slippery elm

 I am sure Callie will be along to give you all the specifics, lol!

I used slippery elm last month for my Lacey, followed Callie's instructions.  It helps soothe an irritated stomach, among other things, and helps with healing; Lacey had a dental and some teeth out which was not expected, then she didn't do well on the pain meds the vet gave me.

There are many things to help with an anxious dog:  thunder shirt, Rescue Remedy - search Bachs  - those 2 come to mind.    

Dyan -- I'm pretty sure I've given you the slippery elm cocktail recipe before because it *should* help Gibby. 

 Slippery Elm is a good anti-inflammatory for the gut & lungs (and intestinal tract).  But altho you can take it in capsules, it's not gonna be super digestible by Gibby that way (it's mostly cellulose -- you've got to break it down for him into a liquid)

At the very least take a teaspoon (4 capsules) and a whisk and add 1/2 cup of boiling water.  It's really thick and globby until you get it all mixed up.  Add that to his food (divide that in fourths).

 But honestly, the Slippery Elm Cocktail is the best thing. 

1 -- half a cup of boiling water.

2 -- add 1 rounded tsp. of ground slippery elm

3 -- let cool totally

4 -- add 1/8 c. + 2 tablespoons of aloe juice

5 -- add 10 drops of chlorophyll

6 -- Add 2-3 capsules (open the caps) of acidolpholus

Once you get it mixed up and whipped smooth, it keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days (after that the acidopholous dies). 

Use a baby medicine syringe and load it FULL.  Give about half an hour before a meal.  Just put the tip of the syringe behind the canine tooth and hold the mouth loosely closed.  Squirt slowly so they can work their tongue to swallow.

You can get liquid chlorophyl, liquid aloe (get a good non-bitter drinkable aloe) and acidolphilous at most good health stores. Slippery elm is better in bulk (cheaper) -- I get mine at http://www.leavesandroots.com  -- you want the **ground** slippery elm (not the cut bark)

Freedom

There are many things to help with an anxious dog:  thunder shirt, Rescue Remedy - search Bachs  - those 2 come to mind.    

Thank you...I do have R.R. use occasionally even though I can't say I ever thought it helped. lol!   Last summer we tried on a thundershirt...couldn't buy it though because it shifts so bad when he walks that it won't do any good.  We were there ( a behavior vet ) I bet an hour...they kept " fixing" it again and again and again...until finally we all agree'd its not for a deep chested dog.  I did go to the local Goodwill Store and pick him up a few shirts that fit very close.  But they start shifting too ( not as bad as the TS though ) and then he becomes uncomfortable, but he can wear it as long as someone is around to fix it.

Callie...thanks...I do have that come to think of it....but question...have you ever tried it without all the other ingrediets?

Freedom

There are many things to help with an anxious dog:  thunder shirt, Rescue Remedy - search Bachs  - those 2 come to mind.    

Thank you...I do have R.R. use occasionally even though I can't say I ever thought it helped. lol!   Last summer we tried on a thundershirt...couldn't buy it though because it shifts so bad when he walks that it won't do any good.  We were there ( a behavior vet ) I bet an hour...they kept " fixing" it again and again and again...until finally we all agree'd its not for a deep chested dog.  I did go to the local Goodwill Store and pick him up a few shirts that fit very close.  But they start shifting too ( not as bad as the TS though ) and then he becomes uncomfortable, but he can wear it as long as someone is around to fix it.

Callie...thanks...I do have that come to think of it....but question...can you just give the slippery elm?   I saw in Internet the amount for certain size dogs..... have you ever tried it without all the other ingrediets?

 I have, for years, used nothing but a heaping teaspoon of slippery elm per cup of water. I let it sit till it naturally soaks into the water, whisk it up well, then heat till boiling, boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly. It keeps in the fridge very well, but 2 cups usually last us a week with 6 dogs. 

I've given it to Jezzy (and Keela) daily for at least 4 years or so. For Keela, it was to help keep her from blocking cause she loves, sorry, loved to eat her blanket. The one time I ran out, we ended up at the vet for a barium x-ray series cause she was blocked. I poured slippery elm through her till it was out and never once forgot after that! With Jezzy, my vet thinks that the daily dose helped keep her chronic bronchitis in check for several years before the small signs started showing up that sent us to the vet and a diagnosis. I still use it daily for her, as well as for the puppies (who are now 2 years old, but they are still pups to me!) cause of their habit of eating bark, etc in the yard.

 I've always wondered, since the warning that slippery elm can slow the absorption of other meds, what good the other additives do. I used just the s.e. because at the time, that was all I could get and since it worked that way, that's what I've kept doing. But that's just me!

It has long been my suspicion that Gibby, being a bit of a nervous fella, could easily trigger his own ulcer.  The reason I've suggested the slippery elm cocktail is simply my suggestion to not just treat the symptom, but potentially the whole problem.

The aloe, chlorophyl and probiotic are simply part of the package that will *heal*, not just protect.

Yes, you can easily use the slippery elm alone.  Amy's dose of a teaspoon per cup of water is the same -- but given Gibby's size you'll want to buy slippery elm in bulk NOT in capsules (you will be emptying those expensive capsules forever).  You DO need to combne the slippery elm with water to make it really effective.

I give Luna slippery elm alone sometimes.  She can be Ms. Completely Angsty sometimes and I will, as need be, just add it to her food. 

You can often find slippery elm in bulk at Whole Foods -- I like the quality better at Leaves and Roots (and the price as well).

Slippery elm is one of those things my house is never ever without.  honey & lemon in a base of slippery elm and water is the BEST cough syrup on the planet (for dog or human) -- and I've seen the time when a dog really suffereing with gut distress can benefit from slippery elm in it's food (because it helps intestinal stuff as well as the stomach or lungs).  It's a darned good natural anti-inflammatory with virtually no down-side.

Wow...I'm getting excited to buy it.   And you know... I bet it would be good for all those things that Mr Gibson gets himself into. SUCH AS when DH was just in the hospital with his spine surgery a couple of weeks ago...I was gone visiting him...came home and a bit later went to lunch with my friend who was trying to calm my nerves by keeping me busy. When I came home a couple of hours later...Gibby had chewed up my new grandbaby birth announcement comlete with plastic frame.  THe frame chewed up like sharp tiny pieces of glass...God only knows if he swallowed any or not..but the 3/4 of the photo was totally gone.....in Gibbys tummy no doubt.   I have a feeling the  frame had fallen off the table in my hallway and Gibby ALWAYS picks up things that are not usually there and does chew them.  This frame kept falling over.   BUT I fed him bread and wished I had the guts to give him vasoline like I used to if my dogs ate something.  So Slippery Elm could probably be a good thing for something like that, right?  Gibby has eaten his share of things he should not eat, most of them his...such as his toys, a rubber kong and plastic stuffing toys when he was young. 

It is good first aid ---

vaselline can bite you BADLY if the dog has any possibility whatsoever of having an iffy pancreas (NOT something you'd know).  I nearly killed a dog one time that way.  We *thot* she'd swallowed a chicken bone -- and it wasn't.  She was having a pancreatitis attack (this was many many years ago -- but we worsened the attack HUGELY by giving vaselline thinking it was a bone.  I almost cost  Prissy her life that time. 

calliecritturs

It is good first aid ---

How is it for humans?  After all it is for humans to begin with, right?

dyan

How is it for humans?  After all it is for humans to begin with, right?

Um ... if you look at the tree, Dyan, there is no sign on it that says "For Humans".

You're thinking "pharmaceutical" again.   This is a bark, Dyan.  It's a natural substance.  It has medicinal properties -- those medicinal properties can be used for a human being, a dog, a horse, etc.

Don't get in that mindset where you think if you get it at PetCo it's for a dog, but if you get it at a health store it's for humans, right?

Wrong. 

Don't try to categorize it like that.  It's an herbal -- use it for what it helps.  You want an excellent quality of the herb --- please please please don't try to buy this at some doggie store.  Just do the best you can to get a good quality herb and you can use it and so can Gibby.

calliecritturs

dyan

How is it for humans?  After all it is for humans to begin with, right?

Um ... if you look at the tree, Dyan, there is no sign on it that says "For Humans".

You're thinking "pharmaceutical" again.   This is a bark, Dyan.  It's a natural substance.  It has medicinal properties -- those medicinal properties can be used for a human being, a dog, a horse, etc.

Don't get in that mindset where you think if you get it at PetCo it's for a dog, but if you get it at a health store it's for humans, right?

Wrong. 

Don't try to categorize it like that.  It's an herbal -- use it for what it helps.  You want an excellent quality of the herb --- please please please don't try to buy this at some doggie store.  Just do the best you can to get a good quality herb and you can use it and so can Gibby.

Not sure what I said but no..not looking at a pet store...not even a thought of it. Never looked at pet stores for things ( other than toys or a collar )when I worked for the clinic in a pet store.   I was just asking about human uses.

calliecritturs

dyan

How is it for humans?  After all it is for humans to begin with, right?

Um ... if you look at the tree, Dyan, there is no sign on it that says "For Humans".

You're thinking "pharmaceutical" again.   This is a bark, Dyan.  It's a natural substance.  It has medicinal properties -- those medicinal properties can be used for a human being, a dog, a horse, etc.

Don't get in that mindset where you think if you get it at PetCo it's for a dog, but if you get it at a health store it's for humans, right?

Wrong. 

Don't try to categorize it like that.  It's an herbal -- use it for what it helps.  You want an excellent quality of the herb --- please please please don't try to buy this at some doggie store.  Just do the best you can to get a good quality herb and you can use it and so can Gibby.

Not sure what I said but no..not looking at a pet store...not even a thought of it. Never looked at pet stores for things ( other than toys or a collar )when I worked for the clinic in a pet store.   I was just asking about human uses.

humnan, dog, horse, and even cats (altho I know *nothing* about cat stuff)

My point, Dyan, is that it "is what it is" -- a human can use it, a dog, ...  but again this is where a good holistic vet should guide you -- because they will be versed on doses, etc as well as how it should be used longer term.

It's a very commonly used herb/bark, Dyan. 

I don't want to get cornered into just a pat answer Dyan --- you're welcome to try it.  But do some research.  From online sources to herb books at the library. 

calliecritturs

It's a very commonly used herb/bark, Dyan. 

I don't want to get cornered into just a pat answer Dyan --- you're welcome to try it.  But do some research.  From online sources to herb books at the library. 

Thanks Callie... for the information you would like to give. I had done a lot of reasearch on it before coming here to get first hand opinions! I appreciate it all, thank you!