What is Zoopharmacognosy?
According to Wikipedia, “Zoopharmacognosy is a behaviour where non-human animals seemingly self-medicate by ingesting or topically applying plants, soils, insects, and psychoactive drugs to prevent or reduce the harmful effects of pathogens and toxins.”
Animals’ ability to self-medicate using plants and other natural remedies existed long before we began taking notice. Throughout their evolutionary process they’ve developed the ability to self -medicate; scientific research is still catching up. Research into this phenomena started sometime in the 1980s. This surge in research is often attributed to Professor Michael Huffman’s observations of a group of wild chimpanzees but many look to Caroline Inghraham as a major proponent and catalyst for bringing it into our home.
Zoopharmacognosy & Your Dog
Wild dogs forage for medicinal cures at the earliest stages of any health issue. Upon domestication, despite this seemingly innate drive, limits on the ability to roam freely and find the needed remedies restricted access to help they would find naturally. For our domesticated pets, visible illness or signs of distress typically manifest long after the issue began.
When our beloved companions are ill, in pain or scared - we want to make it all better. Sadly … they can not TELL us what is wrong. Veterinary science helps diagnose many issues - but even they are sometimes left scratching their heads. Since they can’t tell us outright, zoopharmacognosy helps provide tools to let them select remedies using their nose.
The dog’s keen sense of smell is vastly superior to humans - research has found that nearly 25% of their brain is taken up by the olfactory center. WOW! The key hypothesis behind applied zoopharmacognosy is that a dog’s brain transmits signals to their nose when they’re in need a specific component from a plant. The dog won’t just choose scrumptious smells or flavours - they are listening to those chemical messages, or signals, sent by the brain. When the signal stops, the brain is saying “enough,” so the dog stops eating or using the plant.
Human assisted Zoopharmacognosy, called Applied Zoopharmacognosy, facilitates self-medication by allowing animals access to plant extracts or essential oils in their home enviornment allowing them to self select based on their individual needs. Practising Zoopharmacognosists help facilitate this self-medication for your pets. We DO NOT diagnose the animal and are not intended to replace a veterinarian. We work along side your veterinarian in a complementary fashion. We help animals self-select what they need by offering them an array of plants or extracts in a place they are comfortable without added distractions. The selection of offerings is based on observable or reported symptoms and sometimes based a diagnosis provided by your veterinarian.
