Far be it from me to pretend that I’m an expert in animal health. However, the following remedies have done wonders for my dogs as well as my mom’s cats!
My sweet dogs are thirteen and a half. The day they don’t want to chase balls, go for walks, and bark at the postal carrier, I’ll be worried. Every day, they teach me more about how to grow older with grace. Every day, I do my best to make aging easier on them.
While I know dogs and cats aren’t physiologically exactly like humans, for an extra safety precaution, I often try remedies on myself before enlisting them. In addition, I start off slowly and keep a close watch for possible overdosing and any bad reactions.
Turmeric
This wonderful golden root, touted to aid just about everything, has helped heal my broken knee. Unexpectedly, turmeric also helps me sleep better.
For the past few months, I’ve been splitting an extra high potency turmeric capsule among my pets, sprinkling the contents over their meals. Within two days, they were greeting the day with renewed spryness!
Cod Liver Oil (super fine grade)
About the same time, I found I was constantly wiping gooey/crusty schmutz from the corners of their eyes.
Their eyes are different from ours in a variety of ways:
- They have three eyelids!
- The placement of their eyes depends on the shapes of their faces and noses.
- Their rods-to-cones ratio differ from ours.
- We see color and close-up better. They see movement better.
Ultra fine grade cod liver oil squeezed into canine eyes, I read somewhere, could refresh their eyes and possibly slow cataract formation.
Hmmm …oil in the eyes?! The idea took time to warm up to. With great trepidation (and secrecy from dear ones who would surely have been horrified) I squeezed some into my own eyes.
Lo and behold, down to the fishy smell, it was no big deal. The wee bit of blurry vision righted within minutes, and there was no sting. Whew!
Moving onto my furry beloveds, to my supreme delight, within two days, their eyes were clear — plus!! — they could see better! As a result, they’re more responsive and obviously happier! The wonderfulness of this makes tears spring to my own eyes!
Mondays have become ‘oil days.’ They’re never thrilled by the application, but any dog with Labradors in it aims to please. All the more so as they age.
More about what I do for my dear furry ones.
More on turmeric for dogs here.
More on canine eyes here and their eyelids here.
Happiness Between Tails by da-AL 
wonderful tips here – thanks (and I am late to this post but it came up in the reader under a recent post) and just had to say I am going to try the cod liver oil “in” the eye and will have my mother try it too –
and side note – in 2008 I started taking cod liver oil daily and in a few months I stopped buying moisturizer – woo hoo – we moisturize from the inside out and it is a top product for me.
I stopped using it because my fat and oils intake went up with other sources, like good meats and walnuts – but have some cod liver oil and will get back to it – thx
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how interesting! cod liver oil has lots of vitamin d as well, which most Americans don’t get enough of
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yes – and the brain I took was Sonne’s – which I think is a top brand – I have heard that capsules are NOT the way to go with the cod liver oil.
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[…] tried many, many things and continue to explore ways to make my best friends comfortable. The electric blanket has afforded […]
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Fascinating article. I eat Tumeric in my food all the time. Never thought about sharing it with my pets.
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