Dog lovers know that dogs are generally quite responsive to rewards, like praise and petting. But if you’re training your dog, treats are a even better motivator.
Unfortunately, many commercial dog treats contain additives that can be harmful to your dog’s health, including artificial colorants, preservatives, and flavorings.
Continue reading “Banana-Yogurt Dog Treats”
Herbal teas are wonderful for goats and my girls love them. This particular blend is one of their favorites and is a good all-purpose tea to help tone and strengthen their systems. I like to make up a batch for them periodically, especially during more stressful times — like heat, baths, hoof trimming, or transport — or during the changing of seasons to help give their bodies a boost during wet or cold periods.
The ingredients in this tea are naturally soothing and nourishing. Chamomile is a gentle sedative and anti-spasmodic. It also tones the digestive system and helps to relieve constipation and expel gas and worms. It is a natural pain reliever, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory and helps to heal wounds (making it great for external use too!). While it is a very mild, safe herb its use should be limited with pregnant goats.
These calming herbal treats are perfect for toning a goat’s nervous system and will help them better cope with situations that normally cause them stress. I like to feed these to my girls before trimming their hooves, doing any other type of grooming, or while they are in heat. They would also be helpful for goats during transport as this can often make them anxious.
Making treats is simple and my goats absolutely love these. I feed them each two daily when I know I will be trimming their hooves, or when they are going into heat. I’ve also used these treats to help calm them during a tick removal. My goats are very resistant to topical methods of treatment, but they will happily take medicine in a food form. Putting healing plants into food is a great way to treat a stubborn or skittish goat!
While many of us love the warmer weather that spring and summer bring, those of us who own pets know that pests like fleas also enjoy these seasons’ milder temperatures. Aside from being highly annoying to your pet, flea infestations can also cause more serious health issues, such as excessive itching (some animals are more sensitive to flea bites than others), hair loss, secondary skin infections, and anemia.
Unfortunately, many commercial flea preventatives and treatments contain highly toxic chemicals. Though these collars, shampoos, pills, and sprays are certainly effective at killing fleas, they are highly unsafe for pets and their owners. Many of the chemicals in these treatments are also highly irritating to dogs and cats so they will lick and bite at them, which increases the amount of toxins that they take in. Herbalist, Juliette de Baïracli Levy, even states, “The modern flea collars, because they work on a chemical principle and carry health-precaution warnings, I suspect are more hazardous to health than the presence of fleas.”
Continue reading “Natural Pet Care: Preventing Flea Infestations”
mama libélula 