I heard back from Kamila, from Online Pet Herbs, and she gave me a list of all the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) she used.
The formula is called: Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, and apparently is famous for treating cardiovascular disease and related ailments in China for centuries.
1. Tao Ren – Semen Persicae (To promote blood circulation, to eliminate phlegm, and to relax the bowels)
2. Hong Hua – Flos Carthami Tinctorii (It is an important herb in blood stasis therapy and often is prescribed with tao ren)
3. Chuan Xiong – Radix Ligustici Chuanxiong (Invigorate blood, promote movement of Qi)
4. Chi Shao – Radix Paeoniae Rubrae (To remove heat from blood, to eliminate blood stasis, and to relieve pain)
5. Niu Xi– Radix Niuxi (Invigorates blood, expels blood stasis)
6. Chai Hu – Radix Bupleuri (Dispelling exopathogens to clear heat, soothing the liver to alleviate mental depression and elevating Yang and Qi)
7. Sheng Di Huang – Radix Rehamanniae Glutinosae (Clears Heat; Cools Blood; Nourishes Yin; Promotes generation of Body Fluids)
8. Zhi Ke – Fructus Citri Seu Ponciri (For the stomach - move Qi, reduce distention with deficiency)
9. Dang Gui – Radix Angelicae Sinensis (To enrich blood, activate blood circulation, regulate menstruation, relieve pain, and relax bowels)
10. San Qi - Notoginseng (Notoginseng is one of the most powerful blood tonics known. It is used to make the body stronger and can aid healing)
11. Dan Shen – Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (To remove blood stasis and relieve pain, to promote the flow of blood and stimulate menstrual discharge, and to ease the mind)
12. Jie Geng – Radix Platycodi Grandiflori (To relieve cough, to soothe sore throat, and to promote expectoration and discharge of pus)
13. Gan Cao – Radix Glycyrrhizae Uralensis (To reinforce the function of the spleen and replenish qi, to remove heat and counteract toxicity, to dispel phlegm and relieve cough, to alleviate spasmodic pain, and to moderate drug actions)
The information in brackets is what I found out when checking the herbs out on the Internet.
I know my vet was a bit concerned about me giving Kaos all these herbs and she was worried that there might be something which might react with her "Western" medicine but Kamila assured me that everything was compatible with what Kaos was having and I believe her.
The medicine arrived in a bottle with a 1ml plastic spoon. I have to give her an eighth of 1ml a day so was scratching my head, wondering how to make sure I had the right dose.
Philip suggested that I get a full spoon, halve the powder, halve it again, then halve it so that I had 8 little piles of 1/8th. He then suggested I use my travel pill box to put the individual piles into so that I had the correct dose every day to just add to the splash of Whiskas pet milk.
What a clever fellow is my husband :-)
Above is the pill box I am using. I divided the powder into 8 little piles, fed her one pile and then transferred the other piles into their little sections.
As you can see, it's easy enough to just open the top, tap the powder out into her milk, and give it to her every day without any hassle!
Originally I was putting it into a syringe and squirting it gently into her mouth; however she seems very happy to lick the milk with the powder so now I just put it into a small bowl and give it to her and she does all the hard work herself :-)
You can see the difference in her shape - this picture was taken on August 11
while this one was taken 11 days later, on August 22
So ... I will be keeping a very close eye on the old girl and I hope she'll continue to be as healthy and symptom-free for a long, long time!
I'll keep you posted ....!
