Pharmacist - Formulist
Expert in phytotherapy
Phytotherapy for dogs and cats
After introducing you to phytotherapy and telling you its story, we have established the presence of a hidden and always available power that plants possess. In measuring themselves against this power, animals resort to their own instinct, while man draws from a millenary tradition and an enormous mass of information and studies.
So why not combine these two worlds and not 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 are required and cannot be transferred as such from the human field. Dogs and cats possess different physiology and metabolism from those of man , and this is evident; this difference can also be found in the presence of enzymatic deficiencies in the liver, making certain active substances contained in plants toxic, which instead 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 requires first of all a thorough and scientific knowledge of them, related to the organism of dogs and cats and attentive to their possible toxicity. But not only.
Once this has been ascertained, 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 elaboration of specific dosages and that their combination is profitable and not harmful.
Dog and cat adopt the same lifestyle as man , they live together with him and therefore it is our choices that fall on them. They take on, both passively and actively, the same pollutants introduced through the air they 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 invade the our life.
The ability to formulate nutraceutical and functional foods, which are extremely effective in the treatment of symptoms and diseases for pets and are able to keep them in excellent health conditions, derives from a unique experience gained by SANYpet, which has years dealing with food intolerances and problems related to food. Phytotherapy applied to domestic dogs and cats has allowed us to refine our knowledge in the food sector with concepts that have significantly increased the effectiveness of our formulas, drastically reducing the time required to obtain the desired effects and ensuring an important integration of character. preventive in maintenance diets.
So what are the benefits that plants give to dogs and cats? Why is herbal medicine relevant in their diet?
Plants are able to regulate the immune system in response to inflammation , which can be caused by toxic substances that constantly feed it, 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 the cellular level, or to trigger the natural healing process in the dog or cat's body.
Plants also possess antioxidant substances, which are essential 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 diet with Omega3 represent two distinctive elements of the formulations designed for dogs and cats.
Hence a new term, 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 therapy of the most diverse diseases. Nutraceuticals can be considered an effective and physiological way to avoid introducing toxic substances and at the same time to supply the body with active substances essential 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 lime in a food for an agitated dog, for example due to ear infections, has a sedative and antispasmodic function, working in synergy with tea tree and rose hip for the well-being of his ear. Oregano, on the other hand, is the paladin of the intestine, thanks to carvacrol, an active ingredient with antibiotic actions.
Plants are real superheroes who with their powers, essential oils, come to the aid and defense of dogs and cats . To get to know them all, we put them in a row and gathered in a database , with all the information about them and their businesses.
The marriage between food and medicine, the luxuriant fruit of phytotherapy, also allows some advantages of a practical nature. The difficulty of taking certain drugs, due to their form or use, as well as in cases of hospitalization, is obviated by the presence of the active ingredients in an appetizing food, appropriately dosed, allowing constant administration.
The historical legacy of phytotherapy, the millennial use of plants and their properties, also allows you to absolutely avoid animal experimentation and avoid possible risky side effects.
" Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food ". Eating healthy also means eliminating from the diet all those industrial waste elements that carry, by concentrating them, chemical residues of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and pesticides.
The power of plants can however be dispersed and its strength must be enclosed and harnessed. The vast majority of active ingredients of vegetable 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 that involve the creation of a croquette, strongly limits its effectiveness.
The SANYpet Research and Development center has developed, to solve this delicate problem, two systems called microencapsulation and AFS (Active Fresh System). These protection techniques are based on cold processing which, joining the food and ensuring a gradual release of the active ingredients, allows the latter to retain their effectiveness and allow themselves to be properly absorbed in the intestinal tract.