Managing Honey's Nail Bed Infection - Without Antibiotics

In the end yesterday turned out to be quite a monumental day on my journey of trying to care for the pups in as natural a way as possible...

I went to the Vet, who confirmed that it looked as though Honey had a nail bed infection. As I'd anticipated she suggested a course of antibiotics to clear the infection, but when I said that I didn't really want to give her antibiotics she understood and said to try just soaking the paw in warm salt water for five minutes, twice a day... If it got any worse, or didn't clear up in a week, I could ring up for an antibiotic prescription...

Great - that was just what I needed - confirmation of what the problem was, and a simple, effective and natural way to deal with it.

As the day progressed however it entered my head that if the infection DID get worse, or if it didn't clear up with warm salt water - then I would need to give her antibiotics in a weeks time anyway, and I wondered if there was anything else I could do to help the infection clear. The Vet didn't know of anything and said that she couldn't believe that garlic would help at all. I don't know about you, but personally I find it quite strange that educated people can sometimes find it hard to comprehend that nature could provide healing alternatives.

Anyway - as I was pondering on what other steps I could take, my phone rang, and it was the homeopathic vet that I'd left a message for earlier in the day...

She was a pleasure to talk to, but couldn't advise me without seeing Honey first, although she did indicate that there were many homeopathic and herbal options available. In the end she suggested I take the following action if I were serious about trying to raise the pups using natural approaches:

1. Book and appointment to have a consultation with her. She said that she would provide me a homeopathic first aid kit, plus loads of reading and information about natural flea control, natural worming, homeopathic vaccinations and so on. She also said she would do both of the dogs for the price of one...

2. From then on she said that she would be happy to be at the other end of the phone to point me in the right direction for any future problems, and provided it only involved a telephone conversation on her part - she wouldn't charge for that - but she needed the dogs to be registered with her, and she needed to see them etc - before we could get to that stage.

The total cost for this consultation and first aid kit to me will be:

1. A 45 minute drive
2. £100

Now, I figured that with an effective first aid kit and the option to call on someone qualified for advice or support when I needed it, I would be well armed - and could potentially save more money than that in the long run (one off visits to the Vets like yesterdays cost me £25 - it would have been more if I'd taken the antibiotics) - and even though I can't actually afford the consultation fee at the moment - you can't really put a price on your dogs health... My new outfit or that meal out can wait - surely!

So - NOW I'm really excited. I have an appointment tomorrow with a veterinary qualified holistic vet who uses homeopathy, herbs and acupuncture to treat animals.

I have met Nick Thompson, a highly regarded holistic vet, when we filmed him in Somerset earlier in the year for www.innerdog.tv He was amazing - and I loved everything he had to say. However Somerset is quite a distance from here, and I was really pleased to discover that this Vet (Mrs Pedler from Mercer and Hughes in Saffron Walden) who is 45 minutes drive from me, knows Nick Thompson really well, and is obviously from the same school of thought... yay - natural puppies here we come....