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PARALYSIS TICKS AND NATURAL REMEDIES
This is a starting point to explore the world of alternative remedies. Some of these are probably ridiculous superstition, some may be more for the benefit of the owner as a kind of "vicarious placebo", some may be outright dangerous, and some may have the foundations of something really useful. I cannot recommend any on theoretical grounds or on any practical experience with them. They are presented for interest. Remedies are broadly divided into 1. prevention and 2. treatment.
Prevention of tick paralysis
1. Alan Hayes ( www.itssonatural.com PO Box 23, Tuggerah, NSW 2259), author of a weekly newspaper column "It's so Natural" has a number of "natural" methods of killing or repelling ticks.
i) "A suitable tick repellant can be made by dissolving 60 grams of derris powder (available from garden suppliers, or the garden section of most supermarkets), 2 1/2 teaspoons of eucalyptus oil and 2 1/2 tablespoons of methylated spirits with four litres of water. Dissolve the derris powder in the water first, before thoroughly mixing with the other ingredients. Wash the pet with warm soapy water, then rub the repellant lotion throroughly through the animals's fur."
ii) "Alternatively, dust your animal's fur with derris powder, working it well in with your fingers. This may need to be applied more than once a week. Derris is a safe organic substance which breaks down in sunlight in a few days. (However, it is deadly to fish, so keep your dog away from fish ponds or creeks)."
2. Kathleen Griffin (ND BA Dip Animal Care) provides information on making another tick repellant using essential oils:
"Add the following to a 300 mL spray bottle containing water:
- 20 drops of rose geranium or palmarosa essential oil
- 3 drops citronella oil
- a splash of bay leaf tincture (the alcochol in the tincture will help in dissolving the oils)
Shake the mixture well and lightly spraythe dogs as required. This blend has an exceptionally strong scent that may not be liked by all dogs. For hunting and tracking dogs the fragrance may interfere with a dog's scent retrieval, although it is said that a focussed tracking dog can work just about any odour. Avoid rubbing the lotion directly onto the dog's skin.or carry out a patch test first, to check for allergic response. [NF comment: citronella is the aroma used in anti-barking collars and garden pet-repellants so probably not many dogs would like this odour]
Other essential oils proven to repel ticks include oil of cloves, peppermint, lemon and oppanax myrrh. These oils, as well as eucaplyptus, tea-tree, lavender, cinnamon, cedarbasil are also used in repellant sprays to deter fleas. Remember that all essential oils are very potent herbal products and, like chemical products, can be toxic and dangerous if used incorrectly. Always dilute essential oils according to instructions aand never apply any oil full strength to the skin of an animal. Some oils such as pennyroyal must not be used on pregnant animals. Others, such as rue and wormwood, should be avoided althogether for topical use and are best applied to dog's beddingto repel fleas. It is wise to check with your natural therapies practitioner if unsure" (Dogs Life, Aug 1999, No 25)
Treatment of paralysis.
1. A "tea of bracken roots" has been recommended by as an antidote for tick poisoning. According to Alan Hayes (www.itssonatural.com , PO Box 23, Tuggerah, NSW 2259):
"Give a tea of bracken shoots as an antidote to tick poisoning -it can save an animals life if ticks are found in time. If paralysis symptoms occur, immediately seek veterinary attention. To make bracken tea, place a handful of bracken shoots in a ceramic bowl and our boiling water over them. Infuse until the liquid is cool, strain and give the animal a cupful. Remember though, your pet won't jump for joy and readily gulp the tea down. As with most pet remedies you'll have to take a firm grip and pour it down the animal's throat".
[NF: It is not at all clear how this infusion would help an asymptomatic animal (ie if paralysis symptoms have not occurred). Could it kill the tick? Could it have a protective effect on diffusion of toxin? If there were any beneficial effect from bracken tea it might well be outweighed by one of the many known toxic effects of this plant (see table below)].
| "Bracken (Pterydium aquilinum var.
esculentum) is probably the best known and least
loved of the ferns. Virtually a worldwide plant, it shows
some variation in different places, and has been
classified by some botanists as a single species with
several varieties, by others as a group of species. The
Australian plant is treated herein as a variety of the
worldwide species; variations seem to be of form and
structure rather than of physiological action. This is a
hardy and persistent fern. The stem grows horizontally
under the ground so it is difficult to eradicate from
farming land. The fronds are harsh, with stiff shiny
brown stalks and much-divided blades. Being a fern,
bracken does not bear flowers, but reproduces by spores
produced in rows of spore cases along the underside
margin of the frond. Fern spores are so minute that a
microscope is needed to observe them. Possibly this led
to the old belief that 'fern seed', if it could be
gathered, would make the bearer invisible. Bracken
contains tannin in sufficient quantity to have been used
in tanning some fine leathers, and this of course makes
it astringent. The underground stem has been used
medicinally to treat diarrhoea and intestinal
inflammation, and can be boiled in lard or oil to make an
ointment for wounds. In English herbal medicine, bracken
leaves were eaten as a purge, while the root (presumably
the underground stem) 'bruised and boiled in in mead, or
honeyed water, and drunk, kills both the broad and long
worms in the body'. Roots were also used in preparing an
ointment for wounds and foul ulcers. In New Zealand, the
ashes of burnt bracken fronds were applied as a remedy
for severe burns; the 'root' was eaten before sea travel
to prevent seasickness and was also chewed to treat
dysentery. In Australia, the Aborigines are reported to
have used young stems of bracken to rub on insect bites.
Bracken has for a long time been known as a stock poison,
especially of cattle and horses. It has, however, been
shown recently that feeding the plant to test animals
produces cancer in various organs particularly in the
intestinal tract. It is now believed that some human
stomach cancer, which has a relatively high incidence in
Japan, may have been caused by eating large amounts of
bracken 'fiddle-heads' or 'croziers' [curled shoots]. The
carcinogen has also been shown to be passed on, to some
extent, through the milk of an animal which has eaten it.
Distflbution: All States of Australia." An extract
from Wild Medicine in Australia, by A.B and J.W
Cribb, Collins, Sydney and London, 1981. ISBN 0 00 216446
9
Bracken fronds (both fresh and in dried hay) have been asociated with- retinal degeneration and blindness in sheep, sudden death in pigs, haematuria (redwater) in cattle (via pancytopaenia with variable anaemia, leukopaenia and thrombocytopaenia), an anti-thiamine factor causing brain stem injury and hence neurological signs in horses, and a carcinogenic factor (references: Medical and Veterinary Aspects of Plant Poisons in New South Wales, E J McBarron, Veterinary Research Station, Glenfield, Dept of Agriculture, NSW, 1976; and Special Veterinary Pathology, Thomson R.G., B. C. Decker Inc, Toronto, Philadelphia, 1988) |
2. Another "tick cure" from an anonymous source brought in by a client to a veterinary hospital in Wollongong (June 1998):
"TICK CURE, ANIMALS ONLY- mix 2 tsp bicarb soda with butter or margarine, roll into a ball and feed to animal. Give no food or water for 8 hours. Repeat bicarb and margarine after 8 hours. One hour later give an egg flip (egg, milk, nutmeg and sugar). No food for 8 hours, small amounts of water only. After 8 hours repeat egg flip".
[NF: this looks rather folksy. Generally it is best to not give anything by mouth. Conceivably, however if a remedy could reduce the risks of vomiting or reflux oesophagitis then it might have some merit- I really couldn't vouch for this one though!]
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