THE BENEFITS OF ALOE FOR DOGS, CATS & CAMELS
Did you know that the Aloe (Barbadensis Miller) plant features in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons coat of arms? That tells us something about the benefits of Aloe Vera for animals. It shows at least that early in the 19th century vets used Aloe in their treatments. Then for some inexplicable reason this changed and Aloe Vera was overlooked until late in the 20th century. How sad for animals! But thankfully they can now benefit again – and are benefiting. As you might have seen on my Home Page, it was my dog, Sam, who introduced me to the Aloe Vera drink. Oh … and my daughter! Joanna’s IBS was ancient history thanks to the benefits of Aloe Vera, but I couldn’t see a connection between her IBS and Sam’s stiff limbs. Then Joanna mentioned aloe’s natural anti-inflammatory properties and things made more sense.
I’ve since learned that whether the animal is a hamster or a horse (or maybe a camel?) benefits can be obtained for: Inflammation: Aloe gel acts as a natural anti-inflammatory agent, with none of the side effects of steroids. Exfoliation: (the gel’s proteolytic enzymes help break down dead tissue from the skin, while the salicylic acid content softens the skin’s keratin layer.) These combined actions can not only help remove dead or damaged cells from such conditions as eczema and psoriasis, but can also be helpful when cleansing and healing skin wounds. Natural cleansing: Its saponin content makes Aloe Vera an effective natural cleanser. Moisturizing: A reason why Aloe Vera is used in many skin-care preparations is that when applied to the skin it acts as a natural moisturizer. Improvement in blood flow: Aloe enables blood flow to the skin to improve through capillary dilation. Improvement in wound healing: Scientific research has shown that Aloe increases cell division by fibroblasts in the skin by at least 3 times – which is why wounds treated with Aloe often heal very quickly. Decreases bleeding: Applied to minor wounds such as a graze, aloe can encourage coagulation, so decreasing bleeding. Less itching: It is anti-pruritic, so decreases itching from some conditions. SYNERGISM: My dictionary definition is: 'The action of two or more substances, organs, or organisms to achieve an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects'. A belief (held by many – definitely not just by me!) is that the ‘teamwork’ of the 75 nutrients contained in the Aloe Vera gel produces an overall more powerful effect than any of these working individually. Aloe’s synergistic properties have been aptly described as remarkable! FURTHER IMPORTANT BENEFITS OF ALOE: ADAPTOGENIC PROPERTIES: Among its many other attributes, aloe is known as an adaptogen. I’m writing this in bold to focus your attention! Rather than helping individual symptoms, the gel seems to help the body to heal itself – inducing well-being and helping to restore the body’s balance. So totally dissimilar conditions (e.g. both constipation and diarrhoea) can benefit. There’s much more I could tell you at this stage (possibly testing your belief-system if you’re unfamiliar with Forever’s aloe vera), but that needs to wait for a later page. The potential benefits of Aloe Vera for animals simply cannot all be squeezed into one space ... Go back to My Aloe Vera Home Page
|
