Summertime Solutions

I see a number of summer troubles year after year and I hope this advice can help.

You’re out for a weekend bike ride and your puppy is trailing along like the wind. Later on at home when you both have had a chance to settle down, you look at your pup and he is aching and sore. Upon closer inspection, you see that his footpads have many abrasions. What to do? Keep them clean with Calendula or Hypericum tincture mixed with warm water and cleaned twice a day.

Good homeopathic remedies are:

1. Arnica (if your dog doesn’t want to be fussed with)


2. Urtica urens (if he ran through the bush and possibly has cuts and abrasions from the undergrowth)


3. Bryonia (if he just doesn’t want to move).

Another excellent product is ozonated olive oil, available at well-stocked health food stores and holistic vet clinics. It can be used on cuts and abrasions and speeds the healing considerably.

Another common scenario is the cat that slowly slinks down and leaps–only to discover that his prey has a stinger and it gets him in his paw and ouch! The swelling begins and there is limping, restlessness and pain. Look closely to see if the stinger is embedded in his paw. This may be removed with tweezers or your fingers. An allergic reaction is common for both dogs and cats. Apis is an excellent remedy. If this doesn’t help you may try Rhus tox or Ledum.

You awaken out of a deep sleep by the chomping sound of your dog chewing and licking at his skin–it’s flea season!

Take a sliced lemon and steep it overnight in about a litre of water. This forms an excellent citrus repellent that you may need to spray on your pet frequently. Oatmeal bathing is a good method of soothing the skin. For a more long-term solution, garlic tablets can be given orally and brewer’s yeast has met success. Remember that a good flea comb is your pet’s best friend as this can both locate and eliminate fleas from the skin.

This is the time of year that cats get into fights as they claim their territory. These wounds can turn into abscesses and be actually quite painful. Initial bites can be treated with Aconite if the cat is very fearful. If there is severe pain then I would use Hypericum. If there is swelling that is hot to touch, it feels like there is fluid under the skin, intense sensitivity in the area and the cat is a bit irritable use. If the swelling is cool to touch then use Ledum. If the swelling is not too painful then you can use Silica. These two remedies can help the abscesses to drain. Warm Epsom salt soaks are also indicated in situations like these.

Skin allergies tend to trouble pets this time of year as well. It’s perhaps the most common complaint that I see in the office. Conventional methods of treatment (like antihistamines, antibiotics and cortisone) fail to allow the body to heal itself.

Think of the body as a muscle. While conventional treatments work quickly at suppressing the symptoms of the allergy, they do not allow the body to heal itself, thus exercise the muscle. If this is repeated over and over again, the body will weaken instead of strengthen.

A number of homeopathic remedies may help in the short term. These include Rhus tox if there is itchiness with restlessness, or you can try Belladona if there is a maddening itch and the skin is very red and the pet’s eyes are wide and very dark (enlarged pupils). Sulphur can be used if there are red eruptions and the pet is hot and worse at night. Arsenicum album may be useful if the condition becomes worse after midnight and the pet is thirsty for small sips of water and is seeking heat.

Usually allergies are symptoms of a bigger picture of ill health and quite often deep constitutional homeopathic treatment is more successful under the guide of an experienced practitioner.

Spring is active time for all of us and our pets. These are some simple ways we can keep animals healthy in the face of little tragedies that may occur as a result of healthy lifestyle!