Homeopathy and Your New Puppy
New puppies are a joy! Depending on the age of the puppy when you bring it home or the puppy’s prior environment, puppies can be stressed or even sick. I’ve listed a few common ailments I get calls about and how homeopathy can help with your new pet.
Maybe your puppy or young dog is chewing his itchy paws or perhaps he is biting at hot-spots on his coat. Does he shake his head a lot or maybe scratch his ears? Is he vomiting?
I often hear that the vet said, the puppy’s ears are red, because he either has a yeast/candida problem or food allergies? The vet’s solution to the problem is usually to change the dog’s food and give a probiotic. You are told that doing this, the symptoms will improve. I receive the calls after the advice has been followed; when the dog’s food has been changed (i.e., high quality, prescription) and it still did not fix the problem completely. Usually when the pet’s symptoms did improve for a while, it’s because all you did was find a food that is not as stressful for your dogs’ liver to digest. In time, the puppy is back to where he started – red itchy ears. I have also worked with dogs that have scratched themselves to the point they are losing their hair, or their paws smells like cornflakes (yeasty).
Skin Condition Case Scenario
The puppy develops a skin condition, the breeder gives the puppy a medication that clears up the skin symptoms and in doing so, it causes the dog to have digestion problems down the road. Or a different skin problem comes out a few months down the road. Because this happened with the breeder you did not know your puppy was on a medication for a skin condition prior to you getting them. In this case, you will need a homeopathic remedy to repair the puppy’s digestion in order to fix the problem.
Has Your Dog Developed Symptoms Soon After You Brought Him Home?
If your dog has had these symptoms since the time you got your puppy or shortly after (within a year’s time). The condition is due to what happened to your puppy’s health from conception up to this point. It goes all the way back to the breeder and the mother’s health.
- What is the breeder’s philosophy in taking care of the mother and the litter?
- What was the mother’s health prior pregnancy, did she take any medications for any kind of health condition(s) before, during and after the pregnancy?
- What and how was she vaccinated?
How Does the Father’s Role Play in Your Puppy’s Health?
The father’s health also needs to be considered in cases like this.
- Has the father been on medications for reoccurring health problems?
- How has he been vaccinated?
The mother’s and the father’s overall health is passed down to their off spring; just as it is in human’s.
The Breeder
You may have been down this road before, a sick dog from day one, and decided you will do it differently this time. You did your research to find a holistic breeder, you continued following a holistic lifestyle for you and your family, all the way down to feeding your dog, high quality food. The breeder may say they are holistic. But you really don’t know what the true health of that puppy is until you have had them for several months.
The puppy you have, health and disposition is a result of the breeder’s philosophy of breeding and bringing up a litter. What does that really mean when a breeder says they are holistic?
- They follow Dr Dodd’s vaccine protocol. Does it mean they?
- Don’t vaccinate the litter until after 10 weeks old?
- Space out the vaccines?
- Separate the vaccines (no combination vaccines)?
- Give Nobivac Vaccines?
- Administering Mercury-free (Thimerosal-free) vaccines?
- What Does the Breeder Feed the Litter?
- Commercial Dog food,
- 100% raw food diet,
- 100% cooked diet,
- Combination of these kinds of foods
I am not putting all of the blame on the breeder, they have their own philosophy on raising puppies (i.e., diet, vaccines, selecting new parents). There are some vaccines that are mandatory and the breeder is only following the vet’s recommendation and vaccine schedule to sell the litter. You have to remember breeding animals, is a business. That doesn’t mean that all breeders don’t care who purchases their litter.
Other Factors that Can Cause Health Problems in Your Pet
What Has Your Puppy Been Eating?
The typical commercial pet food has everything and anything that is considered waste, including animal parts, Styrofoam packaging, metal tags and so on. Commercial pet food can cause health problems we see in our pets associated with lack of proper nutrition.
Have You Considered How Water Can Affect Your Puppy’s Health?
The water your puppy has been drinking can play a major role in your puppy’s health; whether it is city, well or bottled water.
Well Water and Bottled Water
- Well Water needs to have filter to eliminate any high content of minerals that can cause health problems.
- Water from Plastic Water Bottles can also lead to health problems with some dogs.
City Water
City water has multiple chemicals in it, whether it is found in the water supply or added to keep the water supply so called “purified” throughout the US.
Common Chemicals Found in City Water
Chlorinated Water – Is known to damage enzymes and cause magnesium deficiency, which can cause high blood pressure, to chemical sensitivity, decrease the absorption of calcium and phosphorus causing osteoporosis. Also chlorinated water can cause cancer (i.e., pancreas, colon, bladder), heart attacks, diabetes, kidney stones and much more.
Fluoride Commonly Added to City Water – Has been linked to causing the following health conditions: kidney and bladder symptoms, bone malformation, arthritis, skin problems, calcified deposits in the aorta, and hypothyroidism.
It’s Not Only the Water Your Puppy Drinks
Have you heard that what goes on the body also gets absorbed into the skin? That goes for the water you are bathing your puppy in. Your puppy may have irritated skin after you bath him. And you may think it’s the shampoo you are using; and all along it’s the water you’re bathing your puppy with, especially if you are using city water.
How Can Homeopathy Help Your Pet?
Homeopathy is one of the modalities that can be used to address the puppy’s health condition(s) that have been pointed out in this Blog.
If Your Puppy or Dog Develops:
- Loose stools shortly after getting your puppy,
- Dirty, red and itchy ears,
- Health conditions from vaccinations,
- Diarrhea develops within 24 hours after giving kibble while training your puppy,
- Skin symptoms or allergies that come from digestion problems,
- Reoccurring Parasites
When I work with client’s pets, in cases like this, I need to investigate what caused the symptoms. Finding the correct homeopathic remedy(s) may not always be as easy as asking a few questions. It may take a lot of questions to investigate your puppy’s health. It means looking into the health of your puppy’s mother and father, along with how the breeder took care of the mother and the litter.
A lot of time, my clients may not have this information. What does this mean? It means we start with our best guess and trial remedies and closely observe results as we continue to heal the puppy.
- It may take a couple of homeopathic remedies to start seeing results.
- A couple of different homeopathic remedies may be needed to address the health concern.
- A homeopathic remedy may have to negate the side effects of medications, vaccines, if that is what caused the symptoms.
Selecting a homeopathic remedy for your puppy will most likely need to be done by a homeopath that has experience in Chronic Case Taking.
What to Expect from a Homeopathic Remedy?
The selected 6c or a 30c homeopathic remedy will be given daily. I would expect to see results within 3-7 days, depending on the health condition and the homeopathic remedy potency. Once the homeopathic remedy is selected, I would be better able to tell you what I would be expecting from the remedy.
Bottom Line
When looking for a new pet to add to your family, you need to do your homework and ask each breeder you visit questions on their breeding philosophy. And don’t forget to ask your vet questions too, about their vaccination schedule for a new puppy.
Obtaining this information beforehand can mean that you’re not spending a lot of time and money on the traditional methods of healing (allopathic) on health conditions you avoided. And your new addition to your family has a great start to his/her health and well-being.
