Pharmacist – Formulator Phytotherapy expert
Phytotherapy For Cats And Dogs
Despite a thousand-year tradition and a great deal of information and studies, those in the field of phytotherapy continue to discover secrets that animals make use of instinctively.
So, it's only natural to make our scientific plant knowledge available to benefit man's best friends — our cats and dogs.
But using plants and herbs for the health of our furry friends requires caution. Specific pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic knowledge is required sincecats and dogs have different physiologies and metabolisms from that of man.
Also there may be enzyme deficiencies, making certain active substances contained in plants toxic to cats and dogs, even though it is safe for humans.
For example, this is the case in the Liliaceae family, so onions, garlic and leeks, but sadly for them, also cocoa, used to make chocolate, of course.
Using medicinal herbs, just like fruits and vegetables, requires an intimate and scientific knowledge of their affects on cat and dog physiology, as well as knowledge of possible toxicity.
Simplyincluding fruits and plants among ingredients is not enough to obtain the benefits sought. A study of the specific use of utilization is necessary, as well as an understanding of specific dosages and their combination in order to make the best use of their beneficial properties without endangering your pet.
Because ourcats and dogs live together with us under the same roof, our choices fall on them. Therefore, the same pollutants that affect us, affects them as well, from diets that utilize a contaminated food chain, air quality, heating gas in homes and modern day electromagnetic radiation invading our lives.
The ability to make nutraceutical and functional foods, which are extremely effective in the treatment of symptoms and diseases of our pets, and able to keep them in good health, comes from SANYpet's unique experience, which for over 20 years has been focused on food intolerance-related diseases. All thanks to Gianandrea Guidetti, researcher and one of the preeminent experts in phytotherapy. Phytotherapy applied to pets has allowed us to create unique formulas with significantly increased benefits, by drastically reducing times to obtain the expected effects and ensuring an important integration with preventive maintenance diets.
What benefits can plants offer for cats and dogs, and why is Phytotherapy relevant in their diet?
Plants canregulate the immune system, for instance, in response to an inflammation caused by toxic substances that constantly feed it, making it potentially chronic. When active principles become fully available at the cellular level, they help set off the natural healing process in the body of cats and dogs.
Plants have antioxidant activity, which are fundamental in the reduction of free radicals that cause those chain reactions which damage cells. Using phyto extracts or plants recognized for their intake of nutrients and Omega-3 integration, are distinctive elements of the formulations studied for dogs and cats.
Our diets are more than pet food.
They are nutraceutical, a big word that joins nutrition and pharmaceutical concepts by studying the effect of specific natural substances added to food both as prevention and in therapy of many different diseases. Nutraceuticals can be considered an efficient and physiological way to defend against toxic substances and to simultaneously provide essential active substances to the body for maintaining good health.
Plants are actual superheroesthat with their superpowers, essential oils,come to the aid of cats and dogs. In order to know all that we can, we have created a database, with information about all of their superpowers and feats.
The union between food and medicine, amazing fruit of phytotherapy, has yielded practical benefits. Pets are notorious for hating to take medicines, so it makes sense to provide a remedy of dosed active substances within a palatable food, which also allows a consistent intake.
The Phytotherapy's historical heritage, the millennial use of plants and knowledge of their properties, allows us to absolutely avoid animal testing without incurring possible side effects.
“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”. Truly healthy eating meanseliminate from the diet all those elements of industrial waste like meat meals, fats, and cereals which carry concentrated chemical antibiotic residues, hormones, herbicides and pesticides.
However, even our superheroes of nature have weaknesses. The vast majority of plant-active ingredients are extremely sensitive to heat, some of them are actually degraded starting from 80 degrees F., such as the precious polyphenols present in olive oil. Therefore exposure to high temperatures in food processing, for example when manufacturing kibble, greatly limits its effectiveness.
In order to resolve this critical issue, SANYpet R&D department has developed two systems called microencapsulation and AFS (active fresh system). These protection systems allow for maximum effectiveness by ensuring a gradual release of the active principles, so that they are absorbed properly in the intestinal tract, and also by utilizing a cold manufacturing process to avoid damaging heat-sensitive natural elements.