ABSTRACT
It’s not just humans who benefit from using herbs. The recent revival of interest in “natural medicine” has moved to the world of cats and dogs. Spot and Fluffy are now getting the opportunity to try echinacea and ginkgo. CAM therapies in general are also becoming increasingly popular with organic food producers, partly as a result of a growing desire among the general population for more “environmentally friendly” treatments. In folk veterinary practice there is a long tradition of using medicinal plants to treat animals, where they’re used with farm animals such as cows, sheep, poultry, horses, and pigs. Several currently used treatments for controlling parasites, such as mites, are based on compounds found in plants such as Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium and derris root (Derris elliptica). CAM is even used in the horse-racing world. Though acupuncture and chiropractic techniques are the most widely used CAM therapies for racehorses, since they help relieve pain and stimulate tissue repair, herbs are also recommended for a variety of ailments.
