6 Must-Have Holistic Pet Health Books for Your Library
Jessica Peralta
The movement toward natural approaches to health and wellness seems to grow each passing year.
There’s so much out there in fact, that things can get a little overwhelming. A good place to start is with some holistic pet health books from qualified experts. Here are 6 must-haves.
“The Veterinarians’ Guide to Natural Remedies”
Though technically two books—“The Veterinarians’ Guide to Natural Remedies for Dogs” and “The Veterinarians’ Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats” by Martin Zucker—these books are invaluable for anyone wanting to get a solid foundation for caring for a dog or cat holistically. The books are organized in two parts, including common alternative health techniques like herbs, homeopathy, flower essences and acupuncture, as well as feeding options and vaccination questions in the first section. The second part consists of an A to Z breakdown of various common health conditions and how they can be treated holistically. The great part is that the recommendations come directly from holistic veterinarians.
Authors Gregory L. Tilford and Mary L. Wulff expertly detail an assortment of useful herbs that can be used to treat a variety of conditions in pets. The information used to describe each herb—including appearance, habitat, bloom season, parts used, common uses, availability and cautions—is specific and informative. You’ll feel confident in your abilities of using the herb in question after reading through the thorough description. “Herbs for Pets” also includes a section devoted to common conditions (for instance, cardiovascular problems) and herbal and holistic treatment options.
Holistic veterinarian Shawn Messonnier’s book is an exhaustive informational guide to common health conditions, a long list of herbs and supplements, diet and other complementary therapies, including aromatherapy, chiropractic, glandular therapy and homeopathy. The “Natural Health Bible” is easy to read and absorb, with a ton of well-organized information that’s also easy to find if you’re looking for something specific.
Holistic veterinarian Richard H. Pitcairn is a well-known homeopath in the holistic veterinarian community. His “Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats” written with Susan Hubble Pitcairn really is a complete guide, covering a wide range of areas for raising a pet naturally, including diet and supplements, grooming, environment, tips for travel, holistic therapies, choosing a pet and saying goodbye to a pet. There’s also a rundown of common pet conditions and their treatments. Not surprisingly, there is a host of homeopathic recommendations, as well as other natural therapies.
Essential oils are a potent natural therapy and are most commonly known for use in aromatherapy. Their use with pets—especially cats—is often controversial because of this potency. However, holistic veterinarian Melissa Shelton has been using medical grade essential oils on cats, dogs, horses and other pets successfully to treat conditions like hairballs and ear mites in cats, arthritis and ear infections in dogs and colic and thrush in horses. This book is an absolute necessity for any dog, cat or horse owner interested in essential oils.
Homeopathy is a unique form of holistic medicine based on the idea that like cures like—meaning a disease can be cured by a substance that would cause similar symptoms to the disease in the healthy. Confusing? That’s where this book (by veterinarian and homeopath Don Hamilton) can really come in handy. It’s a thorough tutorial on the history of homeopathy, the major concepts of homeopathy, conditions and potential homeopathic remedies, along with a detailed discussion on vaccination and a lot more.
If you are interested in holistic care for your pets, these 6 must-haves will go a long way in your self-education.
Jessica Peralta
Jessica Peralta has been a journalist for more than 15 years and an animal lover all her life. She has had dogs, cats, birds, turtles, fish, frogs, and rabbits. Her current children are a German shepherd named Guinness and a black kitten named Riot (and he lives up to that name). It’s because of her love for animals that she focused her journalistic career to the world of holistic animal care and pet nutrition. In between keeping Riot and Guinness out of mischief, she’s constantly learning about all the ways she can make them healthier and happier.