Proven Herbal Ways To Help Your Cat's Skin Health

Has your cat had a skin condition? Itchiness, loss of fur, sore skin, flaky skin and other symptoms of skin irritations and ill health can be found with our feline friends from time to time.

There can be many reasons why your cat has a skin ailment, so always get your veterinary surgeon to examine your cat to determine the root cause and advise on the appropriate treatment options. However, as well as conventional medicine, there’s a whole range of complementary therapies that you can use to help with your cat’s skin ailments. In this blog post i’m looking at a few of the herbal ways to help.

So what are the herbal ways you can help your cat’s skin health?

1. Evening Primrose Oil - veterinary research has found that this can be helpful. ‘The Veterinary Record’ has published a couple of research papers looking at different types of dermatitis:

• papulocrustous dermatitis, this found that when comparing evening primrose oil with sunflower oil, that “Six weeks after the supplement was withdrawn the cats fed evening primrose oil had deteriorated less than those fed sunflower oil.”

• miliary dermatitis, this found that the cats “were supplemented with various combinations of evening primrose oil and fish oil. The cutaneous signs improved when the cats were supplemented with either evening primrose oil alone or with a combination of evening primrose oil and fish oil. Fish oil alone was unable to maintain the remission and the cutaneous signs deteriorated. The subsequent administration of a combination of the two oils resulted in a resolution of the dermatosis.”

2. Olive Leaf Extract and Coconut Oil - veterinary research was conducted looking at the use of these in combination. This found that: “In cats administered rectal enema olive leaf extract and coconut oil for 10 days, all had significantly decreased Feline Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index from 121,5 ± 44,4 to 14,0 ± 6,0 (p=0.028).”

3. Aloe Vera is a popular herb for both animals and people to help with skin ailments. Published research found that aloe vera combined with virgin coconut oil helped accelerate healing following scabies. The results of the three groups of cream formulas B, C, D caused a significant cure in cats suffering from scabies compared to control group A.

Find the links to the veterinary research further down the page

How to know what herbal remedy to help?

Do speak to your veterinary surgeon for professional advice. Many ‘conventional vets’ are more than happy to recommend using herbal medicine. So do speak to your vet. But if you’d like a veterinarian who specialises in herbal medicine then there are many in the UK and around the world.

What about choosing herbal medicine products for your cat that you can find online or in a shop?

It is important that you know exactly what the cause of your cat’s skin ailment is. There can be many reasons, including some which are very serious and indicative of an underlying disease that means other treatment would be better. So do speak to your vet for advice.

Conclusion

It is possible to find that veterinary research has taken place to determine if herbs can help your animal's health. Please see links mentioned in this post below:

Research for Herbal Approaches to Feline Dermatology

• Harvey RG. A comparison of evening primrose oil and sunflower oil for the management of papulocrustous dermatitis in cats. The Veterinary Record. 1993 Dec;133(23):571-573. PMID: 8303807. https://europepmc.org/article/med/8303807

• Harvey RG. Effect of varying proportions of evening primrose oil and fish oil on cats with crusting dermatosis ('miliary dermatitis') The Veterinary Record. 1993 Aug;133(9):208-211. DOI: 10.1136/vr.133.9.208. PMID: 8280288. https://europepmc.org/article/med/8280288

• Ural, K., Yağcı, B. B., Erdogan, H., & ERDOGAN, S. (2022). Olive leaf extract and coconut oil rectal enema: a new ayurverdic therapeutical strategy for feline atopic skin syndrome. Turkish Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 1(1), 10–19. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7473057 (Original work published December 21, 2022) http://dergi.veterinerichastaliklari.org/index.php/vihder/article/view/10

• Aloe vera and Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) accelerate healing process in domestic cat (Felis domesticus) suffering from scabies. Tridiganita Intan Solikhah, Gahastanira Permata Solikhah2 and Raden Joko Kuncoroningrat. Susilo Division of Veterinary Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cahaya Petshop, Veterinarian, Mojokerto, Indonesia. Doctoral Program in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, College of Science and Technology, University Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia (2021) https://www.iasj.net/iasj/download/2ae9962d48668d42

Find more links to veterinary research online here


Finally….Please remember that if your horse, dog or other animal is unwell. Or on any kind of medication or other supplement. Then always speak to your Veterinary Surgeon first before using any supplement or therapy. Even natural ones. To avoid any possible issues.

And do you know someone who'd find this helpful? Please share, the more we can spread awareness of the benefits of natural therapies the better! :)

Find out more about other natural animal therapies here at Taranet. Or read other articles in this Natural Pet Health Blog. Take a look at the sitemap here to explore!

Exciting News About This Natural Pet HealthCare Blog
It's been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 10 UK Animal Blogs on the web. Check out this here

About the Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

3 Ways To Help Relieve Your Dog's Separation Anxiety With Holistic Approaches

Dogs can get anxious being separated from their owners or other members of their family - for instance other pets or animals you may keep.

Being anxious isn't only something that affects dogs, as other animals can also experience similar emotions. But for this blog post, i'll focus on dogs and how to alleviate their anxiety through being separated.

How do you know if your dog is anxious through being separated?

You may notice several signs, and they can vary according to the dog and circumstances. Some dogs may be fine in some situations and not others. So what can be the signs?

1. Shaking - Dogs may shake and tremble with anxiety.
2. Howling or barking - Dogs may use their voice to make a noise expressing their distress.
3. "Destructive behaviour" - Dogs may chew items, whatever they can find, including things you'd rather they don't chew!
4. Pacing - some dogs will pace up and down or run up and down, whereas normally they'd lay quietly.
5. Jumping up - dogs may jump up at other people or jump onto places in their home, to express their anxiety.
6. Not eating - dogs may not eat or drink, including not having treats, as they're too anxious.

There maybe other signs too, with behaviours that aren't normally what you'd see in your dog.

It's important that you treat separation anxiety seriously. Not only can the behaviour manifest in destruction of property and possessions, but also your dog could get seriously ill or injured, even if it's only an occasional problem.

What holistic ways are there to help your dog not be affected by separation anxiety?

There's many holistic approaches you can use, including:

Tellington Ttouch

This is a training approach developed by animal expert, Linda Tellington-Jones Phd (Hon). It's based on the principles of cooperation and respect for animals and their people.

Tellington Ttouch is known as an approach to help improve behaviour and develop learning skills for your dog. Find out more in this Natural Pet Health Blog post

You can find many Tellington Ttouch practitioners around the world. It's also possible for you as a dog owner to attend workshops so you can also learn more about this approach yourself.

Bach Flower Remedies

There are 38 different remedies in the Bach Flower system. Using either one or a very small selection in combination can make a remarkable difference to emotions. They're both helpful for people and animals, including your dog. Learn more about this approach here at this Taranet advice page.

In an 'emergency' you can use Rescue Remedy, which is a combination of Bach Flower Remedies, as an immediate help.

Reiki

This is an energy therapy that can be used to help promote relaxation and calm. This maybe helpful if your dog gets anxious often. Read more at Reiki for animals here

Conclusion and final top tip to help your dog cope better with separation.

These are just 3 ways to help your dog with separation anxiety. If your dog is hurting him or herself or is getting severely stressed, do speak to your veterinary surgeon or a professionally qualified dog trainer for advice. There are many professional dog trainers who have trained in holistic therapies like these listed here, so choose one who you feel comfortable with and that you and your dog are going to get the best possible results from.

Get more information at this useful Blue Cross charity advice

Help your dog have a varied lifestyle too. For instance, not doing the same thing at the same time in the same place, can help your dog cope better with change. Routine is great, but it's possible to have too strict a routine.

Final tip - Be calm yourself! It's possible to increase your dogs anxiety through you being stressed. Reiki and Bach Flower Remedies above can be used with people too, so if you find yourself getting anxious, then these could also be worth a try by you.

Like help finding a veterinary surgeon or therapist for your animal?
Please email me at info at taranet . co. uk

Please remember that if your horse, dog or other animal is unwell. Or on any kind of medication or other supplement. Then always speak to your Veterinary Surgeon first before using any supplement or therapy. Even natural ones. To avoid any possible issues.

And do you know someone who'd find this helpful? Please share, the more we can spread awareness of the benefits of natural therapies the better! :)

Find out more about other natural animal therapies here at Taranet. Or read other articles in this Natural Pet Health Blog. Take a look at the sitemap here to explore!

Exciting News About This Natural Pet HealthCare Blog
It's been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 10 UK Animal Blogs on the web. Check out this here

About the Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.