Hi,
I have a fox terrier who has been sick since the first day I got him 8 years ago! At that time he had Giarrdia. Finally that seemed to clear up but he's never seemed well. Currently he is having a major problem with skin rashes. He also has some fleshy growths (one on a leg and one on the side of his stomach). The main problem is that he always smells horrid. And when he scratches his skin it smells incredibly putrid. He also has continuous ear infections that I can never clear up. Once tellurium took care of one of his earlier ear infections. I've kind of narrowed the remedy choices down to these 4: psorinum, antimonium crudum, tellurium and thuja (but other suggestions are welcome). Anyone have any experience and expertise that they can pass on so that I can make a good choice? He seems so miserable that I don't want to give him the wrong remedy and have to wait a few months to try another. His temperament is very extroverted, but also crabby, depressed, brooding a lot of the time and will exact revenge if he doesn't get taken for a walk, fed or let out when he wants it (defecates at the front door). He's chubby for his breed, and stays that way even when he doesn't seem to be getting fed that much. He comes alive and is much more enthusiastic when he is around any kind of activity - either with people or dogs. It is the only time he seems happy. Thanks in advance for your ideas!

You might want to look at sulphur or hepar sulphur. I'm no expert so if you've already eliminated these, don't let me sway you.

You'd be crabby too if you felt like he does. Are you using an all natural dog food? This is really important to support the immune system and get away from all the junk in the commercial dog food.

Its calcium carbonicum.
Start with sulphur x200 one dose, then after app 60 days one dose calc carb x200 ( x=d). Also, give the dog raw marrow bones, and let him dig them down in the earth, he needs the earth bacterias, in order to keep his intestials in functional order. Thats why he smell, he dont assimilate his food as he should do, probably due to damage from vaxinations and antibiotika, and wrong fodder.

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Homeopat MNNH Geir E.T. Marcussen
email: getm@eunet.no
http://www.homeopati.no

No advice on homeopathy for you, but a recommendation to look at your pets diet if you have not already done so.

I changed my 3 cats from commercial tinned cat food to mostly fresh, raw food - as recommended in Dr Pitcairn's book "Natural health for dogs and cats". ISBN 0 87596 243 2. Dr Pitcairn is a holistic vet, he describes all the problems you mention in your posting in this book.

The diet and a remedy recommened by GM has transformed the life of one of my cats who had chronic gum disease and our vet wanted to remove his teeth. I thought the diet would be very complex to do, but good planning and a freezer make it quite simple.

Thanks for all your suggestions to help my fox terrier, Dietrich.
I was so disgusted with the ingredients they put in the dog foods, even the so-called "premium" dog foods that I started feeding him one of the freshly prepared diets suggested in Pitcairn's book about 6 months ago (not with raw foods, as Janyce suggested though). However, that hasn't solved the problem, so I think a remedy is in order.

Janyce - how can one feed a raw food diet that has been frozen? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose? I'm always hesitant to feed completely raw foods, especially when it involves raw meat, eggs, etc. since they could be infected with bacteria that might make him sick(er!). But raw vegetables seem like they could be beneficial.

G.M. - I understand your suggestion of Calc Carb and with the ear infections and his tendency toward being overweight it makes sense, but in all my training as a classical homeopath, I have never been trained to give sulphur before the indicated remedy (except in cases where you need to clear the case of too much previous dosing). Could you explain a little more of your technique/theory? It's also true as you say that he isn't digesting properly - that is clear, but it isn't due to antibiotics as I've never given him any. It's not likely due to vaccinations because after his first set of vaccinations I refused to give him any more.
I love the "wee beastie" (as Dorothy Shepherd used to say and would like to give him some relief.

Well, my vet was very anti a home made diet when I suggested it, even more so when I mentioned raw food. They told me it could not be done as I would never be able to get the right balance of nutrients. I would also be putting my animals (and the rest of the household) at risk of salmonella and e coli etc etc.

I rather got the impression it was the sort of thing only very bad people did to their animals. This conversation with my vet was about 9 months before the switch, and was followed by a conversation which involved them telling me his teeth should all be removed, as he was really beyond any other help. I had the feeling they were humoring me when they listened to my request for alternatives (we have no homeopathic vets locally).

I must admit, I too was concerned about the raw food being frozen and then defrosted and fed to the animals. Particularly as cats are so well known for thoroughly washing their paws before they cook the things they catch and always disposing of the remains in a hygenic mannner.

Seriously, I did struggle with this frozen/raw food issue. I make sure the meat I buy is as fresh as it can be. I deal with it as soon as I can and am very careful about how I handle and freeze it (I am a vegetarian, so this is truly a labour of love). I try to feed as much as I can fresh, but the rest goes in the freezer and is then fed raw - even poultry.

I think the main risk would be to my toddler (I now feed the cats when he has gone to bed). We started the raw diet in the hottest part of the summer and to date, not a single member of the household (human or feline) has been struck down with any kind of digestive bug. One of the things Pitcairn said was about not leaving food around for them to snack on - I don't - so there is very little to contaminate the house.

My cats are thriving, particularly the one who had chronic gingevitis. None of them seems to be as hungry at meal times as they got before the switch (which happened gradually). I also let them fast regularly, which I think helps elimination of toxins (and it helped in making the switch - they were hungry).

I hope this information helps your poor little dog. I think the remedy was also very important for my cat. Just looking at his gums now - so different. I must take him back to the vet sometime and let them see the change in him.

Janyce

Just a comment on Pitcairns natural diets. I used these for many years and feel that they made a difference in my animals but one problem did seem to crop up after a great deal of time and that is I believe that both my cat and dog (who were on these diets for probably 5 years) are allergic to the yeast used in them. I discovered this when we went on a 3 week vacation and to ease the load of the people taking care of the animals we started using Innova dry food. When we returned the dogs chronic yeast infections in her ears and the 14 year old cats arthritis were improved a great deal. When discussing this with my vet she stated that this food had no yeast. I kept my dog on this food with fresh food added but recently tried another food for my cat (which had yeast)... his arthritis degenerated and has again improved when I changed back. SO beware if you see no improvement you may try to find recipies without yeast. One possible source is Helen McKinnon Author of "its for the animals, natural care and resources" you can find her at the following web page. http://members.aol.com/IFTA2/

She told me in email that she had noticed yeast allergies in her animals too and does her best to avoid it in her recipies.

colette

[quote]Originally posted by Colettesa:
are allergic to the yeast used in them.

Thanks for the info, Colette. I did read somewhere that pets often develop allergies to the yeast, so I don't use it in the food. I do give him a multiple vitamin/mineral supplement in addition to the homemade food. Incidently, he does seem to be doing better since I followed GM's remedy advice. The Sulphur didn't do anything apparent on the surface, though it may have paved the way for the Calcarea, because his skin has been so much better since the Calcarea.
Dani

Sulp is to get rid of vaxine block, and pave the way for cc, they are also from old times recognized as satelites, followers, in this ways, sulp first, then cc, in unclear cases where cc is suspected, start with x30 one dose, sulp first, observe if only cc sympt shows, or if its sulp, if sulp continue with one dose x200, then later chose whats needed, after appearant sympt ( from whats present, and what sulph has revealed). nearly all dogs i have treated has this course of remedies, common today, because of vaxines and fodder.