Administration of supplements/medicine

[AdamL]

How do you all give your supplements/medicine?

In Don Hamilton's book, Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs he says that touching pellets with your hands or adding powder to food could neutralize the effects. Now, knowing that we need to get our companions to ingest the remedy is the most important thing, whats the ideal process?

Powders - mix with water and ingest it separate from food or sprinkle it on the food?
Pills/Pellets - swallow alone, mix in food, smother in peanut butter and trick the animal?

Some combination of the above?

Does it make a difference if it is a medicine to treat some ailment vs a nutritional supplement?

 

[Dr. Christina]

Great question, Adam. I think you are asking about different categories.

One is giving homeopathic medicines. The recent Empower Hour addressed this in detail as we discussed posology, which includes potency selection, frequency and administration. The goal of giving these energetic medicines is to stimulate the vital force (energetic pattern) with energy medicine so it can be balanced enough to heal. The medicines are not given continuously.

A brief overview for you: First let's discuss giving homeopathic medicines. These come in only a very few different forms - tiny (#10) or larger pellets, tiny soft or hard tablets or a liquid. They are in a sugar base, so most animals, even cats and small dogs, do not mind a little bit crushed to a powder, in their mouth (or a few of the #10 pellets). Often we recommending diluting in water for a gentler effect and most cats tolerate a few drops of a liquid in the mouth. Just need to get on the gums or tongue, so no need to crank open the mouth, just gently pull up or down on the lip a bit. It is usually ok to touch the remedy, IMO.

Here is a good summary and review of giving the dilution.

Q-tip Dosing to Reduce Homeopathic Aggravations for Dog and Cats

Here's a video about preparing and giving a dose of homeopathic medicine that we just made for my brother. This dosing method is a combination of the water "Advanced Method" of Hahnemann and reducing the size of the dose per Andre´ Saine: The size of the dose matters...

www.holisticactions.com

Now to move to what else I think you are asking. Giving supplements or herbal treatments to cats can be a challenge. Supplements are often given daily, sometimes for life, so finding ones that are tasty and ways to trick them in to taking them can be a fun challenge.

One trick is to keep experimenting with fresh food to see what are "adored" foods. Then, when they are hungry, put the herb, powder, liquid into a small amount of that food and hope they eat it. Do not put into the main meal as you will not know if the dose was taken.

Peanut butter or other substance is fine if that is a treat they love, but not if you have to push down the throat.

Here is a suggestion for vit c, for instance:

Medicating a cat

Hi everyone I posted a few weeks ago about my cat, Star, who was recently diagnosed with mammary cancer. Dr. Jeff recommended I give her Pet Fraction (a liquid) and Vitamin C (a powder). She won't eat her food if I mix the supplements into it so I have been squirting the Pet Fraction into her...

www.holisticactions.com

Please ask about any specific things you are having trouble with, and let us know about who your pet is - dog, cat, big, little, etc.

Dr. Christina