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Healing & Alternative Health
Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care:
Specific Bach Flower Remedies Helpful for Animals for Animals
by Kathleen M. Carson, D.V.M |
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Last month I wrote a general article on the use of Bach Flower Remedies (BFRs) for animals. This month I’ll discuss some of the specific remedies I’ve used to help my furry patients.
There are a total of 38 BFRs, each made from a different flower or natural substance. Each is helpful for a different emotional upset, like anger or fear or resentment. The effect of the BFRs is to bring the emotional state back into balance. They do this in a gentle, and yet powerful, way. When making up a BFR formula for my patients, I use several Remedies together, usually combining up to 6 in any one formula.
Rescue Remedy, aka Calming Essence, is the only combination Remedy. It is made up of Cherry Plum (helps those with a loss of control) Clematis (enhances alertness and the ability to focus), Impatiens (helps calm nervousness), Rock Rose (helps those in a state of panic), and Star of Bethlehem (comforts those who are grieving or dealing with a trauma).
I almost always include Rescue Remedy in the BFR formulas I make up. It is good for any stressful or traumatic situation, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. I’ve used it to help puppies or kittens born via Caesarean section, animals injured in automobile accidents or from animal attacks, those scared to death at being brought to a veterinary clinic, feral rescued animals, seizuring animals, and many other traumatic situations. I sometimes also use it after death to aid an animal’s soul in peacefully departing its body. (For patients who are unconscious and unable to swallow, I gently rub 1 drop into their gums.)
Beech is helpful for those animals who are having a hard time getting along with another animal (or human!) in their lives, that is, showing intolerance. It is one of two remedies (along with Willow, which I’ll discuss below) I use to help stop cats from eliminating outside their litter boxes. Animals have distinct personalities, and, just as with us “two-leggeds”, some personalities clash. Beech helps take the edge off these clashes.
I have also found it to be helpful in cases where an older animal has to put up with an annoying younger animal or in cases where an animal is having a hard time adjusting to the new human(s) who have come into their homes, such as a new roommate, boy/girlfriend, or a new baby.
If my patient is showing a lot of anger and/or jealousy in these situations, then I’ll also use the BFR called Holly. (One of my patients who required both of these Remedies was a kitty who lived happily with her companion cat until one day she was frightened by another cat she saw out the window. Unfortunately, her kitty friend was in the same room at that time, and my patient transferred her fear and hostility onto her companion!! For the next
several months she’d attack her kitty friend whenever she saw her!! It took months of physical separation plus anti-anxiety medication in addition to Beech and Holly before the two could safely be allowed in the same room.)
Chestnut Bud helps an animal to break bad habits. I always include it in formulas for cats who go outside their litter boxes or for dogs who are destructive due to separation anxiety. It is also helpful when an animal islearning something new, such as when a puppy is going through obedience training.
Crab Apple is a detoxifying Remedy for those animals who have been poisoned by a chemical, for those with illnesses such as kidney or liver disease where there is a build-up of the body’s own toxins, for those with any kind of infection, and for those animals who have suffered from extreme emotional upset, to help them cleanse themselves of the buildup of negative emotions.
Elm is very helpful for any of my patients who are feeling overwhelmed by the situation in which they find themselves. This would include animals going through a move, those who have to put up with workmen tramping in and out of their homes, and those who are boarded or hospitalized. (As an aside, I believe this is one of the Remedies most needed in this crazy age in which we find ourselves.)
For those animals suffering from the loss of a beloved companion, those experiencing homesickness when away from home, and for those missing their puppies or kittens who’ve gone to new homes, Honeysuckle is the
Remedy of choice.
I mentioned Impatiens above as being one of the Remedies which make up Rescue Remedy. I also use it as a separate Remedy for any highly nervous patient. It also can be helpful for those animals suffering from seizures and for those in pain.
Larch helps give confidence to those animals who have a sense of inferiority. As is true with their human companions, these animals tend to inspire bullying from those around them. Larch allows them to feel a sense of self-confidence, which in turn brings about respect (or at least tolerance) from those around them.
Mimulus is used to help an animal deal with specific fears, such as thunderstorms, firecrackers, travelling in a car, strangers, etc. Aspen is also used for calming fear, but it is more useful for animals with what may be termed global anxiety, ie, they spook at just about anything.
For those animals who have been abandoned or given away, Pine can help restore self-worth. It is an excellent Remedy to use for animals rescued from the pound or those found wandering without a home.
Vervain helps to calm down animals who are highly strung or hyperactive, always running around barking, pacing, or chasing cats, cars, birds, etc, etc. (Of course, lots of exercise is essential for these animals, too!)
For those of my patients going through changes in their lives, Walnut facilitates their adjustment. The change could be a move, a new animal or human in the home, a change in their human companion’s schedule, or a stay at a boarding facility or hospital.
Water Violet is useful for animals who are very reserved, who tend to be loners. It helps these animals to become more part of the family.
Wild Rose is another Remedy which will help an elderly animal deal with an (in their eyes) obnoxious younger one. It also is helpful for those animals who are suffering from apathy or who appear to have given up.
I use Willow to treat resentment in my patients. (As mentioned above, Willow and Beech are the two Remedies most helpful for cats not using their litter boxes.) A cat may be resentful because his/her human companion is working longer hours, going away from home more often for business trips or to spend time with a new love interest, or because that love interest is spending more time in her/his own home!! Willow is also
helpful for dogs who are destructive when left alone.
As mentioned in my previous article, the chosen Remedies are mixed together in this way:
1.) Take a 1 oz amber glass dropper bottle and fill it to the “shoulder” with spring water.
2.) Add 6-8 drops of each chosen Remedy to this dropper bottle filled with spring water.
3.) Give ~1/4 to 1/2 dropperful of this diluted BFR Formula at least 4 times daily. If the situation is very acute/severe situations, you can give a dose every 5-10 minutes as needed. It is important, especially for the first few weeks, to give the Formula this frequently (4 times daily), or the expected results may not come about.
4.) If the your cat or dog objects to having the dropper put into his/her mouth, you can put a drop of the Formula on your finger and rub it into the bare skin inside your animal’s ear. Also, the Formula can be added to the food and water. However, I believe dropping the Formula into the mouth or rubbing it into the skin are the most effective ways of getting the BFRs into my patients. I tell my clients to try to use these methods most often, especially at the beginning.
5.) In situations where the animal is too frightened or wild to be handled, or in which a whole household is upset, the BFRs (especially Rescue Remedy) can be added to a spray bottle filled with spring water and sprayed into the air near the animal(s).
(I must note here that sometimes an animal will eagerly come over to get a dose of the BFRs! I know this can happen, for it did with my own dog! This is in amazing contrast to the ways my patients usually react when their human companions pick up a bottle of medication!)
As a note of caution, I don’t believe the Bach Flower Remedies should be a substitute for regular veterinary care. If your animal is seriously upset or ill or not acting like him/herself, always consult your veterinarian.
Also, as I mentioned in my first article on BFRs, it can take a while to see results after a BFR Formula is started. This is especially true if an animal’s emotional upset has been going on for several weeks, months, or even years. However, as I also mentioned before, if a situation is acute or especially severe, improvement can come about within minutes!
I truly have been impressed by these wonderful Remedies!
Books for further reading:
Graham, Helen, & Vlamis, Gregory, Bach Flower Remedies for Animals,
Findhorn Press, Forres, Scotland, and Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A., 1999.
Weeks, Nora, The Medical Discoveries of Edward Bach, Physician, Keats
Publishing, Inc., New Canaan, Connecticut, 1973.
Scheffer, Mechthild, Bach Flower Therapy: Theory and Practice, Healing
Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont, 1988.
Scheffer, Mechtild, The Encyclopedia of Bach Flower Therapy, Healing Arts
Press, Rochester, Vermont, 1999.
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Dr. Kathleen Carson, DVM
Veterinarian & Author
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Dr. Carson received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California at Davis in 1968. She's been a small animal practitioner (dogs and cats ) for all the years since, except for a short stint at the San Diego Zoo when she first graduated.
She belongs to the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.
Since 1974 she's lived and practiced in the South Bay Area near Los Angeles. She started the area's first house call practice in 1976 and the first pet crisis/loss group in 1989. The human-animal bond is of special interest to her.
She started exploring complementary veterinary medicine in 1987. Her practice became 100% holistic in 1996. She utilizes acupuncture, herbs, supplements, Bach Flower Remedies, homeopathic remedies, nutrition and medications for her patients in her practice.
She's currently taking a leave of absence from her house call practice due to health reasons but continues to do phone consultations and to write.
E-mail:
Critterhlr@aol.com
website:
http://www.holistic
vetconsult.com
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