Anyone use herbs and alternative remedies?

[Freedom]

I've been thrown into this all of a sudden, and want to learn more about what the heck I am doing!

Sugar and Lacey have both been sick, different issues, over the past 2 weeks; and neither was responding well to the pharmaceuticals.

Lacey is now doing lots better, she is on chamomile tea and slippery elm, I syringe these in her mouth to help with pain and swelling from a major dental. Allows her to eat right after. This is a short term thing; she will be fine in a few weeks.

Sugar was due to have her nasal polyp removed (yes again, this would be the 4th time in 5 years), and the blood work pre anesthesia found all 3 liver enzymes were very high. The vet put her on antibiotic and denamarin, and started talking about liver disease and possible cancer. This came out of nowhere, and she has NO symptoms of any problem. She is now on milk thistle tincture, milk thistle powder, and SAM-e in addition to what the vet prescribed. I am told to have her blood work done again in 2 to 3 weeks, and we should see a big change. Unfortunately she won't test out "fine" until after the polyp procedure, because she has to be on prednisone to breathe just now, and this is for sure elevating those readings; whether or not it is the only thing, we don't know.

All this happened very quickly on Sunday; I found someone knowledgable, referred to her by several different people, spent 2 hours on the phone with her on Sunday and immediately went out and have done what she advised. Yes, Lacey is doing lots better. For Sugar, won't know for a time. Now I have time to breathe again, I want to get a better foundation in what I am doing.

Any guidance appreciated!

[Karen]

Sandie, maybe this is something you could discuss with Dr. Carol, the vet who does "Ask a Vet" for the radio show I am on. Would you be able to call in on Thursday late morning? PM me for specifics ...

I know I - as someone who is highly allergic to ragweed pollen - have been told to avoid chamomile tea, as they are close relatives. But that's the extent of my knowledge, and of course Miss Hoppy preferred eating her herbs, just certain ones though!

[Freedom]

Well, Vets are trained in Western medicine. They frequently are not even open to TCM - traditional Chinese medicine. I'm not sure discussing this with her would be a good idea -- she "could" even consider it a "set up."

[Karen]

From her website:

Dr. Carol combines high quality Western Veterinary Medicine (as in surgery, antibiotics, advanced medical therapeutics, etc) with Eastern and Alternative Veterinary Medicine (such as Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Bach Flowers, Nutritional Supplements and Diet, etc) offering the best of both worlds to optimize pet health, wellness and longevity for dogs and cats.

[moosmom]

Sandie,

I have two cats that are seeing a Homeopathic vet.

Maya Linn and Bartie go to Manchester Veterinary Hospital and see Dr. Alexis Soutter. She is AWESOME!!!!

Maya has had issues with sneezing for years. Every vet I took her to put her on every conceiveable antiobiotic on the market to no avail.

Dr. Soutter diagnosed her with a vaccination carcinoma and said after reading up on sneezing and stuff, put her on Phosphorus. Her sneezing subsided. She's also on Lysine gel and an animal immune supplement. After a while, the phosphorus started not doing it's job, so she then put her on Silicea. These things are all natural and are working great.

Bartie, as you know, has high blood pressure and hyperthyroidism. Because he's so advanced in the hyperthyroidism, he's on Methimazole, and Altenlol for b/p. He's doing well also.

Bartie also has MAJOR dental issues. I asked Dr. Soutter if he's in any pain and she said probably. I got BellaDonna and gave him some which seems to help him, as he looks like he's in pain chewing. Dr. Soutter wants to get his B/P under control before she puts him under for dental.

Good luck, Sandie!!

[robinh]

Our RB dachshund Max quit responding to traditional veterinary medicine too. All the years he had taken prednisone killed his immune system. After his almost dying with a bout of hemorrhagic gastritis and staff skin infections, I took him to a Holistic vet who practiced acupuncture and chinese herbs. It made a world of difference. With the combination of the practices we were able to get him to a point where he was healthier than he had been in years and we had three more years than we thought we would have.