By Sarah Brune, BFRPThe Bach Flower Remedies are a natural way to keep your pets happy and healthy. They offer a gentle means of relieving negative attitudes, and because they are prepared from flowers and trees, none of which are poisonous, they provide a harmless, non-habit forming system of healing. Animals will often react quickly and well to the remedies, so treatment is usually between three and ten days. The aim of diagnosis is to establish the animal’s state of mind and to choose the appropriate remedies for them.
It is important to note that the remedies will not change the inherent temperament of a particular breed or animal, but will help bring them into balance. The remedies do not treat any medical conditions directly. Sick animals should see a vet first. The remedies are complementary, do not interfere with medication, and help to speed up the healing process. They help with everyday stressful situations, or when your pet needs help overcoming a variety of emotional or behavioral problems:
Selecting remedies for animals may seem daunting at first as they can’t tell us exactly how they feel, but by observing and empathizing with them it is possible to read their behavior and identify their emotions. Animals use verbal communication to some extent, but non-verbal communication is usually the best guide to how they feel. In selecting remedies for your animals keep a close watch on their body language and behavior patterns and look for any changes according to the breed. Look too for events and changes that might be putting your animal under stress. Happy and contented animals enjoy life and have fewer health problems.
Rescue Remedy is a combination of five remedies: Star of Bethlehem (shock), Clematis (faintness, lack of focus), Rock Rose (terror and panic), Cherry Plum (loss of self-control), Impatiens (agitation and irritability). It can help whenever your pet is under stressful situations and needs some help to stay calm and in control. For example: visits to the vet, being left alone, adapting to new surroundings, and fear of loud noises.
Many people give remedies to animals in their watering bowls or food. The dosage here is two drops of each selected remedy (four of Rescue Remedy) per bowl. For larger animals, such as horses, add five drops of each individual remedy and ten of Rescue Remedy. Alternatively you can make up a treatment bottle. To do this add two drops of each individual remedy (up to seven max) to a 30ml bottle of water. A dose is four drops from this bottle, and you should give at least four doses a day. The treatment bottle dosage is the same for small and large animals alike. If you are including Rescue Remedy in the treatment bottle add four drops instead of two to the treatment bottle. Use until symptoms improve.
There are many ways to give treatment bottle doses, so pick the one that suits you. Some choices are to drip doses onto pads, paws, nose or ears so they will be absorbed through the skin or licked off. You can put four drops of the remedy mix on food or onto pet treats. If using a sprayer bottle spray in the mouth or around the pet. If pets share water, the remedies won’t have affects on other pets if they don’t need them. There is no worry of over-dosing.
Sarah Brune is a Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner and located in the Comox Valley, BC, Canada. For more information go to www.bachflowerscanada.com.