What you can do to keep the liver healthy - what your medical herbalist and homoeopath can do to restore the liver to health.
AS with any animal - human or otherwise - the liver is a very important organ of the body and the health of your dog depends greatly upon the health of her/his liver. The liver does a great many jobs in the body. It is responsible for a large amount of the detoxification of the system and as part of that the liver must sort out much of what ends up in the dog's digestive system. The liver decides what is usable and can be stored and dispose of the useless or toxic components. Obviously the less toxins or useless material the dog ingests the better.
When the liver is working well it can then do all the other jobs it needs to do as well, such as making hormones and enzymes required by the body.
What you can do for your dog's liver
Every man-made chemical that soaks in to the skin, is breathed in, or is eaten by your dog, places a strain on the liver and the way it can do its job.
* Be careful about what you give your dog to eat and drink. If you are fussy about what food you supply your dog, it's a good idea to check out how many additives and colouring agents and so forth are in her/his diet. Try to give food that is low or non-existent in additives.
* Be careful about the drugs you use with your dog. Of course, there are essential or life-saving drugs you need to use, but make careful choices about what are essential drugs and which are not. This is a minefield here that I don't want to get in to, but I do want to stress that you think carefully how essential a drug or spray or flea killer is before you use it. Think about the possibility of using something less toxic to do the same job. Explore the options. (This is material for a future article).
* Be careful about exposing your pet to agricultural sprays and other chemicals such as household chemicals. Just as you wouldn't want your baby or young child crawling around on a surface that had just been sprayed with something to kill bugs or weeds, you really don't want your dog ingesting material covered in spray or licking it off her/his feet.
* Ensure your dog's immune system is working well. This can prevent viruses that attack the liver.
* Watch out for symptoms of poor liver function - exhaustion and debility, lack of appetite, depression and apathy, change in bowel function (diarrhoea or constipation), dark urine or light stools, yellowy look to the whites of the eyes or skin.
What your medical herbalist can do to restore health to your dog's liver
Liver herbs are very effective at repairing damaged liver cells and helping the liver to carry out its detoxification better. In fact dogs already know about some of the liver herbs in their environment and will chew on them when they are available if they are not feeling so well.
There are a variety of liver herbs that we use. Mostly we use the roots of the plant as they contain the strongest action for the liver. So the herbs prepared in this way are more concentrated and stronger than your dog can access from the environment.
Dandelion root - I consider this to be a great all rounder for repair and support of the liver. It can be a good herb to give an older dog whose liver may need a bit of extra support from time to time. In this case I would give just 1-2 mls a day mixed into food.
St Mary's Thistle (milk thistle) - I use this when there has been chemical damage done, from over exposure to too many chemicals - antibiotics, anaesthetic etc or chemical sprays. This would be used if there was actual jaundice as well.
Schisandra - I use this often in combination with St Mary's Thistle and for the same reason.
Chelidonium - I give this either as a herbal preparation or as a homoeopathic preparation as a good "drainage remedy" for the liver. This means that it is useful to get the liver detoxifying itself so that it can be more efficient at detoxifying the whole system.
Lycopodium - I would use this when there has been a slow or prolonged onset of liver symptoms, rather than a virus or chemical exposure.
Berberis - This is used when there is dark urine and yellowish eyes or even yellowy tone to skin - in other words there is actually jaundice which shows the liver is not functioning well at all.
China - is used when there has been diarrhoea as well and the dog has become weak and debilitated.
In cases of hepatitis, the Homoeopath makes a choice from the following remedies: Phosphorus, Bryonia, Lycopodium, Caardus marianus, Chelidonium and others. It is important to consult with a homoeopath to choose the right homoeopathic in this case. Pat Hunter, www.animalherbs.co.nz
Go to the next page to see reader's questions answered by Pat
