Top 5 Herbal Teas For Pet Gut Health - Holistic Vet Advice

Are you tired of watching your beloved pet suffer from digestive distress? You may have already tried tons of different supplements, herbs, maybe even diet changes, but your pet didn't improve or they may have even gotten worse. Don't give up just yet because I work with a lot of really sensitive pets that can't tolerate a lot of meds or even natural remedies, but we just need to approach them differently. Now imagine if there was a natural way to ease your pet's discomfort right from your very own kitchen. If you have a pet with a sensitive GI tract and you're looking for natural remedies that are well tolerated, then this video is for you. So make sure to keep watching because I'm going to uncover the soothing powers of my favorite herbal teas for your pet's gut health and give you my top five teas that most pet parents can access from around the world. I'm also going to teach you how to create infusions with each plant, which is the simplest way to prepare the more delicate parts of the plant, especially the leaves and the flowers. Welcome to our channel. Whether it's your first visit or you're a cherished returning viewer, it's great to have you here. I'm Dr. Katie Woodley, not just a holistic veterinarian, but also the passionate founder behind The Natural Pet Doctor and our transformative program, The Healthy Holistic Pet for Life Blueprint. We're here to empower pet parents like you, cutting through the confusion and guiding you towards clear actionable steps for addressing your pet's gut health issues right at the root using comprehensive holistic methods. Now, I've dedicated my career to helping animals heal their gut health issues through the most natural methods possible. Today, we're going to explore how simple herbal teas can provide relief for common gut problems in pets. Whether it's gas, bloating, nausea, or more severe issues like diarrhea and acid reflux, nature has some fantastic solutions to offer us. If you're struggling with gut health issues in your pet, make sure to drop in the comments below the word help so me and my team can reach out to you personally to share some additional resources that could help benefit you. First on our list is the amazing German chamomile, a gentle yet powerful herb known for its calming effects. It's one of my favorite herbs. Not only does it help soothe anxiety, but it's also perfect for settling upset stomachs, and this herb has actually been used for digestive problems since the first century. Chamomile can reduce muscle spasms in the gastrointestinal tract, can ease gas pain, and help alleviate stress-related gastrointestinal disorders. If you have a dog or a cat that gets a stomach upset whenever there's a change in the household or they're very sensitive emotionally, chamomile should be your first go-to. Many vets and pet parents miss this important gut-brain connection, but it will keep you stuck with healing your pet if you don't support it. The apigenin found in chamomile provides anxiety-reducing properties without creating sedation. Another bonus to this herb is that it can be very helpful if your pet is experiencing allergies. Using it internally as an infusion and even applying it to irritated skin and sores can be quite soothing. Chamomile can be slightly bitter, especially if you leave the tea longer than five to ten minutes infusing, and it has a neutral energy. A lukewarm chamomile infusion can be a comforting remedy for your pet's occasional stomach upset, and it's well accepted by both dogs and cats and can be mixed in the food. I always say have a cup of tea with them too to help your nervous system and gut health stay calm also. The way you want to make this infusion is infuse one teaspoon of the dried flower heads in one cup of hot water, which is about 250 mils. You can use about a quarter of a cup of tea for small pets three times a day, up to one cup for larger pets three times a day. Our next tea that I love is marshmallow root, which is not just a treat but a medicinal powerhouse. Its high mucilage content makes it excellent for coating and soothing inflamed GI tracts, providing relief from irritation. This herb is especially beneficial for pets with acid reflux or ulcers as it forms a protective layer on the lining of the stomach and intestines. It feels quite slippery if you rub it between your fingertips due to the mucilage properties. You may have already heard of slippery elm, and marshmallow root works very similarly but can be more effective for pets that aren't responding to slippery elm. This herb is sweet, bitter, and cooling energetically. It works really well with digestive complaints, but it's also used for things like urinary tract inflammation. And if you're giving medications, make sure to give it at least one hour away from the meds since it's creating that soothing coating along the intestinal tract and it can potentially affect the absorption of drugs if it's used too closely together. And as a bonus for people, it makes a great tea to drink if you have a sore throat or your dog has bronchitis or kennel call. When you're making an infusion with marshmallow root, put 5 to 30 grams of the dried root per cup of water and give a quarter to a half cup per 10 kilos body weight or 20 pounds, divided between three times a day. Now burdock root is another herb when it comes to digestive health. It's a fantastic blood purifier and lymphatic system strengthener. But when it comes to gut health, burdock helps stimulate digestive juices and bile secretion, which actually aids in digestion and can help combat nausea and bloating in pets. Many pets are experiencing stagnant, thickened bile secretions due to processed pet food diets like kibble. Increased toxins and chemicals in the world and even stress can lead to this problem. So using herbs to help open up detox pathways is very important. It's a huge part of our Blueprint program. Your pet could also be experiencing skin problems if they are having detox issues. And burdock can be really helpful for skin rashes and allergies too. And if you have a sensitive pet, we don't want to jump straight to a strong detox because we don't want to make your pet sick from detox reactions. Using a gentle remedy like burdock root tea can be very beneficial to help support digestion through the liver, the gallbladder, and supporting the lymphatic system. All very important for detox. Remember, it's a gentle diuretic. So if you start this herb, you may notice that your pet has to urinate more, which is a normal reaction to this plant. And burdock has bitter and cooling energetic properties. It's really helpful if your pet overheats easily or has a lot of inflammation in their body. When you make an infusion with burdock root, put 5 to 30 grams of the dried root per cup of water and give a quarter to half a cup per 10 kilos body weight or 20 pounds divided between three times a day. Now drop the word detox in the comment section if you'd like to learn more about how to safely detox your pets, to help improve their gut health so we can share some additional free resources to help guide you to help minimize that risk of a detox reaction. Now our fourth herb, ginger, the warm and zesty root. It's well known for its nausea relieving properties and has been shown in numerous research studies to be more beneficial for nausea in pregnant women than anti-nausea medications. It's perfect for pets who experience motion sickness, nausea or vomiting, which is quite common with conditions like acid reflux, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation and pancreatitis. A small amount of ginger tea can stimulate saliva, bile and gastric juice production, which actually aids in digesting, breaking down the food and calming that upset stomach. A fun bonus with ginger root is that it's also high in manganese, which is commonly deficient in many pets that we see in our hair tissue mineral analysis reports that we use for our pets in our healthy holistic pet for life blueprint program. Manganese deficiency can lead to things like ligament issues, like cruciate or ACL tears, which is very common in dogs. So ginger is definitely a go-to for a lot of dogs and cats to support not only gut health but other systems of the body too. You can make an infusion of ginger using about one to two slices or about a half a gram of fresh root or a quarter to a half teaspoon of the dried powdered or grated root to three quarter cup or about 150 mils of hot water. Use the fresh root if possible. Infuse it for at least five minutes and let it cool. Then add the cool infused tea to your pet's meal. You're going to give a quarter to a half cup per 10 kilos or 20 pounds divided between three times a day. Comment below with the word ginger if you're excited to try this type of tea with your pets. And last but not least is our final tea, fennel. This is an excellent herb for various digestive issues. Fennel seeds can help expel gas, relieve abdominal cramps, and even aid in minor indigestive issues. It's particularly useful in pets with gassy stomachs and can also be given as a mild tea. Fennel can also be used as an appetite stimulant and it's also a mild diuretic. Once again, meaning that your pet may urinate more which is completely normal. Fennel is pungent and warm and it helps regulate chi or energy from a Chinese medicine perspective. And you can make an infusion with fennel with a quarter to half a teaspoon of fennel seeds per three quarter cup or 150 mils of hot water. Let it cool then add the infusion to your pets. You want to give once again about a quarter to a half cup per 10 kilos or 20 pounds body weight divided between three times a day. Remember when making these infusions you're going to place the herb in the strainer of the teacup and you're going to place a strain the strainer in the cup. Fill the cup with freshly boiled water and cover the cup with a lid and infuse it for five to ten minutes which means leave it alone before you remove the tea strainer that has the herbs in it. You're going to let it cool before you add it to your pet's food or allow them to drink it straight. These herbal teas offer a gentle yet effective way to support your pet's digestive health however it's crucial to use the correct dosage, consult with a holistic veterinarian before introducing any new treatments to your pet's routine, or make sure you join a program that provides you with holistic vet support like our healthy holistic pet for life blueprint. If your pet's gut health issues continue despite your best efforts or if you're looking for a more comprehensive approach to your pet's health don't hesitate to reach out. Schedule a free discovery call with me Dr. Katie Woodley and let's explore how my healthy holistic pet for life blueprint can transform your pet's gut health issues and empower you to feel confident on how to support your pets to help them heal at the root cause level so that you don't have to keep trying all the things hoping the next one works. Make sure to click the link in our description to schedule a call to see if our program is a fit for you to help you resolve those frustrating gut health and skin health issues and if you found this video helpful please hit the like and subscribe button to continue on this journey with me to help your pets thrive naturally. To continue learning more about how to optimize your pet's gut health make sure to click on our next video why your pet's gut health issues don't improve to learn more about what may be creating resistance to you achieving true health with your pets and I'll see you next time.