Turmeric - for dogs and cats

gettingready

Zara has several Sebaceous Cysts - they are absolutely tiney but still...

George has arthritis.

I keep on coming across advice of giving turmeric (for both conditions) - most of it on US sites though...

Anyone got any experience of using turmeric for sogs and/or cats?

What form? How much? Any links?

Thanks a lot

RosaBernicia

Turmeric is anti-inflammatory in humans and has a long history of use.

I'm not confident enough in my knowledge of cat physiology to be certain that the effects would be the same in cats. Dogs and horses I understand can pretty much have the same medication as humans, but cats' neurotransmitter chemicals are 'wired' the opposite way in some areas (this is why they get a catnip effect from valerian which is sedative for humans). If anybody can recommend an 'introduction to cat biology' textbook I'd be grateful (and I am sad enough to buy one and read it for fun:p)!


Rosa xx

Fire_Fox

I don't rate your chances of getting enough tumeric down a cat to have any effect! The main active is the polyphenol curcumin - maybe research this in veterinary medicine?

Here are some abstracts, might help you identify safe levels and general usability, or lead you to other research
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=curcumin%20feline
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=curcumin%20canine

gettingready

Was thnking more of getting it into Zara....

Could get into Fred (with ANY raw meat) but it is George that has arthritis and he is a dry food enthusiast so no chance I guess.... sigh...

Fire_Fox

gettingready wrote: »

Was thnking more of getting it into Zara....

Could get into Fred (with ANY raw meat) but it is George that has arthritis and he is a dry food enthusiast so no chance I guess.... sigh...

There is only about 5% curcumin in tumeric, so you may end up needing to get quite a bit down them. Just found this
http://veterinary.thorne.com/articles/introducing-curcuvet.jsp
http://veterinary.thorne.com/Products/VetGastrointestinalSupport/All_Products/prd~V931.jsp

The fancy delivery method might be necessary, but you may well be able to do with MSE generic curcumin. Phosphatidylcholine can be had, it's a major component of lecithin.

gettingready

Thanks - Amazon sells it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Animal-Health-CurcuVet-SA150-Dogs-Capsules/dp/B00506WNEU

No info about dosage though - any idea? Did I miss it? Bit tired TBH

gettingready

Oh found it:

Directions for Use:
Cats: ½-1 capsule daily
Dogs: 1-3 capsules per 25 lbs. body weight daily

$10.80 in US and £21.38 in UK - how b....y typical.... the same, 90 capsules

Zara is 40kg so....around 3.5 capsules per day..... 1 bottle for less than a month

krlyr

Healthspan sell turmeric/curcumin extract
http://www.healthspan.co.uk/herbal/turmeric/productdetail-p398-c118.aspx

Those dog tablets are 150mg, so 3.5 x 150mg = 525mg a day, so one of the Healthspan tablets a day should be around the right dose.

It's quite raved about on various dog forums I'm on, but a couple of people have noticed negative behavioural effects since starting the dog on it. May not be the turmeric itself but the antiinflammatory effect making the dog exercise more, aggravate an ongoing condition and then act out from the increased pain levels once the supplement wears off, perhaps, so as with all supplements, only introduce one new thing at a time so you can pinpoint the cause of any side effects.

bazster

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I don't rate your chances of getting enough tumeric down a cat to have any effect!

My first cat loved chicken curry!

gettingready

krlyr wrote: »

Healthspan sell turmeric/curcumin extract
http://www.healthspan.co.uk/herbal/turmeric/productdetail-p398-c118.aspx

Those dog tablets are 150mg, so 3.5 x 150mg = 525mg a day, so one of the Healthspan tablets a day should be around the right dose.

.

Thanks for that - and that would work as "16 (just under) for 3 months suplly from 90 tablets in a bottle.. and just ONE tablet to give.. nice, thanks

Fire_Fox

You can purchase curcumin powder (standardised tumeric extract) on eBay and elsewhere, lecithin too in either powder or liquid form if you want to try to mimic the delivery method in the branded supplement.