Allergies and the Liver
If your critter has flea or other allergies, this is almost always a reflection of a liver out of balance. It is truly amazing and deeply rewarding to see cats and dogs who have suffered with these symptoms for most of their life to see them return to vibrant health! Since it takes a long time for a liver to get out of balance, it also takes a long time to return it to health. In most cases, daily treatment with liver herbs will completely resolve an allergy in a year. In some cases the allergies are improved but not eliminated in a year and the treatment is given for 18 months or more.
I offer my patients a formula I make called Long Live Liver for problems such as this. The formula includes milk thistle, dandelion, burdock and yellow dock roots, sarsaparilla, licorice and a bunch of other helpful herbs. Give ¼ tsp for a 50-pound dog twice daily. For cats give 10 drops (or less if yours gives you cat-itude), twice daily in a strong tasting treat such as bonito flakes. Bonito flakes are available in most natural food stores in the Asian section, bonito is a dried flaked tuna fish. Also give fish oil. I like one from Spectrum called ‘Small Fish Oil’ to avoid the concentration of toxins in the larger fish such as cod.
During the time that we are uprooting the cause of the disease by strengthening the liver, we continue to use herbal and/or conventional treatments to help ease symptoms, but we are slowly uprooting the disease. Keeping the lymph clear and operating smoothly is amazingly helpful. Cleavers and/or chickweed as an infusion added to meals or a dose of Lymphatic Formula twice daily can do wonders. If you are using the tincture, you can just add it with the Long Live Liver Formula to the treat you are giving the medicine in.
It is no wonder we are seeing so many of our beloved critters suffer from allergies such as flea allergies, chronic ear infections, and all kinds of respiratory and itchy skin and coat conditions. In the past, conditions such as allergies, arthritis and asthma all fell under the medical heading of ‘dirty blood.’ Consider that the liver is the primary organ responsible for removing toxins, both natural metabolic ones as well as newly created environmental ones. Chemically treated lawns, rugs, flea killing medications and poor diet and even good quality foods that are high in residual pesticides are all adding to the workload and problems of the liver. The liver is quite overworked!
Two of my favorite foods that help balance the liver are flat-leaf parsley and burdock root. Burdock root is usually available from most natural food stores in the produce section. Just shred the root raw into food or cook it for yourself with other vegetables and enjoy. Take the leftovers and puree them (a Magic Bullet is awesome here) and add to other food. Parsley is best given raw pureed or just chopped fine and sprinkled over critter food. Cats, of course, being cats, need to be coaxed by a puree. Mix the puree with some sardines or sardine water (don’t use the sardines in oil), canned mackerel or even mixed with wet cat food.
It may take a little experimenting with your own critters’ personal taste to introduce these new foods into their diet, but patience can often will out even the most finicky of our furry ones.
Be Well!
For more information about herbal remedies, please visit BluebirdHerbals.com.