ASK THE HERBALIST

Dear Pat,

My little Jack Russell has conjunctivitis and her eye is very red. She has a discharge which started off just like water running out of her eye and now its thick and yellowy in colour. Our vet is treating it, but I wondered if you could help as well. This is the third time she has had it .

She is six years old. We can usually tell now when it's going to happen because it seems to happen when she has been on a long run in very cold wind. We would like to have something natural we could give her if we see the first signs of it coming on. - Kiri

Dear Kiri,

I would recommend keeping the homoeopathic Aconite 30C on hand. This is the best one to use for conjunctivitis which comes on after being in a cold wind. It is only useful to give at the beginning stages of the inflammation. There are a variety of herbs whih can be used in eyewashes to help clear up conjunctivitis as well. It may be useful for her to have a course of immune boosting herbs at this time also as often a susceptible eye can get an infection. - Pat

Dear Pat,

One of my Old English Sheepdog bitches has had puppies four months ago and one of the puppies has Barlow's Disease.* This is the second time this has happened with her pups. Is there anything homoeopathic which could help the puppy? - Andrea

Dear Andrea,

The tissue salt (sometimes called a cell salt) Calc Phos is used for Barlow's Disease. You can put the tissue salt into the puppy's water bowl daily for a few months and then twice a week until s/he is two years old. Also the same tissue salt can be given to bitches during their pregnancy if they have a tendency to produce pups with this problem. It is ideal to also put the pup on suitable vitamins and minerals as well. - Pat

* Barlow's disease is a condition which affects the growing ends of the bone.