I know many pet owners

have their reservations about putting their pets on lifelong conventional medications. Eg, many of our dogs face similar dermatological problems - hot spots, eczema, rashes that makes your dog miserable, constantly itching and scratching which further leads to secondary bacterial infections.

The mainstay treatment is antibiotics (to control bacterial infections), antihistamine (to relieve the itch), recommendations to take note of dogs' living environments, diet and lifestyle. Totally similar to human skin problems.

I understand many owners are adverse and tired of the same problem recurring after a course of medication is finished, and upon the next consultation, a stronger dose might be prescribed.

For me who naturally am inclined towards natural therapy and supplements and a fresh, healthy diet of homecooked food as the first line in treatment whenever possible, I tend to shun antibiotics for my dog, even for myself paracetemol hardly gets into my bloodstream. I prefer to let a rare case of fever/cold/cough to wear itself out and it always does without much fuss.

I believe our bodies know when we need a rest. Infections like a cold, skin problems, cough are signals that we have been running ourselves a bit overdrive. We may not have been sleeping enough (my issue persistently!), drinking enough fluids, having a healthy diet, quiet time -- and thus, our immunity falls and we become susceptible to infections.

So during this time, say you have a cold/cough, the best thing to do is take a day or 2 off and just completely rest at home. Sleep. Eat little. Drink lots. Let your body slow down and gather energy towards healing itself, instead of wasting energy digesting mountainloads of food and snacks that we tend to plunge into our systems. I think many of us really, really overeat.

Animals know this instinctively. Watch our animals in the wild. You hardly find an obese lion, or a fat wolf. Wild animals do not tend to gorge themselves silly. They eat to live while many humans...live to eat?? But in a controlled environment like our homes with our pets, many of our dogs have grown greedy and obese from the irresponsibilities of their owners. It is never funny nor cute to see an obese dog. So often, when I see an obese dog and recently I saw an obese beagle, it is almost always that the owner is obese too..... Owners out there, please, it is not cute anymore when your dog is 10 years old and he is struggling with his weight problem cos YOU have been gleefully offering him treat after treat. You are harming him.

Animals who are unwell tend to fast. I have seen our local strays, eg, a girl who was slightly knocked by a moving car. She was limping around, looking edgy and in pain, and for the next 3 days, she hardly ate but chose to lie down in a quiet corner and rest. By the fourth day, she was all well. Another local boy whose ear was so badly maggoted infested disappeared for more than a week. We thought he had passed on, but in the second week, he reappeared from his rest somewhere, thinner but with his ear dry and recovered.

Conventional medication does have its place, I'm not refuting that. What I'm saying is our first inclination should be towards building up health, and not suppressing symptoms. When your health is built up with a healthy diet, supplements, activity and rest, your immunity is naturally strong and you'll be resistent to infections. Same for your pet. Symptoms suppressed are akin to dirt swept under a mat, out of sight, out of mind for a period but they will surface in time. Do not take the wide path of quick fixes. Consider the narrow and longer way which may take more efforts as changing a lifestyle will entail -- of more efforts in taking time to prepare a homecooked meal for your pet, of finding a good supplement and sticking with it and not ending up with bottles opened but half-finished, of making time for activities out in the great nature and lots of good rest.

Good health simply comes from putting good stuff into your system - your body, mind and soul -- good food, good activities, good thoughts. Not from suppressing the bad stuff that are coming forth. It is all very common sense and simple once you get it.