This website contains general medical information. The medical information is not advice and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information on our website as an alternative to medical advice from your vets or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter, you should consult your veterinarians or other professional healthcare providers. These remedies are what I use for my pets, and you should always consult your vets before using any kind of herbal, homeopathic and supplements.

Fleas and Tick Management Poison Oak / Poison Ivy

Fourth of July firework might be fun for humans but for our furry best friends, it could be a little unnerving. Some of our dogs are very nervous during the 4th.

For the nervous dogs, I use Bach Flower Rescue Remedy in their water or rub several drops into their paws. I have also seen other pet owners using “Thundershirt” for their dogs with good results.

According to Dr. Will Falconer of www.vitalanimal.com, you can also use Phosphorus 30C for pets who go from calm to lit due to loud noises.

Please be sure you talk to your vets before trying any herbal or homeopathic supplements.

Apis Mel is a very useful remedy for bee or wasp sting. Some pets required a trip to the vet after a sting due to bee venom allergy. For those pets not highly allergic to the venom, Apis Mel can help.

When Wonka got stung on the neck, I sprung into action and checked his injury. He was an excited puppy and would not sit still for examination so I gave him some treats.

The stung area looks a little puffy and a little red. He was excited and just want to lick and scratch. I observed him for tortured breathing, but he did not seem too worse for the wear.

I mixed up some baking soda with coconut oil and dabbed it on the site. The baking soda helps to neutralize the acid in the venom. Then I gave Wonka a dose of Apis Mel 30C. A dose is 3 pellets.

If the injury site was very swollen and bruised or very painful, then I would have used Ledum instead. Since the injury looked just a tiny bit red and just a little bit swollen (like a mosquito bite), I used Apis instead.

Wonka was soon back to being a happy and excited puppy. I had to put an E-collar on him though, because he wanted to lick the site for the coconut oil.

Have your dog ever surfed the counter during Christmas and or Thanksgiving only to vomit everything? Our furry children might not understand that they need to watch their waist lines and eat appropriately.

When my dogs get into something that do not agree with them, and have an episode of upset stomach, I usually pull out Nux Vomica. It calms their stomach right away and then they get nothing to eat for a day to clean out their systems. Then, the following day, I provide a bone broth to break the fast.

Depending on the size of my pet, I would give either 3 or 4 pellets of Nux Vomica.  Over this Fourth of July, Bobo has an upset stomach so I gave him Nux Vomica 30C once in the afternoon after his episode, and another dose before bed.

Since Bobo is a 70+ pounds American Pit Bull, he gets 4 pellets each time. If he were a smaller pet (less than 50 pounds in size), I would give him 3 pellets instead of 4. Since his problems resolve after two doses, I did not need to give him any more. Generally, after three doses, if the problems persist, Bobo would get a chance to go see some nice vets.

I kept Nux Vomica handy because of episodes like these. The pellets are small and you can easily pop them into their mouths without much trouble or give them the pellets with water. It works very well for even the pickiest of eaters.

Dog days of summer and your pups might need to cool down by either going for a swim, or go somewhere cool.

My pups sometimes could get overheated. The crazy thing is, they sometimes act like they don't know it's hot out there. :(

If your pups skin feel intensely hot, and he is puffing and his tongue hanging out, that’s the symptoms most fit to Belladonna. For the adult dogs, I provide 30C twice a day, and for the puppies, I usually give 200C three times a day. If the fever persists after a day, they go to the vets.

Fall is always the harvest season on the farm. With ripe fruit and produces, also come lots of critters wanting their shares (They are worse than the IRS). We have squirrels, birds, and raccoon’s eating apples, pears, and nuts.  We have found that the raccoons especially like our grapes, and they like to come out at night to eat them.

During the daytime, the dogs are out in the yard so they can chase away the critters, but at night, that's when the raccoons venture out to hunt and to scavenge.

If you never had a raccoon problem before, you might not know that raccoon can be very vicious and some dogs do not stand a chance against them. We have had couple of dogs here who tangled with raccoons and losing skin or flesh.   We tried to keep the dogs in, but sometimes, they just would not be contented to stay in the house, and you never know whether the dogs want to go chase the coons or they just need to go pee, so I keep these items on hand for emergency:

1. Bandage or mold skin

2. Witch Hazel wash

3. Arnica Spray

4. Dressing

5. Arsenicum 200c

6. Last but not least, Yunnan Baiyao

Luckily, the last time my dogs got into a fight with the raccoon, my dog (a husky) won.

Our Dobergirl wasn’t as lucky.  When she went after the raccoon, her chest got rip open. Since we lived out in the country and there's no veterinarian service close by, and our normal vets would not be opened until the next day, I had to take care of her for the night until she could go and get stitches the next day.

I used the Witch Hazel wash to clean her wound because isopropyl alcohol would burn her too much and she might decide to bite me instead of letting me clean her wound.  Witch Hazel has amazing property of antibacterial, antiviral and anti fungal property.

After the cleaning, I put on clean dressing and bandage her up.   After that, I used Arnica spray around the wound so she would not be in so much pain.  I also gave her a dose of Arsenicum 200C to stabilize her from shock and trauma.

She did not need the Yunnan Baiyao this time because the raccoon only tore into her chest muscles. If she had bleed terribly and the bleeding couldn't be stopped, then I would have use Yunnan Baiyao. This is a proprietary traditional Chinese medicine that is very effective in stopping bleeding from wounds. During the Vietnam War, this medicine has saved many Vietnamese soldiers on the battlefield.  I am unable to tell you the ingredients because this is a closely guarded secret but I have seen it works wonder in terms of stopping bleeding.

Our dogs love each other and they usually get along with each other. Just like brothers, they would play and chase and generally, very peaceful, but just like siblings, they sometimes can get into each other's face and fight.

Several months ago, these two went into a all out brawl. When you have a husky and Pit Bull, this could be a serious matter and you don't want to get in between them.

I was not here when it happened and I only saw the results. Our husky mix Solly was standing over a bunny with a gash down its front leg while the Pit bleeding from the face.

At the time, I had a plane to catch so I gave them Arsenicum 200c. It helps with shock because this has never happened before.

Several days later, when I came home from my trip, I found the husky all healed up with triple antibiotic ointment but the Pit's face swollen and draining putrid liquid and his eye so swollen it wouldn't close.  He came down the stairs to greet me but he was having weakness and had a hard time going back up the stairs. I tried to touch him but he tried to avoid my touch especially close to his face.

I knew he must have a major infection on his face injury. Instead of using antibiotic which can have a lot of unwanted consequences and side effects, I decided to use Hepar Sulph 200C.

Hepar Sulph's has four distinctive characteristics.  First, patient has extreme sensitivity to pain and touch. Second, patient has weakness in general. Thirdly, patient has sticking pain in certain parts of the body, and lastly, smells.

I cannot say for sure that he has sticking pain but based on what I can see, Bobo (the Pit) has three out of four of the symptoms matching Hepar Sulph. So I gave him four doses the first day, three dose the second day, two doses the third day. After that, I stopped and monitored him. 

By the end of the week, his swelling has gone down and his face had cleared up and he was back to being a happy pup again.

I believe Bobo learns the lessons about going after his bro's bunny

Want to know more about the BS of raw feeding?

1. Salmonella – It’s a major fear for humans. You heard about that on lettuce and our food; people getting sick from it. We have to cook our food so that way we won’t be getting sick. Well, guess what? If you think about your dogs and its’ ancestors (the wolves, specifically, gray wolf), did they have bbq grill and cook stoves out there?  What do wolves eat?

2. Choke on bones – That’s a very legitimize concern. Only if the bones were cooked, that’s when the chicken bones can shatter.

3.  Incomplete nutrients – A very valid concern for our family members.  Pet owners have been told not to feed anything but a complete meal in a bag. Unfortunately, in recent years especially in 2007, pets die due to melamine and cyanuric acid. I suggest you read Dr. Billinghurst books. His website, https://drianbillinghurst.com/barf/

4. Blood lust – I have been told that if you feed raw, your dogs will lust for blood and might take a bite out of you or your other dogs.  I am glad to report that since March of 2016, we have nine dogs that passed through this household (we were foster parents). They were all fed raw meat, and they did not try to eat each other or me.  Most of the time, we have two to three dogs together and they are what people considered the aggressive type dogs (Doberman, Husky, and Pit Bull).

Do your pets have Urinary Tract Infections frequently? Most vets prescribed antibiotics when your pets have UTI. It works, but often time, the UTI will come back after several months because the root cause of the UTI has not been treated. Antibiotic is a great remedy but it is also only a temporary solution.

If you find your pets having frequent UTI, please consider their diet. First, what are you feeding them? If you said kibble or dried food, then you might want to add liquid to their food. Personally, I would add bone broth. Bone broth is healing and helps to lubricate their joints and also help with skin. Pets enjoy bone broth so you won't have problems adding it to their diet.

Emma Rutherford of The Natural Canine Kitchen has a splendid idea about making Popsicle for pets to add water to their diet. Please check it out at
The Natural Canine Kitchen

If you find that the UTI is severe and frequent, it could potentially infect your pets' kidneys. I suggest adding nano silver to your pets water bowl. Nano Silver can help with infections and also control bacteria growth.

If your pets have bloody urine, frequent urge to urinate, general restlessness, and straining to pee, then use homeopathic Mercurius Vivus 30C three times a day for four days, but also follow up with feeding a species appropriate diet.

Do we need pet insurance? I believe under certain situations, pet insurance could come in very handy. Since pet insurance is an elective (unlike car insurance or Obama Care ) you might want to do some research and choose wisely.

After careful considerations, I came to the conclusion that pet insurance would be very helpful for certain situations. One of the insurance I would strongly advise is Accidental Coverage.Accidental Coverage can help you care for your pet when they get hurt. It covers injuries and emergencies related to accidents, like torn ligaments, bite wounds, cuts, broken bones, swallowed objects, and toxic ingestion.

Here are some of scenarios where I would consider purchasing accidental insurances:

1. You live on acres and there's dangerous critters surrounding you and your pets.

We live on acres and in our area, there's foxes, coyotes, cougar, bears and deadly snakes such as Cotton Mouth, Copperhead, and Coral.

Recently we just saw a water moccasin at our dogs water dish. So we know they are around. If one of our dogs get attack, it would be good to have accidental insurance.

2. Your residence does not have a fence, and/or your dog is an escape artist

I have seen too many dogs get run over by vehicles. Personally, I would invest in a good fence but if you happen to live in a rental, or your dog is an escaped artist, you might want to consider accidental insurance.

In the event that your dog survive a vehicular accident, accidental insurance would come in handy. It is very costly for surgery, rehab, and or prosthetic and mobility wheels. Nowadays, veterinarian surgeons can do great things for pets but it all costs a pretty penny.

3. You have a goofy dog that tend toward accidents.

Have you seen such a dog before? I have. Those dogs are very athletic with high prey drive.Those dogs would run after their preys with one tract mind and wham, slam into trees, water faucets or fence posts. They will need stitches, antibiotics, iv catheter, and probably pain killers.

Moxie was our foster and she was one of those goofy dog. One time, she tangled with a predator. We are not sure what she tangled with since we didn't see it. The result, her chest ripped open, and she was maw. It costed several hundred dollars for stitches, antibiotic and anesthesia. I wished I had accidental insurance then.

Here is a link for pet insurance comparison. This is a well written and very well research document.

Besides accidental coverage, there's also pet insurance that covers a wellness plan. Personally, because of my knowledge, I don't need that for my pets. Depending on your situations, you might want to look into that also. If you choose a wellness plan, I advise choosing one where you can take your pets to a holistic vet.

Most metropolitan cities would have holistic vets. Those caring professionals truly take their time to understand your pets situations including exercise, nutrition, behavioral and mental health before recommending treatments or preventive care. I found several excellent ones in Portland and Seattle areas. One of these holistic veterinarians is Dr. Jackie Sehn (Mercyvet Hospital, Seattle). She can do both homeopathic and allopathic therapy.

Susie Killian in Portland, she uses both homeopathic and gemmotherapy.

These caring professionals are few and far between unfortunately, so if you find one, keep their contact information.