Animals and Garlic; Can you feed it to them?
Every creature enjoys the first few balmy days of sunning in the Spring’s warmth. But with each season come its own set of challenges so to speak. It is important for us to make sure we prepare out pets for a wonderful spring and summer. I am mainly speaking now of insects and parasites that come out of every hole and crevice to feast upon our companion animals. So how can we help? There are many natural fly-repellents and de-worming agents but if your pet is chronically ill in any way this should be done under a Homeopath‘s supervision.However, today we are going to discuss garlic!
Throughout time horses, dogs and cats have been given garlic for a variety of reasons but it is important to note that it must not be over-done! Small amounts given for short periods of time can be very healthy, however giving too much can even kill your pet so please be judicious and get some advise on how to use garlic correctly. It is important to remember anything that can heal, can harm if overdone and not used properly!
Giving therapeutic doses of garlic to dogs, cats and horses for short periods like a week or two at a time has shown beneficial effects, particularly in cases of helping with de-worming and an overall immune boosting. You will often find garlic as a food ingredient in many pet foods such as ‘Wellness Cat Food’ for example. Correct doses can be safe even when given fairly regularly. When using natural wormers for your animal please contact your holistic veterinarian or health practitioner to make sure your dog or cat isn’t sensitive to any of the ingredients first before attempting your own natural de-worming.
In giving garlic to horses you can use approximately 1-8 crushed cloves for a grown 1000 lb horse. This is going to help two-fold as garlic is brilliant for intestinal parasites as well it can help to make your pets’ a little less appealing to blood-thirsty insects. Garlic has many wonderful properties. Garlic aids the heart, immune system and is wonderful for promoting healthy blood pressure and good circulation. It is also great for weight control, infections, a great decongestant and expectorant as well it has found its way to important uses in cancer treatment.
There are a handful of studies on animals and garlic that should be touched upon. The studies that have been done on horses and garlic that warn not to give them garlic used enormous amounts of garlic. They showed toxicity symptoms when the animals were given 4-5 cups of garlic a day! If your horse is fairly healthy, 1-8 cloves daily for a week or two should not be a problem. However if your horse has any chronic problems please seek professional help to make sure you are giving your horse the correct amounts, and correct natural medicines for its particular problem, as too much garlic can make your horse anemic and very ill. With that being said too much of any medicine does the same so please use with common sense.
Garlic is a super-food and should be part of every person’s natural-medicine chest.
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