Holistic Pet Health
Herbal remedies for pets?
Recently, we got a new puppy, and it started me thinking. With all the “natural” medicines for people, why not for animals, too? We’ve been domesticating animals for quite some time and have pretty advanced medicine to help heal them. But, what about when alchemy was the science of the day? Did we “bleed bad humours” out of animals, too? Did the local “witch” concoct herbal remedies for the local farm animals and pets? I suspect so. What about other cultures, though? Did the ancient Egyptians? How about the ancient Chinese or Japanese? I don’t know.
But, when one thinks about it, it makes sense. These domesticated animals can represent a significant investment that a farmer would want to protect. And, quite often, what works on people works on animals, too. Especially dogs and cats. Of course, there are cultures that would not think of animals as “companions” at all. For instance, the old Arabic view of dogs as “unclean”. Certainly, these are important things to think about for a well-rounded, fictional world. These are things we tend to take for granted, but how do people really feel about pets? The answer to that question, of course, raises many more. All of the answers, though, can say quite a lot about a created world or culture.
Something to consider the next time you pass by a petstore.
