Natural Every Day Pet Care.
There are some very easy ways that we can help our pets to stay healthy and establish their own healing as required. The author firmly believes that her experience with rescue dogs and horses has clearly illustrated that the money spent on the best possible everyday diet will be balanced out by savings on vet bills especially when the pet reaches old age when health and fitness may otherwise fall into long-term infirmity or illness.
The following recommendations are presented as an everyday precaution that can help your pet to maintain good health and hopefully live through old age to a peaceful demise. A natural death is the best gift you can give your pet and this will save you a lot of worry and unnecessary vet bills. The author, to date, has only used veterinary services for castration, broken bones, and occasionally euthanasia in order to alleviate a long suffering death. All other health issues experienced during a life time of work with rescue horses and dogs have been addresses successfully with nature alternative care alongside of sympathetic veterinary supervision.
Sunshine heals: Pets naturally like to enjoy the morning sunlight, especially late morning when the air is warmer and the sunshine is at its most powerful for facilitating good health and healing. Normally animals will only avoid or miss these special sunshine hours because of physical confinement or anxiety about separation from those they love.
The old tradition of placing the baby in a pram outside in the light and fresh air was a wise aspect of traditional parenting. Sunshine helps everyone, but especially babies, to develop strong healthy liver functioning. Sunlight is very important for both humans and animals because it directly helps the liver to achieve good maintenance and thus work well. Sadly this wisdom seems to have been lost in the ‘advances of civilisation’!
Natural Water
Water is, like sunlight, one of the most powerful assets to good health for people and animals as well as plants.
Sadly tap water is not good for our pets and they may avoid drinking it as much as possible; preferring to wait (all day if necessary) until they find a natural mucky puddle, green pond or vibrant flowing stream. Green algae in water can be an added bonus for animals who are not naturally vegetarian.
Also animals do not like drinking water from metal drinking bowls because the water loses its alkalising qualities when left in a metal container or tank. Aluminium bowls are best avoided when offering food or water to your pet. The aluminium nozzle on the hamster and guinea pig water bottles may well account for their early demise in caged captivity. Even water that looks mucky and undrinkable to us will be far preferable to your pet than the nice fresh (!) water you put out especially for them each day. Ideally water should only be left out in an earthen ware or a glass bowl.
Also it is important to note that homeopathic remedies will not work properly if they are added to water that is in a metal bowl or indeed administered with a metal spoon. Ideally all Natural Medicines should not have any contact with metal. Similarly if a dish is also used for food it may not (even after being washed thoroughly) be suitable for administering homeopathic and Bach flower remedies. A good clean with plenty of water and then a good dose of strong sunshine can help bowls used for food to become suitable for drinking water and administration of natural remedies. Hard forms of plastic (spoons, syringes) are best if china or glass objects are not appropriate. However, leaving water out in plastic containers is also going to adversely affect the animal’s healthy body maintenance because both electric light and especially strong sunlight make water absorb adverse plastic substances.
The author has worked with rescued animals all her life. Below she describes a few examples of her own experiences of the success of natural healing for animals. The following information and examples of natural healing are presented to illustrate successful healing and are not therefore recommended as treatments for other animals without proper supervision from a suitably qualified animal vet or healer.
Artificial AdditivesPet foods can contain all sorts of artificial additives (flavourings, colourings and preservatives) that may be hard to track if all the ingredients are not specifically and clearly listed.
Highly strung and nervous dogs can become more stressed and difficult to managed when they are adversely affected by artificial additives in their diet. [One dog that the author found in a dog rescue was of great concern to the kennels because she had been there over a year and looked unlikely to get a new home. When with people she hardly ever had even one foot on the ground because she spent all her time bouncing face to face with anyone who was within her reach. It was also impossible to groom her long thick tangled coat. Back at the author’s family home after three weeks on her special additive free diet she was a perfect and gentle loving pet. Later in her life she worked alongside the author helping autistic children who were presenting very challenging behaviour; this was extremely challenging work for everyone concerned and this dog deserved a gold medal for her tolerance and devotion, she was an important part of the children’s successful recovery.]
The author considers that artificial additives (flavourings, colourings and preservatives) in pet food can also affect a dog’s general health. Artificial flavourings and preservatives are especially common in commercial pet foods and especially cat food. In later life cats can get kidney related disorders. Illnesses related to the kidneys can cause an emaciated condition with constant food craving, as well as much suffering from prolonged kidney problems often thought to be caused by old age as opposed to a diet of artificial chemical additives. Avoiding pet food containing artificial additives (flavourings, colourings and preservatives) can save expensive subsequent vet bills particularly in older pets.
Kidney conditions can be helped and cured by a daily supplement of Inulin (Now Foods sell an Organic Inulin powder that has shown truly amazing results for both pets and humans with kidney related health problems.
An animal’s liver is responsible for removing unnatural substances such as artificial additives (flavourings, colourings and preservatives) and drug based medications from the blood. When we feed our dogs on liver meat we may also be feeding them with the unnatural substances that in the live animal’s liver had previously collected out of the animal’s blood. Obviously pet food is made with the meat that is available at the lowest price and in large quantities; such meat is inevitable sourced from the most intensive farming systems. Therefore Liver and meat is best sourced as lamb because sheep and their lambs predominantly graze on rough grassland. Sheep and lambs are less likely to have been treated with chemical fertilizers and they are less likely to have been given antibiotic, hormonal or other medications before slaughter. Breast of lamb, hearts and liver can provide excellent additional raw meat nutrition. For this reason the author only feeds lambs liver.
Meat, Meat Derivatives and Eggs,
Unfortunately commercially produced pet foods almost always contain Meat and meat derivatives. This meat is sourced from the animals that have failed to pass as suitable for human consumption. Alternatively there are parts of the animals slaughtered for human consumption which are not considered fit for human consumption, such as the testicles and intestinal or rectal tract. Whatever reason these meat parts that are not put into burgers or other undefined meat products are likely to be equally unsuitable to your pet. Many commercial pet foods say meat products and others say animal derivatives These undefined animal products can contain all sorts of nasty chemicals, drugs, hormones and toxins. Cheap frozen pet foods are not recommended unless they are specifically labelled and sourced from a specific type of meat or fish.
For this reason the author recommends feeding your pet on meat free convenience pet foods. There are some good fish only alternatives. Also the frozen minced trip and pet fish can provide a cheap and healthier alternative. Fresh mackerel or sardines from the fishmonger or a breast of lamb can be a nutritional once a week/or occasional top up.
The constitutional makeup of an egg is directly related to the food eaten by the chicken that laid the egg. Thus a free ranging chicken fed on organic food will produce an excellent organic egg full of natural nutrition and free from artificial additives (flavourings, colourings and preservatives). Commercially produced eggs reflect the quality of food fed to the chickens.
For this reason the author avoids feeding any form of commercially farmed bovine or pig meat and does not consider the commercial chicken, duck and turkey industry is a good source of pet meat or eggs.
Fish is considered by the author as an excellent source of protein. The cheaper Atlantic sourced white Polock fish is excellent and a relatively cheap option as a weekly or daily meal. Gutted fresh mackerel is even better. Gutting the fish helps avoid issues related to pollution. Tinned pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce can be fed once or twice a week to provide additional omega fish oil and supportive nutrition. However, it is best to avoid the tinned fish that is dressed in brine because the high salt level can be adverse to good health.
Cod liver oil
Fish oil the author has found the refined Seven Seas Extra High strength omega 3 fish oil is the best. It is easier for dogs that might otherwise have difficulty digesting the cheaper raw fish oils sold as an animal supplement.

Good organic eggs
Free range organic eggs, are an excellent food for carnivorous pets. Duck eggs are generally higher in nutrition than chicken eggs and goose eggs are also very high in nutritional benefits. These naturally produced eggs contain far superior levels of nutrition than meat or commercial pet foods. Eggs are best given raw, however, a sickly or elderly pet may be tempted to eat with the aid of a hardboiled egg.
Dog biscuitThe author recommends the high level of balanced nutrition provided by the Yarrah organic vegetarian dry dog biscuit. This is an outstanding bio organic dog food (which is worth its weight in gold in that a little of this biscuit is a healthier option than much greater quantities of standard dried dog meal. All dogs seem to really love the Yarrah organic biscuit; even those normally fed on meat.

Animal supplements
For those that can afford this additional expense can save a fortune in vet bills during the course of your pet’s natural life. The author recommends the best natural herbal and food based supplements which in her experience are those provided by:-
Higher Naturewww.highernature.co.uk Their True Food supplements are outstanding in excellence and very successful for both dogs and cats. Higher Nature provide a good range of True Food supplements for dogs and cats and they present a regular article in their supplement magazine written by the highly qualified veterinary consultant Nick Thompson who is based in Bath. www.holisticvet.co.uk. To find the nearest homeopathic vet visit www.abva.co.uk.
[My own beloved Yorkshire terrier at the age of seven suddenly became overweight while, at the same time she progressively ate less and less and moved around very little. On seeing the vet it was clear that she had a very serious heart condition. The ultrascan confirmed a very weak and erratic heart rate as well as to everyone’s surprise a good number of live puppies. I treated her condition with a calcium and magnesium supplement. Later she aborted the puppies but this may have saved her life. Her appetite gradually returned and the heart condition improved rapidly. Within a few weeks she regained her previous good health and fitness. Heart conditions are often associated with poor levels of calcium absorption, in the case of my little dog this problem was magnified by her emancipated body trying to fulfil the demands of the puppies growing within her womb. Nutrigold produce a calcium-citrate supplement called Calcium Citrizorb and Higher Nature produce a True Food Calcium supplement. Both these products are recommended for their high levels of easy absorption into the body cells. Magnesium deficiency can obstruct the body’s absorption of nutrition especially calcium. I now treat all young, old and sick animals with a magnesium supplement Nutrigold Magnesium Citrizorb or Higher Nature’s True Food Magnesium and often also offer a permanent choice of drinking water that has added magnesium salts. To my surprise the dogs often choose to drink the magnesium water rather than their plain Tachon charged spring water.]
Feedmarkwww.feedmark.com offer an outstanding range of dried herbs and herbal supplements for both every day and performance levels of care for horses and they have also created a range of supplements for dogs.
The author could share many amazing stories of recovery thanks to the MeadowblendFeedmark supplements. [Recently I went to visit a mare of thoroughbred cross shire breeding. Her front hoof was split from top to bottom and when she walked, as the weight pressed down on the hoof, the two halves moved independently showing an alarmingly wide and unpredictably variable gap between the separate two halves. The author was very concerned that any new growth would not withstand the stress and movement in the two halves of the hoof due to the size and weight of the horse. This amount of stress on the coroner could prevent the split from ever growing out and thus cause permanent and ongoing damage. The following natural course of treatment was initiated: The horse was attended by the blacksmith who applied bare foot remedial trimming every four weeks. The horse was fed on a tailored portion of feed mark herbal supplements (hardy hoof, hedge herbs, Benevit) together with one capsule of the Nutrigold magnesium supplement. Her hoofs were dressed externally around the coronary band once (or twice a week if it was especially hot and dry weather) with a mixture of organic hemp oil and black cumin seed oil in a 3/1 proportional ratio. In the past the author has found Rose hip is especially important for hoof growth. ]

Parasites
External Ticks can be removed by continuously turning the tick anti clock wise for three complete 360 degree turns. This releases the tick form the skin of the dog. Otherwise they can be smothered in vasalin gel which should suffocate the tick to death. It is very important that any tick is not pulled off, because the head of the tick will remain embedded in the dog’s skin. This is then likely to cause irritation and the dog may try to scratch the head out of the skin and this can cause secondary skin infection.
Control of internal parasites is a crucial issue when attempting to keep your pet in life-long good health. A natural solution is best because this notably alleviates the risk of secondary complications from chemical medication which can also irrevocably damage the animals only natural defence system. Thus an unnatural chemical drug based cure can evoke more prevalent future problems and induce growing weaknesses within the animals natural defence system.
Verm-X www.verm-x.com produce an effective herbal control of internal parasites for dogs , cats, horses, poultry etc. Verm-X produce especially formulated tasty herbal treats that give protection against internal parasites. Different recipes have been formulated to suit the different domestic and farm animals. (www.verm-x.com) (ecovetshop.co.uk)This product is not only recommended as the best way to keep your pet free from parasites but this herbal medicine can be administered daily in the form of a good nutritional supplement presented as a dried biscuit treat.
Internal Parasites can be also be treated with a regular supplement of boiled parsley added to food however the Verm-X herbal products are stronger and therefore more reliable if the pet already has a problem especially if it is in the more advanced levels of infestation..
[All the above websites offer customers an excellent help line for advice on individual cases studies, as well as the generally supportive information presented on their web-sites.]
Nervous conditions
For pets that have a generally nervous and/or subsequently over protective disposition the author has given a Vitamin B5 supplement with a magnesium complex supplement support. She presently uses the human supplements produced by Nuti-gold www.nutrigold.co.uk because they seem to give the best results, however, readers should check this option of supplementary support with their own vet.
The author has found that Iodine is excellent for general health maintenance, strength, and healing. Iodine is found in Kelp powder or tablets, drops or lava bread seaweeds and as drops in the dogs water; 3-10 daily according to the pet’s size and condition.
Iodine can also help nervous dogs. It can help all dogs and especially bitches, who are whelped or rescued from poor circumstances or puppy farming. Thus a few Iodine drops given daily can help an aggressive dog to successfully overcome any underlining thyroid condition that has disrupted their natural, easy going, original doggy nature.
Bioforce Animal Flower Essences (www.avogel.co.uk (Bioforce UK) Ltd)
The author has recently started to use the Bioforce Animal Health range of Flower Essences and found them to be very effective. When bringing a new pup home I was very worried about how she would manage without her parents, brothers and sisters and other four legged friends she had freely played with all day on the farm where she was born.
[ I gave her the flower essence for SEPARATION and HIGHLY STRUNG to cover nervous anxiety and she settled happily into her new family without any sleepless nights or upset. The other remedies in the range are EMERGENCY, OVER DOMINANCE and TIMID. Add to the animals water and/or food (added to water will be more effective than when added to food) These remedies are a real gift to animals and their carers’. Also these remedies will work better if not in contact with metal bowls or spoons etc. and they can be given directly into the animal’s mouth.
Copper
I give my dogs a tin of the cheapest Marrowfat processed peas. Although processed the ones I buy are free from artificial additives. The water does contain added sugar which I am not in favour of, however, the green colouring Copper Chlorophylin and Carotenes are both very favourable as a regular food supplement once or twice a week depending on the dog’s size.