Garlic & Honey Benefits for Animals

Garlic and honey have natural antiseptic and healing properties that can benefit both humans and animals. Numerous studies conducted over time have worked to determine exactly how garlic and honey can be used for general health and maximum healing and medicinal effect for human and animal illnesses and injuries.

General Benefits of Garlic

• In addition to the flavor and antioxidant benefits it adds to food, garlic has been touted by health naturalists for a multitude of beneficial properties including anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic and possibly even anti-cancer. The antimicrobial activity of garlic has been linked to the sulphides present in garlic oil.

Garlic for Animals

• Feeding garlic to dogs has proved beneficial for fighting cancer and repelling fleas. Some animals, particularly cats, cannot process garlic or onion. If administered in large amounts, garlic and onions will prove toxic to cats. In small amounts, however, garlic is harmless to cats and frequently added in small amounts to certain brands of cat food, such as Wellness and Merrick.

General Benefits of Honey

• Honey has been used over the ages as a balm to speed the healing of wounds. It has worked as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal healing salve on burns, ulcers and infected wounds. It has also been shown to have effects on infected surgical wounds. A Nigerian study conducted in 2005 and published in the "British Journal of Surgery" showed that of 59 patients with wounds that had failed to heal with conventional treatments, 58 showed remarkable improvement with the application of unprocessed honey.

Honey for Animals

• As a topical treatment, honey is safe for use on most animals; it is an excellent dressing for wounds, having special antimicrobial properties usually attributed to hydrogen peroxide, and a viscous texture that acts as a barrier to bacteria and keeps the wound moist. Honey also acts as a topical anti-inflammatory pain-reliever.

Combining Garlic and Honey

• A study conducted in 2006 found that the wounds of rats treated with garlic and honey healed faster than the wounds of rats treated only with honey. The honey used in the experiment was unboiled and unprocessed, and the garlic was crushed to activate its healing properties.