Garlic supplements

[poopy]

I thought of a good way to supplement garlic to my rabbits. I gave them the garlic supplements I take, from Trader Joes. Odorless Garlic pills. They are starch, sugar, color, and preservative free. One of my rabbits ate it, other one didn’t. If your rabbit is sick or if you already have garlic supplements it might be worth a shot!

For the benefits of garlic read p.7 (garlic excerpt is pasted below) the full newsletter has other herbal info. though:, http://www.houserabbitsanctuary.org/pdf/fall05newsletter.pdf

Garlic is one of the strongest medicinal plants on earth.
It contains over 80 different sulfur compounds, making it
a powerful infection fi ghter capable of killing all bacteria,
viruses and fungus on contact. Garlic also contains allicin,
one of the strongest disease and infection fi ghters found
in nature. It is an extremely effective and powerful broadspectrum
antibiotic, which means it kills all types of bacteria,
both gram positive and gram negative. It destroys the various
viruses that cause upper respiratory infections and infl uenza,
the ones that antibiotics are useless against. In fact, just the
odor has proven to be highly antibacterial. Unlike antibiotics,
however, it doesn’t harm benefi cial bacteria and fl ora, which
is very important to a rabbit’s system. When using garlic for
its antibiotic properties, be sure to use the chopped garlic
or fresh garlic juice within three hours or use a high quality
garlic extract. In general, rabbits dislike garlic intensely, so if
you need to use it, add a drop or two of the juice or tincture
to other herbal preparations, giving it fi ve times a day in
serious cases.

I also read that garlic is safe and good for rabbits in Kathy Smith’s Rabbit Healthcare 101

[Gravehearted]

I  would be pretty cautious unless your vet specifically directed you to start giving it to your rabbits.  I’ve heard of garlic being used as an herbal remedy for parasites – but can’t say if it’s actually effective. Wouldn’t the amount in a pill intended as a supplement for a human would be significantly larger than a rabbit sized dose? 

[BinkyBunny]

I also agree with gravehearted to be cautious, especially since with many things like this you will find conflicting information. Some say it’s fine, some say it isn’t.  

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/onion.htm

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Food/Food_main.htm  Click on topic that says  "TOXIC TO RABBITS"  and it brings up a PDF file that shows garlic in the toxic category.

I’ve also included a PDF attachment from the ASPCA Poison Control – you’ll need to scroll down to see the information about garlic.  It includes cats and dogs with small animals reactions

With many things it’s like this – for example:  like salt blocks and mineral blocks you will find sites that will encourage their use.  But unless there is some illness that requires a rabbit to need more minerals or salt, then it is not recommended by the majority of the rabbit experts.  Now, of course, that is just an example.  But what I am trying to say is make sure to know both sides – with garlic it might be just a dosage issue.  I have no idea and so  that’s why this thread encourages me to learn me.  (I love learning new stuff!!)

I am definitely for anything that promotes a healthy life for our bunnies but I need to educate myself more than just of couple of articles for each side.   I’ll make some calls to to a few experts and consult with my vet. She’s very open to herbal remedies and has recommended them to me before, and the one time I asked her questions about certain plants and herbs that she didn’t know about, she researched and got back to me.  

I also asked this question on Etherbun, as they are more medically oriented.  Though I know I can get conflicting info there too.

So I’ll continue to research, and in the meantime, in my opinion, if I were you, I would still keep them but just  wait for more information  before I  offered anymore.

I’ll keep you updated and if you find out anymore info, good or bad, just post it to add to the research.

[osprey]

A little off topic, but I am so glad to see that the Medirabbit English food pages are back online.  They were gone for a couple of months, and I still refer to the one about greens and fruits quite often (this one http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/feeding_en.pdf)

[poopy]

Let me know what etherbun says. There are also numerous medical articles that have found garlic to reduce artherosclerosis in rabbits which you can find on PubMed

[BinkyBunny]

I only got two responses on Etherbun.  One said most likely no good, while the other didn’t know for sure and was in the same boat I am with information stating both good and bad.   I’ll keep you updated with what I find out from other resources.

[Hilde]

I too have heard lots of people stating that garlic is bad for rabbits, but not many reasons why.
But  I would think that since it’s such a powefull antibiotic, and "capable of killing all bacteria,
viruses and fungus on contact", it could very well kill off the bacteria that the rabbit needs to have in it’s cecum for them to be able to make cecal pelets and process a lot of nutrients.
I also know that when people take powerfull antibiotics, a side effect is problems in the gut, because there are no helpfull bacteria left either. A remedy for this is taking yogurt, but i’m sure it’s not that easy in a rabbit, since yogurt doesn’t have the bacteria they need, and it might not be so easy to restore the bacterial balance in the cecum.
Anyway, this is just my guess, based on what i know about rabbits and about antibiotics.
Hilde

[poopy]

Hm. I wish there was more research in this area. Animals respond so much better to herbs than humans it would be really helpful to know what is truely good or not

[BinkyBunny]

Poopy, I’m still researching this, and consulting with a rabbit expert, and giving her all the resources that show the positives of garlic as well.   Can you tell me though what page in Kathy’s book she discusses garlic?   Thanks!

[BinkyBunny]

Okay, Poopy, I finally have an update on garlic.   After researching and researching it’s the dose that is extremely important – that will draw the line between safe and toxic.

My rabbit savvy vet responded to my question about garlic with this answer: "The veterinary herbalists generally consider garlic safe, but caution not to overdo the dose. No safe dose has been established. An herbalist I trust says you can start dogs at 1 clove per 40# in dogs or 10-30 mg/lb of Kyolic brand. I would start at half of this dose (1/8^th clove or 40 mg of Kyolic for a medium rabbit) and work up, watching for anemia or GI upset."

So Poopy that’s what I could basically come up with so far.  It is extremely important to note that even though the vets answer gives a general guideline, obviously if you, I or anyone chooses to give garlic to our bunnies we are doing so at our own risk.  

[poopy]

Thanks for researching! I haven’t given her any more garlic tablets since then. You’re right- better safe than sorry.

[Author]

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