Natural animal care

[Beekissed]

I try to stay as natural as I can with the food animals and now also with the nonfood animals, so I keep some things on hand for deworming and other parasite removal, as well as treatment of boo boos.

This morning the cats got their spring worming via ginger paste in tuna....every drop was licked clean from the bowls, so they got a good dose of the ginger.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3668217

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00436-015-4416-0?no-access=true

I don't worm on a regular basis here for any of the animals but do feed them certain things once or twice a year, usually spring and fall. Ginger, garlic, pumpkin seeds(while they eat the fermented pumpkins they consume the seeds) are some I use but hardly ever the same one twice in a row.

http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/a...xima-pumpkin-seeds-carica-papaya-papaya-seeds

A few years back I read this article and liked what I read...I've never treated any dog I've owned for heartworm, nor do I worm on a regular schedule, nor do I like using the chemical flea treatments when I can avoid it. These past few years I've been avoiding it. I also don't vaccinate them for anything unless it can't be avoided(surgery/neutering/etc. when they insist on rabies vac).

http://thewholedog.org/heartworm.html

Given the wild canine's innate efficiency in dealing with heartworm, virtually all veterinary naturopaths and holistic practitioners, recommend utilizing as many aspects of the wild canine's lifestyle as is practical for domestic dogs, including, most importantly, a natural diet of raw meat and bones, minimal vaccination, and severely curtailed exposure to flea/tick -killing pesticides. Just STOP using them! There are many alternative, healthy ways of preventing and even killing pests but again, a healthy immune system is the key.

Animals with healthy, balanced immune systems are not in need of any specific preventives because their very lifestyle is their preventative!

Just trying to give them a lifestyle more like their natural one, if possible, while also trying to supplement that or support that with natural remedies for parasites but without breaking the bank in all of that. Seems to be working fine as all animals have maintain great health over the years.

Fed the dogs some fresh lake trout, guts and all, this morning, so will follow that with ginger paste in their food tomorrow.

 

[freemotion]

My new holistic vet told me to put a drop of rose geranium eo on the dog's back neck before walking them to repel ticks. A drop at each end of the spine for larger dogs. NOT for cats, though.

I make a fly spray for my goats that works rather well, at least long enough for them to go out and gorge themselves before they run in to chew cuds. It is half water, half Bragg's raw organic ACV, a tablespoon of neem oil, a few drops each of lavender (for me, neem oil smells gross) and rose geranium EOs. The important feature is that the ACV spent at least two weeks in a jar stuffed with fresh catnip leaves and lemon balm leaves before straining it into jars for making this fly spray mix. I have a gallon jar on the counter now. I find that the catnip starts getting lush a couple of weeks before the mosquitoes come out in force, so I get right on this project as soon as I see the catnip. I also add a few drops of liquid soap like Dr. Bronners to emulsify the oils, and shake the bottle often while spraying.

You can buy catnip EO instead but fresh catnip is free here.

The goats needed to be trained to tolerate the spray bottle with treats. Some of them now love the smell and will try to lick it off themselves and try to grab the nozzle of the bottle. It smells great!

I keep a version of this for me for chores, it is just the catnip ACV and water without the oils, and I use it to go milk or do quick chores in the evening. This version only lasts about 20 minutes, but doesn't leave me oily if I've already had my shower. I keep a bottle on the milking stand to re-apply.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, and yes, my dogs are on a fully raw diet. I get New Zealand lamb shanks by the 40+ lb box for about $3 per pound. Each successive dog had been smaller than the previous one, for this reason. The latest, Guy (pronounced en francais, ghee) is about 15 lbs at a year old. Gunnar, his not-too-distant relative, is mentioned in some of my old posts. He was my first dog and was a fabulous vermin killer, even killed rats! I'm hoping Guy has these skills. I am encouraging bug killing now, and a couple weeks ago he asked to go outside to pee in the wee hours (pun intended) and came in with something that went unnoticed in my sleepy stupor. I woke up to see a very soggy, chewed up, and very dead baby mouse on my pillow about 3 inches from my eyeballs.

Good dog! Atta boy!

 

[Wannabefree]

Dry sage rubbed into their coat repels fleas something fierce! I had a dog eat up with them and it helped regain control of her issue.

 

[Mini Horses]

If an animal has been raised to forage, they will seek and eat the plants/dirts that have what they need. Remember the wild herds have done this for years.

Often our domestication reduces their ability to eat this way, as you mention. It may be confinement BUT often it is humans who feel a need to "kill the weeds". I watched my goats happily eat every dandelion flower they found yesterday, along with plantain, rape, vetch, Australian peas, etc.-- growing in their pastures.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Thank you for starting this thread. I do not treat my dogs for heartworm. It is not ever consistently warm enough here for it to be an issue, despite what the vets tell me.

I hate flea and tick treatments. They don't even work. I give my dogs rabies shots due to fear of authorities, they're serious about that here. But seriously how many shots do my dogs need?

What do you use for fleas/ticks?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I woke up to see a very soggy, chewed up, and very dead baby mouse on my pillow about 3 inches from my eyeballs.

Good dog! Atta boy!

YIKES! I woulda prolly killed myself gettin' outta that bed!

 

[Beekissed]

Nearly every gizzard I've cut open and emptied on my chickens over the years contain what I always call saw grass....a tough, fibrous type grass that has very sharp edges to it...it will slice your finger much like a paper cut. The edges are also jagged, serrated in nature.

I've noticed dogs and cats seeking out this grass and chewing on it also and have read about wild canines doing the same. From what I've read, they chew this grass to rid themselves of intestinal parasites. I can only conclude the chickens consume it for the same reason, as there are many, many more tender and nutritious grasses and legumes in their range for eating.

Free range flocks that have access to a wide variety of range feed, grasses, leaves, etc. must do very well at ridding themselves of parasites, as I've never found any worms in of them over these many years~with one exception, a chicken that I got back from a place where they had been confined inside for over a year and was culled shortly after arriving here. That one had a load of tapeworms.

 

[Hinotori]

This is not a natural cure.

A last resort is to use Dog Frontline. 2 drops for bantam. 3 for large fowl.

I had to ask around a few years ago when some wild birds brought in an infestation of northern fowl mite that got heavy fast. I tried all the other fixes and almost lost my friendly ameraucana rooster to them. Everyone got treated. No more mites the next day. Interestingly, the silkies had less issues with the mites.

I've screened out the birds fairly well now, except for the newer net on the silkie pen. Seems redwing blackbirds and starlings can fly through draped 2 inch netting. Ordering a new 1 inch one.

 

[Beekissed]

I spread lime around the area of the yard they live in most each spring and will repeat that occasionally. I use ACV in their drinking water....don't ask me why that works but it seems to help tremendously...I've stopped doing it and seen their problem rise, and then resumed and seen it decrease. I also will dust them with sulfur dust and/or pyrethrin dust if necessary.

I also allow them to form a few good dusting spots of their own...like most animals, if given the opportunity to protect themselves, they will by dusting. I also don't ever bathe them....I used to but have changed that to never. When I used to bathe the dogs, they would eventually start having a sour doggy odor and need bathed again...and then again and that never ends. I have found they stay fresher smelling when they are allowed to be more natural in their living habits, living out in all elements, taking dust and snow baths of their own and keeping their natural oils intact.

I'll brush them as often as I can to distribute their natural oils but they tend to do that very well on their own as they tussle and wrestle one another, so it's only a few seasons out of the year they need any frequent brushing. Ben hardly requires any at all, as he's a mix of three of the LGD breeds, and his coat seems to maintain itself quite well....he has less fleas than the shorter coated dog, Jake, but seems to attract more ticks for some reason.