. no difference at all

I use different oils, and creams on her.  Miracle Comfrey, Colloidal silver creams, gels, and liquid. Coconut oil, [she really goes nuts licking this off, just loves it.] castor oil, bit thick for her paper-thin skin and takes too long to sink in.

But today I was totally thrown by reading that having a recessed vulva can cause dermatitis.  I really don’t think this baby is strong enough to go thru that operation.

What can I do for Emily to make her feel better and avoid an op?
I am longing to hear your opinion.
Thank you for your time
Regards
Barbara

Dr. Deva Khalsa:

Recessed vulva- use baby diaper ointment on it once a day to clean up chronic moisture and infection. The only active ingredient is zinc oxide. For her past, start with Nat mur 6c twice a day for a month.  Also give her Calendula 30c – two or three times a day for at least a month.
Feed her a good colostrum product to boost her immune system.  80% of the immune system is in the gut. You can also put her on Transfer Factor for dogs.
( Here’s one of my articles that may be helpful: http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Gut-Garden.pdf )

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

2 Comments

  • Dr Khalsa,

    I am at my wits end on how to help my cat Alfie(he is quite an active cat, always playful, friendly and affectionate) but nowadays not so much. He’s had non stop ear infection with discharge ( that is sometimes, clear, sometimes looks like phlegm which dries into crusts of darker reddish brown color), he is always shaking his head and when he does the ear fluid flies off from his ear. It is on his right side and seems worse at night as he endlessly grooming himself at night as well as shaking his head. When he breathes, makes an audible sound. His vet seems to repeatedly put him on antibiotics-his ear problems clear up but only until antibiotics effect lasts, after that his poor ear seems worse and now they are talking about an operation that sounds extremely risky. He has always had sneezes (where he sneezes non stop for a min), or discharge from nose. But he’s never had bad ear infection like this or nose blockage. I have tried giving Pulsatilla 30x but it really hasnt helped much. Please help! thank you

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