Advice From The Herbalist

Some wise words from Robert McDowell, herbalist.

Does colloidal silver help a mare with blood in her urine?

You can keep giving the Colloidal Silver and if feeding her you can dampen the feed down with Rosehip tea. It is very high in Vitamin C, iron, copper, cobalt and biotin and is an excellent tonic for the kidneys, adrenals and circulation. Make it up using 4-6 teabags or 3-4 dessertspoons of the granules to 1 litre or boiling water. Allow to cool and use half to dampen the morning and half for the evening feed. These are not a solution to the problem but can be used a support in her treatment.

So, see a vet (interestingly, almost all the herbalist's answers are to seek advice from a vet - why not go straight to the vet and cut out the middle man?) but keep applying the herbal products.

What about a gelding suffering from grief and depression?

We can provide a specific Bach Flower mix (and any herbs that may applicable depending on health history you can supply) that will help him slightly BUT this must be used with a good training program to get the full benefits and get him over this.

Just how "slightly" is "slightly"? It's just the middle man again, promoting his products to be used in conjunction with a real solution (assuming, of course, that "grief and depression" is a real complaint in equines, and that's highly debatable).

Then there's the horse grieving over its departed dam.

There are two Bach flower remedies that can assist with grief, Walnut and Honeysuckle. These should be available at a health food store. They could also get some rescue remedy (another Bach flower remedy). Several drops of each can be placed directly in the horses mouth or they can put the drops in approx 5-10ml and syringe it in her mouth. Do this as often as possible.

Finally, something that doesn't need to be used in conjunction with a real solution (though EoR wonders how the vet would react when asked to diagnose and treat "grief"?). How often is "as often as possible" though? Daily? Hourly? Every minute? That's an awful lot of rescue remedy...

Meanwhile, at his own website, Mr McDowell offers relief for horses suffering from squamous cell carcinoma:

We are successfully treating Squamous Cell Carcinoma topically with an extract of Comfrey, Golden Seal, Thuja and Maritime Pine, with the Bach Flowers Crab apple and Rescue Remedy added, mixed in an ointment base. [...] The herbal prescription for internal use specifically targets those aspects of the immune system which allowed the Carcinoma to develop in the first place. It contains homeopathic ingredients as well as specific herbs to support skin health and the body systems in rejecting the Carcinoma which will often fall off or almost always, reduce in size quite quickly.

Now, "successfully treating" is a little vague - does he mean he can cure the cancer completely and for all time, or is it just alternative speak for "do this and it won't cure the cancer but it will make you feel better by believing you're doing something"? If you're unsure about his belief in his powers, take a look at the page source, where these phrases, presumably targetted at search engines, are to be found:

healing cancer in dogs, healing cancer with herbs, herbs for cancer support, herbs in healing, herbs to cure cancer, herbs to cure

There you have it. Guaranteed: herbs that cure cancer. EoR seriously doubts it. EoR seriously doubts that there is any solid proof for these claims. If such claims were made regarding treating cancer in humans they would be in contravention of Therapeutic Goods Administrations legal requirements.