Calming Pets Naturally with Chinese Herbs

We’ve been discussing natural pet calmers, and we've covered calcium and magnesium, lavender oil, pheromones, and melatonin. Now, let’s consider Chinese herbal formulas for pets.

Many Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal formulas are excellent calmers:

1. 
   Minor Invigorate Collateral Circulation (Xiao Huo Luo Dan) This medication is best for pets that have what we diagnose in TCM as blood deficiency, damp, stasis, or liver yin deficiency. Pets that benefit most from Minor Invigorate Collateral Circulation have pale or bluish tongues with a white coat. They often have a pulse that is slow & weak.


2. 
   Subdue Endogenous Liver Wind (Zhen Gan Xi Feng Tang) This medication is best for pets that have what we diagnose in TCM as liver wind. Pets that benefit most from Subdue Endogenous Liver Wind tend to have red, dry tongues. This herbal medication promotes Liver Yin.


3. 
   Dispel Stasis from Mansion of Blood (Xue Fue Zhu Yu Tang), which is also called Gentian Drain the Liver Decoction (Long Dan Xie Gan Tang This medication is best for pets that have what we diagnose in TCM as damp heat or blood stasis. These pets tend to have tongue that are coated, dark or slight lavender, and thin. Dispel Stasis from Mansion of Blood calms these pets by cooling and moving energy and blood.

These particular TCM formulas are very powerful and can be toxic if given to pets that don’t need them or if given to pets that need them for too long a time. Don’t use these herbs if your pet is pregnant. The usual dose is 1/2 ml/lb divided so that half is given in the morning and half in the evening.

In a future blog, we’ll cover flower essence formulas as calming agents. Usually, I don't promote products but in the next Caring for Pets blog, I'll tell you which flower essence products are little miracles and which I find ineffective.