Colloidal silver for dogs

Many ask me if they can use colloidal silver for dogs and cats. My answer is a big YES! I have used Colloidal silver for dogs and cats for more than 15 years with great results. From small dogs to large dogs they can all use colloidal silver safely. Colloidal silver supplements are something I will never be without. My colloidal silver spray bottle is with me all the time. The spray is also very useful if you deal with ear infections, eye infections, or small cuts. I simply spray directly into or onto the area.

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to Colloidal Silver so I want to set things straight and educate those that do not know what Colloidal Silver is and can do. There are many colloidal silver products on the market and it can be difficult to know what and where to buy colloidal silver that dog owners can trust.

Many ask me if they can use colloidal silver for dogs and cats. My answer is a big YES! I have used Colloidal silver for dogs and cats for more than 15 years with great results. From small dogs to large dogs they can all use colloidal silver safely. Colloidal silver supplements are something I will never be without. My colloidal silver spray bottle is with me all the time. The spray is also very useful if you deal with ear infections, eye infections, or small cuts. I simply spray directly into or onto the erea.

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to Colloidal Silver so I want to set things straight and educate those that do not know what Colloidal Silver is and can do. There are many colloidal silver products on the market and it can be difficult to know what and where to buy colloidal silver that dog owners can trust.

Here is an article written (in the majority) by the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to Colloidal Silver (CS). He has influenced me more than anyone, and I’m forever grateful for everything he shares, and he is not doing it for fame or fortune. He wants to share what he has researched so everyone can understand what Colloidal Silver is and can do. I’m sharing his article below.

 

Is Colloidal Silver Safe for dogs and humans?

Colloidal Silver made with electricity is safe for dogs and cats. More about that is below. Many claim it is toxic to dogs which is something I disagree with. I have never observed any negative side-effects of using oral colloidal silver or topical colloidal silver. I have used colloidal silver products for close to 20 years now and many of my friends and those participating in my have been using and buying colloidal silver for dogs, their pets, and themselves for 10 some years, and I have never had one complaint of any type related to side effects.

Therefore I can with great confidence say that colloidal silver is safe for animals and humans. From my experience is can help a dog’s immune system by killing pathogens that otherwise the immune system would have to fight. This in turn may reduce or even avoid the need for medical treatment, but I always encourage veterinary advice from one that practices integrative health or if you have one available, a holistic veterinarian.

 

What are the benefits of Colloidal Silver?

The main colloidal silver benefits are:

• It is a natural anti-bacterial

• It is a natural anti-viral

• It is an anti -fungal

These 3 properties are unique to colloidal silver and what makes it so interesting since it has so many applications. Before the introduction of antibiotics, the use of silver as a natural antibiotic declined. Over the last few years, I have seen an increase by veterinarians in the use of Colloidal Silver for dogs and cats despite FDA does not approve CS for the use in pets. Colloidal silver also seem to be effective towards antibiotic resistant bacteria

What does Colloidal Silver do for Dogs?

I have used Colloidal Silver for:

• Wound healing

• Skin infections

• Skin issues

• Yeast infections

• Heal issues with dog’ eys, eye infections

• Heal issues with dog’s ears, ear infections

• Skin tags

• Gut health

From my experience colloidal silver for dogs has shown other interesting benefits and uses.

Here are some:

• Helpful with dog skin allergies (the root cause of this needs to be addressed but as a relief and spraying the skin seems to help in many cases.

• Treating ear infections, many pet owners have used this with great results, but again the root cause need to be addressed.

• Issues with dog’s eyes, like a cherry eye which is an infection. I have used this on one of my Danes with great results. Eye infections are quite common among dogs and cats. I have witnessed one of my kittens completely healed from this in two days.

• Prevent infections. Over the years my dogs and I have cut ourselves many times. Through oral dosing and using a spray, we have never had to deal with any infections from our wounds.

   

Here is an article written by the most knowledgeable person I know about Colloidal Silver (CS). He has influenced me more than anyone, and I’m forever grateful for everything he shares, and he is not doing it for fame or fortune. He wants to share what he has researched so everyone can understand what Colloidal Silver is and can do. I’m sharing his article below.

Colloidal Silver Overview

Metabolic Solutions Report Terry Chamberlin, B.Sc., C.N.C., Bioanalyst Nova Scotia, Canada

It has already been well established that the metal, silver, that you make jewelry out of, has a somewhat unique property: It kills nearly all pathogens on contact. I say, “nearly all” because it doesn’t kill absolutely every single pathogen. There are 5 or 6 bacteria that are not only not killed by silver, they LIKE silver, they EAT it. You will see some of these bacteria, for example, involved in the tarnish that accrues on the surface of silverware or silver jewelry (along with oxidation). But none of these bacteria hurt human beings. There are also some fungi that silver does not readily kill.

I have read claims that silver only kills “unfriendly” bacteria and not “friendly” bacteria, but this is not true. Try to make yogurt with milk into which you have poured colloidal silver! It won’t work, because the silver killed the “friendly” acidophilus bacteria. Besides, the labels of “friendly” and “unfriendly” are defined by these pathogens being convenient or inconvenient to us humans.

I read somewhere that there have been references found in ancient Chinese writings of it being recommended by a Chinese health practitioner that a piece of silver jewelry be pressed against an infected wound to fight the infection.

It is generally believed that the Royal Families in Europe would mechanically grind up silver into a powder and stir it into wine or water and drink it to protect against sickness. Obviously, they wouldn’t have known about germs and viruses, but they would have noticed that those who drank this silver-powder didn’t get sick as often as the non-Royalty common folks (who couldn’t afford to drink silver-powder). This in addition to the fact that they ate off silver plates, drank from silver cups and ate with genuine “silverware”.

So, let me start at a basic beginning. If you put silver of any type, form or shape into the presence of and in contact with almost any kind of pathogens, the silver will kill them to one degree or another. At today’s prices, grinding up silver and drinking it would be quite expensive.

So, nowadays, we dissolve silver using electricity, which makes the silver particles quite small. It’s possible to break up silver by dissolving it in an acid, but the acid residue is not considered to be a healthy substance, and the silver particles are very unstable, falling out of suspension easily. So I am only going to discuss here silver preparations made with electricity (electro-colloidal silver, or ECS).

Using electricity and pure water (deionized or steam-distilled), there are really only two types of silver preparations: silver suspensions and silver solutions. The word “colloidal” is used throughout most of the scientific world (with some exceptions) to refer to particles of something suspended in some kind of medium. This medium could be liquid (such as water), oil or gas. “Suspended” means floating around in the medium. Suspended means that the particle is in contact with the medium but is not a part of it. “Colloidal Silver” (CS) means silver particles floating around (suspended) in the water (steam-distilled is common and recommended). The size of these particles range from a large size to a very small size. If the particle is too big to stay in suspension (if it sinks right to the bottom), it is not colloidal.

The most common technique to help keep these particles suspended is to use DC electricity to produce them, which imbues each particle with a positive charge. Since all the particles have the same charge, they repel each other like the two north poles of two magnets would. This helps to keep the particles in suspension for a much longer time. This, by-the-way, is also called “ionic” silver. The word “ionic” simply means a particle of something that has a charge (look it up in ANY dictionary, popular, academic or scientific). All silver preparations made with DC electricity are ionic. It’s not possible to make non-ionic silver with DC electricity. “Ionic” has nothing to do with the size of a particle, it merely means it has a charge, whatever size that particle is. As long as the particles have this repelling charge, they stay in suspension (unless they are too big).

But it has been noticed that several things affect these ionic colloidal silver particles and cause them to lose their charge. The most widely-known one is sunlight. If you place ionic, suspended colloidal silver (CS) in the direct sunlight and let it sit there, the sunlight will increasingly cause the silver particles to lose their charge and be attracted to other nearby particles, where they will clump together (“aggregate” is the scientific term). As these clumped particles get bigger from the aggregation of other silver Page 2 of 3 particles that have lost their charge, eventually they get big enough to refract light, and the colloidal suspension will obtain a yellow hue. The larger the particles, the darker the hue, from yellow to gold to brown to purple or grayish-black. This is why it is not uncommon to see colloidal silver merchants advising their clients to store their CS in a dark place, away from sunlight.

If you freeze CS, when you melt it the silver particles will sink to the bottom of the container and you will see what looks like a bit of gray dust at the bottom. That’s the silver particles that have fallen out of suspension. In the case of freezing, the particles don’t aggregate, they simply fall out of suspension.

If you place a container of CS on top of a strong magnet, after awhile you will see this same gray silver-dust at the bottom of the container. This is not because silver is magnetic – it isn’t – it’s because the magnetic field causes the silver particles to lose their charge. They do not become magnetic, nor are they attracted to the magnet, they simply fall out of suspension.

The second type of silver preparation is a silver solution. A colloid is generally defined as having a maximum size (above which it would be too large to stay in suspension) down to a minimum size, although the scientific world is not in complete agreement on that minimum size (and depending on which substance). Some say one micron, some say smaller, but the point is this: Smaller than this minimum size, the particles are not considered to be suspended in the medium, they are considered to be DISSOLVED into the medium.

If you were to stir a teaspoon of sugar into a glass of water, you would not say that the sugar is floating around in the water, you would just have sweet water. The sugar would be a part of the water, and it would never leave the water and sink to the bottom, because it is dissolved. A silver preparation that has successfully dissolved silver into water (a silver solution) is called by the scientists, “Nanosilver”. The properties of dissolved nanosilver are completely different than suspended colloidal silver.

Nanosilver is unaffected by sunlight, magnetic fields or freezing. Dr. Robert Demling is a scientist involved in research concerning the efficacy and safety of silver preparations. Here are some of his comments (Editor’s emphasis): “Silver has been used for centuries to prevent and treat a variety of diseases, most notably infections. It has been well documented that silver coins were used in ancient Greece and Rome as a disinfectant for the storage of water and other liquids. (1,2) More recently, NASA still uses silver to maintain water purity on the space shuttle.

Silver in solution has been used as an antimicrobial for wound management for nearly a century. Beginning in the 1920’s, a small electrical charge was passed through water and silver crystals in order to obtain an effective silver ion solution [electro-colloidal] to be used topically on wounds.

The charged silver solutions were approved in the 1920’s by the FDA for use as an antimicrobial agent. In addition to its recognized antimicrobial properties, beginning with the electro-colloidal elemental form, silver solutions have been reported to improve the healing of “indolent wounds” and to “regenerate damaged tissue”. The description of decreased rubor [inflammation] in wounds also reflects an anti-inflammatory property of silver. More recent information has provided at least a hypothesis as to the mechanism of silver’s pro-healing and anti-inflammatory effects.

Initial literature reports on the use of pure silver, mainly in the electro-colloidal form, that occurred prior to the 1940’s when pure silver was still being used. After 1940 a host of systemic antibiotics became prevalent, decreasing the use of silver except as a topical agent. During this transition, silver was complexed as a salt (e.g. silver nitrate and silver sulfadiazine) or other compound (e.g. silver protein) to increase the available silver ion concentration. These silver complexes remain a popular topical antimicrobial agent for the care of wounds.

Silver itself is considered to be non-toxic to human cells in vivo [inside the body]. The only reported complication is the cosmetic abnormality argyria caused by precipitation of silver salts in the skin and leading to a blue-gray color. “The property of matter depends on size and many of the chemical and physical characteristics change significantly when matter is reduced in size.

Nanotechnology is a general term that refers to a relatively new frontier of scientific endeavor. The prefix “nano” signifies one-billionth. Therefore, a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram. Nanotechnology and the ability to deliver silver from a nanocrystalline structure [electro-colloidal] have and will markedly improve the biologic value of silver.

Silver has extremely potent antimicrobial properties, as only one part per 100 million of elemental silver is an effective antimicrobial in a solution. Free silver ions, or radicals, are known to be the active antimicrobial agent. In order to achieve a bactericidal effect, silver ions must be available in solution at the bacterial surface [where the pathogens are]. Efficacy depends on the aqueous concentration of these ions [silver ions in water].

Silver ions appear to kill microorganisms instantly by blocking the respiratory enzyme system (energy production), as well as altering microbe DNA and the cell wall, while having no toxic effect on human cells in vivo.

To date the nanocrystalline silver system kills all microbes found in a wound including fungi and all current antibiotic resistant strains such as vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).” http://www.cesil.com/leaderforchemist/articoli/inglese/7demlinging/7demlinging.htm  [Editor – This site has been removed] Dr. Demling goes into great detail about the antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and increased healing (cell regeneration) of nanosilver. He even highlights an anti-tumor affect. He discusses the great deficiencies of silver preparations (silver nitrate, silver sulfadiazine, etc.) that were used by doctors in the past, but which are resolved by the extremely tiny particle size of “crystalline”  electro-colloidal nanosilver. He further discusses how these crystalline electro-colloidal particles produce “complex metastable silver hydroxyl anions”, meaning different forms of silver that act differently in our bodies.

These “complex hydroxyls would be metastable and thus have an ability to migrate into the surrounding environment and interact with it. The rapid kill of bacteria and fungi suggests a rapid route of uptake of silver from nanocrystalline silver.” In essence, he is saying that nanosilver doesn’t just kill pathogens, it migrates through the body’s cells to kill other pathogens along the way. This would be because the nanosilver particles are so small they pass through the walls of the cells in the body to get to pathogens hiding inside the cells.

Suspended colloidal silver particles would be too large to do this. The properties of dissolved nanosilver are not present in suspended colloidal silver. One of the main points of his research is to highlight the unique properties of dissolved nanosilver vs. suspended colloidal silver.

He declares nanosilver to be completely safe, and emphasizes that it is complexed silver salts that are responsible for Argyria (blue-gray skin) or any other toxic affects that have been reported in the medical literature. The term Argyria describes the condition of a bluish gray color of the skin, and Argyosis the bluing of the eye white, resulting from the use of SILVER COMPOUNDS. To better understand the misconception regarding Argyria, I will quote from the book “The Micro Silver Bullet”™ by Dr. M. Paul Farber 1996 page XII (ISBN 1-887742-00-X) In reference to a “Journal of American Medical Association” article, October 18 1995, volume 274 # 15, where cases of Argyria were cited to have been caused by silver compounds (not colloidal silver, but silver compouned with other metals), note:

“These case history presentations represent biased and unprofessional writing. The author’s apparent inability to understand the difference between a silver nitrate, sulfide, or other silver compound demonstrates their lack of understanding of basic chemical properties. The matrix, substrate, and particle size are all critical to the varied functions and reactions with use of these products. That is why there has not been a single case of Argyria from a properly manufactured modern-day colloidal silver product. The cases of Argyria reported in the 1920’s and 1930’s resulted because the technology of the day was unable to produce a pure colloidal silver product with a small enough particle size.” Ref. (4-A) [editors emphasis] The reported cases of Argyria usually involved very high and frequent doses over extended periods of time of silver salts/compounds such as silver sulfate, silver nitrate, silver chloride, silver sulfadiazine, etc. “

…we recently completed an extensive review of the scientific literature on the safety of silver, especially as it relates to its one known potential side effect, namely, Argyria. Argyia is an irreversible discoloration of the pigment (skin) caused by excessive silver intake or chronic exposure to silver by certain tissues. The amount of silver required to develop Argyria is estimated to be 3.8 grams per day. By comparison standard 10 ppm colloidal silver contains silver in amounts equaling less than 1 milligram of silver (1,000 micrograms = 1 milligram; 1,000 milligrams – 1 gram), which therefore represents an amount approximately 1/500th to 1/1000th of the amount of silver considered to be a risk in the development of Argyria.

Most cases of Argyria reported in the medical literature over the last 100 years involved chronic intravenous or intramuscular use of the silver preparations, most often involving a silver drug prescribed by physicians which in most cases contained silver nitrate. Other cases of Argyria reported in the medical literature involve application of silver preparations used for many months or years in the treatment of the eye or vagina for certain diseases. We could not locate a single case of orally consumed colloidal silver manufactured in the last 25 years causing Argyria in our review of the literature.” Alexander G. Schauss, Ph.D. Director, Life Sciences Division John Hopkins University [From the article, “The Final Word on Silver Toxicity”, from Metabolic Solutions Institute] Nanosilver is considered to be more effective than colloidal silver because the silver particles are small enough to pass through the walls of the body’s cells (what Dr. Demling calls “metastable”), enabling it to get to the places viruses like to hide. Colloidal silver particles are too large to do that. The strength of a silver preparation is measured in what is termed, “ppm”, which stands for “parts-per-million”.

Now, you would get the impression that ppm stood for parts of one thing in proportion to parts of another thing, but that is not correct. In the scientific world, the term, “parts-per-million”, actually represents a ratio of one thing to another, not the number of parts. You could have one lump of silver at the bottom of a container of water and still have 40 ppm. It is not a unit measurement, it is a ratio measurement.

When brewing colloidal or nanosilver, there is a limit to how much silver can be dissolved into a quantity of water before it reaches a certain saturation point. After this point, the silver particles begin to aggregate together because the water is saturated with silver particles. Although there is disagreement on exactly when this point is reached, it is generally considered to be at about 20-30 ppm. This saturation limit is affected by things like water pH, temperature, etc. Silver preparation products that are advertised as being 50, 100, 500 or even 1,000 ppm are not nanosilver.

20 ppm colloidal silver and 20 ppm nanosilver have the same amount of silver in them, but the nanosilver has many more particles of silver, which are just as lethal to microbes as the larger colloidal particles. These nanometer particles also go places the larger colloidal particles can’t.

Colloidal silver particles will float around in the bloodstream and will kill any pathogens they come in contact with. But viruses like to hide inside the cells in our bodies, and colloidal silver particles are too big to pass through the walls of the cells. However, nanosilver particles go wherever the water goes, which includes inside the cells in our bodies.

 

I hope you enjoyed this article. It should help you remove some of the confusion about colloidal silver. Lots of articles online with the wrong information.

Printed with the permission of  Terry Chamberlain.

I highly recommend you join his: The Natural Health Library website.

A fantastic resource for those that are interested in alternative and natural ways to stay healthy.

 

 

Looking for the right Colloidal Silver to buy?

Colloidal Silver and Animal.

I have used Colloidal Silver with Animals for more than 15 years with great results. I find it is safe and I have never seen any adverse reactions. 

I have used it externally and internally. When it comes to colloidal silver it does not take much. In some cases repeated dosages 3-4 hours apart can be helpful. 

In my case, I give it once a day to my animals and I add some in the drinking water for my dogs and cats. 

Research papers on Colloidal Silver

Jeremiah SS, Miyakawa K, Morita T, Yamaoka Y, Ryo A. Potent antiviral effect of silver nanoparticles on SARS-CoV-2. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2020;533(1):195-200. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.09.018

Galdiero S, Falanga A, Vitiello M, Cantisani M, Marra V, Galdiero M. Silver nanoparticles as potential antiviral agents. Molecules. 2011;16(10):8894-8918. Published 2011 Oct 24. doi:10.3390/molecules16108894

Bamal D, Singh A, Chaudhary G, et al. Silver Nanoparticles Biosynthesis, Characterization, Antimicrobial Activities, Applications, Cytotoxicity and Safety Issues: An Updated Review. Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021;11(8):2086. Published 2021 Aug 17. doi:10.3390/nano11082086

Akbarzadeh A, Kafshdooz L, Razban Z, Dastranj Tbrizi A, Rasoulpour S, Khalilov R, Kavetskyy T, Saghfi S, Nasibova AN, Kaamyabi S, Kafshdooz T. An overview application of silver nanoparticles in inhibition of herpes simplex virus. Artif Cells Nanomed Biotechnol. 2018 Mar;46(2):263-267. doi: 10.1080/21691401.2017.1307208. Epub 2017 Apr 12. PMID: 28403676.

Rai M., Kon K., Ingle A., Duran N., Galdiero S., Galdiero M. Broad-spectrum bioactivities of silver nanoparticles: the emerging trends and future prospects. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2014;98:1951–1961. doi: 10.1007/s00253-013-5473-x. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Lu L., W.-Y. Sun R., Chen R., Hui C.-K., Ho C.-M., Luk J.M., Lau G.K.K., Che C.-M. Silver nanoparticles inhibit hepatitis B virus replication. Antivir. Ther. 2008;13:253–262. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]