I have come up with a wonderful cure for cats with ringworm (and I'm sure it's safe for kitties too). First, let me give you a back story or scroll down to read what I have been doing to get rid of ringworm on my cat. I noticed the first lesion about 3 weeks ago. I was unaware it was ringworm at the time. It looked similar to what could have been a bite from another animal. She is an indoor cat BUT we do have a pesky little mouse so that was just my first thought. About a week later she had another lesion on her back and I noticed her first lesion was expanding and very red. The new lesion was red and shiny. That's when I did my research and figured out it was most likely ringworm. I kind of wanted to just ignore the whole situation because it made me uncomfortable. I went into denial and told myself it would just go away. I was wrong. I ended up finding a small spot on my stomach a few days later. This really put me in a panic and that's when I decided I had to treat this WITHOUT going to the vet. Vets can be very beneficial for many things, but not for ringworm . Ringworm is completely treatable and is not as serious as it may sound. It does not harm your cat or make your cat sick. It is more of just a pain in the ass. Your vet will most likely charge you over 200 for a diagnosis and "testing", and another 200 for medication and follow-ups. Who even knows, but that vet bill will come out to be over $400 for something that is completely treatable at home. So as of today, my cat is healing. The lesions are turning into a pale grey, the color of her fur, which I am assuming is the natural color of her skin. The lesions are not spreading or growing. We sprayed the house down with bleach and washed our cloths in apple cider vinegar and/or aloe vera. (Both can be found at walmart...ACV= $2. Aloe=$8. ) CURE RINGWORM ON YOUR KITTY FOR LESS THAN $10 !!! CLEAN THE &*#T OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. SERIOUSLY.....EVERYTHING. Spray furniture with apple cider vinegar mixed with aloe vera. Doesn't smell and it won't ruin anything. 1. apply aloe vera to kittys lesions 5-6 times a day. Hold kitty or distract them before they can start licking. Let it soak in for 1-2 minutes before you let them start licking. 2. Give them a bath at some point. Mix over the counter cat shampoo with aloe vera. Use lots and lots of aloe vera, and just a little shampoo. 3. Spray a mixture of aloe vera/apple cider vinegar/water on your cats lesions and under their nails. Spray it in their ears...on their butt...everywhere...6-10 times a day. And use this spray on your furniture and clothing. Use it everywhere. Hope that helps. I didn't see results for about a week with my cat. She is doing a lot better but we still don't let her in our room or on the bed. And we still are cleaning and bleaching consistantly. Oh yeah and for my ringworm..... had to put bleach on it. I don't recommend this but nothing else worked. It was my last resort but it does work. Also, I have been washing my hair and body in aloe vera. All seems to be helping. My boyfriend has not gotten a single lesion and mine has not spread anywhere else. make sure you still treat your kittys ringworm even after weeks that it has completely healed. I will be doing the same routine to my cat for about 2 months after her ringworm goes away. I'll do baths every 2 weeks.

I suppose if one were in an isolated area with no access to modern medicine it might be necessary to fall back on home remedies for pneumonia, but that is probably what killed so many so soon in the days before modern medicine. Some illnesses are so severe, and move so rapidly, that traditional treatments do not have the strength to work. I have always considered pneumonia to be one of those. Essentially, the way I picture it, you have a concentrated ball of microorganisms rapidly doubling in quantity, and something has to be done to stop that fairly quickly before it kills you. Even today and hospitalized, many elderly still die of it. Traditional herbal treatments often cannot be safely taken in massive doses because they have not been treated by modern processes to remove any non-therapeutic constituents that could be harmful. There probably are remedies that could be taken to help ward off pneumonia, before a lung infection actually developed to the point it could be called that, but I don't know what they would be. I know the buds of forsythia have some antibiotic quality, but the Chinese grow a special strain in which that characteristic is stronger. There would be no guarantee, in either case, though, that the antibiotic quality of the forsythia buds would kill the harmful bacteria, rather than simply kill off more beneficial ones that might help to keep more lethal bacteria strains at bay. Only a practitioner in the area where the infection was occurring who had practiced on others with the same condition would tend to have this knowledge. Herbal treatment was probably by trial and error in the early days, and later patients probably benefited more than earlier ones during any particular epidemic. My theory is that most epidemics begin in more crowded and less affluent conditions, which would enable the ambitious practitioner to exercise his or her best remedies on the more affluent. Since herbs take more space to grow and store than today's pills, and transportation was also more limited, the average herbalist was probably rather limited in the number of remedies actually on hand. There were probably a few standards (like comfrey, because it grows so large and well in a variety of circumstances) which would be tried for almost every malady, since there was such a good supply of it, and other herbal remedies, which might acutually have been more effective, held in reserve for the very worst cases or the wealthiest clients. Herbs from warmer, or cooler, or dryer, or more humid climates than the practicing herbalist's would have been in short supply in the early days. An herbalist that relocated to an area with a different climate, for any reason, would have initially been able to bring a supply of his or her own remedies along, but would soon have needed to resupply with remedies that could grow in the new area, or which were obtainable through reliable trade with other areas. Even for conditions which the herbalist knew how to treat effectively, many probably died because of insufficient supplies of herbs or lack of anything to pay for treatment. All of that, again, would have resulted in those who had the knowledge and resources to do so, growing or gathering their own herbs where possible. It is possible that monks and nuns might have shared clones of valuable plants with parish priests, who then could pass offsets on to parishioners, but I don't know if anyone has documentation of that. Possibly, on pilgrimages, people also were on the lookout for curative plants that could be brought home.

I tend to get those a lot, mostly from biting the inside of my mouth or tongue. The best thing I've found is zilactin, which is available over the counter at drugstores, typically by the lip balms and such. Apply as soon as you suspect one is forming, and if you bite your lip, apply it immediately. Apply 3-4 times a day, and they'll heal up in about a week. If you wait too long it takes longer to heal. Without the zilactin it used to take about 3-4 weeks for them to heal for me. Make sure you get the "regular" zilactin, which has alcohol, and not one of the variants which only contain a painkiller. My personal theory is that the ulcer is basically an infection, and the alcohol acts as a disinfectant/antibiotic to stop the infection. There's also a possible link between the foaming ingredient in toothpastes and canker sores / mouth ulcers. I think it's laurel sulfate or something like that. I switched to a non-foaming toothpaste for several years (Closys) and did notice that my canker sores decreased quite a bit. But unfortunately Closys doesn't have fluoride and I got some cavities so I switched back to a "regular" toothpaste. You may want to try the Closys until your reno is over (it's available at Walgreens).

Yes, Loratidine is OTC. It is an antihistamine and works to dry up the runny nose and dripping down the back of the throat ("post nasal drip"). The post nasal dripping can give one a very raw throat and contributes to the tickle and cough. The Sudafed (pseudoephedrine hydrochoride) is also OTC. It a decongestant (non-drowsy) that relieves sinus congestion and pressure. See package, online info for contraindications -- there are several. You can speak with your doctor or registered pharmacist. JoAnn -- I'm sorry to hear that you're still feeling ill. Sometimes these viruses can linger. I hope you and your aunt feel better soon.