There is plenty of information and misinformation available on the internet about
the use of garlic in food and supplements for dogs and cats. Garlic has many health
enhancing effects such as aiding digestion, eliminating internal and external parasites,
stimulating immune functions and increasing killer cell activity, lowering blood
cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and acting as a a tonic for the cardiovascular
system. Fresh garlic also has powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties.
It has been used for thousands of years in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Holistic
veterinarians have been recommending garlic for many years for its multiple health
benefits.
Garlic’s impact on health has come into question recently due to its properties as a member of the lily family, along with onions and shallots. A compound found in onions, n-propyldisulfide, can – in large doses – cause oxidative damage to red blood cells, creating Heinz bodies and triggering the body to reject these cells from the bloodstream. If large doses of this compound are ingested frequently enough, the process can lead to anemia and even death. The dosage level and frequency of consuming the offending compound are the key here. Typically an animal would need to ingest over 0.5 % of it’s body weight in onions (a 5 ounce onion for a 60 lb. dog) to even begin the oxidative process. Since red blood cells are constantly regenerated from the bone marrow, a dog would likely need to ingest this much onion on a repeated basis to cause permanent harm. Garlic contains less of the n-propyldisulfide compound than onions do.
In The Nature of Animal Healing, Dr. Martin Goldstein recommends adding garlic to home-made pet food and, in fact, feeds garlic to his own cats and dogs on a regular basis. According to Gregory Tilford in All You Ever Wanted to Know About Herbs for Pets, dogs can quite safely consume 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder per pound of food 3-4 times per week. Cats probably should be given a bit less, as they are more sensitive to the compounds in garlic. Tilford cautions cat guardians to watch for behavioral changes or digestive upset, and to listen to the cat if she rejects food or supplements containing garlic. Fresh garlic is less concentrated than dried garlic. In The Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, Dr. Richard Pitcairn recommends up to ¼ clove of garlic per day for cats and ½ to 3 cloves for dogs. As with most herbs, at least one day off per week or a periodic week off from garlic is a good idea.
The key in feeding or supplementing with garlic is moderation and common sense. Using garlic and brewer’s yeast tablets during flea season has long been a common practice among savvy pet owners to help make pets less attractive to fleas. Using garlic in the diet or as a supplement for any of its health benefits is not likely to cause problems for healthy dogs and cats. Obviously, any animal that has a pre-existing anemic condition should not receive garlic. Puppies under 8 weeks of age should also not be given garlic, as they do not begin reproducing new blood cells until after 6-8 weeks of age.
View our selection of garlic supplements from Only Natural Pet Store
40.020226
-105.223237
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Published by Only Natural Pet
About Us
Only Natural Pet, Boulder & Aspen, Colorado USA - offers natural dog and cat products of the highest quality consistent with a holistic approach to pet health. We strongly believe that our animal companions benefit from natural living in the same way that humans do. We have quickly become the leading online natural pet care company and we are committed to honest ingredients to remain at the forefront of the industry as we continuously add healthy, natural and organic products to our inventory. Our goal is to greatly improve the health, happiness, and longevity of our pets lives.
All of the products offered for sale at Only Natural Pet are of the highest quality and made of natural ingredients. We do not offer products that contain substances that could be considered dangerous, carcinogenic, unhealthy, or harmful to the environment. We have a rigorous screening process for selecting products that we offer for sale, and we work closely with our Veterinary Board of Advisors in this evaluation process and in formulating our own Only Natural Pet brand products. You can feel good about buying supplies for your animal companion at our store, because we only sell natural products that we would feel good about giving to our own pets.
Only Natural Pet takes our environment into account in everything that we do. Our company is 100% powered by wind energy. Our packaging aims to reduce waste, conserve valuable resources and benefit the environment. We reuse recycled boxes and packing materials, and purchase only fully biodegradable, non-toxic packing peanuts made from cornstarch. We are working to become a Zero Waste company, which means that we strive to prevent waste, and reuse, recycle and compost as much as possible. This includes paper, plastic bottles, pallet wrap plastic, food waste, and cardboard. We use 100% recycled paper, recycle used ink cartridges, and have a Charm Program to recycle hard-to-recycle products and plastic can wrap. We additionally seek out manufacturing partners who share these values. Only Natural Pet also calculates our organizations Carbon Footprint, which measures the impact human activities have on the environment in the amount of green house gases produced. This Footprint helps us to determine ways we can reduce carbon emissions.
Many members of the retail store, corporate office, and warehouse bike to work, and an Eco-Pass is available to promote public transportation.
Our Honest Promise Quality Standards
We pride ourselves on carrying products or brands that make use of natural, organic, hemp and free-range resources, and we support fair-trade and cruelty-free practices. Everything offered by Only Natural Pet is completely safe and non-toxic. We sell our own line of products that are guaranteed to your satisfaction and work with partners and companies who have the same level of integrity and commitment to cruelty-free and environmentally-conscious products.
In evaluating a new product we take great care to ensure that it is of the highest quality and upholds our standards as a company. For pet foods there are a variety of points we look for including the quality of the protein source, amount of grain by-products, and any artificial ingredients such as preservatives, colors or flavors. None of the foods we carry contain animal by-products, artificial colors, artificial flavors, fillers or chemical preservatives. Most are human grade with USDA approved meats. Many of our foods are grain-free or offer specific benefits for allergies, weight issues and other health conditions.
View all posts by Only Natural Pet
