Heart totally sank

I have a Shih Tzu by the name of Zhuzhu. Adopted her 2 years back. Been helping her with her poor health but her illnesses keeps coming back every few months. Now relapsing even more often.

She nearly go today. Did CPR for her. My heart totally sank. SO scared and my heart so pain. Duno what i can do for her now. Maybe I am selfish but I do not want to put her down. I know she is suffering but not willing to let go of her. I know she doesnt want to go off too. I can't bear to let her go to the other side though I know my other 2 dogs will keep her company.

Why is my dog’s ear always so smelly?

Is your pet plagued by ear infections? Do you spend time and money at the veterinarian's clinic trying to bring relief to your beloved pet, only to find that another infection appears after a while? If so, you may want to try some more natural approaches to preventing and treating your pet's ear infections.

Dogs and cats have an incredible sense of hearing. To protect their hearing and prevent damage to the ear drum, their ear canals are L-shaped. The problem with this is that it allows the ears to trap parasites, moisture, debris, and earwax, and any of these can lead to ear infections.

Out of 10 dogs that come to me for grooming and holistic consult, I often have to tell 9 of my customers that their dog’s ears are infected. Many of them don’t even clean their dog’s ears and some leave it to the maid to do it. Ear infections are very common amongst cats and dogs and can cause severe irritation and discomfort in your beloved pet. All dog owners have to be well-informed about this disease.

There are three types of ear infection in dogs – the outer ear infection, middle ear infection, and the inner ear infection. It is easy to know if your dog has an outer ear infection. You'll often see the symptoms of this disease, which is usually characterized by inflammation, red and smelly.

Usually, an ear infection in dogs starts out as something like smelly dog ears, or you notice that your dog is scratching his ears continuously. This may be a telltale sign of an outer ear infection. If left untreated, the problem may go deeper and may develop into middle ear infection or even inner ear infection; sometimes causing severe damage to the hearing of our dogs. It is, therefore, always recommended that we seek treatment instead of letting the infection run their course.

Like any other diseases, prevention is the key. Ear infection in dogs can be caused by a lot of factors.To prevent ear infection in dogs, we need to know the various possible causes and then we can do our utmost to eliminate such causes.

Here are some common causes of ear infection in dogs:

• Bacteria and yeast
• Allergies
• Dog Ear Mites
• Foreign bodies
• Hormonal Imbalance

Common signs of an ear infection include:

• Shaking of the head and ears
• Excessive scratching or rubbing the ears and face
• Thick discharge or even bleeding from the ears
• Foul smell coming from the ears
• Pain, sensitive, sometimes swollen ear
• Overall changes in behavior including depression, tiredness and irritability

Before trying any form of treatment for ear infection, it is important that a proper diagnosis by the vet is obtained. Make sure that there are no foreign bodies inside your dog's ear. Brown waxy debris and other signs of infection could be caused by bacteria, by a fungus, or by ear mites. Without knowing exactly what the primary cause is, at the end of the day the infection will be sure to worsen. Appropriate treatment can only begin after a vet makes an accurate diagnosis. Check with your veterinarian / holistic practitioner before using any home remedies, and always get a diagnosis before applying treatments. Since dogs can get different types of ear infections, always have your dog's ears checked before using any medications.

Here are some tips to prevent ear infection in dogs:

1. Feed your dog a natural diet with the correct supplements and vitamins.
2. Strengthen your dog's immune system using natural supplements.
3. Keep water out of your dog's ears as it tends to be a breeding ground for bacteria.
4. For long hair dogs, make sure that you pluck out any excessive hair. Short hair dogs usually don’t have any excessive hair growing out but when you bathe your dog make sure you dry the ear properly.
5. Make it a point to check your dog's ears at least once a week for signs of infection and be prepared to act quickly in case of infection.
6. Clean your dog's ears regularly and do not use water to clean.

There are a few solutions that we can use natural remedies to deal with the nasty ear infection. Just remember, don' wait till it becomes worst. By then, it might take a longer time to recover.

Why is My Dog's Poop Red?

Note: A black tarry stool indicates bleeding from the stomach or the upper part of the small intestine. Bright red blood in the stool indicates that the source of bleeding is in the lower gastrointestinal tract (colon or rectum).

Seeing your dog’s poo a puddle of blood can be a quite scary event, perhaps mainly because we most usually associate it with cancer, but luckily in dogs the causes may be a lot less dramatic.

Bloody stools often occur as a result of something that does not agree with your dog or cat’s stomach. There are several reasons that your dog might have bloody stool. The presence of bloody stools may be a symptom of either a minor problem, or a potentially more serious problem in the animal. One episode of bloody stools may be a minor and temporary incident. Repeated or persistent bloody stools are more serious and should not be ignored.

Below are some of the most common reasons given by various veterinarians:

• Infectious agents, such as bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and intestinal parasites
• Dietary intolerance/allergy/indiscretion
• Cancer of the lower bowel
• Benign masses in the colon or rectum
• Digestive related disorders, such as colitis, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disorder, stomach ulcer, and pancreatitis
• Trauma to the lower bowel or anal area
• Clotting disorders coagulopathy
• Viral, fungal or bacterial infections
• Liver or kidney failure

What to Watch For

• Bright red blood in the feces
• Possible straining to defecate
• Increased number of bowel movements produced
• Possibly no other clinical signs
• Possibly other systemic signs of illness, such as excessive drinking, urinating, vomiting and diarrhea, lethargy, poor appetite, weight loss

Natural Remedies Treatments

Natural remedies are often a healthier, gentler alternative to treating bloody stools than conventional medications. Not only does it protect the stomach and reduces the bacterial, it does help with the dog’s overall system to build up its immunity.

Bloody stools are not healthy or normal, and it is definitely a cause for concern!

How can Probiotics help my pet?

Many holistic veterinarians / practitioners believe that imbalances in intestinal bacteria are a major reason in many of the chronic disorders that we see in our pets today. Our own experience with cats and dogs, and even their people, shows us this is very true!

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria, the “good” or “friendly” bacteria that inhabit the entire digestive tract and play an important role in digestion, nutrient assimilation and immune system function.

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria and yeast, and are used to restore the normal balance of microflora (bacteria) in the gastrointestinal tract. In other words, probiotics are the "good, friendly bacteria" that are used to combat the "bad, harmful bacteria" that have grown out of proportion due to numerous reasons.

What are some of the roles probiotics play in the body?

1) Produce natural antibiotics, which can fight harmful bacteria.
2) Regulate and increase hormone levels.
3) Manufacture B group vitamins, biotin and folic acid.
4) Stimulate the immune system.
5) Reduce food intolerance.
6) Increase energy levels.
7) Inhibit the growth of some yeast.
8) Absorb nutrients, antioxidants and iron from food that is eaten.
9) Reduce inflammation.
10) Increase digestibility of food.

Several things can destroy the intestinal bacterial balance in a pet’s gut. The conventional treatment of infection is to use antibiotics / steroids / NSAIDs , which are like nuclear bombs to bacteria - they kill both good and bad indiscriminately. Moreover, stress, poor diet, artificial ingredients, acute and chronic diarrhea, pollutants, environmental changes, and prescription drugs can also reduce the levels of beneficial bacteria.

An imbalance between friendly and unfriendly bacteria in the pet’s body plays a role in many of the chronic disorders we see in our pets today.

Symptoms can include:-

1) bad breath,
2) bloating,
3) diarrhea,
4) constipation,
5) vomiting,
6) excessive gas,
7) foul smelling stool,
8) allergies,
9) autoimmune disease,
10) skin conditions,
11) blood clotting problems,
12) low bone density,
13) asthma,
14) migraines,
15) anxiety,
16) depression,
17) urinary incontinence,
18) lowered blood pressure,
19) abnormal gait,
20) tingling of nerves,
21) lowered uric acid levels,
22) lowered hydrochloric acid levels,
23) irritable bowel syndrome,
24) celiac disease,
25) dairy intolerance,
26) vaginal infection,
27) yeast infection,
28) bladder infection and
29) sinus infections.

Pets with large amounts of beneficial bacteria are better prepared to fight the growth of unhealthy organisms. So, if pets are to maintain a healthy body, they need large quantities of friendly bacteria. Supplement a well-balanced diet with a high quality probiotic and give your pet the health that he most certainly deserves.

Why is my dog scratching so much?

"Over 80% of my cases are dogs that scratch excessively. These dogs may have an itchy rash, they may have hair loss from scratching, or they may just scratch incessantly.

One of the most common problems presented to all veterinarians is the “itchy” pet, and as a holistic practitioner, the same holds true for me too. Most often the source of itch is allergies. With conventional medicine, the treatment is often to suppress and in chronic cases this can mean endless rounds of antibiotics and steroids.

So if it is so common, there must be effective treatments out there, right? Causes of dog itchy skin include parasites, allergens and skin infections and there are treatments for each one. Common treatment recommendations will be given when possible, but given the difficult nature of these situations, treatments often need to be individual patient based to be effective.

Allergies can be due to parasites, bacterial infection, fungal infections, food or the environment. All of these conditions can look very similar to each other as well to other disease processes that affect the skin. Method of figuring out accurately what your dog is sensitive to can be tricky. These conditions are not mutually exclusive, and often a bacterial infection is actually caused by an underlying problem such as allergies.

There are different types of skin infections that can affect your dog. Try to remember that your dog may react uniquely to a certain skin disease or may be suffering from a combination of a few skin conditions.

I do encourage my clients to work up the root of the allergy. If an allergen can be identified, a change in environment can improve the situation and certainly changing the diet is far simpler and better for your pet than forever fighting an allergy to the chicken you feed each day.

One of the main causes of dog skin disease is bacterial and yeast infections. These can cause excessive scratching and are usually brought on when a dog’s immune system is low because of stress, illness or hypersensitivity.

Herbs and nutritional supplements designed to alleviate the itchy skin and support skin health are another step in the treatment program for chronic allergies. This can help relieve the stress caused by the discomfort, which is supportive of immune function and healing. In addition, reducing the itch helps in the reduction of secondary infections and allows the skin to heal.

Natural treatments do take more time and effort than a course of antibiotics or steroid treatment. The long-term health and well-being of our pets, however, will be far enhanced by treating the pet’s entire system and the underlying cause of the itch, not just the symptoms.

Perseverance in treating the itchiness topically while you are addressing the underlying causes through diet and supplements will significantly promote your pet’s ability to heal and lessen his trauma as well. Secondary infections caused by persistent scratching, licking or biting make matters worse and slow the healing process, and topical treatment can help prevent this.

About Natural Medicines

What if my pet is taking drugs?

This is one of the many questions that most of the pet owners often ask me.

If your pet is on antibiotics or steroids to curb skin inflammation problems, you can still start giving them the natural healing skin and detox remedies now.

In other instances when taking drugs, natural medicines can be given at the same time, which is highly recommended for healing rather than maintaining a condition with conventional medicines. Of course veterinarian checkups and monitoring the development of your pet’s conditions is important, as well as gradually reducing/stopping drugs.

What is Homeopathy?

Homeopathy (home-ee-AH-puh-thee) is the branch of medicine which is based on the principle that disease can be cured by strengthening the body’s natural defense mechanism. This is in contrast to traditional (allopathic) medicine which uses drugs to suppress symptoms (which are the visible result of the body’s attempt to heal itself).

Similia Similibus Curentur — "Like Cures Like." Any substance which can produce a totality of symptoms in a healthy human being can cure that totality of symptoms in a sick human being.

Unlike drugs, homeopathic remedies don't directly attack the disease or condition. Instead, these substances trigger the body's own self regulation and self healing functions. They stimulate the body to cure itself.

The goal of homeopathic treatment is to achieve the highest possible level of health.Homeopathy does have important limitations however. Because it relies on the natural healing abilities of the body, advanced organ pathology such as cancer or crippling arthritis, which involve changes in the structure of the body, can rarely be fully reversed. The animals who suffer from such conditions will often however be helped to become stronger and more comfortable and have a better quality of life. In addition, surgical intervention is still required when appropriate (such as for traumatic diseases).


What are Traditional Chinese Medicines?

Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) is probably the oldest medicine for people, and by extension, for animals. I will begin by stating that you should not attempt herbal healing for your pet unless you have a good understanding of what makes your pet in poor health. And most important is to have a good understanding of the healing herbs. Don't guess.....check with your veterinarian what is wrong with your pet first!

It is unwise to presume that herbs alone are used to treat ill-health in our pets. Most holistic veterinarians/practitioners recommend nutritional support in addition to conventional therapy if the problem is acute, severe or life threatening. This integrated approach is designed to give the animal patient the greatest amount of comfort combined with the gentlest and most supportive treatments.

Herbs are naturally designed to work with body functions, not against them. For instance, antibiotics essentially bypass (and often destroy) the body’s natural immune system while achieving their goals through microscopic assassination. Echinacea on the other hand, stimulates natural auto-immune responses while leaving the immune system intact. The natural immune system then works more efficiently at what it is designed to do… it enables the body to heal itself through complex mechanisms that modern science has barely begun to understand.

Rather than just treating the signs or expression of a disease, using the TCM system as a whole enables a practitioner to identify and treat the underlying causes of disease.

TCM Herbs: -

a) Can serve as tonics and builders that strengthen organs, glands and tissues in specific parts of the body, like strengthening the heart, or aiding digestion;

b) Assist in the healing process by helping the body to eliminate toxins, thus helping to take care of the problem the symptoms are expressing, for example, they may stimulate physiological processes like the emptying of the bowels or bladder or cleansing of the liver.

Many herbs contribute their own rich sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Unlike many high-potency vitamin supplements that have the potential to burden the body with excess nutrients, herbs do not place added burden upon the liver, kidneys and digestive system. Instead, herbs provide their nutritional values in food-like form that the body can freely digest and utilize.



To end: -

In holistic medicine, “good health” is viewed as “the maintenance of proper balance” within a complex, finely tuned, intricately related unification of all which comprises a living body.