Healthy old age begins with healthy young age! There are no magic fix-its for a lifetime of bad choices and lifestyle. And your dog is the same! A dog is amazingly adaptable and loyal and will happily live the life you provide but it is up to us to do our best by them...
There are simple and cheap preventative treatments that are easy to give (and to take yourself) as insurance that we should all place on a list of supplements to be taken regularly. In fact for myself, even though I live surrounded by herbs, it is the only thing I do take on a regular basis. For the rest of my health and wellbeing I rely on moderate habits, a healthy diet and a joy of life. So it should be for your dog, especially when age becomes a consideration.
Arthritis
Arthritis in dogs almost always means osteo-arthritis, which are structural changes to the bones involving degeneration, physical breakdown of joints or spurs or other physical changes to the bones themselves. Sometimes we say that this is because they have worn their structure out from too much hard work but I am really not sure that is the automatically the case even in working dogs and it certainly is not the case for pets.
Osteo-Arthritis naturopathically is seen as a reflection of either a breakdown of the metabolism of minerals or an imbalance of minerals in the diet. Often too much Calcium and too littles is the real problem.
Popular knowledge has us believing that we need calcium to grow healthy bones and the whole dairy industry has been built around this idea which ignores the fact that bones are made from calcium, magnesium, silica and a range of other minerals all in balance one with another. Anything which creates an imbalance like too much milk which is very high in calcium and very low in other minerals; or a calcium supplement even given in good can create an imbalance if not enough Silica is in the diet.
From the metabolic point of view, a highly acid constitution will tend to leach Calcium from the body and this acid metabolism is much more likely to come about from processed carbohydrates in a dogs diet than from a natural meat, bones and vegetable diet. Don't give your dog bread scraps or sugar.
Cereal meals made with ground millet and linseed contain all the minerals required to build, to heal and to maintain the health of all bone and ligament tissue. These grains together are rather higher in silica than needs be for bone growth and the extra silica will seek out and redissolve excess calcium deposits in the skeleton of your elder dog. A little fresh Elecampane leaf put in the cereal meal with the other greens will foster this healing and reabsorption and slow down or reverse any arthritic changes that are occurring.
The other form stiffness and soreness often called arthritis is really much more like rheumatism. Rheumatic changes to the body are all about the auto immune system breaking down and causing the fluid in the joints to irritate the joint capsule causing pain and inflammation and eventually breakdown. As a herbalist I don't see this as being some thing which is solely in the hands of God (or the Genes) either. There has to be reasons why a joint which worked before freely, changes to one which doesn't. I actually consider the primary problem is more to do with Kidney function and efficiency as it is the Kidneys which maintain control of the blood acidity and other chemistry.
If the kidneys are brought back to full health, blood tonics are given to assist in the removal of toxins and if the immune system is supported in other ways, there is no reason why a rheumatic process cannot be halted and reversed. In a dog a rheumatic type of problem is a stiffness which is usually worse in cold weather and one which, at least early in the process, will move from one joint to another for no reason. In the beginning, these odd sore spots and pain will also go away when the dog warms up into work and the pain is less after exercise. In an arthritic problem mostly, the opposite is the case. The more work the worse the pain.
Incontinence
Incontinence in an older bitch particularly if she has been spayed can be a problem. However it is not too difficult to slow down and reverse the deterioration, especially if you can get on to it early.
As with most other health issues, if there is not a problem one day, and then the next day, there is the beginnings of a problem, mostly this represents a very small change from one day to the next. The fact that the change was just the last little bit of change which allowed a weakness to show up as a symptom really only shows us that there is only a small way to go back to get to be symptom free again.
In the case of bladder incontinence the small circular muscle (sphincter) closing off tube (rather like a rubber band or a lamb marking ring) at the mouth of the bladder has been weakening progressively over a fairly long period of time. The day before the first episode it is still managing to hold the contents of the bladder and prevent leakage. Then, come small signs like a little leakage when barking or excited which puts that little extra bit of pressure on the sphincter which has weakened to the point it just cant cope and you get the first leak. Progressively as the sphincter becomes weaker the leakage becomes more and more of a problem.
However the problem is just a progressive weakening of a small circular muscle and this can be toned up. There is a particular variety of Couch Grass, which works in the body to halt and reverse the weakening of sphincter muscles wherever they are found. Regular exposure to this herb will usually show results very quickly as the body begins to reverse the process of weakening. As a herbalist, I usually put other herbs in with the Couch Grass to further facilitate the reversal. These will be chosen to take into consideration other pressures put on the bladder due to poor muscle tone in the abdomen or scar tissue resulting from the spaying operation for example but the basic treatment is very simple. Consult your herbalist and have a mixture made up at the very first signs of leakage and save yourself and your bitch a whole lot of inconvenience.
Eye health
There is a combination of three herbs Rue, Golden Seal and Celendine, which with Rescue Remedy, is really the cure for all eye ills.
These range from damage and wounds, infections, irritations, early cataracts, psoriasis and any other eye condition whatsoever. This combination provides a high Vitamin A source, an antiseptic and a tonic to the circulation within the eye tissue itself. It is safe and easy to use and should be in your first aid kit for treating both the animals and family.
The only caution is that the 1:1 extract strength mix, which I work with, is very very strong indeed and must never be used without diluting down to a strength of about 3 drops in 20ml of water. A small bottle of eye mix will keep indefinitely and will last the average family several years. In this age of exotic infections, some people like to use Colloidal Silver as a carrier, in place of plain water, and this is sometimes helpful for difficult cases.
The best way to administer the diluted eyewash is to put it in a small plastic squeeze bottle and dribble a little in the eye (make sure the wash is around room temperature). The dog will blink this around and then it may be repeated several times.
Twice a day treatment for an active infection or other problem and once per day after it is under control. It is not a bad idea at all to use the eye mix as part of your monthly preventative maintenance routine for a couple of days along with two consecutive doses of Herbal Worming Treatment, a bath and a good going over of coat, ears and paws to check for ticks, undiscovered wounds or the early signs of any other problems.
Hearing
There is almost nothing, which can be done with herbal treatments to assist with hearing loss. Once you have ensured that the dogs ear canals are free and clear and that there are no eternal ear canal fungal problems, which are causing irritation, and excessive wax buildup that is it.
Dogs are lucky in many regards with deterioration of senses because they depend rather more on smell than either sight or sound and the sense of smell never seems to deteriorate much. Profound deafness could be a safety issue around cars for example, but their sense for vibration and some hearing will usually protect them.
If there is a constant buildup of wax in the external ear canal you should always consider that there could be a fungal infestation. This can be easily controlled by mixing up 1:10 mixture of Vinegar and Alcohol to be syringed into the year. As a herbalist I usually add the herb Thuja to this mix and the homoeopathic Bach Flower remedy Crab Apple. The mix of vinegar and alcohol is carried into ear canal and then when the alcohol evaporates a nice film of acetic acid crystals are deposited from the Vinegar. Fungal infestations hate Vinegar and their response is to go dormant waiting for it go away.
While the fungus is dormant it doesn't irritate and the canal can settle down and stop producing excessive wax. Re apply the eardrops after every time the dog goes for a swim or you bathe it and the fungus ceases to be a problem.
Heart problems
Heart problems will first show up in an older dog as it being short of breath and showing reduced energy. The other symptoms are usually a pot belly which shows fluid accumulation gravitating to the lowest point and a cough at night which is the dogs system attempting to deal with a fluid buildup in the lungs.
It is best to have this condition confirmed by a Vet and then to treat it with herbs. We prescribe diuretic herbs, which are probably kinder than the sort of diuretics prescribed by orthodox medicine and I use a combination of the herbs, Cactus (Grandiflora) and Hawthorne. This particular combination has the dual action of improving the strength and regularity of the electrical signals which fire in a small patch of tissue in the heart and produce a nice clear, strong and regular contraction of the heart while at the same time, nourishing the muscular tissue of the heart and slowing down or reversing deterioration.
Heart is one of the health problems we should get on to earlier than we do in animals. We don't usually notice it until it is pretty well advanced so it is probably one of those things you should start to look for as your dog begins to age so that it can be treated earlier than is usually the case. Treated with herbs early a heart problem does not need to become a serious one for your dog as they continue to age.
Cancer
The single most effective preventative of the process of cancer, once one has gone back to a natural diet and a sensible pattern of care, is to give Maritime Pine Bark extract (the super antioxidant) as a daily supplement.
