In Nature, Animals Self Medicate & Treat Themselves with Botanicals

There is a reason why we rarely find widespread disease and illness in nature. In nature, you don’t have research universities, pharmaceutical companies, medical and veterinary doctors, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and a plethora of other very expensive procedure based agencies and corporations that ultimately offer us only a few real healthy solutions.

In nature, primal instinct is the rule of the land. This means that every creature on this planet has a pre-programmed, naturally instinctive knowledge directing them to the right foods to lead a healthy life, find the right mate to secure the continuation of the species and seek proper minority foods which we refer to as herbs and botanicals. These foods are consumed and applied to treat and correct specific health issues. Have you ever watched your dog or cat “hunting” when you let them into the yard or take them on a walk? They sniff every puddle after a rain. They pass by many and then they choose one and start drinking “the dirty water” while you panic. Why that one? If they were just thirsty, why didn’t they drink from any of the others? Your pet clearly identified some necessary nutrients available in that puddle. The same applies when they eat vegetation, only picking specific leaves at specific stages of development.

We can also turn this around to what they avoid. Why, when they are panting will they avoid specific water sources or even available meals? How do they know that they are toxic without reading the warning sign? Squirrels and birds have been observed avoiding food provided by humans such as genetically modified (GM) corn and other grains.

All creatures are genetically programmed with this innate primal instinct which guides us to natural foods, herbs and botanicals that will benefit all of us and deter from those that will harm us. The natural system has provided us with puddles and ponds infused with many botanicals that treat different challenges. We refer to them as natural, herbal teas.

In nature, animals will drink from the puddles under a walnut tree that will rid them of parasites but in turn will avoid the puddle beneath the pine tree because it lacks what they need. Look at a natural pasture and see how the cattle will only eat certain grass and yet the goats will eat what is left behind.

However, as we pollute our environment and our pets with synthetic, addictive chemical additives and drugs, the body loses its ability to identify the good from the bad. Our pets will eat poisonous plants because their bodies are losing the ability to chose right from wrong while still craving and recognizing nutrients that are in that toxic plant. Take chocolate as an example. Your dog is eating biologically dead highly cooked and processed food and has a need for antioxidants. Cocoa solids are one of the richest sources of flavanol antioxidants. Your pet tries to satisfy that need by devouring that dish of brownies that you left on the counter. In order to get the antioxidants, they also ingest the “not so good” theobromine.

Upon that, their body then goes through a natural process to quickly eliminate this toxin through diarrhea and vomit. This is basically housecleaning. Unfortunately modern medicine sees this as a sales opportunity and has exploited this. The best thing to do is support the body with species appropriate foods to continue the cleansing.

Nature has given us all the tools that we need to use. . It simply involves providing our pets with their native diet and offering the herbs and botanicals that they need. If you add the wrong ones, they will walk away but when you choose the right ones, they will devour them until proper balance is achieved. The key is to remember that our pet’s primal instinct will help guide us.