Bach Flower Remedies for animals

[greyghost]

I am a big one for holistic medicine and the likes. I use Bach flowers in everyday life for myself and my dog when necessary. Here is a list. I hope it will be of use to some of you.

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Bach Flower Remedies can be very useful in treating all animals including ourselves. Unlike other remedies there can be NO harmful side effects, the worst thing that can happen is that they will have no effect.

They can be given straight into the mouth via the dropper, in drinking water (so if you have more than one animal the animal that does not require the remedy will not be affected by drinking it), or even via food.

Below is a short summary of the remedies and some recommended uses, these are not exhaustive.

They can be used in conjunction with both homeopathic and allopathic treatments unless specifically contra indicated and you cannot overdose on them!

The best known essence is Rescue Remedy, unfortunately it is, rather "over prescribed" and used when other remedies, or a combination would be better suited to the particular circumstance (when correctly identified). Ainsworths do a stronger version called Recovery Plus.

You can use up to 7 remedies together, if necessary, and you may need to experiment and/or change as the animal changes.

Rescue Remedy - Keynotes: All-round emergency and crisis formula.
Goal of therapy: To relax, calm, soothe and support.:
Contains: Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Rock Rose and Star of Bethlehem.

Recovery Plus, (Ainsworths) for exceptional crisis contains:
Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Rock Rose and Star of Bethlehem. Mimulus, Aspen and White Chestnut.

Agrimony – Keynotes: Mental torture and worry, sensitivity to disturbances and disharmony. Rowing owners can affect their dogs. It is important for people to address their own emotional problems.
Goal of therapy: To restore inner peace and tranquillity.
Aspen – Keynotes: Fears of unclear or unconscious origin. Old dogs can be helped to feel happier and more confident in their last phase of life.
Goal of therapy: Confidence and courage.
Beech - Keynotes: Intolerance and annoyance. For dogs that have become untrusting of people as a result of unpleasant experiences.
Goal of therapy: Opening up to tolerance and compassion.
Centaury – Keynotes: Weakness, the too willing servitor, the ‘doormat’. (More a people remedy).
Goal of therapy: To restore greater assertiveness and confidence.
Cerato – Keynotes: Self-distrust, lack of self-belief. Helpful to a young dog that lacks confidence and experience due to leaving mother too early. Also dogs that have not had much contact with other dogs. Helps them become more sure of themselves. (Larch is also used for lack of confidence).
Goal of therapy: To strengthen the personality.
Cherry Plum – Keynotes: Fear of losing mental balance. Can help dogs suffering from extremes of stress that create erratic thought processes, hysterical or aggressive behaviour.
Goal of therapy: To restore calm, balance and inner peace.
Chestnut Bud - Keynotes: Immaturity, inability to learn from mistakes. Often useful in helping young animals that act quite impulsively and may be prone to make the same mistakes over and over. Helps to increase focus and reduce the excessive spontaneity of their actions, encouraging more rational thought and concentration.
Goal of therapy: Increased focus and learning ability.
Chicory – Keynotes: Possessive or controlling hold over others. Attention seeking dogs expert at manipulating their owners to gain attention.
Goal of therapy: Letting go, developing emotional independence.
Clematis – Keynotes: Indifference, boredom, detachment. Good for training situations together with Chestnut bud.
Goal of therapy: To restore focus, interest and concentration.
Crab Apple - Keynotes: Personal shame or disgust. Combined with Cherry Plum and Impatiens it can have a very good effect on skin problems.
Goal of therapy: Cleansing, acceptance, self-esteem.
Elm - Keynotes: Overwhelm, loss of will. Dogs that have to live in chaotic or stressful environments such as hectic cities, kennels or rescue centres, can become confused and unhappy due to the sensory overload. Also useful for puppy socialisation where young dogs are introduced for the first time to the many things they have to learn to deal with in life.
Goal of therapy: Ability to deal calmly with pressure.
Gentian – Keynotes: Doubt and discouragement. May have lost his vitality and drive, for instance in illness. Giving in to his ailment and not recovering well. Good for convalescence and at times in life when support and strength are needed.
Goal of therapy: To restore drive, determination and progress.
Gorse – Keynotes: Hopelessness, apathy and despair. A dog may shut down and go into this state after the loss of an owner or if his life suddenly changes and he loses all the things that have brought comfort. Dog doesn’t care if he survives. One of the most important remedies.
Goal of therapy: To restore hope and the will to go on.
Heather – Keynotes: Self-preoccupation.
Goal of therapy: To promote emotional independence.
Holly – Keynotes: Vexation, annoyance and jealousy. An example of jealousy is when a new puppy or new baby is brought into the household and older dogs feel resentful towards it.
Goal of therapy: Compassion, tolerance and serenity..
Honeysuckle – Keynotes: Longing for past happiness, nostalgia. Helps dogs that have lost a friend or owner. Helps dog recover emotionally and move on. Separation anxiety when left for long periods of time; to them it is as though owner has died - same stress.
Goal of therapy: Letting go of the past, looking forward.
Hornbeam -Keynotes: Mental fatigue and loss of concentration. It’s one of the Bach remedies that can help maintain vital energy when a dog needs it most, for instance during convalescence or in fighting a serious illness.
Goal of therapy: Restored mental energy and focus.
Impatiens- Keynotes: Impatience, frustration, pressure, stress. Any situation where a dog seems over-wrought, tense, worried, stressed, can call for the Impatiens remedy to bring greater calm.
Goal of therapy: To restore a sense of relaxation and serenity.
Larch - Keynotes: Low self-confidence. Many different circumstances such as loss of confidence in old age, losing their social status. Young dog can feel under confident and insecure. Dogs stressed by their environment i.e. living with unhappy people, can also suffer a loss of confidence. Larch can work in many situations and together with many other Bach remedies depending on the circumstances.
Goal of therapy: Emotional security and self-assurance.
Mimulus – Keynotes: General fears and anxiety, nervousness. Dogs needing Mimulus will tend to be under confident and have fears of certain things, perhaps situations where they feel scared and vulnerable.
Goal of therapy: To restore confidence and calm and help them to deal with situations better.
Mustard – Keynotes: Depression and gloom. There is usually a clear reason for this emotional state in a dog. Causes can be too much stress, loss of a friend, change in circumstances
Goal of therapy: Optimism, light and joyfulness.
Oak – Keynotes: Despondence from weakening resistance. Together with Gorse, Wild Rose it can assist a dog to muster his strength in difficult times.
Goal of therapy: To restore reserves of energy and endurance.
Olive – Keynotes: Mental and physical weariness. Can help restore energy in dogs suffering from physical and mental exhaustion after a period of hardship, stress or illness.
Goal of therapy: To restore energy and drive.
Pine – Keynotes: Guilt and self-blame. (Dogs don’t do guilt more a ‘people’ remedy). Owners need it when dog has been pts or when pet dies.
Goal of therapy: Acceptance and freedom from regret.
Red Chestnut – Keynotes: Fear for others’ welfare. Dog has become too closely bonded to someone. Separation anxiety.
Goal of therapy: Emotional independence.
Rock Rose – Keynotes: Acute fear/terror. Can be used to calm a dog in an accident while waiting for the vet to arrive. Never put glass dropper in dog’s mouth and especially not if the dog is in a state of nervous agitation or panic.
Goal of therapy: To restore courage and calm.
Rock Water – Keynotes: Mental rigidity, fixed habits. Can help a dog to develop a more flexible attitude towards training and new ideas. This is a way of helping to break bad habits, although it will only work if used together with positive teaching that the dog can understand.
Goal of therapy: Learning new ways and a flexible attitude.
Scleranthus – Keynotes: Indecisiveness, vacillation between options. Dogs generally don’t suffer from indecisiveness. They’re quick at making a decision once they understand the options facing them. Indicated more for other types of vacillation, physical problems that echo the Scleranthus ‘swaying’ tendency: such as hormonal swings, false pregnancies. Reported useful for car sickness in some dogs, nausea caused by irregular motion. Car sickness not always due to motion, can be stress, past trauma etc.
Goal of therapy: To restore decisive balance, clarity and focus.
Star of Bethlehem – Keynotes: Sadness, shock, grief, past trauma. One of the most important remedies in the entire Bach collection when it comes to canine care. One of its key uses is in canine rescue, to help with the rehabilitation and emotional healing of traumatised, psychologically-scarred dogs. For dogs with uncertain past that may have left a mark on the dog’s present state of mind.
Goal of therapy: Overcoming past hurts, moving on.
Sweet Chestnut - Keynotes: Despair and faithlessness. Dogs are capable of falling into very sad and anguished states of mind if they are sick, or left alone and abandoned, or suffering terrible neglect or stress.
Goal of therapy: Hope and endurance..
Vervain – Keynotes: Over enthusiasm, excessive exuberance, ‘in your face’. Other factors to look at such as diet, training, age, breed of dog and how people respond to his ‘hyper’ behaviour, e.g. dog jumps up and is inadvertently rewarded with a pat on head.
Goal of therapy: To restore calm, composure and sedate behaviour.
Vine – Keynotes: Domination of others. Can help to mellow extremes of dominant or over-assertive behaviour in dogs.
Goal of therapy: To mellow over-assertive behaviour.
Walnut – Keynotes: Impressionability from outside influences. It can help in two basic ways. The first way Walnut helps is by offering strength during times of change. The other basic way Walnut can be useful is by helping him to assimilate his environment. It can be helpful in socialising a young puppy, assisting him to take on board all the new experiences around him. Also important in situations where living environment is stressful, i.e. in situations with a quarrelsome or unhappy family.
Goal of therapy: Protection and stability.
Water Violet – Pride, aloofness, separation from others. Useful in helping to re-create social harmony amongst dogs. Also helps with ‘inter-species communication’, creating a sense of bondedness and togetherness between dogs and people.
Goal of therapy: To restore a sense of social togetherness
White Chestnut –Keynotes: Lack of mental tranquillity. Agitated, restless, unable to settle, constantly fidgeting or shifting about. Important to check that no physical problem or discomfort is making the dog feel restless.
Goal of therapy: Restoration of inner peace.
Wild Oat – Keynotes: Lack of motivation and incentive. Offers strength during times of change.
Goal of therapy: To catalyse, energise and move forward.
Wild Rose –Keynotes: Apathy, resignation, giving up the struggle. Helps to give dogs the strength to rekindle an interest in surviving and carrying on when they fall ill or may be slowly dying.
Goal of therapy: Courage and determination to survive.
Willow - Keynotes: Resentment and bitterness. Examples of this include a new puppy or baby coming into the household; resentment against specific others, or against humans in general, perhaps as a result of maltreatment. The dog may be reminded of someone who was unkind in the past, often the case with rescued dogs.
Goal of therapy: Ability to let go of negative feelings.

[marjolein]

Thanx for posting this Les!!!

[weima]

What would you recommend [if anything] for phantom pregnancies?

[greyghost]

Ah well I never said I was an expert, however, take a look at this site and it will tell you about Raspberry Leaf, Urtica Urens and Pulsatilla and how they are administered.

www.k9centre.co.uk/remedy-products.php?cat=215

Raspberry Leaf is usually given at the beginning of a season to aid the prevention of a phantom. You learn something new every day, I didn't realise it also:

Helps tone and strengthen the pelvic muscles and the uterus and can help reduce the risk of haemorrhage.


HTH

[Weims]

Lesley that is brilliant, I am very much into natural remedies and would rather try these before anything else... this list will be very useful.

Thanks
Lynn

[Muriel]

For a Homeopathic Remedy for a phantom, you'd be best talking to a Homeopathic vet if you don't have a reasonable knowledge of Homeopathy yourself as there are many possible remedies, many more than Puls and Urtica.

I was asked about this one recently for Bach rems and came up with these as possibilities...
Impatiens for impatience, Vervain for highly strung and unable to relax and Walnut for change come to mind, possibly Aspen for anxiety? White Chestnut for obsessive behaviour?

Then I was looking at another site later which mentioned these...
SCLERANTHUS
For any kind of imbalance, whether physical or mental/emotional. For dogs that have problems on one side only (such as one ear with chronic problems). For dogs with illnesses that have a changing, unclear symptom picture; with fluctuation of body temperature, appetite, elimination (diarrhoea, then constipation, then diarrhoea, for example). For motion sickness. For hormone imbalances, such as odd seasons, false pregnancies, behavioural changes with or approaching a season. For dogs that have problems with balance; dogs that are clumsy and don’t seem to know what their legs are doing. For dogs that seem confused, disoriented, dithery. This can often happen following seizures, and in older dogs who appear almost senile. For dogs of uncertain temperament, which change suddenly from being loving to snappy; withdrawn to outgoing; ravenous at one time and then not wanting to eat.
As an example, one wolfhound bitch had a chronic sore under the right nostril, her teeth on the right were very dirty while those on the left were clean, her right ear had a chronic waxy discharge while the left was clean, when she strained a muscle it was always in the right leg, and she developed mammary tumours all along the right side. Scleranthus restores balance.

and ...
WHITE CHESTNUT
For restlessness, preoccupation, sleeplessness. For any obsessive behaviour such as licking or chewing paws, spinning round in circles, tail chasing; chasing lights; flank biting; chewing furniture/doors, etc.; constant scratching or tail lashing; dogs that are restless during sleep, with much twitching and threshing; bitches that are constantly moving around while whelping, and those which keep moving their pups. Helps to calm a dog for a training session. Disorders that repeat constantly, such as allergic disorders that occur every summer, recurrent bouts of pneumonia as in cases of virus rhinitis, or problems such as false pregnancies that occur after every season.

From here www.irishwolfhounds.org/flowers.htm


The wonderful thing about the Bach rems is that you can do no harm - if you give a wrong remedy it will simply bounce off the system. Unlike Homeopathy where you can do harm with wrongly chosen remedies.

[Cheryl]

I think the Bach essence classes are for me next! I just finished a class last night that I absolutely love and intend to continue as a lifelong committment; Eatable & medicinal plants and herbs:)

We took field trips to identify and gather what we needed, brought back to prepare, taste tested and have a good base to begin learning ingredient exchanges and preparation. The pesto pizza, herbal teas (cold, hot, decoctions), spring/egg rolls, won tons, marinated salads, "limonade," facial scrub, etc., all turned out so wonderful!

Our group decided to try an insect repellent for my seasonal allergic weim who takes a spoon of honey to ward off symptoms. The honey must attract the horseflies who bite and leave scars on Slade if I do not keep him near and chase them off every summer. We did an oil base and a beeswax base with three ingredients and added essential oils of rosemary, eucalyptus & citronella.

We chose a coltsfoot flower syrup which ended up honey;) that was a big hit, and made a sleep syrup of lousewort and valeriana for the insomniacs (one my daughter and other person in class), another group shared their coltsfoot leaf cough syrup. I plan to make a seasickness tincture this weekend for 3 of my adult kids who have motion sickness.

I finally have the health back to where I want to keep Bullet (my last year rescue weim I kept because I want to get him "to where he should be and have been" mentally and physically, and stable) but he still has lingering stress conditioning, such as the fauning, the over protectiveness for me, the fastness of instant alert and reminds me of a little red sports car but must be hard on his system to be constantly "hyped up" so I'm going to start him on the rescue remedy while preparing "calming" syrups, teas, tinctures to try him on, or he'll be a hundred years old, physically, in a very short time! (He turns 2 this August.) He still has the stress loose stools easily, which all are improving but must seem "normal" to his system:(

Its such a wonderful and exciting, healthy NATURAL way to help, I love it! With this class I now have the confidence I was lacking, from hands on and seeing, experimenting, etc...if only I could not work but only "do that work!"

[Cheryl]

OH, and the fireweed which we have two types of are not only beautiful jelly or honey, but I've learned can be eaten (the young shoots are best in Spring for salads) and added to "dog food" as a high vitamin c ingredient, and this is just the beginning of the meal preparation ideas to add to the rice and pressure cooked fish...I think my weims will be so very happy all winter to rest as I can only be out in the field much more than normal, gathering all the bounty before winter!!!

Bullet would need from Bach essences, agrimony, vervane, white chestnut and Star of Bethleham. I need to do more research to figure out the same type of ingredients we would have here, for the same results, this weekend

The instructor was Janice Schofield-Eaton, recently living in New Zealand, (living in Homer, Alaska prior to NZ), and four days was not enough time;)

[greyghost]

I missed this Cheryl as I went off on holiday on the 7th. Sounds like a really interesting course. So many courses and not enough money to go on them all.

I was having a rather heated debate with a 16 year old, who wants to be a doctor, about Bach Flower remedies. He was trying to tell me that were just placebos. Grrrrrrr how do we educate these blocked minds.

[Muriel]

A 16 year old know-all , how annoying, hopefully he'll learn about energy soon.......

Cheryl, sounds like a neat course I might as well be on a desert island for courses here, but plenty books, and of course the internet now

[greyghost]

www.lacetoleather.com/wondrugpag3.html#benefits

Just wanted to share this with you all. I wonder if you could use it for dogs if necessary.

[Rachel]

A friend of mine uses Pulsatilla on their bitch when she has a phantom with wonderful results.
R

[Muriel]

Yes

It's on my arthritis list.

I sometimes give it to Millie. Some farmers in Vermont I believe still use it for their animals, probably some other places too.

I have Honegar too - ACV & Honey. Sometimes add some of that to her food, sometimes add some to a drink for me.

[Cheryl]

Hey, I read the Vermont ACV home therapy book years ago when I was at home with my 3 small sons:) One thing the article does not mention is the tea/honey taken for flu, it ensures you don't even know you have the flu, along with a BRAT diet (beef-no fat, rice-nothing on it, apples & tea).

I use a version of the BRAT diet, replacing the beef with moose or chicken, no fat, no skin, etc., and add crackers, saltines, or bread-nothing on it but sometimes toast, dry toast.

I use that diet for animals w/IBS or loose stools from stress, too.

OOOhhh, my eyes are needing the tea today, no luck fishing so went plant gathering for sleepy syrup & tincture, tons of valerian & camomile with alittle bit of louse/figwort drying so allergies acting up! I am still taking honey therapy w/Slade for our allergies and he is symptom free for the first time in his life this season, I am only slightly suffering compared to my other 50 years;)

The pit pup I'm fostering has food allergies, she wanted to join Slade and I w/honey, her eyes have cleared up tremendously:) I put the cider vinegar in the pressure cooker when doing up the salmon or herring, too.

The sleep tincture should be done on the 10th, I am preserving the camomile, valerian, and lousewort in blackberry brandy this time and my "adult" kids and son-in-law are all looking crazy at me when I keep saying; "I want a BIG bottle of Vodka, next!" Only to preserve tinctures, honestly! I don't imbibe, with all the dogs, things would get out of hand very quickly;) LOL

Seriously, I am thinking the flavored brandies would be very tasty tinctures instead of vodka...?
I guess I have to make sure the alcoholic percentage is at least 70-100% and better order the small brown bottles w/the droppers.

I got insect bites yesterday, gathering, and rubbed yarrow right on, it worked almost instantly:) I'm going to preserve yarrow for numbing and decreasing swelling in beeswax or oil, too!

The insect repellent with wormwood, labrador tea, and yarrow works very well, on myself and the short hair weis. The funny thing is, if I put any type of insect repellant on them before, they'd roll asap in dirt or grass, etc., but the stuff I made, they act like they are just happy I petted them:)

Bori's hair is just right so the bugs don't bother him much. When they go near his face, he snaps their lives short:)

(YEs, the money shortage...if I had the $ I'd already be doing the Bach courses, fishing or not! But I just helped out two of my kids so will have to practice patience and since I've found what I really wanted to learn, the vet classes are not so interesting and the college has notified me...I'm on probation... LOL, maybe they will include the Bach courses??? They'd get perfect scores from me then...and fast!

[Muriel]

ooo, Cheryl, sounds really interesting! You are lucky that your herbs etc are still more natural up there I presume, here most wild flowers etc are so close to fields sprayed with pesticides etc I wouldn't dare use them medicinally.

I have made quite a few flower essences though from plants in my garden which is chemical free and has been for years, and none of the neighbours used them either BUT one is now so that's me snookered, will have to win the lottery and move to a chemical free zone again. Google's been handy for attributes of most I started learning about them from Dogs Misbehaving by Martin J Scott & Gael Mariani, there are another couple of books for animals too, on my wish list.

I don't recall the BRAT diet from my Vermont book, maybe I need to reread, or maybe it's a different one? Dr Jarvis is mine. If I'm coming down with a cold/flu now I take Homeopathic Aconite, honey, vit C echinacea etc. Should have remembered about the ACV too. I don't eat beef or drink tea, wonder if chicken, rice, apples and water would do?

Your insect repellent sounds good, everything wants to eat me. I found neem great - for a year, then second year I was allergic to it! boo hoo. Currently using Homeopathy and Citronella oil, I guess the good thing about all the cold and rain was that there was nothing trying to bite, but sun's back.

[greyghost]

The Ledum seems to have worked for me this year Muriel. Everybody was queuing up at the pharmacist on holiday for gnat bites. I only got one bite and it came to nothing (right on my face :-( )I'm not sure he liked me when I told them about Ledum. He had a good range of natural products in as ever so he didn't do too badly out of me.

I wish I could get passionate about one thing at a time. I am jumping around remedies, treatments and holistic care and getting nowhere fast.

[Cheryl]

Yarrow will help with bites from insects:) Immediately, too. Its growing like crazy all around, so if I do get a misquito bite I grab a yarrow plant and rub it on. The valerian/chamomile/lousewort in blackberry brandy is done now, strained and into the brown bottle.

I tried it on a husky who is in her first heat and is howling 24 hrs...worked:) We had peace and quiet for 4 hours;) Just gave a dropper, too. I think the other rescue (pitpup) is beginning her first heat, too. Am keeping Boris away from both, as young as he is, he knows exactly what needs to happen so penned the females and am keeping him busy, then switch the activity for the 2 females (doing their exercise separately as they are very testy w/each other!) and he rests.

Still getting skunked fishing, its a very late run for the pinks this year, am sunburning so will at least have a tan to show for it all...;( I have one mason jar of dried and cut sleepy plants ready for future syrups or tinctures. Am planning on cutting and drying yarrow, but so far Slade/Bub doesn't need it for any sores or hives, he's symptom free this year, first time in his life! The honey and change in diet has done wonders for him:)

Local vet says no spaying for a couple months but I heard he did one yesterday! Don't think I can trust the local vet for spaying the pit pup, he hates pits. Haven't heard on the other foster in another town on when they would take her, but she's real at home w/us now. I'll calm her w/the rescue remedy or the valerian tincture, too, if she gets obnoxious at bedtime but so far she's doing better than the husky pup, both are 8 months old.

Boris was so tired from sitting and swimming in the river, trying to keep an eye on my lure yesterday:) 70 degrees farenheit!!! Two days in a row! There are quite a few plants I need to take my book w/me to check on, plus the bag to collect them w/ its breathable.

What is Ledum??? Garlic works, too...I used it the past two years for the short hair weims before learning to make the insect repellant from yarrow, labrador tea, and wormwood. Tons of horse flies this year, too!

There is tons of mustard growing:) I wonder if it would help with depression? If so, I'm going to cut and dry a bunch of that for 3 friends, would there be something else to go with it? I like mixing ingredients LOL...

[Cheryl]

Oh Oh, should have looked at the website;) I'm going to mix in mustard and something for the heat cycles...better get moving...will check in to see if you would recommend something to go with it, too...

[greyghost]

snowydiamonds said:

What is Ledum???

It's a homeopathic remedy Cheryl

Take a look here: www.internethealthlibrary.com/hom-library/ledum.htm

[Muriel]

It's not a race Lesley, nothing wrong with learning about different ways I still don't know what a gnat is, we don't seem to have them here.

Cheryl, just googled, I think we do have yarrow wild here after all, need to check, will try rubbing the leaves on if I get bitten. Actually put Citronella on today as it was biting weather, but of course they weren't out. Yep, garlic's good too

Homeopathic Ledum is for puncture wounds, whether from nails, needles, insect bites or whatever, other uses too, but that's the best known. I used it yesterday as I was at dentist for a filling, so had an injection, that and Homeopathic arnica sorted me out Also gave it to Millie as she'd a sore eye, I think from a blade of grass or similar poking her - I'd been throwing treats in the long grass for her to find to clean her paws. Lesson learnt, will have to stick to getting the towels mucky. After 3 Ledum yesterday, her eye is much better today and I think will be perfect tomorrow.