Parasite Control, Naturally
by Cat Donnelly

For many years, I believe our pets have been used as walking toxic chemical experiments. I personally cannot figure out the logic of giving them so many chemicals, unless it is to test what their breaking point is. Chemicals have to go somewhere in the body, i.e. the liver or the kidneys, but at some point, the cleansing organs can become saturated, and then severe health problems like cancer and seizures can ensue.

Let's face it, if you have animals, you are going to have to deal with parasites at some point. Dogs and cats get fleas, ticks, tapeworm, and other assorted parasites from time to time. How you deal with it will affect your pet's health, and that of your family. After all, you cuddle with your pets. Do you want to handle them after you've put a dangerously toxic "spot" treatment on their coats? A spot that incidentally will not wash off?? What about if your pet has a seizure after it's application and there is no way to get it off? Same idea with internal chemicals. Once you give the pill, you have to then try to detoxify their body if a reaction occurs.

Puppies are born with a few weeks of relative peace and vigor until (in my opinion) the breeder starts managing their health with chemicals. The manufacturers can recommend that breeders start de-worming puppies at only 3 or 4 weeks old! They aren't even on solid foods yet and their bodies are not equipped to handle this strong chemical that irritates the bowel, and yet this is exactly what the manufacturer recommends.

Then they are started on an onslaught of vaccinations and sometimes wormed every week before going to their new home, whether they need it or not. These are things that "good" and "conscientious" breeders think they are supposed to do. In fact, if you don't do it, you are labeled as a bad pet owner or breeder.

While the pups are still young, the "spot" treatment is usually used for fleas and/or ticks. I recently found out that this product is corrosive!!! The active ingredient is Fipronil. Here's info on this chemical:

http://www.petconsumerreport.com/freeissue/topicalfleatreatments.htm , or
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/actives/fipronil.htm

Some veterinarians are now starting to advise to get puppies on monthly heartworm preventative right after weaning. Heartworm prevention treatments are a chemical insecticide, no matter what brand or what type. So these pups have been chemically wormed, had a few rounds of chemical vaccinations that contain mercury and other toxic compounds, had their "spot" treatment, and are also taking chemicals internally to prevent heartworm.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? Is it any wonder why dogs are getting so ill so young these days? When I was young, dogs seemed to live forever and we did almost none of these things. What are we doing wrong now?

While I cannot give out veterinary advice, I can tell you what I do for my own pets. The decisions you make should only be after you have thoroughly researched each issue and then do what is in your own comfort zone. If you are interested in rearing your pets naturally, there are now MANY books out there written by veterinarians and other knowledgeable people that I strongly suggest you put on your reading list. Dr. Pitcairn, Dr. Martin Goldstein, Dr. Don Hamilton, Juliette De Barclay Levy, Catherine O'Driscoll, Kymythy Schultze, and Mary Wulff-Tilford, are just a few of the authors that you should find worthwhile.

With my last litter of puppies, they received no vaccinations. I took them to parks and dog shows and street fairs, and they remained very healthy. One of them caught kennel cough at the dog show, but he recovered easily with some herbal remedies. I kept some homeopathic nosodes on hand just in case, though I did not use them. I used things like garlic, Vitamin C, colloidal silver and other supplements to help boost his immune system and let him heal himself.

Whether you vaccinate or not, there are inherent risks involved. If you vaccinate, your pet may have a bad reaction to it, get a chronic disease from it, may catch the actual disease the vaccine is meant to protect it from, or may even die. If you do not vaccinate, your pet may catch an acute disease and fully recover from it, or it may die. You have to do your research and do what you think is best to minimize the chances of that happening (like eliminating non-essential shots, starting later, and spacing them out more). In my opinion, if you chose not to vaccinate as many people do, you MUST take on a more healthful lifestyle to support your pet's immune system or you are playing with fire!

I did not chemically worm my puppies at all and would never use a chemical wormer without evidence of an infestation. I prefer regular stool testing instead of blindly worming because too many chemicals in the bowel can strip it of it's protective membrane. Ideally, herbally worming and testing the dam a few weeks before the intended breeding is preferable to prevent her from passing worms onto her pups. A key way to prevent tape worm is to control fleas, since it is caused by dogs ingesting fleas.

For help with natural parasite control, please click on the button with the parasite that you are having troubles with: INTESTINAL WORMS/HEARTWORM , FLEAS, TICKS.

Cat Donnelly
AlternativePets.com

(479) 643-3026

Emails welcome at: naturalpetfoods@aol.com