Phytotherapy for dogs and cats
After introducing you to phytotherapy and telling you its history, we have established the presence of a hidden and always available power that plants possess. In competing with this power, animals resort to their own instincts, while man draws from a thousand-year-old tradition and an enormous mass of information and studies.
So why not unite these two worlds and make the scientific knowledge of the plant mastered by man available to other living beings, such as dogs and cats?
Using plants and herbs for the well-being of our furry friends requires extreme caution. Specific knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics is necessary and cannot be transferred as is from the human field. Dog and cat have a physiology and metabolism different from those of humans, and this is evident; this difference can also be found in the presence of enzymatic deficiencies at the liver level, making certain active substances contained in plants toxic, which however do not have the same effect in humans. It is the example of the Liliaceae family, therefore the very common onions, garlic and leeks, but also (alas, poor them!) cocoa, naturally used to make chocolate.
Using medicinal plants, as well as fruit and vegetables, therefore first and foremost requires in-depth and scientific knowledge of them, in relation to the organism of dogs and cats and paying attention to their possible toxicity. But not only.
Having ascertained this, It is not enough for fruit and plants to appear among the ingredients to obtain the desired benefits.It is necessary to study the specific use for which they are used, the development of specific dosages and that their combination is profitable and not harmful.
Dog and cat they adopt same lifestyle as man, they live together with him and therefore our choices fall on them. They take in, both passively and actively, the same pollutants introduced through the air we breathe, the same diet that uses industrial waste used for the preparation of human food, the same gases present in homes and other electromagnetic radiation that invades the our life.
The ability to formulate nutraceutical and functional foods, which are extremely effective in the treatment of symptoms and pathologies for companion animals and are able to keep them in excellent health conditions, derives from a unique experience gained by SANYpet, which for twenty For years he has been dealing with food intolerances and nutrition-related problems. Phytotherapy applied to domestic dogs and cats has allowed us to refine our knowledge in the food sector with notions that have significantly increased the effectiveness of our formulas, drastically reducing the time necessary to obtain the desired effects and ensuring important character integration. preventative in maintenance diets.
So what are the benefits that plants give to dogs and cats? Why is phytotherapy relevant in their diet?
The plant I am able to regulate the immune system in response to inflammation, which can be caused by toxic substances that constantly feed it, also making it potentially chronic. This is a tremendously important aspect, because it allows us to dose the active ingredients so that they are completely available at a cellular level, i.e. to trigger the natural healing process in the dog or cat's body.
Plants also possess antioxidant substances, fundamental in reducing free radicals, responsible for chain reactions that damage cells.
The use of phytoextracts or plants known for their supply of specific nutrients and the integration of nutrition with Omega3 represent two distinctive elements of the formulations designed for dogs and cats.
From here a new term is born, namely nutraceuticals, a big word that brings together the concepts of nutrition and pharmaceuticals, studying the effect of certain natural substances added to the diet, both in the prevention and in the treatment of the most diverse diseases. I nutraceuticals can be considered an effective and physiological way to avoid introducing toxic substances and to simultaneously provide the body with active substances that are fundamental for maintaining an optimal state of health.
The distinctive characteristics of each plant and their combination therefore give life to functional and nutritious foods. The contribution of linden in a food for an agitated dog, for example due to an ear infection, has a sedative and antispasmodic function, working in synergy with tea tree and dog rose for the well-being of his ear. L'OriganInstead it is the champion of the intestine, thanks to carvacrol, an active ingredient with antibiotic actions.
Plants are real superheroes which with their powers, the essential oils, rush to help and defend dogs and cats. To get to know them all, we lined them up and brought them together in a databases, with all the information about them and their businesses.
The marriage between food and medicine, the luxuriant fruit of phytotherapy, also allows for some practical advantages. The difficulties in taking certain drugs, due to their form or use, as well as in cases of hospitalization, are overcome by the presence of the active ingredients within a palatable food, appropriately dosed, allowing constant administration.
The historical legacy of phytotherapy, the millenary use of plants and their properties, also allows us to absolutely avoid animal testing and avoid possible risky side effects.
“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”. Eating healthy also means eliminate all those industrial waste elements from the diet which convey, by concentrating them, chemical residues of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and pesticides.
The power of plants can, however, disperse and its strength must be contained and harnessed. The vast majority of active ingredients of plant origin are extremely sensitive to heat, some of them are even degraded starting from 27 degrees, such as the precious polyphenols contained in olive oil. Therefore, exposure to high temperatures in food processing processes, for example those involving the creation of a croquette, severely limits their effectiveness.
To solve this delicate problem, SANYpet's Research and Development center has developed two systems called microencapsulation and AFS (Active Fresh System). These protection techniques are based on cold processing which, by combining with the food and ensuring a gradual release of the active ingredients, allows the latter to maintain their effectiveness and be absorbed correctly in the intestinal tract.