Herbs and the in-whelp bitch
Many breeders today are using
antibiotics as a preventative treatment against anticipated problems when
mating bitches. Whilst antibiotics have their place some people, myself
included, would prefer to use alternative treatments when ever possible due to
the known problems connected with constant use of the above. With this is mind
I have written the following article.
First of all I would like to assure readers that both my
self and my husband are deeply interested in herbal medicine and have studied
the subject quite extensively, you can rest assured the following herbs are
safe in the suggested usage.
When our bitch Ch. Darling
Buds of May whelped her second litter it soon became evident the labour was not
progressing as one would hope. She did not appear to have true contractions;
the puppies were born at two to three hourly intervals and refused to feed.
They lost weight rapidly and were constantly covered in a sticky red discharge,
rapidly developing infection around the umbilical cords. Mum was very
distressed and despite veterinary intervention plus my own experience with
difficult puppies, we lost the whole litter. We were devastated so I began to
look at ways to prevent a reoccurrence of this problem with the applied use of
herbs.
Having now found the following preventative treatment highly successful over a number of litters we are confident it may be of help to others. Out of interest, Darling buds of May was mated again to the same dog and the following tincture used. She had six healthy puppies and an effortless labour.
SINCE FIRST WRITING THIS ARTICLE MANY HAVE USED THE FOLLOWING TINCTURE WITH GREAT SUCCESS, these herbs can be purchaced from : www.baldwins.co.uk
Herbal tincture for the in whelp bitch:
Ingredients:
28g. Cramp Bark (viburnum opulus)
28g Squaw Vine (mitchella repens)
10g Valerian (valerian officinalis)
28g Raspberry leaf (rubus idaeus)
Place dried herbs in a large
jar, cover with Vodka, leave to steep for three weeks shaking daily.
Strain the alcohol through a
fine sieve into a clean jar and discard the herbs, you now have the prepared
herbal tincture. Give 3-4ml of the tincture daily from three weeks, if given
just prior to the bitch going off her feed at around three four weeks, it
will often prevent this from happening.
Cramp bark:
Actions: Anti-spasmodic,
sedative, astringent.
Cramp bark, as the name
implies, relaxes muscular tension and spasm. It has two main areas of use to
the herbalist. Firstly in muscular cramps and secondly in ovarian and uterine
muscle problems. It may be used to prevent threatened miscarriage and
re-absorption, whilst its astringent properties help to prevent excessive blood
loss once labour begins.
Squaw Vine:
Actions: Parturient,
emmenagogue, astringent, tonic.
Squaw vine is one of the
herbs brought to us via the North American Indians. It is among the best
remedies in preparing the uterus and whole body for child birth.
Valerian:
Actions: Sedative,
anti-spasmodic, carminative.
Valerian is widely recognised
as being one of the most useful relaxing nerviness available and may be safely
used to reduce tension, anxiety and over excitability, it will help to relieve colic
and cramps. It is a useful addition to our tincture in helping to prevent
uterine cramps, keep the expectant mum calm, and help prevent sickness in early
pregnancy.
Raspberry leaf:
Actions: Astringent, tonic,
parturient.
Raspberry leaves have a long tradition
of use in pregnancy to strengthen and tone the tissue of the womb. It will
strengthen contractions and help check any haemorrhage during labour. It will
also help prevent diarrhoea.
