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The Dog Nutrition Naturally Newsletter, Issue #6 - March 22, 2016 - Parasite Cleanse March 22, 2016 |
Greetings! Spring is officially here!Learn From Mother Nature About Doing a Parasite Cleanse For Your Dogs?Parasites Are a Fact of Life!We are, and always will be, surrounded constantly, persistently and forever, by gazzzillions of bacteria, viruses, worms, insects and other micro organisms looking for a meal ticket. Each specific host, whether that be human ( yes, you) or canine ( yes, your dog ), carries many parasites specialised in attacking that species alone. Some of those parasites can also be transferred to other species. For example, since humans and apes are both primates, we could transfer our bacterial based head cold to our pet gorilla, assuming we had one...a gorilla, I mean...not the head cold! In fact, there are way more species of parasites, than there are people and animals to host them...so no problem with sharing. If your dog has tapeworm, he'd be more than happy to give some to you!
Jack and RosieHere's a picture of my old boy Jack ( left ) and his sister Rosie ( right ) when they were both about 4 years old. Rosie died at 5, but Jack is well into his 19th year now, by the way. So far, so good! As soon as I finish writing this, we're all going off to the the dog park. Jack enjoys his social time.Anyway, Jack and Rosie's picture is here because I want to tell you that both dogs spent the early years of their lives, sick with serious digestive issues and constant diarrhea. Rosie's death at 5 from complications of liver disease is, I believe, in part, a direct result of undiagnosed Giardia, a protozoan parasite. Giardia was not confirmed for Jack until a couple of years later, after Rosie's death when he was 7. It would seem likely that if Jack had Giardia, Rosie did too, since they were siblings...and both likely had it since puppyhood. Jack was constantly sick too, with intermittent vomiting and severe diarrhea despite changes of food, antibiotics, steroids and medications to sooth his irritated digestive tract and intestinal system. So that's how I started on my path to learn more about improving dog health, to prevent sickness. I didn't want Jack to come to the same untimely demise as his dear sister Rosie! So...no hesitation, I had to jump right in at the deep end and learn how to do a parasite cleanse
Improving Health Helps to Prevent ParasitesSo now that we're talking about a parasite cleanse for your dog, let's look at the process more from the perspective of improving health, so that your healthy dog then becomes an unfriendly host to those nasty little invaders. Since I believe that Mother Nature has everything figured out already, it would make sense to me to mimic what happens in Nature. So what does happen in Nature? How do wild dogs for example defend themselves against worms and parasites of all kinds. Well according to my new favourite writer
Cindy Engel Author of Wild Health : How Animals Keep Themselves Well and What We Can Learn From Them
No surprise then, that small doses of some of these bio-active substances are effective as medicines. If plants use them against their own micro and macro-parasites, animals can borrow the effects to medicate themselves.
So the discomfort of sickness probably leads to the search for a remedy. But how does an animal know which substances to use? If we assume a lack of medical insight, animals might learn by trial and error, by watching what others do, or by being born with pre-programmed behavioural routines."
Cindy Engel goes on to say... A chimp with a stomach ache may seek out a broad-spectrum antidote like the bitter-leaf. Or it may swallow whole leaves from several different kinds of hairy plants: leaves with ‘Velcro’ hooks help clear out intestinal worms. Bears before hibernation and snow geese before migration also turn to Velcro plants. Domestic dogs and cats chew grass, which has the same scouring effect.
2 Important Parts to Every CleanseFirst Part: Build HealthWe do this in 3 important ways. These three steps are part of every effective cleanse no matter what the purpose. These three steps are life supporting. They can be done all year round. We don't have to wait for a cleanse to implement them.
Second Part : Use a Herbal Cleanse For The Purpose of Eliminating ParasitesThere are many herbs that have been used throughout the course of history for the express purpose of eliminating parasites. Here are a few common ones. Artemisia aka Wormwood is a general pesticide, a worming medicine for people and animals. The name of this plant occurs in many old writings... Egyptian, Roman and Christian. Artemisia is named after the goddess Artemis...the goddess of the hunt in Greek mythology. Black Walnut is highly toxic to many insect herbivores ( often used by organic gardeners for pest control). Studies have shown that it can expel parasitic worms from the body. Black walnut is reported to be effective against pinworm, ringworm, tapeworm, and other intestinal parasites. History goes as far back as the Roman Empire. The Native First Nations people traditionally used it to eliminate parasites in the intestines. Pumpkin Seeds according to First Nations lore, instructs us to take ground pumpkin seeds twice a month, twice a year in both April and October in accordance with the full moon to kill living worms, and then again in accordance with the new moon, to kill newly hatched eggs to prevent a parasitic infection. Garlic as a healing food and parasitic repellant and expectorant, reaches back as far as the beginning of recorded history. It is often used as a compliment to other anti parasitic herbs. Now what? Where to go from here...You can learn more about parasites and parasite cleansing here
Next time we'll talk about how you and your dog can cleanse the effects of environmental toxins.
Stay tuned! Sandra and Pager ( no dandelions yet...but soon!)
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"Plants have evolved a myriad of strategies for defending themselves against the continuous onslaught. Those that cannot do so efficiently, become extinct.