Editor’s Note: Readers can send vet questions to: [email protected] by the 7th of each month.
Dr. Khalsa,
My dog was diagnosed with diabetes last week. His vet didn’t say anything about it but his T4 is also low so I wonder if he also has hypothyroidism and if that’s why the Vetsulin isn’t lowering his blood sugar as much as it’s supposed to. His blood sugar is still dangerously high despite Vetsulin.
Thank you
Sheila
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
Sheila,
I have no idea why no one will be treating his hypothyroidism if he is hypothyroid, because it is very easy to treat. The thyroid is a very important gland as far as the immune system and body being able to function. The medication is very simple and it’s taken twice a day, because dogs metabolize thyroid so much more quickly than people.
They do get a dose per pound that is quite a bit higher than people do. Often times when I treat holistically and I find that the patient is hypothyroid, I explain that there were several things in the medical history that may improve by treating the hypothyroidism and giving the dog enough thyroid medication so that his body works correctly.
The thyroid is the master gland and it runs everything. When it’s working all the body parts are acting as if they want a raise from the corporate executive next week. When it’s not working you’ve got a bunch of bums and drug addicts that don’t respond to holistic nudging and help.
Dear Dr. Khalsa,
My 15 years old dog had a cough. The vet did X-rays ruled out congestive heart failure. They said it’s an “old man cough”. Gave us medicine for it but over a month later the cough is worse. I gave him NAC as well as HomeoPet Cough but he is still coughing. I know it’s hurting him and I feel terrible.
Thank you
Loretta S.
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
Hi Loretta,
Coughs are things that one has to hear in order to decide on the correct homeopathic remedy but what’s very common in older dogs is something called collapsing trachea. This is much more common in small dogs but it can also happen and big dogs. The trachea has rings around it just like a vacuum cleaner hose and if the vacuum cleaner hose did not have rings when you turned on the power it would suck into itself.
This is what happens with collapsing trachea. The rings around the trachea are not complete and so the velocity of the air flowing through the trachea changes when it’s going up or down the trachea. There’s a short cough which ends in sort of a gag and basically the cough corrects the flapping of the trachea. With collapsing trachea, they often cough when they’re getting up from sitting down, when they’re waking up, or when something exciting happens like someone comes to the door.
Hi Dr. Khalsa,
I have a six-year-old castrated male cat, long hair and he is like the Norwegian Forest cat, but he is a mixed cat. Sometimes he vomits food, but mostly his fur. Occasionally he vomits if he is upset or frightened.
He is allergic to flea bites and he has eczema after he had a few flea bites and he loses his fur, mostly around his tail. What can I give him to prevent his hair loss and to treat his allergy?
Thank you
Ms E. Konya RSHom LHCEA
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
An allergy is the body’s inappropriate response to a substance. In conventional medicine they use things that whack-a-mole the immune system in order to bring it down to its knees, so it doesn’t have any reaction to whatever it is reacting to inappropriately. Homeopathic remedies do not work all that well for allergies to flea bites and I use something that I have developed from NAET which is called Allergy Elimination 4 Pets.
This protocol eliminates the allergic reaction. That said, enough flea bites and having fleas for a long enough time causes a secondary dermatitis which looks pretty much like a flea allergy with crusties and itching and scratching. It can also be a combination of the two.
http://www.doctordeva.com/eliminating-allergies-in-pets/
Dr. Khalsa,
My dog is so deathly afraid of storms and it just keeps getting worse. She used to feel safe in my daughter’s room but not anymore. We’ve tried playing music, distracting her, CBD, and nothing works. It’s to the point now that we can’t even leave the house in fear that she will shred a door off. Where I live in Florida it storms every day and the thunder and lightning is intense. She shakes, pants and drools.
Thank you
Karen Stein
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
Homeopathic Borax 6x – three times a day for one month and then on and off when needed.
Hello Dr. Khalsa,
My 12-week-old Australian cattle dog has thrown up twice in the car now – both front and back seat. It’s silent so I don’t notice it until I look over at her. She doesn’t give me any warning that she’s going to throw up, and she’s great in the car otherwise. What can I do for her carsickness?
Thank you
Patricia G.
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
Cocculus indicus 6c and Tabacum 6c : give both four times every 15 minutes before a car ride and make these initial rides short, like a trip around the block, increasing the time in the car while giving both four times before getting into the car.
Dear Dr. Khalsa,
I am not looking for advice, but I am just curious if other cats have this behavior. I adopted a cat in 2018. She won’t eat unless I am with her. I don’t mind, I like to eat in company too, but I am wondering if you’ve ever seen this.
Thank you
Marcy
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
I’ve never seen this. Some constitutional remedies come to mind but I do not know enough about her and would be shooting into the wind.
Hi Dr. Khalsa,
How do I get rid of fleas? My grandson rescued this poor frail dog with hot spots and fleas. I gave him a bath in dawn and used a lice comb. He’s still got fleas.
Thank you
Tracy
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
A flea lays many hundreds of eggs a day each time. They have a blood meal and drop off and then lay hundreds of eggs. Then these eggs hatch and they go for their blood meal and they each lay hundreds of eggs. Basically, it becomes an Alfred Hitchcock movie because you cannot get rid of them by bathing or using any comb because the eggs are all over your house.
It depends on where you live which flea product would actually work. In Florida the fleas are resistant to most of the flea products so they have to use things like Comfortis. When you have a lot of fleas, holistic methods are not enough to get rid of them. So, I don’t know anything that would work except for the spot-on flea products and the least toxic of them is Advantage, in my opinion.
It does not have to be given permanently or year round. All you have to do is give it for probably one or two months in a row and then the puppy becomes a flea killing machine and all the fleas die before they can drop off and lay eggs
Dear Dr. Khalsa,
My horse cut a tendon while running. The tendon is about 50 % cut. Is there anything other than Calendula to help repair the tendon? Can a horse have Calendula water dosing?
Thak you
Véronique B
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
Tendons have no blood supply and so they heal very slowly. The only thing I know that really increases the tensile strength of a tendon after it is so severely damaged is prolotherapy but you have to find someone who does prolotherapy for horses. Here is my article on prolotherapy:
http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/Prolotherapy-For-Stifle-Injuries.pdf
Dear Dr. Khalsa,
I took my cat to a vet twice for congestion, sneezing (violently and repeatedly at times) – of course they did antibiotics which did help for the first 10 days, however, the symptoms returned. When I took him to the vet again, they checked his bloodwork and said everything looked great, just a minor heart murmur and that they didn’t do an Xray because of his age, there was nothing they could do.
I decided to use homeopathics and after using my materia medica, gave him Lemna Minor for nasal polyps and Phosphorous for a bleeding nose. It worked, but at the first heavy rain (all day and night), his symptoms returned again. He has lost 1/2 of his weight going from 17 lbs to 9.6 lbs – thus I started giving him Arsenicum Album also.
I suspected allergies for many years as he has always been a sneezer at times with yellowish mucus sprayed when sneezing.
What would you recommend to resolve this permanently? Am I using the right remedies?
Thank you
Lynn
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
In my 40 years I have never seen a cat lose that much weight because of allergies or even a sinus infection. I don’t know how old your cat is but there could be a situation where he is hyperthyroid and his thyroid is overactive. Also, that kind of weight loss can be due to cancer. The most common kind of cancer in cats is lymphoma and it’s possible that he has lymphoma in his nose. That said there could be quite a number of things wrong and cats typically do not have nasal polyps, although nothing is impossible and bleeding from the nose is also an indicator. It is rare for cats to have foreign bodies in the nose and it’s more common in dogs where they jab their noses onto twigs which I know very well from being of an emergency veterinarian for a few years.
Hello Dr. Khalsa,
I have female cat age 6 months, fully vaccinated. She has an ear wax problem and scratches her ears often. The wax is blackish.
Thank you
Naseer Naseer Uddin
Dr. Deva Khalsa:
It’s actually not earwax. It is most likely a yeast called Malassezia. I’m going to give you a article on it. http://www.doctordeva.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Intense-Itch-Of-Malassezia-Deva.pdf
…and I’m going to give you a recipe for something to use in the ear. Use it once a day for 21 days or so.
Miracle Solution for Yeast in Ears
4 ounces rubbing alcohol
1 tablespoon boric acid
4 drops Gentian Violet
Mix all in dropper bottle and shake.
The purple color may go away.
Use once or twice a day for 14 days.
Then you may need to use it occasionally.
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Dr. Deva Khalsa
215-944 3036
Visit Dr. Khalsa at her website for information and consults:
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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
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!
Thanks for your response on my 18 year old cat – vet seemed to think it was a nasal polyp or tumor due to the fact that his issue was one sided in his nose (mucus? breathing very noisy). Due to his age they did not xray and offered no resolution. However, homeopathic Lemna minor for the possible polyp and also phosphorous for the bleeding did work overall (did it for 2.5 weeks and he was much better but it came back and so we repeated it again for 3 weeks or so. Again it improved, but now we hear his breathing a bit more strongly) He is eating like a chow hound though and I also suspected thyroid issues. He has gained back about 2 pounds due to eating frequently. I will check into the hypothyroid issue you mentioned.