Sometimes, dogs, cats, and other pets itch. This can be due to a bite, a bad diet, or a side effect to several popular drugs.

We saw a severe reaction to a very common heartworm medication. The day after the first (and last) dose of the drug, both dogs who received the medication, started to vomit ‘empty’ which was unusual for them; occasional vomiting continued for several days. The skin of both animals became inflamed and pinker than usual. After a few days, the skin of one of the dogs started to break out so harshly, that the animal bit herself ‘raw’ in one area. A few hours later, she developed red spots on her now red-hot skin which soon turned into blisters. She itched terribly and scratched fiercely. That evening, she was truly miserable.

At this point I started to give her the homeopathic remedy Rhus Toxicodendron (Rhus tox.) which is an effective remedy for many skin ailments. I gave her several rounds in two hours (per mouth), and her skin started to return to normal; the blisters vanished within a few hours. It was obvious that her itch was gone as well, since she stopped scratching herself. The next morning, I gave one more dose although her skin was already almost normally colored with only faint pinker spots where the blisters used to be.

A day later, the skin was normally colored, and the former blister areas were almost invisible. The skin of her brother, who received a few does of Rhus tox. as well, also returned to its normal color. Curiously, both animals also stopped vomiting after they received the remedy.

Thankfully, homeopathic remedies are readily available and I had the right one at home. It is amazing how powerful these remedies are in both humans and pets.

There are many pet insurances available to provide coverage for cats and dogs. Years ago, we insured our pet rats with VPI and found that in their case, the insurance really didn’t pay off. Rats aren’t good candidates for insurance; they are too short-lived and almost every health problem can be classified as either a preexisting or congenital condition. Pet rodents also usually don’t have that many accidental injuries as they can occur with pets that have access to the outdoors.

Although the following video seems to be made by one of the featured pet insurance companies, it highlights how different the coverages through pet insurance companies can be.