Alternative Therapy for pets

It is with great delight that I am writing this article on Alternative therapy for animals. Plant medicine has been a healing tool for humans and animals for thousands of years, and Herbalism has been practiced since the beginning of history and continues to this day. In the day’s past, when we lived more in tune with nature, we were very aware of how important plants were in our day to day living. Herbs are used in farming, cuisine, cosmetics, and medicine. We could all do with tapping into the benefits of the plant world using nature’s energy to revitalise ourselves as well as our much-loved pets.

Now here is the clever bit, animals in the wild will self-medicate with the healing plants they forage on, they instinctively know which plants to eat that will help them heal themselves, so clever. We would be lost without traditional vet care and I’m not saying not to take your pets to see one. But and it’s a big but, it doesn’t always have the answers and for this reason practitioners are experiencing that drug therapy is no longer working effectively.

Alternative medicine focuses on disease prevention, like I said there are many tools in the alternative medicine box to treat our pets and animals such as plant essence (my favourite) plant essential oils, massage, homeopathy, and hydrosols. Supporting any kind of animal’s mental wellbeing is just as important as physical health.

Here are a few suggestions for keeping our furry loved ones happy:

• Reduce exposure to noise,
• Exercise with your pet by setting up agility activities teaching him something new will reduce anxiety and stress.
• Play hide and seek, stimulating their senses is important for both cats and dogs e.g. hide treats, (Labradors are especially excellent at this, I know because I have two and if we’re not out roaming the countryside with all their mates, we are inside trying to keep it interesting.)

Helping Feral Kittens

A little while ago I had a client that found two feral kittens in an outside bin at work, and no they didn’t just fall into the bin it had a very heavy lid, so the mind boggles to how they got there. She raised them as best she could but found when friends came to her house they would hiss and go quite crazy. You couldn’t stroke or even attempt to cuddle them.

The starting point of treatment was lavender hydrosol, she applied a small amount of hydrosol to her hands and gently ran them through the kittens’ coats. As with all cats they began to lick their coats, the hydrosol would then be ingested (I repeat, only a small amount). Our next course of action was plant essence in the form of Mimulus, this is especially good for cats that are easily spooked by objects or strangers. Walnut was the second ingredient as this helps to adjust to change. Star of Bethlehem was the final essence to be added as this helps to neutralise trauma.

They now purr away to their heart’s content sat on whoever will let them.

Examples of alternative Therapy for Dogs

If your dog is suffering with anxiety a blend of valerian root, skullcap, chamomile, golden flaxseed and fennel can support their mental wellbeing. But if we have a dog that is just getting slower and stiffer with age we can treat with a blend of wild celery, sage, milk thistle, celery seed, organic cider, devil’s claw and skullcap.