At some point in your pet's life, it will develop some kind of harmful parasite. Whether it be hook worm, ring worm or tape worm, some way of ridding your animal of these parasites is necessary. Whether you just want to save money or would rather not use prescription medications on your pet, a natural herbal cleanse is a viable option for your infected animal.
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Symptoms
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Symptoms of a parasitic infection in your animal tend to be bowel-related. While diarrhea is the most common symptom, your animal may also experience a loss of appetite, lethargy, coughing and abdominal bloating. However, infections may be asymptomatic. Checking your animal's feces at least twice yearly for parasites, and more often if they spend a lot of time outside, is the best way to ensure you do not miss a parasitic diagnosis.
Herbal Cleansing
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A simple diet change, such as adding more fiber to your animal's diet, may be enough to rid them of parasites if they are healthy and the infection is not severe. Liquid clay has been reported to catch and collect the parasites as the clay moves through and out of the digestive tract. Ground pumpkin seeds, pomegranate juice and cloves have also been known to be effective. The most popular herbal remedies tend to include black walnut hulls or wormwood. Colloidal silver is a naturally occurring antibiotic that kills more than 540 strains of bacteria and is useful as a cleanser. Herbal cleansers are generally made up of a combination of these and sometimes other herbs.
Do-it-yourself vs. Purchased Kits
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Making your own natural parasite cleanser, by way of purchasing your own herbs and laxatives, can be expensive because of the variety of different herbs you may need to purchase. The most common cleanser is a combination of apple juice, black walnut hull, wormwood, cloves and L-ornithine. In addition to being tedious, creating your own cleanser may be risky if you do it wrong. Store-bought kits come with everything that you will need to complete the cleansing and can usually be bought online or at your local natural healing store.
Tips
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If you are harvesting your own black walnut hull, do so while they are still green, before turning black, lest they lose their medicinal properties. Wormwood is a name used for many plants, so you should find the wormwood called, "Artemesia" which generally comes in a bitter, capsule form. Do not use cloves found in the spice aisle at the supermarket; these are for cooking only and have no medicinal value.
Warnings
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As with any at-home treatment, if symptoms persist or become more severe you should contact a veterinarian immediately. This can be a sign that the parasites are still present, or that your animal has contracted another virus or disease, which is common with parasitic infection. Because a healthy body requires good bacteria, and cleansers do not differentiate the good from the bad, it is important to start a treatment or routine to replenish your animal's body of these good bacteria after the completion of the initial cleansing.
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