Suzie Cyrenne: Does Homeopathy Work For Dogs? | E31

[00:00:00] in homeopathy, we don't work with diagnosis as much. We work more with symptoms. But it'll

[00:00:05] still give us a good overall look into what's happening. And then depending on what they

[00:00:12] recommend, what your vet will recommend like a list of medication or treatments to undergo,

[00:00:19] you can always wait before you say yes to any of it or I mean, we'll work with you

[00:00:24] if you've already started any conventional treatment because both can work together most

[00:00:29] of the time.

[00:00:38] Welcome to the Pet Care Report podcast by PetSummits. Here's your natural dog health

[00:00:43] care host, Alora McKinley.

[00:00:45] G'day guys. Welcome back to another episode of The Pet Care Report. Now we've seen

[00:00:50] homeopathy become more and more popular and accessible in the pet industry over the

[00:00:55] last few years. And it can be a great natural alternative or preventative for many issues

[00:01:00] that dog and dog parents face today. And so for today's episode, I thought we'd talk

[00:01:05] about all things homeopathy for dogs. And to chat more, I'd love to introduce you

[00:01:09] to Suzy Syreen. Now she's a certified homeopath and co-founder of Zimelka, your trusted

[00:01:14] source for homeopathic pet products. Suzy passionately advocates for natural

[00:01:19] alternatives in pet care, providing hope and side effect free solutions for pet parents.

[00:01:25] Dedicated to healing animals naturally, she brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to

[00:01:29] our conversation today. Thanks so much for joining me, Suzy.

[00:01:33] Thank you, Laura. I'm very grateful to be here.

[00:01:35] So for those that are familiar with the foundational principles of homeopathy, could

[00:01:40] you maybe elaborate on the specific considerations and adaptions made when applying these

[00:01:44] principles to canine care?

[00:01:46] Sure, absolutely. So if you know a little bit about homeopathy in general, this means

[00:01:52] that you'll understand that the principles of homeopathy will apply for humans as much

[00:01:58] as for pets and specifically dogs. So if we take, for example, one of the most

[00:02:05] foundational principles of homeopathy, the law of similars, or commonly explained

[00:02:12] the sentence, light, true is light, meaning if a substance causes symptoms in a healthy

[00:02:17] pet, those same small amounts of the substance can treat the same symptoms in a sick pet

[00:02:22] as well. So when we take those principles, as well

[00:02:27] as I like to mention that the individualized treatment is really important in homeopathy.

[00:02:33] So if we take that into account and apply it for dogs, well, one thing that we

[00:02:39] really have to be careful with is observe the symptoms. Since we want to

[00:02:45] individualize the treatment, we want to be very observant and watch for how our

[00:02:50] dog is doing or acting. And just because especially unlike people, dogs cannot

[00:02:57] talk. They can't tell us how they feel. So it's important to watch how they behave,

[00:03:03] So for example, a few questions I like to ask myself is are they more back to their

[00:03:12] old self the same? Are they more lethargic? Maybe are they eating more, less,

[00:03:17] or the same? And depending on the issue, let's say they have joint issues.

[00:03:23] Well, you want to really be observant. Are they limping more? Are they having

[00:03:27] a hard time to get up? Is it easier to get them up? So that's when you give a

[00:03:33] product or even when you start treatment, but also before starting treatment

[00:03:36] because every in homeopathy, every single detail counts. And that's the

[00:03:41] beauty of it. You feel heard and even for the pet, it's wonderful because

[00:03:46] everything has its importance. And usually pet owners will love that

[00:03:51] approach because like I said, they feel heard. They feel like we're really

[00:03:55] taking care of them. And that's just the basis of homeopathy. That's just how it

[00:03:59] works in general. So that's the beauty of it. You want to observe the

[00:04:03] symptoms to make sure you give the right treatment, but also you want to

[00:04:08] watch out if you're going to give a treatment for any sensitivities as

[00:04:11] well. I'd say it's rare that dogs will experience some sensitivities,

[00:04:18] but dogs don't always react the same way to homeopathy just like humans

[00:04:21] do just like to any treatment, even if it's very gentle and safe to use.

[00:04:25] So it's important to just observe them as we go. And if needed,

[00:04:31] we can adjust the dosage. So I think that would be the first thing

[00:04:35] I'd consider. The other thing specifically for dogs when giving homeopathy

[00:04:42] is how you administer the product. So us humans will usually take

[00:04:46] either pellets or something in our undertone, let it melt, all that.

[00:04:51] But with dogs, you can't really do that. And not that it tastes something.

[00:04:55] Usually homeopathy doesn't taste much like a lot, but dogs are very smart.

[00:05:00] So if you try to sneak in something just unusual into their water,

[00:05:05] their food or their mouth, I mean, they can sense it. So for dogs,

[00:05:10] I'll usually recommend making the homeopathic remening liquids because

[00:05:16] sometimes you can buy it in different forms. But if it comes in pellets,

[00:05:20] I recommend you first dilute those pellets in water. And after that,

[00:05:25] you can try and give it like that in their water bowl. It's very easy.

[00:05:27] Usually, honestly, that works really well. But if they're still very picky,

[00:05:33] then some other alternatives that work really well is just to mix

[00:05:38] the liquids with the homeopathic liquid with some chicken broth, beef broth.

[00:05:43] So that's usually a winner. That's usually a winner. And maybe one last thing.

[00:05:52] And I mean, it'll apply to humans too, but I find them with homeopathy,

[00:05:57] especially if someone's new to it. The first time they come into contact with it,

[00:06:01] they'll actually... It'll be like to treat something quick and acute problem like ear

[00:06:07] infection or maybe skin issues. But something to remember is that you can also treat your dog

[00:06:15] as a whole. So in homeopathy, our main focus or main goal when treating with homeopathy

[00:06:22] is to treat not only the symptom, but just... We want to address the dog's overall health.

[00:06:29] We can even go to his personality. We can even try and see how we can correct his behavior.

[00:06:36] So yeah, I think that's super cool because since dogs don't touch, then we can still rely on so

[00:06:44] many other symptoms and actually have a great response. So it's very, very powerful to use on

[00:06:51] dogs. I love that you mentioned different ways to give the liquid, because I can imagine that

[00:06:55] can be quite difficult. Sometimes dogs don't like when we put in their mouth. So yeah,

[00:07:00] putting it in broth or water, that's really cool. Yeah, works out well. Yeah. And now I'm

[00:07:05] sure I'm not the only one that sometimes gets a little overwhelmed when I look at just the huge

[00:07:09] diversity and the huge range of homeopathic remedies available. How do their parents

[00:07:14] decipher which products are most suited for their particular health concern?

[00:07:19] Yeah, it is quite overwhelming if you're just starting to use it. But there are certain

[00:07:27] things that can help you to choose the right medicine for your dog with homeopathy. So

[00:07:34] first, it's important to understand that your dog is unique. So even if two dogs seem to have

[00:07:41] the same problem, they might need different treatments. I had this case of... It was

[00:07:47] actually for an example is like when we have the flu, let's say or cold, we might... I

[00:07:54] mean, we'll say it's the cold, but they're not the same symptoms necessarily. So if you go

[00:08:00] to your conventional doctor, they'll probably prescribe maybe the same thing. But in homeopathy,

[00:08:06] it's not like that. If you have a leaky nose versus not a leaky nose, it'll be very different.

[00:08:11] If you have some discharge, maybe it'll be clear versus yellow. So it's not going to

[00:08:18] be the same remedy. So you just have to make sure... You keep that in mind when choosing

[00:08:23] a remedy because we're always aiming for a super personalized care. And if you take that

[00:08:29] into account, then you'll be sure to get better results. It's not a one size fits all with

[00:08:34] homeopathy. It's the whole different opposite way to go. So if you're pretty new to it and you

[00:08:43] want to start using it, I would probably say use a symptoms list. And what I mean by that is

[00:08:50] that there's a special book in homeopathy that matches symptoms to remedies. It's called

[00:08:55] The Repertory. So if you go, you can probably buy it on Amazon or to your natural health

[00:09:01] bookstore if there's any around you locally. And so basically what this book does is

[00:09:08] it lists your dog's problems and you can use the book to find the best remedy. So it'll

[00:09:13] list health problems and then it'll list ingredients that you can actually use.

[00:09:19] So you need two books. So once you have that, you need the other book that's called...

[00:09:27] I like to call it just to simplify things, like an ingredient book. It's like your

[00:09:30] dictionary of ingredients in homeopathy. It's called The Materia Medica. And once you have

[00:09:36] some remedies in mind from your other book that you could use, you look them up in your

[00:09:41] Materia Medica and honestly, it'll tell you everything that this remedy, a single ingredient

[00:09:48] can do for your pet. And we're not just talking about physical, we're talking about even

[00:09:53] emotional. So if your dog is aggressive, for example, all of a sudden after something

[00:10:00] happened in his life trauma, I mean there's a remedy for that somewhere. So if you want to

[00:10:07] act a little bit like a detective and really go treasure hunting for the perfect remedy

[00:10:13] almost for your dog, it's definitely possible. You can do that through those two books.

[00:10:18] And so yeah, so first you need that repertory to match the symptoms. And once you find the

[00:10:25] symptoms, you'll have a list of remedies. Then you go to your Materia Medica, the ingredients or

[00:10:31] a dictionary I like to call it. And then you look which fits the most because it'll give

[00:10:35] symptoms. This ingredient is really good for this in particular. It can go up to...

[00:10:41] If your dog is not feeling good, especially in most of the time at 3 AM, he's been waking

[00:10:46] up every day at 3 AM in the morning, it'll go that deep into the symptoms. So you can get really,

[00:10:51] really into details. But you don't need to know all of that. That's why those books are there.

[00:10:58] And so you just need to know those are your resources and that you can refer to at all

[00:11:04] times. But I mean, I can understand it can definitely sound overwhelming at first. So

[00:11:12] I mean, you can also talk to experts. If you're unsure, ask people that work in a natural health

[00:11:18] food store. You can ask or call a homeopath who knows of course about homeopathy and they're

[00:11:25] just going to provide that advice. So those are the two different ways you can go. Either

[00:11:31] you can try and do it yourself and you can definitely learn to do it. Or you can just go

[00:11:35] directly to an expert if you're unsure. If you want to save some time, that's another

[00:11:39] Yeah, so if a parent was to maybe undertake this themselves and go and buy something,

[00:11:45] is there a way that they can gauge the quality and reliability of a product or are they all

[00:11:49] quite similar? That is such a good question. And I think not a lot of people know about

[00:11:55] this. So I'm very happy to talk about this. So definitely there are even if homeopathy is not

[00:12:02] as regulated as like your drugs in other products, it's still regulated. I'm not sure

[00:12:09] in Australia, but I can tell you for the US, which is probably the most regulated

[00:12:15] that I've found I've come across. So there are some manufacturing standards. So

[00:12:22] you want to make sure that the products are manufactured in a what we call a GMT lab.

[00:12:27] In other words, that means good manufacturing practices. So those standards are actually set

[00:12:34] by health industry. They're just your regular health industry standards. For example, in the

[00:12:40] US, it'll be set by the FDA in Canada, it'll be Health Canada and Australia. You could tell me

[00:12:46] but so that you can just ask the company or your products manufacturing in a GMT lab,

[00:12:52] they usually will say yes or no. And another thing, you want to ensure that the remedies are

[00:12:59] produced following what we call the homeopathic pharmacopoeia of the United States. Long set of

[00:13:05] words, but it's usually shortened by HP US, so or equivalent standards in other countries. So

[00:13:13] this also ensures that the product is made following strict guidelines. So and the way to

[00:13:18] know those products are made that way is if you go on your labels, it'll usually be

[00:13:23] written on the label HP US ingredients. So the difference I mean, there will still be some

[00:13:30] homeopathic remedy stalled without having that on their label. And they but if you

[00:13:37] we really want to make sure that you have a good quality, the lab they're really test

[00:13:42] they'll test every single ingredient that comes in to make sure it's it really respects those

[00:13:47] standards. So they put kind of it's like a certification on the quality of ingredient.

[00:13:53] That's what we use now. So it's definitely it ensures stability of the product as well.

[00:14:00] And maybe another last thing would be to at least again, for the US is just there are some

[00:14:08] and it's the same process a little bit worldwide, you want to look for those marketing numbers,

[00:14:15] license numbers on on your label. So for example, in the US is called an NDC number,

[00:14:20] a national drug code because in the US homeopathy is considered as a drug.

[00:14:25] So it indicates the right to market the product in the country. So that's another thing you

[00:14:30] can always check to make sure you're giving a good quality. So yeah, that's about it. But

[00:14:36] if you're unsure, you can always I recommend just join forums and 10 seminars or engage with

[00:14:42] other homeopathic vats to get recommended and trusted brands, remedies that will allow you

[00:14:49] to make better choices on your own with time if you're unsure of starting.

[00:14:55] It's so important to get a good product isn't it? Now if a pet owner was to consider

[00:14:59] using maybe a homeopathic remedy, should they consult their vet before doing it or just to

[00:15:06] let them know? That's a really good question. Thank you. I love it because we do get that

[00:15:14] asked a lot. They don't have to talk to their vet, but I definitely recommend it. It depends

[00:15:20] on the vet you're working with. So if you're able to find a vet who's open minded or even

[00:15:29] better like a holistic vet, a vet that's already working with natural medicine, then

[00:15:35] it'll be perfect. That will work the best because not all vats are open to homeopathy

[00:15:41] to any other types of alternative medicine. And it breaks my heart when clients come to us

[00:15:47] and they're telling me, oh well I haven't told this that I'm giving this to my vet because

[00:15:54] I know they won't agree with what I'm giving. So it's hard. And in the end, your dog will

[00:16:00] lose because he's not getting the proper treatment that he deserves. But if you can, yes,

[00:16:09] find a vet who's open minded or holistic vet. It's best to find a vet who understands and

[00:16:13] who is open to both kinds of medicine. But the question that we often will get is, okay great,

[00:16:19] well where do I find such a vet? Of course you can check out PetSummits. They've talked to

[00:16:27] many vets who know about this through the interviews and courses. You can go online.

[00:16:32] There are some directories with holistic vets depending on where you live. And I think if

[00:16:41] you're unsure if your vet will be open to that, I'd recommend just talk openly and ask

[00:16:46] and see and check with them, are you open with me giving other types of medicines

[00:16:53] that are not just conventional? And depending on the answer they give you, then you can choose to

[00:16:58] continue or not with them. And another good thing I'd recommend would be talk openly.

[00:17:07] If you have a good vet and your homeopath can both communicate together, that would be the

[00:17:13] best of both worlds. It's essential for the vet and the homeopath to work together and

[00:17:19] respect each other. And this helps your pet the most in the end.

[00:17:23] This is really interesting. So is there a way that vets and homeopaths can create

[00:17:29] like a harmonious and effective blend of both approaches to really optimize a

[00:17:33] dog's health and wellness? Great question. So usually what I see

[00:17:38] most and that works the most I find is if you can go to your vet first, then they can

[00:17:47] do some blood work. If they have a diagnosis, great. I mean in homeopathy, we don't work with

[00:17:52] diagnosis as much. We work more with symptoms but it'll still give us a good overall look

[00:17:59] into what's happening. And then depending on what they recommend, what your vet will

[00:18:05] recommend like a list of medication or treatments to undergo, you can always wait

[00:18:10] before you say yes to any of it. Or I mean we'll work with you if you've already started

[00:18:17] any conventional treatment because both can work together most of the time, then you

[00:18:22] can come to us and then we can just adjust and see if you haven't started anything,

[00:18:29] then we can always take a look. If it's something to just maybe increase

[00:18:33] white blood cell count sometimes we can do it naturally or red blood cell count.

[00:18:39] I'm just, you know, that's just an example. But if you're already giving something then we can see

[00:18:45] how can we complement your conventional treatment without, we don't want to cause any

[00:18:50] interactions. That's very important. So yeah, I mean that I think that would be the best way.

[00:18:57] Or you can come and see us first and then go see your vet. But I've seen when they,

[00:19:02] when customers will go and see clients will go see their vet first and come to us after,

[00:19:09] it's usually better. And then we can kind of sync our efforts together with the vet

[00:19:12] and make sure everything works out well. Yeah. And for those that may not have maybe

[00:19:16] a specific concern, maybe they don't need to treat something, are there some common

[00:19:21] remedies that are good just to have on hand in the cupboard just in case of emergency?

[00:19:26] That's a really good question. So yeah, sure. I mean, I would say that most pets,

[00:19:35] maybe that's not an emergency necessarily, but I think all pets will have, let's say,

[00:19:40] dental issues, gum issues, who just whose dog doesn't build up harder the brownish stuff on

[00:19:45] their teeth or have really bad breath. So I would definitely keep that in your cupboard.

[00:19:51] That's something you can almost give all the time. I personally have products just

[00:19:55] in homeopathy that I give very regularly to my own dog for tartar buildup. So that way,

[00:20:01] I kind of spaced out my visit to get a dental cleaning. My dog is actually nine years old and

[00:20:07] I went last year to at least get his dental cleaning done. Like, okay, at least, you know,

[00:20:12] I got to be a good mom. But if I was like, no, no, he doesn't need any cleaning. So I

[00:20:16] would stop. But yeah, so there are definitely a few things. So or if you're a lot of dogs will

[00:20:24] have red gums and bleeding gum. So there are a few, I mean, in homeopathy, there are a lot

[00:20:30] of ingredients that will help do a little bit the same thing. So Mercurius, Salabalus,

[00:20:38] it's all Latin by the way, I hope you understand a little bit. Homeopathy ingredients

[00:20:42] are listed in Belladonna. That's when pain is severe, gums are very red.

[00:20:50] Silica is actually pretty good for any like, it's not only good for your the gums,

[00:20:55] but also any skin issues, abscesses that are in the mouth. That could be one thing. And

[00:21:02] I would say maybe if you're a lot of dogs that are aging will have joint issues,

[00:21:09] um, hip problems, arthritis, things like that. So there are a few remedies that you can keep

[00:21:18] rest talks are H US dash to X. It's a really great remedy for joint pain and arthritis pain.

[00:21:26] So there's nothing worse than I find well not there is no I won't say there is nothing worse,

[00:21:32] but it's not not fun to wake up one morning and then you start seeing your dog limping because

[00:21:37] he's aging. So having a few things in hand like that would be good. Yeah, and maybe you were

[00:21:44] talking about emergencies. Carbohydrate, carbo veg is excellent. Excellent. That's like an all

[00:21:52] if your dog is you're not sure what's happening. That's like the go to remedy.

[00:21:57] I call it the trauma remedy, the emergency remedy in case there are any anything happening.

[00:22:03] Um, I was so I also saw on your website at Zemelka that you also got an emergency

[00:22:08] kit with a few different remedies just to help with like a range of things like upset tummies

[00:22:13] or loose stools or injuries. I can imagine that would be a handy, handy thing to have in the

[00:22:18] cupboard. Absolutely. Absolutely. We I mean, that's definitely something you can have. There's

[00:22:25] also what we call tonic pets. It's a line of cell salts that you can give their homeopathic

[00:22:34] base they are their homeopathic but they can also be given to even if to prevent almost or

[00:22:41] just strengthening your pet. Usually homeopathy, you can't do that. It's just for treatment.

[00:22:46] But for example, in certain cases like our tonic pet line, we have 12 products,

[00:22:52] they're really good to just help your pet with all kinds of situations they can give that to

[00:22:57] prevent. So for example, in that kit, we have tonic pet 4 and 9 which are two different salts

[00:23:03] that are really good for the body to help with dehydration or inflammation or like too

[00:23:09] much water retention in body or just yeah so there are a lot of things like that that you

[00:23:15] can play around. Definitely that's something that would be good to keep at home.

[00:23:20] Yeah. Now what is your number one tip if listeners that are listening?

[00:23:24] What's one thing they can take away from this episode?

[00:23:28] Yeah, that's a really good question. So I would say just if you're new or not,

[00:23:36] sometimes we're mixed up like we don't really know should we go conventional? Should we go

[00:23:42] more natural homeopathic? So I think for as a rule of thumb, maybe so for serious problems,

[00:23:49] definitely for big issues or emergencies. Sometimes regular medicine might be needed fast

[00:23:55] and where homeopathy cannot work, homeopathy cannot do surgery. So that's definitely,

[00:24:00] you can definitely go down the conventional medicine route for that but for any long-term

[00:24:06] problems or even little small acute issues, allergies, behavior problems, homeopathy might be

[00:24:12] the main treatment you can go and it can be also most of the time the only one you can

[00:24:17] use with really good results. So definitely look into it. It's a wonderful type of medicine.

[00:24:23] Lovely, lovely. And if our listeners want to learn more about you or your products,

[00:24:28] where can they find you? Here. So we have our website,

[00:24:31] zamalka.com, Z-U-M-A-L-K dot com, or we do have a YouTube channel. You can just type in

[00:24:37] and look for Zamalka. We have all kinds of tips on home remedies. You can give natural

[00:24:42] home remedies for your pack, great information. Beautiful. Well, we'll put some links down in

[00:24:47] the show notes. Thank you so much, Susie. That was really informative. I really appreciate

[00:24:51] you coming on and telling us a bit more about homeopathy. Thank you, Laura. It was a pleasure.

[00:24:56] And for our listeners that listen to our episodes, you can follow, subscribe and

[00:25:01] leave review if you found something in this interview interesting. This helps us reach more

[00:25:05] pet owners who might also benefit from this information. And if you have any suggestions on

[00:25:10] things you'd like to talk about, mention them as well and we'll organize it. Well, we'll see you next time.