Herbal Help for Humans and their Companions

Cuddle Your Purring Cat for Healing - Something to Ponder

"I've had healing experiences with my own cats. I had one cat that slept with me every night, and it always felt so good and peaceful to have her next to me. And of course, she purred loud and long until we both fell asleep. So, I wonder - is it helpful for people to hold their purring cat close to their bodies?

Elizabeth Von Muggenthaler says that from a scientific standpoint she would have to say she doesn't know since there is no evidence. She goes on to say that for something to be scientifically therapeutic, it has to be exactly the right strength, loudness, and amplitude. However, she did say that as a "healer," she says "yes, it absolutely" can be helpful to sleep with you cat.

The type of frequencies that are found in the cat's purr are good for healing muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries, as well as for muscle strengthening and toning. They are good for any type of joint injury, wound healing, reduction of infection and swelling, pain relief, and relief of chronic pulmonary disease.

Those of you who have cats may have noticed that when you're not feeling well, your cat will often come up to the part of your body that's aching and start to knead you with their paws, purr, and get that meditative look in their eyes. They could be trying to help.
The optimal frequency for bone stimulation is 50 hertz. The dominant and fundamental frequency for three species of cats' purrs is exactly 25 to 50 hertz - the best frequencies for bone growth and fracture healing. "

The Cat's Purr for Healing by Paula Peterson
http://www.luisprada.com/Protected/the_cats_purr_for_healing.htm

---

---

This week we feature:-

• Feline - Fleas and Allergies
  
• Canine - Poodles and Ear Infections
  
• Equine - Wind Sucking
  
• Human - Anaemia
  
• Home Remedies - Lecithin, Brain Food
  
• Reader Feedback
  

---

Feline - Fever Fleas and Allergies

---

If you moggy is experiencing symptoms of irritation of the skin ie agitation, itching,rubbing losing hair it is well to start the skin allergies/irritation acute mix. That will strengthen the immune system and reduce the over-reaction to what ever the allergen may be.

The blood cleanser can eliminate the build up of toxins in the system, the effects of which you are seeing in the skin.

http://www.herbal-treatments.com/cat_blood_poisoning.html
http://www.herbal-dogkeeping.com/dog_skin_allergy_acute_irritation.html (this is the same formula we use for cats and will appear soon on our growing cat site http://www.herbal-treatments.com/herbal_treatments_for_cats.html)

Start with 2 drops of each mix twice daily and slowly increase to 5 drops of each twice daily, mixed in a smelly food like sardines.

This will give you enough for 5 weeks from which we can assess the response to the herbs without outlaying too much money. If the response is good, then you will require a repeat order. It needs to be taken for a complete blood cycle of 12 weeks.

Be careful about the type of flea treatment you use .

It only takes the bite of a single flea to set off the whole inflammatory process and it is very difficult to control fleas on a daily basis. Cats usually acquire the fleas from the environment, so some external flea control may be prudent.

Changing the diet to exclusively raw meat. No tinned or dry cat food at all for a minimum of 12 weeks.

---

Canine - Poodles and Ear Infections and Excess Tearing

---

First of all poodles often have an excess of hair actually within the ear canal. Therefore it is best to pluck the hair out on a regular basis. Most of the time the hair is quite easy to pluck and the dogs usually do not mind. If however they get upset just do a little at a time and have a treat waiting for when you are finished. Just give a quick tug on a small amount of the hair. If you do it slowly it will be uncomfortable.

If there are no ear problems then simply wipe the outer ear with a cotton wool ball moistened with alcohol to wipe away any dirt etc. If there is a lot of wax further down the ear canal you could ever so carefully use a cotton bud to gently lift this wax out of the ear canal. It is important to NOT use cheap cotton buds as sometimes the cotton tip will fall off these thereby causing a problem by remaining in the canal. Vets will often warn against using cotton buds for this reason along with the caution to not PUSH the wax further down the canal but to gently LIFT/SLIDE it up towards you.

Should your poodle have very dirty ears or a mild infection then we do have an ear wash that you may like to use.

http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_ear_infection.html This link is from the human site but explains the drops very well.

If it is a severe infection you would also need the Chronic Ear Infection mix along with the ear drops.
http://www.herbal-dogkeeping.com/dog_chronic_ear_infection.html

Eye stains on white coated dogs is usually the result of tears that have spilled over the eyelid and onto the coat or long coat falling into the eyes and thereby wicking moisture from the eyes. This causes a moist area that attracts bacteria or yeast which then stains the coat a rusty brown colour.

There are numerous reasons for excess tearing some being - blocked tear ducts, eye structure being such that prominent eyes allow for spillage of tears, conjunctivitis or even something as simple with some breeds that in bright sunlight produce excessive tears whilst squinting in the bright light. I have even known some small breeds of dogs who actually "cry" - don't laugh I own one - when they desperately want something eg. Food you are eating, your attention etc.

So after ruling out blocked tear duct (which would require veterinary attention if truly blocked) then the treatments left are the following.

Inflamed tear ducts, conjunctivitis - our herbal eyewash see:
http://www.herbal-dogkeeping.com/dog_eye_wash.html which will whilst being used will leave a mild yellow staining but once the problem has been resolved application can be stopped and staining will gradually fade.

Long hair falling into the eyes should be trimmed appropriately. Do not believe the old wives tale that trimming the hair away will cause the dog to go blind! In fact the opposite is true as hair continually irritating the cornea can cause recurrent corneal ulcers which over time can cause severe scarring.

Some dogs will have excessive tearing due to allergies - similar to hayfever in people and if this is the case then this needs to be addressed as a separate issue.

This leaves the excess tearing that you have no control over due to the structure of the eyeball in the socket and for this we would recommend the use of Colloidal Silver as a non-irritant wash that will kill the yeast and bacteria which collect on the damp haircoat. http://www.herbal-dogkeeping.com/dog_colloidal_silver_antibiotic.html .

---

Equine - Wind Sucking

---

Wind sucking is the aspiration of air, done by the horse arching its neck and sucking in air. Some horses do this while holding onto something with their teeth; others do it unaided. It results in a grunting type of noise. The horse learns to gulp down air simply by creating a vacuum in the mouth.

The vast majority of horses that wind suck suffer no adverse effects at all. If the habit is severe the muscles on the underside of the neck, which the horse contracts when it arches its neck to suck in air, may get bigger and this might be regarded as unsightly.

You can purchase a windsucking collar from your local Horse products supplier.

Put "stop crib" on timber surfaces to discourage chewing. Or put your your horse with other horses for company, keeping in mind that it is a habit that can be passed on to other young impressionable horses so with older horses is a better option. Another idea is to give it a large ball to kick around.

In the meantime start this horse on rosehips & chamomile tea these will calm & condition the sensitive gut. See link for preparation.

http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_chamomile_flowers.html
http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_rosehips_granules.html

Use the teas to dampen the feed twice daily.

Have you thought about running an electric or hot wire around the top of the posts this will discourage without poisoning him.

If you are not getting positive results with the Chamomile tea you may need to treat with my nervous rehab mix see link;
http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_nervous_rehabilitation.html

It may also be worthwhile to add Slippery elm powder to his diet just to rule out Ulcers or similar gut distress.
http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_slippery_elm_bark_powder.html

You can source this locally & just dose 1/3 of a cup mixed with the cold chamomile tea to a slurry & add to feed 1 x daily.

Rescue remedy squirted onto the feed or direct into the mouth will also assist in making positive changes to his behaviour.
http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_rescue_remedy.html

---

Human - Anaemia (low iron)

---

Are you pale, feel dizzy, weak, experiencing palpitations, often falling alseep, have head aches and irritability?

Black tea, coffee, chocolate, egg yolk, wheat bran, antacids and excessive calcium intake can slow down iron absorption .

To actually improve absorption use iron with vitamin C and herbal bitters ie dandelion. Be wary of the iron supplements you take as many of them can cause constipation, stomach distress and rob you of Vitamin E.

Anaemia is a condition which occurs when you have an abnormally low amount of red blood cells. Red blood cells contain haemoglobin, a red pigment which gives blood its colour. The job of haemoglobin is to carry oxygen around the body. When red blood cells and therefore haemoglobin are low the blood fails to supply the body's tissues with sufficient amounts of oxygen. As your lungs and heart will then have to work harder to get oxygen into the blood, symptoms of anaemia, such as difficulty in breathing will begin to develop.

Anaemia can even affect women during pregnancy or women who suffer with heavy loss of blood with their periods.

There is not usually one cause of anaemia. Be aware of the following possibilities:

• Heavy periods.
• Diet low in iron, particularly if vegetarian.
• Internal bleeding, for example if you have an ulcer or tumor.
• Diet low in vitamin B12 or folic acid.
• Blood diseases such as leukaemia.
• Infections, such as malaria.

Read more details at our website below:
http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_anemia.html

---

Home Remedies - Lecithin, Brain Food

---

In todays modern world and lifestyle we need more nerve and brain energy than ever before.

Lecithin is a fatlike substance called a phospholipid. It is produced daily by the liver if the diet is adequate. It is needed by every cell in the body and is a key building block of cell membranes; without it, they would harden. Lecithin protects cells from oxidation and largely comprises the protective sheaths surrounding the brain. It is composed mostly of B vitamins, phosphoric acid, choline, linoleic acid and inositol. Although it is a fatty substance, it is also a fat emulsifier. Hence, it supports the circulatory system.

Lecithin is brain and nerve food, we need it when tired and fatigued, when we feel brain dead , when we can't make decisions and have lost our alertness. In fact if we take Vitamin B in supplement form we need to be taking lecithin to be able to retain the vitamin B. Lecithin is found in abundance in olives, egg yolk and avocados, liver, peanuts, soybeans, and wheat germ .

Interestingly multiple sclerosis patients have significantly less lecithin in the brain and myelin sheath than normal person. The autopsies also show that the lecithin that is present in the brain and myelin sheath of these multiple sclerosis victims is essentially composed of all saturated fatty acids and no unsaturated fatty acids. Multiple sclerosis is also known to have a much higher incidence in countries where the diet is high in saturated fats.

---

Reader Feed Back

---

1. Thank you!!! You are a blessing...I just spent 5 hours at an emergency hospital overnite w/ my dog who they believe has a slight/early case of pancreatitis...to get into work after less than 3 hrs sleep and receive your last newsletter on that very topic. It lightened my burden tremendously....keep up the great work!

Tracy
Rhode Island, USA

2. Maybe Andrea (or other readers) could give us the name of the "kibble" brand that Andrea refers to in her Reader Feed Back in the last newsletter.

"There is kibble brands available where the protein source is from meat and very little else is added. They do cost a little more, but you don't have to feed as much."

Or maybe a suggestion for a similar kibble?

Thanks. Patti

---

---

We value your feedback so much that we are making it easier for you to send us a sentence or two.
Please fill in the form below and click 'Submit'

Name:
Your Email Address:
Topic:

Comments or questions:

Wishing you and your companions the best of health and happiness.

Yours Truly,
Judith Burton for
Robert McDowell