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Tag: antibacterial

Natural Help for Bleeding Ears of Cats and Dogs

Blue_ear
The scratch on my cat’s left ear that bleeds easily.

As our cat has aged, it seems her ears are becoming more prone to cracks and bleeding. Just last night I awoke to feeling drops of liquid hitting my arms and realized the cat was shaking her head and spraying me with blood from the crack on the tip of her ear. Yuck.

Luckily, I can save myself a trip to the vet this time and help the wound on her ear stay clean and heal by reaching into my cabinet for Green Earth Farm’s Calendula Creme.

Calendula has antibacterial as well as healing powers, and Green Earth Farm’s Calendula Creme is made from 100% natural ingredients in a thick, jelly-like base of bees wax, sweet almond oil, and vegetable gely. The Vasoline-like substance smears gently onto the sensitive tip of her ear and stays put to keep the wound clean while covering the leak. Slathering some of this stuff on her ears a few times a day during and after the healing will help keep her ear skin supple and avoid repeating the experience. It seems like she needs this attention more often in the summer, when she spends more time outside.

Green Earth Farm’s Calendula Creme is a staple in my first-aid drawer for people, too, as it can be applied on everything from paper cuts to scrapes to deeper lacerations to speed and promote healing.

Oregano Oil: A Natural Antibacterial For Cuts

I went to Julie Powell‘s book signing earlier tonight at the Tattered Cover to hear her read and discuss her new book, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession.

As with her first book, Julie and Julia, I was impressed with her raw honesty and dedication to pursuing sometimes distasteful activities. I loved Julie and Julia — parts made me laugh out loud. The movie was fun, too.

In this memoir, she undertakes a 6-month internship in a butcher shop in upstate New York. Honestly, I personally can’t think of many things I’d rather do less than be elbow-deep in dead flesh with sharp knives day in and day out. Turns out Julie had many different reasons for wanting to learn butchery, which we’ll learn about in her new book.

Julie read a few intriguing passages to the crowd. In one of them, she details the first time she nicked her hand while carving a huge piece of meat. The owner of the butcher shop had her wash up and then apply oregano oil to the cut.

“There’s a lot of bacteria around when you’re working with raw meat,” Julie commented, in what was surely a monumental understatement.

Oregano oil is a strong antiseptic, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal,  antiparasitic, and all around healing oil. It’s not the same as culinary oregano (it’s a different species of oregano) and should contain at least 70% of carvacol to be most effective.

It can be used internally for the treatment of treatment of colds, influenza, mild fevers, fungal infections, indigestion, stomach upsets, enteric parasites, and painful menstruation. Large amounts can be toxic so stick with only a few drops at a time. 1 to 4 drops once or twice a day in a drink is plenty.

I’ve also heard oregano oil can have healing powers when used topically and rubbed into sore muscles, skin irritations, eczema, and other ailments. Be sure to dilute it with 1 drop oregano oil to 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil. Try rubbing it on your neck to stop headaches.

I have learned this about oregano oil before, but was grateful to be reminded again by Julie’s positive experience with it. Thanks for sharing, Julie!  I’m looking forwad to reading the book!