Herbal Healing for Harley
Our Bolognese Harley has been experiencing the downside of growing older gracefully. He's had a bit of a cough lately . Although the vet says it's nothing to worry about (it's an age thing..shhhhh don't tell Harley that), Mr. Mutt & I can't bear to think that our little boy is uncomfortable in anyway. So being the herbal remedy gal that I am, I searched out things to do for Harley that could naturally help.
Two things have done the trick so far. The first is a spray that I use throughout the day. Just a couple squirts above Harleys little nose. It smells great!
I combined Spike Lavender & Eucalyptus essential oils with a bit of distilled water & put into a small sprayer. I thought for sure Harley would turn his nose up & not like the smell but he actually likes it! Not "cheeseburger" like..but he doesn't give me that "Aww mom, what the heck is that smell" look....like when his sister Bijoux trots into the room.
The second thing we've done is to give him a bit of raw/unpasteurized honey (on a special silver spoon of course). Harley loves to lick his little spoonful of honey, once in the morning & once at night. It's comical to watch really, his tongue gets longer & longer as he licks. He borders on imitating an aardvark!
So far, the herbal approach has been successful. I'll be adding more & more herbal information to my recipe books.
I like herbal, too. This is great for dog owners to know. How did you come up with the spray? It doesn't burn? I guess the water dillutes it? The honey story is cute. I can see his tongue growing by leaps and bounds to get it all. ;-)
ReplyDeleteXO,
Sheila
My dad got his Ph.D. in holistic healing years & years ago. I grew up using herbs & tinctures as well as knowing to eat well & take my vitamins (blech). If you were to use essential oils "neat" or full strength, then yes they can & do burn. However, once diluted essential oils can provide much relief. I used a 2oz spray bottle filled with DISTILLED WATER & put 3 drops spike lavender & 3 drops eucalyptus essential oils into it. I capitalized distilled water because I believe this is a very important step. Remember, what we put on our skin does penetrate, what we breathe in does matter. If I can avoid toxins in anyway I will. Pets included. Besides, it's not possible to know for sure what is in your tap or bottled water which could possibly lead to a reaction between your oil & the minerals (or whatever) in your water. We have a water distiller so I only use distilled water. Also, I only buy organic oils from trusted sources. I love Mountain Rose Herbs, they have all kinds of goodies.
DeleteMost importantly, I spoke to my vet about this. What works on Harley may not work on Pierre our Pomeranian (he has seizures)so we are careful to ask & even then I still research it on line & speak to my Dad about it. I popped on the humidifier last night & that also helped him (a bonus was that my skin felt great this morning!). Thanks for being such a dedicated reader Sheila & it's great to see you back "online"!! ♥