Aloe Vera for pet first aid

Aloe Vera, also called the medicine plant or the burn plant, has long been recognized for its ability to sooth damaged skin. It makes a good choice for pets because it provides temporary relief on contact for hot spots, bites, clipper burns, and many other skin irritations that our pets may occasionally experience. Aloe Vera is also non-toxic, so we needn't worry about our pets ingesting it if they lick their sores.

Which brings us to the second reason why aloe is a good choice: it has a bitter taste. Thus, an application of Aloe Vera may discourage your pet from licking at the irritated skin. Licking can slow healing, so any easy ways to discourage licking are welcome.

Females in Season

If your bitch is in season, and you are not planning to mate her, you can give her liquid Chlorophyll (from the Health Shop).

Start with 5 mls. and increase it daily to about 2 caps full daily for a medium size dog. Some handlers have succeeded in masking the oestrus odor by giving the female chlorophyll tablets at the first sign of the heat cycle. It is believed to take the stress off any male animals when the female oestrus odor is "masked". Chlorophyll has been found to be non-toxic, soothing to body tissues and safe for use by people of all ages and animals. 

Blood

Sponge fresh blood stains quickly with a mixture of one tablespoon of salt in two cups of cold water, then with an ammonia solution. Wash in cooler water than usual. Old stains should be soaked in a hydrogen peroxide or ammonia solution (one part to eight parts of water), then wash in detergent with a few drops of ammonia added. Carpet: For carpet or mattress, apply a thick paste of raw starch and water, allow to dry, then brush off.

Burrs in Coat 

Brushing out a burr is not always possible, but there is another way, as opposed to just hacking it out in a chunk. It still cuts it out, but in a less traumatic way for your dog's coat.  Take a sewing seam ripper, and pick the hairs around the burr until it can be pulled out.  To prevent burrs from becoming encased again, a spritz with mink-oil conditioner will keep his coat nice and slippery, and any burrs will brush out easily. You can buy mink-oil conditioner from most groomers.

Cedar Chips

Cedar chips are a great repellent for fleas, ants, mice, ticks. Use some around the outside of the house.  Outside it helps keep away ants, mice, and ticks.  In the garden use it repels Japanese beetles, and some other insects. I use cedar chips around my roses bush. It wouldn't bloom for years. I used some chips and the next spring my rose bush was full of blooms!

Colloidal Silver uses

Colloidal silver reportedly kills bacteria, viruses, fungus and yeast and was used as an antibiotic as long ago as Roman times. Some references also state that Colloidal Silver may stimulate the body’s immune system or work in alliance with it. Colloidal Silver has become popular once more as people, worried about the ever growing use of antibiotics, seek an alternative. 

Take a look at the many different and varied uses for Colloidal Silver in everyday health and hygiene:

• Spray pet bedding and let dry

• Dab on cuts, grazes, rashes, sunburn and razor nicks 

• Mix a little into your pet's drinking water, birdbaths and cut flower vases 

• Help reduce tooth decay, mouth sores and bad breath. Colloidal Silver is said to work by eliminating bacteria deep in throat and on back of tongue. 

• Add to human and/or pet shampoos to gain disinfectant benefits

• Add to suspected drinking water when traveling or camping

• Spray onto burns for rapid healing without scarring. 

• Use to sterilize any household items like toothbrushes or washing up brushes 

• Spray on rubbish to prevent decay odors

• Use on kitchen cloths and sponges to wipe down worktops and cutting boards 

• Dab onto acne 

• Spray in shoes, between toes, on skin to give relief to skin itches, athletes foot, fungi etc. 

• Add to bath water, gargle and nasal spray. 

• Aids recovery from colds, flu, pneumonia, respiratory infections and viruses

• Eye and ear infections, warts and some moles vanish (put on plaster and wear overnight each night until gone)

• Use with cotton buds on fingernail, toenail, and ear fungi

• Spray refrigerator, freezer and food storage bin interiors

• Use routinely in laundry final rinse water and always before packing away seasonal clothes

• Spray plant foliage to help prevent plant diseases like mould and rot

• Wipe telephone mouthpieces, pipe stems, headphones, hearing aids, eyeglass frames, hairbrushes and combs

• Excellent for nappies and nappy rash.

• Wipe around toilet seats, bowls, tile floors, sinks, door knobs

• Kills persistent odors

• Rinse invalid's pillowcases, sheets, towels and bedclothes

Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, Colloidal Silver is said to never allow strain-resistant pathogens to evolve.

Disinfectant: Homemade, Non-Toxic

Fill an empty spray bottle with a mixture of 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and remainder with water. After the dogs finishing eating, pick up their bowls and water dish, and spray the area with this mixture. The small amount of alcohol dissipates quickly and the vinegar acts as a natural non-toxic disinfectant. Wipe with paper towel. Area is clean and non-toxic.

Dry Skin

A simple way to treat dry skin is to add a complete oil to your pet's diet. Corn, safflower, peanut, and sunflower are examples of oils that contain all the essential fatty acids. Your cat can take about one-half teaspoon with each meal. Dogs can be given one to three teaspoons with each meal, depending on size. But remember that more is not better since oils are quite fattening.

Ear Mites

An oil and vitamin E mixture can help to smother the little buggers that have taken up residence in your pet's ears. Blend one-half ounce of almond or olive oil and 400 I.U. of vitamin E (from a capsule) in a dropper bottle and then warm the mixture to body temperature by immersing it in hot water. 

To administer the drops, hold your pet's ear flap up and put about half a dropperful in the ear. Then massage the ear canal well enough so that you hear a fluid sound. Once you've massaged the area for about a minute, you can let your pet shake her head. After she's finished, gently clean out just the opening of the ear with a cotton swab to remove any extra oil or debris. You should apply the oil in three treatments, once every other day during a six-day period. Make sure to store the mixture at room temperature with the lid tightly capped.

Ear Scratching

Keep dogs from scratching their ears - with a clean, soft cloth dipped in diluted vinegar wipe around the area that is being scratched.

Easy Clean Up

Try zippered plastic sandwich bags to clean up after your dog. Turn inside out, pick up waste, turn outside out, zip shut and dispose.

Flea repellents

Try mixing some garlic into their food beginning early in the season. Make a simple lemon mixture by slicing a lemon into boiling water and letting it stand for a day. Spray the liquid onto the coat two or three times a week. 

Avon Skin-So-Soft works well mixed with water and used as a spray.

Fleas and mange

Add a little vinegar to your pet's drinking water to fight fleas and mange.

Fly Repellent

2 cups vinegar, 1 cup Avon Skin So Soft, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp. Eucalyptus oil, 1 tbsp citronella oil - Put in a spray bottle and spray dog's coat.

Healing oil

Anoint small cuts and abrasions on your pets with tea-tree oil - they will leave the wound alone while it heals. 

Hitting the bottle

When puppies are feeling the heat of summer, freeze small bottles of water and put them in the pet enclosure. The pups drape themselves over the bottles and seem much relieved by the coolness.

Homemade Topical Treatment

(use it when you go out once a day or if in the woods, more often).  Use a glycerine base and to it add, lemongrass oil, grape seed oil, eucalyptus oil, citronella oil, and a capsule or two of Vitamin E for preservation. All the ingredients can be obtained at the Health Food Store locally. Works on fleas, ticks, chiggers and black flies.

Hot Spots

Hot spots can lead to serious illness in dogs. They can be caused by allergies to chemicals, food, fleas and other substances, but fleas seem to be a primary source. This recipe has proven effective for many dogs suffering from Hot Spots. 

3 capsules Sage
¼ teaspoon Epsom Salts
2 cups of Water
Combine all ingredients and bring this all to a boil.
Cool to room temperature and then strain out the powdered Sage.
Store in a 2-cup spray bottle or jar in the refrigerator to keep fresh.

Spray or wipe on hot spots, insect bites, or any other skin abrasions as many times a day as possible.
It heals in about 3 days, and you should begin to see some hair regrowth in a little over a week.

Houseflies

1. Sprinkle dry soap into garbage cans after they have been washed and allowed to dry; it acts as a repellent. 

2. Place tansy near your kitchen door or where flies tend to cluster. Other repellents include oil of cloves and mint springs. 

3. Set a sponge in a saucer and soak it with oil of lavender to repel flies. 

4. A pot of basil set on a window sill or table will help reduce the number of flies in the room.

Insect bites

Mix water with cornstarch into a paste and apply. This is effective in drawing out the poisons of most insect bites and is also an effective remedy for diaper rash.

Mint Border

Something for spring! Mint herbs are very prolific and grow just about anywhere. Separate mint herbs and plant them around dog fences. Can be planted along edges of dog yards, as well. These not only smell good when brushed, but also act as an insect repellent.

Mosquitos: Plant to Keep Mosquitos Away!

The castor bean plant. Seeds available from any nursery. Plant in pots within the house; replant outdoors. Decorative and they grow like weeds!
Mosquitos Won't Bite
Four parts glycerine, 4 parts alcohol, 1 part eucalyptus oil.

Puppy chewing no more

Puppies don't like the smell of oil of cloves, so dab a little onto legs of precious furniture you don't want chewed.

Tackling tar

Tar stuck on your dog's coat can be removed by rubbing eucalyptus oil into it, leaving it for an hour, then thoroughly shampooing out.

Ticks & Flea Natural Repellents

Tick Spritzer Blend:

• 2 drops of Lavender, Basil, Lemon, Eucalyptus 

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 

• 1 teaspoon vodka 

• 1 cup of dried marjoram, eucalyptus, rosemary 

• 1-2 cups of water 

Flea Spritzer Blend: 

• 2 drops of cedarwood, lemongrass, rose geranium 

• 1 teaspoon AVC (apple cider vinegar) 

• 1 teaspoon vodka 

• 1 cup of dried peppermint, eucalyptus, bay leaf herbs 

• 1-2 cups of water 

Add the essential oils and vodka in a bottle, tighten the lid and shake well. Once the mixture blended (should turn white), add apple cider vinegar. If you have some herbs mentioned above you can make an herbal tea to use in your spritzer. 

Boil 2-4 cups of water and remove from heat. Add your dried herbs in the water and let is simmer for 30 minutes. Once cool, drain and use instead of plain water in your spritzer. If you are using an herbal tea, this mixture must be kept in the refrigerator as the herbal teas have the tendency to go bad faster. 

Once you have your spritzer you can use this by gently spraying it in to your dogs coat, legs, tummy and back. Rub it in well and apply it as necessary. Do not use any of the essential oils on your dogs face or around nose, ears and eyes. Respect the sensitive nose he/she has and go easy when using aromatic substances such as essential oils.

Water with a twist

Keep your pet's drinking water fresh by tossing a few crushed mint leaves into it.