Natural Medicine For Dogs

Natural Medicine to help Satchmo

Natural medicine for dogs can be a powerful and effective treatment especially when the health challenge is a bit unclear.  In addition to seeking a trained natural health professional, it is important to have diagnostics to get you headed in the right direction. Using my knowledge and training to help my own animal family is such a blessing!

Satchmo is my 15 1/2 year old rescue Border Collie.  He’s been a part of our life for a long time since we adopted him when he was about 1 year old. The above picture was taken today, September 29, 2015.

Recently he has been suffering from a mysterious illness.  The first sign of something amiss was he threw up all of his dinner in the middle of the night.  After that, we notice he was a bit lethargic, not wanting to eat at all and panting all the time.  When I took his temperature, it was 104! (Normal temperature is about 102.5) Time for a trip to the vet.

After a intense exam, we decided to do x-rays and blood work. While waiting for the blood work to be processed, the vet suggested we do some IV fluids in hopes of flushing out an infection and reducing the fever.

X-rays showed some weird mass in his lungs, strange pattern in his lungs and an enlarged spleen.  His blood work showed elevated liver values and a few other wonky values.  Results also confirmed his chronic kidney disease that we’ve been actively working on the last several years. These values had slighly improved since the last check confirming the Ayurveda herbal blend is improving his kidney function.

After consulting with the vet and ruling out some other possibilities, we decided to get an ultrasound of the abdomen to see what might be going on in there.

Ultrasound showed no mass or issue with the spleen, just enlarged, likely fighting whatever is going on in the blood.  Mass in lung was clearly seen but without biopsy or FNA (fine needle aspirate) we wouldn’t know exact what it was all about.  We decided to keep it simple and run a few additional diagnostics before doing anything invasive. In the mean time, we took our buddy Satchmo home for some good old fashion TLC. Well, maybe not so old fashioned when you see what I did.

After reviewing the current diagnostics, I created a home treatment plan.  I put him on an Ayurvedic herbal blend to help purify the blood and reduce the fever. Antipyretic herbs are not something to use long-term, so only a few days supply was mixed up. It’s pretty bitter going down, so I had to get a “spoon dropper” from the local pharmacy.  Very helpful!

I have also started him on medicinal essential oils to help with the fever and other issues.  Several times a day, I layered peppermint, cornmint, feverfew and lemon essential oils on his coat down his spine. He enjoys it and relaxes a lot once they are on.  He also gets sprayed down with the peppermint & rose hydrosol. When the fever was at it’s worse, I soaked a towel with ice cold water and put it over him – especially on his head. This really relaxed him and he could sleep.

I brought home some fluids and have been giving them SQ. When he started fighting these sessions, I knew he was feeling a bit better. His appetite is a struggle, but he’s enjoying eating cheeseburgers, Weetabix cereal with warm milk and canned dogfood. I also made him some bone-broth soup. With this picky appetite, I can’t add any supplements to his food right now. At least he’s loving the essential oils, *chokes* down the Ayurvedic herbs and is accepting the gentle love of flower essences, plus lots of pets. What a medicine bag of magic!

Both the regular vet and specialty vets were helpful and compassionate. They were also open to exploring all options and have called me daily to check in. Funny that neither of them could really believe his age. Other than the current issue, Satchmo has good muscle tone, a nice coat, is quite mobile and generally normal blood work. All the natural remedies, clean, home-cooked diet and reduced vaccinations make a big difference.

We are still waiting on some test results so have no real answers on what might be going on.  All of the things found so far could be related or not.  With few non-invasive suggestions from the conventional medicine world, I feel blessed to have nature’s medicine cabinet to lend a hand. It’s been about 7 days since all this started. With all of these treatments, he has more energy, his temperature as returned to normal (woo hoo!) and the light has returned in his *somewhat* cloudy eyes. We are not out of the woods, but Mr. Satchmo has been playing in the yard, asking to go on walks in the field and generally feeling better.

We will see how it all plays out, so for now, we are enjoying time with our buddy Satchmo and thanking Mother Earth for providing such effective healing tools.

Update:  Satchmo is doing fine and recently celebrated his 16th birthday!  The Ayurvedic herbs broke the fever and he continues to be doing really well.  He “bows” his head to get the essential oils on his neck (a source of pain) and joyously runs around after they are applied.