Teabags for Teacups and other practical tips

TEABAGS FOR TEACUPS

Trying to treat a miniature breed dog or small animal with a herbal treatment that must be left on the stomach?

Why not try using tea bags for teacups?!! You can use chamomile for diarrhoea, horsetail and dandelion for liver troubles, ginger for nausea or travel sickness. And many more remedies can be found if you look at a herbal treatment for animals book, or just go online and find the best remedy for common problems. I have a cat specific herbal book, The Cat Herbal by Claire Nahmad, that is full of excellent natural remedies for cats.

For larger animals, to use a pillowcase, adding the appropriate amount of herbs, and simply tying the excess cloth in a knot, and maybe securing the knot with a rubberband to ensure the herbs don't spill.



STOCKING TUBE

Hold the herbs close to the stomach easily by cutting a tube shape from a pair of stockings. Opaque may be stronger and you can probably use them again after washing. For the smallest animals, you can use childrens or even babies stockings. You can find them in second hand shops quite cheaply. Wash them first with a few drops of patchouli and lavender oil added to the wash. Good for most sizes of cats or dogs, even good for rabbits, ferrets, rats, guinea pigs, etc. Try it! The tricky bit is getting the stockings over their legs, so pick the end that will cause the least discomfort, particularly if they get cranky being touched on the rear end or have stiff, painful back legs. For the large dogs and giant breeds, you can modify the stocking by sewing two pieces of stocking tubes cut in half together to make it comfortable to wear around the belly. Maybe even farm animals can benefit from modified stockings.

The stocking tube is great because it is readily available, cheap, and you can use it without troubling yourself over bandaging. It won't stick to their fur, and doesn't need to be expensive or inaccessible like vetwrap. You can also use it for bandaging the body, limbs or tail with layers of cloth directly over a wound, even if only for first aid.



SOME PLASTIC FREE TOYS FOR PETS

I looked after a kitten who had all sorts of things I had bought for him to play with, and one of his favourite things was batting the empty toilet roll cylinder about. It is as simple as putting it on the floor and rolling it along. And then once it loses its playability, you simply recycle it. You could add things to it like a string wrapped around the inside several times and a bell attached to the string. Or put part of a sock on the outside of it, stuff the inside with catnip in the herbal form, and tie the end so it doesn't leak.

Another thing he liked was a large dried date, changed to a fresh one every few days. I gave him that when he was teething to chew on and he batted it about on the floor, as well as picking it up in his mouth and carrying it about.



I hope this can help people to enjoy cheap and easy practical and natural solutions for their pets!

God, Buddha and Radiant Brow bless
Samantha Aungle