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Natural Pet Care
We love our pets. They give us so much joy and happiness and unconditional love. Pet therapy, also known as Animal-Assisted Therapy, has become a well-known therapy for the emotionally disturbed, for children, in nursing homes, and in hospitals for cancer patients. How can we learn to treat our animals with as much respect as we treat each other? They certainly deserve it.
One alternative medicine group you should know about if you have a pet and want to provide it with holistic medicine is the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association located in Bel Air, Maryland.
Nutrition
Pat McKay, author of two books on this topic, has been studying nutrition and holistic health for animals for more than 30 years. She calls attention to the contents of commercial pet food. Produced in rendering plants, most people are probably not aware that road kill is put into the food.
“The average person doesn’t have any idea what condition these animals are in. They can have anything from cancer, full of drugs, full of all types of bacteria, fungus. It’s just unconscionable that we would put that type of food into a can or bag and call it any kind of food for animals. The food itself is not fit for any kind of consumption. When it says on the label ‘For veterinary use only’ they mean that people are not supposed to eat what is in the can. Why on earth would you feed it to your dog or cat?
“My suggestion is that you feed your pets 75 percent raw meat, 25 percent raw vegetables with a good organic calcium supplement. If you do you are going to have a very healthy dog or cat. I recommend that you feed the same proportions to dogs and cats. When they are in the wild they eat the same thing. They eat mice and lizards and small birds and rabbits. They are all eating the same things, so why we feel we have to have a dog food and a cat food is strictly commercial greed.
“To break down the food percentages even more: The meat should be 40 percent muscle meat and 20 percent organ meat; then 15 percent fat and 25 percent vegetable. But none of this is written in stone. You don’t have to feed exactly those proportions every single day any more than you feed yourself and your children the exact amount of protein and carbohydrates every day.”
Bach Flower Remedies
Rachelle Hasnas is a consultant and teacher of Bach Flower remedies and the author of The Pocket Guide to Bach Flower Remedies. She is very familiar with Dr. Bach’s treatment principles and has used them with animals with amazing results.
Dr. Edward Bach was a British physician and medical researcher. As Rachelle Hasnas explains, “It was Dr. Bach’s understanding that to truly cure a disease the treatment of symptoms was not adequate. For Dr. Bach the true cause of disease was located in the personality where emotional and mental disharmony are precursors of any illness. His new system of healing with flower remedies addressed all aspects of our being, body, mind and spirit. I would like to look at using Bach flower essences with animals. There have been some amazing results with animals and it seems they carry a lot less baggage than we humans do.
“The following examples are of the many stressful states that animals face. They can give you an understanding in selecting appropriate essences that treat these states in animals. All of us who have pets already know that pets certainly do have emotions. By being empathetic to their moods and emotional distress we can get a pretty good feeling as to what they may be suffering.
□ Agrimony assists with the torment many animals face when a wound or injury is slow to heal.
□ Aspen is great to help a very nervous and easily frightened animal.
□ Century aids the runt of the litter that always seems to be pushed by its bigger littermates.
□ Cherry plum is for the very aggressive animal that may threaten to bite and seems uncontrollable.
□ Chestnut bud is excellent in training a pet and it prevents the same mistakes being made.
□ Chicory assists with animals that demand a lot of attention and also those that are too possessive of their owners.
□ Holly assists with animals that seem jealous, lack trust and is also good for nasty temperaments.
□ Large is extremely effective for the animal that seems to lack self-esteem and is low in the pecking order.
□ Mimulus helps with fear as with thunderstorms and also for the timid and shy animal.
□ Olive is helpful after operations or an illness.
□ Rockrose treats panic and terror.
□ Star of Bethlehem is for any trauma, shock or grief an animal may experience and especially helpful with animals that have been victims of abuse.
□ Vervain and impatiens are both effective for the high strung and wired animal.
□ Vine is indicated for an animal that won’t accept authority and is also the boss animal that dominates other animals.
□ Walnut is always indicated for any change taking place in the animal’s life such as a move, new owner, new pet introduced to the home as well as a new child.
□ Water violet is indicated for the aloof animal that tends to be a loner as typified by the feline species.
□ Wild rose is effective for animals that appear listless.
□ Willow is excellent for feelings of resentment that crop up with a new pet in the home or the birth of a child.
□ Rescue Remedy. For all emergency crisis situations, Rescue Remedy is remarkable. When in doubt as to which individual essence to select, Rescue is always helpful.”
Hasnas says that the dosage and frequency is the same for animals as it is for humans. She says, “Make a dilution bottle for your pet or place the concentrate directly in their food or water. The essences given by mouth directly from the concentrate have a high alcohol content and many pets will refuse the concentrate as they find the alcohol distasteful.”
