Zoopharmacognosy

HELLO. 

We thought that our blog page would be a good place to talk to you about ZOOPHARMACOGNOSY. What it is and Why we do it.

First of all we have both Zoopharmacognosy (we shorten this to zoopharm) and Applied Zoopharmacognosy (AZ). Zoopharm itself is the use of natural products to self medicate. Applied Zoopharmacognosy is the actual practicing of Zoopharmacognosy.


Now then, if we look at the entire word and break it down into three parts we end up with zoo, pharma and cognosy. Each of these on their own translate to animal, medicine/remedy and knowledge. Therefore when we practice AZ we are working with animals that have the knowledge to self medicate. This knowledge is used to help with nutrition deficiencies, allergies, injuries, toxins and mental issues to name but a few.




In the wild...

Animals have an innate ability to self medicate. Their bodies go through changes when they are deficient in certain items, for example vitamin C, and as they forage they will gain an increased sensitivity to any product that contains this vitamin (lets say rose hips).

Animals won't necessarily go hunting for what they are deficient in but it's more a case of their sensitivity receptors increase so they can smell specific things from a greater distance, locate them and eat what they need.



 

At home...

Our domestic pets also have this innate ability but what they don't have is the facilities to forage in the wild. The closest they get to this is when we take them out. 

Our domestic animals rely on us to feed and protect them and in doing so cure any ailments that they may get. We do this by taking them to the vets and (for a huge number of us) by relying on pet food manufacturers doing their jobs.



With Zoopharm we bring the outside indoors so your pet can use his/her innate ability to self medicate just like their wild counterparts.





AZ allows our domestic animals to take control of their own health. The products we offer them mostly take the form of essential or macerated oils, dried herbs, minerals and clays.






Animals take these products in various ways and which way they do take the products depends on why they need them. 

1. They can take them through inhalation. This gets the volatiles into the body through the brain exceptionally quick and is a good way to get anti-depressants or hormonal products into the body. You often get to see a flehmen response with this method.
2. They can take them through the mouth via ingestion. This gets the products into the stomach and through the digestive system. It also means that the products will pass through the liver and so be changed into a different form or chemical. These are then transferred around the body through the blood stream.
3. They can be taken under the tongue (sub-lingual). This gets the chemicals into the blood stream very quickly indeed without any interference by the liver.
4. They can be placed topically onto the skin. This can be to have a direct impact in the skin or to be soaked in and working just under the surface.

Certain animals are very good at masking pain, until they start with AZ that is, but their choices never lie. We have found out so many times now that an animal has had lingering muscle pain or an old wound/scar tissue that is still tight or even the start of arthritis because of the group of products that they have been selecting.
We work with the animal and with what they want to take as they are the only ones that know truly what their body needs. This varies from emotional needs because of a past trauma or separation to pain or an old injury to digestive problems. The animals can even help their liver and kidneys with the natural products that they take. Another big area that animals deal with is allergies and skin conditions. The best way to deal with these are from the inside but also with help from products being placed topically onto the skin. This is absolutely amazing to see. Could you ever imagine an animal pointing to where he/she wants something put onto their body... well it happens. It happens a lot. 

 

This beautiful Connemara has lots of health issues including
type 2 diabetes and he regularly self medicates and it varies
every-time he has a session.

Big injury trauma left this beautiful mare
with emotional issues that she is working
through at her pace.

As stated on our website we regularly work with owners who have given a loving home to a rescue dog, cat or horse and the animal invariably has issues. These issues vary from separation, past trauma, abuse, fears/phobias, trust issues etc… and it is so difficult for an animal to deal with these on their own. This is where the applied zoopharmacognosy really shows its true colours.