This weekend poor Luca, now in his teen years, came in with an injury. We suspect he’s either getting a too frisky with the older lady cat down the street or he’s waging an epic battle against the backyard squirrels. Either way he ended up with an abscess on his shoulder and was limping. Much to his dismay, we quarantined him to the house for a few days. He just lay on Peter’s chair for days until I got home from CA. I treated him with a poultice of cut and sifted plantain leaf and turmeric powder.
Directions:
- Put plantain and turmeric in a cup and pour in boiling water, steep for 10 minutes covered.
- Lay some gauze in a different cup and pour in the steeped mixture so that when you pull up the sides the plantain mixture is in the gauze and you have formed a pouch.
- Take this in the cup to wherever you will be comfortable sitting with the kitty. Make sure it’s not too hot then apply the gauze pouch with flannel layers or wool over it to retain the heat. Cuddle profusely.
- If the wound is open first apply some yarrow flower and leaf tea.
- Hold it on the wound for as long as they will allow. Repeat by dipping into hot tea and applying again and again. Twice daily if possible.
We used this treatment for Luca the cat but would also work for other animals and of course humans. Good for the treatment of hard masses, soft masses, abscesses and infections. This is everyday herbalism.