Dear Pat,
I have a 10-year-old lab, Jasmine, who gets constipated now. She often goes for two or three days without a bowel motion and gets rather distressed. The vet says to give her paraffin oil and this has helped a bit. Is there anything else I can do? And is there anything you can prescribe? - Lorraine, Tauranga
Dear Lorraine,
I would suggest you don't give Jasmine bones to eat and from time to time give her very soft food like Jelly meat. Also I would prescribe her a course of herbal medicine with liver and stomach herbs. I would prescribe a formula as follows: Hoheria, Meadowsweet, Bupleurum and Schizandra made up in liquid form. Given as a daily dose of 5mls which is added to her food, this should soon see her passing a daily bowel motion. - Pat
Dear Pat,
I have an 8 year old pedigree Rhodesian Ridgeback called Rocky, who dribbles watery blood sometimes. The vet says he has a slightly enlarged prostate. Are there herbs that might help him? I want to avoid the problem getting worse. - Sandra, Hamilton
Dear Sandra,
I would use the herbal formula as follows to treat Rocky: Saw Palmetto, Crataeva, Horsetail and Shepherd's Purse. These herbs will reduce the enlarged prostate and tone up his urinary tract, as well as stop bleeding. There is a variety of homoeopathics that we can use for this problem also.
The correct one would need to be chosen after taking the case in detail. I would need to know all sorts of symptoms and characteristics of Rocky, not just his urinary symptoms. Then I would choose between some of the following homoeopathics: Cantharis, Eupatorium, Pareira, Causticum, Terebinthinae, Uva ursi. If you would like to use a homoeopathic for Rocky you can contact me through my website and I can ask you the relevant questions. - Pat at: www.animalherbs.co.nz
