Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (72 page)

Fleas

Ah! The bane of dog and cat alike. Once again, I have found that a healthy lifestyle is the best defense. Following are some additional specific measures that can also help.

• Add plenty of nutritional yeast and garlic to the daily ration. Use anywhere from one teaspoon to two tablespoons of yeast (depending on your pet’s size) to each meal.
  
• Mix fresh garlic, ¼ to 1 raw clove, grated or minced, into each feeding.
  
• Wash the skin daily, if necessary, with a lemon rinse (see chapter 7). This makes it less attractive to fleas.
  
• Have your carpets treated with a borax-like powder that dramatically reduces flea populations (see chapter 7).
  

If in spite of all this commendable effort, your animal still has a serious problem with fleas (not just a few but dozens), check for roundworms and tapeworms (which can be carried by fleas) that may be sapping your pet of energy (see “Worms”). Also, try a specific homeopathic remedy to help strengthen the body so that it isn’t so attractive to fleas. One that usually works best is:

Homeopathic
—
Sulphur
(the element) 30C: Use Homeopathic Schedule 4 (
view
). This is the treatment to try first; however, you must still continue all the flea-control measures suggested above. The remedy will only make your pet better able to resist flea infestation; it will not kill fleas directly. If after a month this has not improved the situation, give next:

Homeopathic
—
Calcarea carbonica
30C (for cats) and
Silicea
30C (for dogs): Use Homeopathic Schedule 4 (
view
).

A note about flea collars: They don’t work. They are toxic. Some cats even hang themselves on them or get the collars caught between their jaws, causing serious damage. Others get permanent hair loss around the neck from allergic reactions, particularly when the collar is too tight.

Chemical insecticides in shampoos, soaps, powders, and sprays are also dangerous, as discussed in chapter 7. Notice the label warnings about wearing gloves or avoiding contact with your skin and so forth. How can it be so dangerous for you and yet safe for your pet? Think about it.

Lice

These little varmints are rather uncommon, but occasionally infest a run-down dog or cat. You have to look very carefully to see them on the skin or to see their eggs, which are attached to the animal hairs. Lice are slightly smaller than fleas and a lighter color—more tan or beige, rather than dark brown. Also, they don’t jump like fleas. Fortunately, dog and cat lice do not infest people.

Treatment starts with frequent, preferably daily, use of a good shampoo containing dlimonene (for dogs only—a natural insecticide extracted from citrus). Leave the lather on for ten minutes before rinsing. Then follow with the lemon rinse described in chapter 7. The eggs are not killed by this, only the adults. The eggs continue to hatch out over a period of time, so continued baths are necessary until all the eggs are gone.

If you prefer not to use an insecticide, the lemon rinse recipe in chapter 7 might work (though I have no experience using it this way).

The most difficult part of lice control is getting the nits (the eggs attached to the hairs) off. They are glued to individual hairs and, short of cutting all the hairs off, you have to in some way remove them. The least toxic, though messy, way to do it is to apply mayonnaise and work it carefully into the hairs, then wash it out. Whew!

What else to do? Without delay, build up the animal’s health with a natural diet. Start right off with some home-prepared food and emphasize nutritional yeast and garlic as previously prescribed for fleas.

Use the same basic steps outlined in the flea program (including grooming) to eliminate the young lice as they hatch. Building up your pet’s health will make its skin less desirable to lice.

Homeopathic
—
Sulphur
(the element) 30C: Usually helps raise resistance in general and parasites in particular. Use Homeopathic Schedule 4 (
view
).

Note:
We are used to quick results like those we get with chemicals that kill the lice almost immediately. They will not do anything for the animal’s run-down health, however, which engendered the problem in the first place. Indeed, the toxic effect may weaken the animal even further. To work with nature is to be patient.

Mange

The most common form of mange is demodectic mange, which is caused by a microscopic mite that lives in hair follicles. The other type is called sarcoptic mange, caused by a scabies mite that burrows into the skin, making pets and people itch (see chapter 11).

Demodectic mange occurs most often in dogs (though it is also seen in rare instances in cats). It usually appears first as a small, hairless patch near the eye or chin. It doesn’t itch much and may pass unnoticed. The mite associated with it is very widespread and is actually found on most healthy dogs and also on peoples’ faces (around the eyebrows and nose) without any sign of its presence.

Demodectic mange causes a minor problem for some young dogs, but usually clears up spontaneously without treatment by the age of 12 to 14 months. In a small percentage of those affected, however, the mite continues to spread. Eventually, it can cover much of the body and result in hair loss and skin irritation and thickening. Bacteria (staph) can also get established, causing further complications such as “pimples” and a pustular discharge, particularly around the feet. This form of the disease is called generalized demodectic mange.

Animals that have generalized mange are susceptible to other serious illnesses and must be treated very carefully for their health to be restored. It is also very important that they not be vaccinated, as their immune system cannot react properly to the vaccine and only becomes more disordered.

T
REATMENT

It is helpful to understand that problems with this parasite depend on a weak immune system, and this is what must be addressed. Unfortunately what is almost always done is the worst possible thing. The orthodox treatment is harsh, poisonous, and generally futile. (Mild cases clear up on their own anyway.) The hair is clipped off the whole animal. Then strong insecticides are “painted” on the skin or the dog is completely immersed in them. They are sometimes so toxic that only a part of the body can be done at a time. Unfortunately, antitoxic nutrition or vitamin supplements are seldom recommended, so the dog’s underlying health goes from bad to worse. Even those dogs that apparently recover after weeks or months of treatment can have recurrences, or another, more serious, “unrelated” problem will develop. Cortisone-type drugs should not be used under any circumstances. They depress the immune system further and, therefore, just about guarantee nonrecovery (in the true sense) by any method.

Instead, I have had good results using just nutrition and homeopathic remedies, though treatment must be individualized and requires close attention to progress. Here are some general guidelines for a natural approach.

Fast the dog (if its weight and health are good) for five to seven days, as outlined in chapter 15. Afterwards, use the natural diet described in Chapters 3 and 4. Also add zinc (feed ground pumpkin seeds or give a tablet of chelated zinc—10 to 30 milligrams, depending on size), vitamin C (250 to 1,000 milligrams of ascorbate twice a day), and lecithin (½ to 3 teaspoons a day). Vitamin E is especially helpful in restoring immune capacity.
Use larger doses twice a day, giving 400 IU to small dogs, 800 IU to medium-sized dogs, up to 1,600 IU for larger dogs. All of these supplements are very helpful to the functions of the immune system.

Rub fresh lemon juice on the affected spot every day, or use the lemon rinse recipe in chapter 7.

A homeopathic preparation that suits many cases of mange (either demodectic or sarcoptic) is:

Homeopathic
—
Sulphur
(the element) 6C: Use Homeopathic Schedule 6(b) (
view
). When the condition is obviously clearing, use the sulphur less frequently on a tapering-off program.

The dog with a staph infection of the skin occurring along with the mange will benefit from the use of:

Herbal
—Purple cone flower (
Echinacea angustifolia
): Use Herbal Schedule 1, (
view
), for internal treatment and Herbal Schedule 4, (
view
), for treatment of the skin (both at the same time). You can use both this and the homeopathic
Sulphur
treatment if necessary, giving the
Sulphur
about 10 minutes before the echinacea dose.

The dog or cat with sarcoptic mange (more irritating than other kinds of mange) responds best to this treatment.

Herbal
—Lavender (
Lavendula vera
or
L. officinalis
): Paint on oil of lavender (the pure oil diluted 1:10 with almond oil, or an already prepared formula that contains oil of lavender) once a day until the hair begins to grow back.

Ringworm

Though this disease sounds like it’s caused by some kind of curly worm, it is actually the result of a fungus that’s similar to athlete’s foot. The growth starts at a central point and spreads out in a ring shape, much like an expanding ripple forms around a stone tossed in a pond. As the fungus grows in the skin cells and hair, the skin may become irritated, thickened, and reddened, and the hairs may break off and leave a coarse stubble behind.

In cats, which are more commonly affected, the condition often looks like circular gray patches of broken, short, thin hair, without much evidence of itching or irritation. Ringworm is contagious to people (especially children) and other animals; see the precautions in chapter 11. Like mange, widespread ringworm indicates the animal’s health is not up to snuff, as it usually is the stressed, sick, or weakened ones that get severe infestations. Like generalized mange, ringworm that covers most of the body is a very serious problem indicating a severely compromised immune system.

T
REATMENT

Nutrition: Start with a fast of two or three days (see chapter 15); then follow with the basic natural diet program in this book. Also add 5 to 20 milligrams of zinc chelate and ½ to 2 teaspoons of granular lecithin to the food (depending on body size). Essential fatty acids are very important for the health of skin and hair. If possible, add ¼ to 1 teaspoon
of cod-liver oil (depending on the animal’s size) to the food once a day.

Direct treatment: First, clip the hair around the bare spot and about ½ inch beyond it, being careful not to injure the skin. If you clip the hair, ringworm is less likely to spread and the topical treatment is easier to apply. Burn or carefully dispose of the infected hair that you remove, as it is contagious on contact. (In order to catch loose hairs, always be sure to vacuum carefully and frequently if you have a pet with ringworm. Also wash bedding and utensils often with hot water and soap.) Be sure to wash your hands.

Treating the sore spot will speed healing and help protect others from getting ringworm. Choose one of the following two herbs plus the homeopathic remedy.

Herbal
—Plantain (
Plantago major
): Make a decoction of the whole plant by putting about ¼ cup of the plant (a common weed) per every cup of spring or distilled water into a glass or enameled pot. Boil about 5 minutes, then let the brew steep 3 minutes, covered. Strain and cool. Massage onto the skin once or twice a day until the condition clears.

Herbal
—Goldenseal (
Hydrastis canadensis
): Make a strong infusion by adding 1 rounded teaspoon of the powdered rootstock to a cup of boiling water. Let stand till cold. Then carefully pour off the clear fluid and massage it onto the skin once or twice a day.

Homeopathic
—
Sulphur
6C: Use Homeopathic Schedule 6(a) (
view
).

SKIN PROBLEMS

Mange and ringworm are discussed under “Skin Parasites.”

The skin gets dumped on from two sides. The rest of the body uses it to eliminate toxic material, especially if the kidneys aren’t able to handle the job; at the same time, environmental pollutants or applied chemical products assault it from the outside. One thing is for sure—skin troubles are the number one problem in dogs and cats.

On the positive side, if your animal’s only health problem is a skin disorder, consider yourself lucky. It’s much worse if a surface condition (such as a skin problem) has been suppressed with repeated drug use; a more serious condition would be likelier to arise in that case. If a skin condition is the only problem your pet has, you can help prevent deeper problems by addressing it in a more curative manner. (The problem of suppression is discussed in chapter 14.)

The symptoms of skin disorder are among the easiest to detect. They usually include one or more of the following: very dry skin; flakiness or white scales resembling dandruff; large brown flakes, redness and irritation; itching (ranging from slight to so severe that blood is drawn); greasy hair and a foul odor to the skin and its secretions (which many people mistake as normal, or even as a pleasant “doggy odor”); pimples and blisters that form between the toes and discharge blood and pus; brown, black, or gray skin discoloration; formation of scabs or crusts, and hair loss. I also include
chronic inflammation inside the ear canal (and under the ear flap), anal gland problems, and underactive (hypoactive) thyroid glands as related to skin disease.

Modern medicine tends to divide these many symptoms and regard them as separate diseases. I think this only confuses the picture, so that we don’t perceive the problem as a whole. From a wider view, these symptoms appear as one basic problem that manifests a little differently in individual animals depending on heredity, environment, nutrition, parasites, and so on. Thus, one dog may have severely inflamed, moist, itchy areas (“hot spots”) near the base of its tail, while another may have thick, itchy skin along its back, with greasy, smelly secretions—but they are really the same health problem.