If you have a pet, there will probably come a time when you are faced with a veterinary emergency. This can come in a variety of ways, from a sudden digestive poisoning, a poisonous bite, to a flare-up of a chronic condition.
Most people, even those who use holistic health themselves, will race straight to the closest veterinary emergency clinic. It’s hard wired into most people. Most people think that vets are the best people to help in every situation.
Certainly there are some wonderful vets around and some offer great care. And sometimes that care is the best for the situation. But mainstream veterinary care is limited. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t find holistic vets deviating from the mainstream path.
Adrienne recently told me about her dog. He had suddenly become hot and started to shake. She raced him off to the vet, who tried a variety of different drugs, all to no avail. Several hours and $2,000 later, the dog was euthanised.
Could she have tried a different approach? As we can never have a re-run of any scenario, it is impossible to say. However, as she uses natural therapies for herself and her human family, here are my thoughts on what she could have done.
First and foremost you, as the carer must be calm, be able to assess the situation and to think clearly. Maybe this is too hard for some people, but you need to try. Even if you do end up taking your pet to the vet, you can enormously help them if you have had a quick check around the environment for possible causes. Otherwise, they will be in the dark as much as you, losing valuable time. And your added stress won’t help them.
To regain calm, to help you think clearly, the best thing you can do is to take the Bach flower essence Rescue Remedy, yourself. This has a calming influence in any stressful situation. You may need a few doses, but you can’t overdo this wonderful remedy.
Giving your pet a few doses too, will only help the problem. There are no contra-indications for the use of this beautifully acting, broad spectrum remedy.
Next, check the environment. For example, did you leave anything lying around that would cause a problem if ingested?
Do you have any garden pesticides or household chemicals? Are they secure or has your pet found them?
Have you recently used any chemicals on the garden or in the house?
Have you recently changed the brand of food they eat?
And so on.
If that is the sum total of your actions, that will have helped the situation, perhaps immeasurably. It could make the difference between your pet surviving or not.
However, had you also taken a home prescribing cause in using the common homeopathic remedies, and had purchased a kit to use in such eventualities, then you may be able to treat your pet yourself. I believe pets are always much happier at home. They feel secure and don’t suffer the same stress that is inherent at every veterinary emergency clinic, even the best ones.
And, of course, veterinary drugs are toxic, so often exacerbate the situation, especially if inappropriately used, as often happens when the cause is unknown.
One day, one of my cats came home and collapsed. I quickly dosed both myself and her with Rescue Remedy while I assessed the situation. It was unlikely to have been a snake bit, as it was winter at the time. She was in the habit of visiting my neighbour, who used rat poison. She was also looking a little anxiously at her stomach. So I thought she had probably ingested the poison, perhaps eaten a poisoned mouse.
I used two remedies, one for the shock to her system and one that works well for ingesting poison, that leads to haemorrhaging. I initially alternated them several minutes apart, then less often until I could see she was heartily fed up with me and my bl….y remedies!
I monitored her and her breathing, without disturbing her. After a couple of hours of peaceful sleep, she got up and was perfectly normal. She suffered no noticeable ill effects.
The remedies I used are common and any good homeopathic home prescriber will know them.
Another time, I saw a cat walking around with a baby dugite (a local poisonous snake) in her mouth. I didn’t interfere as I thought I would make matters worse. When she came in a few hours later, she was behaving in a very strange way, so I knew the dugite had bitten her.
This time, I went straight to the remedy for snake bites, as well as one for shock. Again, I alternated them, until she was heartily fed up with me. She slept well that night and was back to normal the next day.
These remedies are also well known to any good homeopathic home prescriber.
What are the veterinary alternatives? They need to know the exact animal if bitten, or the exact poison, if ingested. Even then the odds are not good. With homeopathy, you don’t need such exact information. A bite is good enough. Ingested poison is good enough. And the odds are far better.
And the cost? The cost of the course I offer is less than $300. The cost of a box of remedies varies depending on whose you get, but a good one will not cost more than $120 (current at time of going to press). So for less than a quarter of the vet’s cost, minus the great stress and anxiety that accompanies it, Adrienne may have been able to save her dog herself.
And go on to use her knowledge and the remedies in countless other situations.
Learn to avoid a veterinary emergency by being prepared. Take my year long, on-line course and learn at your own pace. Empower yourself!
