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March 3, 2025 68 mins

Uncover the hidden power of herbs for your pets as we dive deep into the world of holistic animal care with Ruth Hatten, an animal naturopath and herbalist. In our latest episode, Ruth shares her inspiring journey from a corporate law background to becoming a leading voice in animal healing. She emphasizes the importance of understanding your pet's needs and tailoring your approach to match their individual health circumstances.

Explore the benefits of various herbs such as dandelion and marshmallow, highlighting how these natural remedies can significantly impact your pet's physical and emotional well-being. Ruth discusses critical safety considerations for pet owners, emphasizing the importance of dosage and potential interactions with conventional medications. This episode also invites listeners to consider the wisdom animals possess regarding self-selection, encouraging a more natural and instinctive approach to pet care.

Join us as we emphasize respect for all creatures and the interconnectedness of all life. This engaging discussion advocates for a compassionate philosophy around animal care, celebrating the remarkable bond between humans and animals. If you're ready to explore alternative approaches to your pet's health and embrace the benefits of nature’s remedies, this episode is a must-listen! Don't forget to subscribe, leave us your thoughts, and share with fellow animal lovers!

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr Edward (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Whole Energy Body Balance
podcast, where we explore allkinds of possibilities,
practices and ideas that bringgreater healing, connection and
harmony to pets, to people, tohorses and hopefully to the
planet.
We aim to inspire you, tochallenge you in a beautiful way
and hopefully get you creatingpositive changes and healing in

(00:24):
your life and in the lives ofthe beings that you care for.
And if you're interested inhealing and making the world a
better place, you're in theright place.
I'm your host, dr edward, thehealing vet, and I help deeply
caring people, pets and horsesunfold profound healing and
healthy relationship throughsomatic awareness, loving,
therapeutic touch, intuitive,intuitive perception, kind

(00:46):
training and energy work.
I also practice as a holisticveterinarian and healer all over
the world, and today I wouldlike to introduce you to our
speaker, ruth Hatton, who is ananimal naturopath, nutritionist,
herbalist and energy worker.

(01:07):
She's very dedicated toenhancing the wellbeing of
animals through natural andholistic methods.
So, ruth, I'm really excited tohave you on our rebooted
version of the podcast here forthe whole energy body balance
Welcome.

Ruth Hatten (01:21):
Me too, thank you.
Thank you, welcome me too,thank you, thank you.
You know, we did this ages agoon facebook, like five, seven,
eight years ago, I don't know ifyou remember.
We did a facebook live on yourfacebook.
Yeah, it was so interesting andfunny and amusing to like watch
us back then me mostlyhilarious.

Dr Edward (01:43):
Yeah, we've all.
We've all grown a bit sincethen, hey, so with the podcast,
we start off with a big question, because big questions are a
good thing in life, I reckon.
So who are you, why do you dowhat you do, and how did you get
to this point in your life?

Ruth Hatten (01:59):
Good question and, for the audience, I have not
been given this question inadvance, so this is really just
me, you know no progression.
So I'm just going to let it roll.
So, who am I?
Let's start with that.
I mean, yeah, who am I and howdid I get here?
So I mean, for me, the biggestthing about me and the biggest

(02:20):
thing that really centres me andfocuses me and grounds me and
the reason for my existence isanimals and they.
They take up the biggest place,the biggest space in my heart,
and I haven't always worked inthe field, in a field relating

(02:40):
to animals.
I was a lawyer for 17 years,working in like the commercial
corporate sector, mostlyconstruction, and you know there
weren't no animals, um, andthen I started to just kind of
like I guess there was a, mysoul started to speak to me, um,
and I, you know, came acrossanimal law and I and it was

(03:04):
really new back then it wasn't,there really wasn't much of it
in Australia, um, it was big inthe US.
But I started, I found out aboutit, I learned about it.
I ended up becoming an animallawyer, um, and then that really
got me to get the feel for, ohmy god, my career, my work that
I do, it has to focus aroundanimals, um, and so I actually

(03:28):
went back to the normal legal.
I left that job and I came backto Brisbane and went back into
the old kind of legal world thatI was in.
I was like I cannot do thistill the end of my days, and so,
long story short, I decided tobecome an animal naturopath, and
then the energy work came in aswell, and that's always
expanding, um, but it was.

(03:48):
It all comes back to that corevalue, that core essence of who
I am in my heart, which is allabout the animals.
Um, and you know, things havemorphed and changed as they do
over the years, but that'sessentially, you know, like,
yeah, everything revolves aroundthe animals for me, beautiful.

(04:10):
Does that answer your questions?

Dr Edward (04:14):
well, the point of the question is to have a
conversation.
I mean, wherever we go withthis question, it's not, it's
not important, it's.
I mean it's important that webe communicating and connecting
and exploring.
That's what I like to do inthese sessions is, you know, we
theoretically have a topic, butgoodness knows where we'll end

(04:35):
up as well, and that's perfect.
So what is it about animalsthat is so inspiring for you,
that is so rich and wonderfulfor you in your life?

Ruth Hatten (04:44):
is so inspiring for you, that that is so rich and
wonderful for you in your life.
Oh, they're just, you know theydon't have the human ego and
they're just who they.
They're just who they are, youknow.
There's no, there's no lies,there's no deception.
They're just, they're real.
They maintain that really ring,really, really strong
connection to nature and theirtrue essence.

(05:08):
Um, they're not swayed by allthe things that humans are
swayed by.
I have, you know.
I was going to say I havecomplete trust for them.
That is the case for everyanimal except for dogs no,
really, no offense dogs becausethere was an episode a few years

(05:30):
back, in the space of like sixmonths, I had um attack or near
attack incidents with dogs, andso it really kind of like it
made a big difference and I'mmuch better now because I knew
like the way the brain works.
It set in place this kind offear program as a safety

(05:50):
mechanism to have that fearbecause I'd been attacked, um,
and then I was like, okay, Ineed to wipe this, and so I knew
that that was going to be wipedwith positive experiences of
dogs, and so mostly that hasbeen wiped, but there is still
sometimes particular dogs ifthey're off lead or if they're
loud and they're barking at meand it comes a bit, I still have

(06:14):
that kind of like are theygoing to attack me?
Um, so there's not that 100%trust because of that experience
, right, whereas I've never had,I've never had a fear
experience with a cat.
Um, yeah, I've only everexperienced love, and you know

(06:36):
so, and the wild animals willthey're.
You know, obviously I comeacross them.
That's's not true.
There is some fear aroundsnakes.
I did stumble across ablack-eyed, black-eyed,
red-bellied black snake lastyear in the bush and he was just
there off the side of the pathand he was all coiled up with
his head up and he was justhissing at me and I was like, oh

(06:59):
my God, and I was like I'm sosorry, I didn't mean to scare
you.
I'm going.
I'm going because I knew like Iknow enough about, you know,
nature and wild that the snakesare more scared of us than we
are of them and so it was justhonoring that I was in his
environment, right, and Istartled my vibrations, as I was
, you know, a big, heavy humanwalking along the earth startled

(07:23):
him, and so he reacts the waythat he instinctually knows how
he was alerting me, you knowit's not like he went for me.

Dr Edward (07:30):
Yeah, I'd have to say that I've, I've got a healthy
respect for cats.
I've been, um, scratched andbitten by cats and I've got a
healthy respect for horses andI've got a healthy respect for
all animals because, um,sometimes they, they can be
dangerous if we're not listeningand if we're, if they've been

(07:50):
traumatized in the past or ifthey've, you know, we're
compromising them in some way.

Ruth Hatten (07:56):
But today, don't get me wrong, though, like there
is a healthy respect for all ofthem, but that doesn't mean
that sometimes there's anelement of fear.
So it's kind of like on thatpiece of trust.
It's like you know, I thinktrust is different to respect,
like I love and adore all ofthem, like every single dog.
I see I'm like hello, hellohello, you know, but yeah still.

Dr Edward (08:22):
So today we're going to be exploring the power of
herbs.
Um, so you're a naturopath,you've got an extensive
experience in the medicinalenergetics and all that kind of
thing of of herbs, so it's a bigtopic.
Where do we start?
It is a massive topic.

Ruth Hatten (08:45):
Where do we start?
Well, I guess I don't.
I mean, I would say the, the,when I think about the clients
that I work with and the firstthing is really, most people
don't understand how herbs canbe used to support animal
well-being.
Um, like it's just not even andyou know, you probably

(09:06):
experience this as well in inyour work like there's, you know
, in the, in the modern way ofdoing things, it's all about
drugs and prescription food,right, and that's kind of like
the main, this mainstreamapproach to pet care, and so
people know that herbs andplants exist plants, obviously,

(09:27):
but there's still that kind ofoh, but are they safe and how do
I even use them?
That's what I feel is like thefirst kind of thing that comes
up for people.
So we could, we could startthere.

Dr Edward (09:42):
Um, okay, wherever you feel like is good to start.
I think that's a good, that's agood place.

Ruth Hatten (09:49):
So lead on and inform us about herbs and the
wonders of them and how they canhelp yeah, yeah, so I mean,
when you look at we you know Imentioned before about, you know
, animals and their connectionum to nature, so it's very
natural for them in the wild andwe look over the history of

(10:10):
animals, they have beenself-medicating for years and
years and years out in the wildsand there's, you know, there's
evidence, there's researchthat's been done, particularly
around you know, the monkeyfamilies, like the chimpanzees
and the orangutans, um, and howthey will eat a certain plant,
um, you know, and so theresearch.

(10:33):
I don't know how they did thisresearch, um, but the research
makes these, reaches theseconclusions that they chose this
particular plan to help withparasite prevention, for example
.
Um, you know, I did write ablog.
My memory's a bit hazy, but Ihave written a blog.

(10:53):
There's a few blogs on mywebsite around herbs and animals
and I do mention in more detail, um, the particular research
that they did in the findingsand I'm pretty sure I link
through to the research.
So if anyone wants to explorethat a bit more, not just rely
upon my hazy memory there arethose written resources
available, um, but yeah, sothere's evidence to show that

(11:14):
animals self-medicate withplants like they self.
They're not just randomly eatingplants.
There is a?
Um, a cognizance, and aselection, a mindful selection
of those plants.
Um, obviously, you can see inthe, you know, in a domestic
environment you can have houseplants and you know there's not
necessarily that discernment.

(11:35):
They can eat toxic plants,right?
Um, although I will say I havesome considered toxic plants in
my house, like I have a big, bigum lily pilly in my house, but
my cats have never showninterest in eating that.
They've only ever showninterest in the plants that are
non-toxic, which I findinteresting, you know, um, so

(11:56):
there's a lot of fear aroundplants and animals and I'm
certainly not inviting people togo oh yes, fill your house with
toxic plants, because I don'tknow what your pet's going to do
in that situation.
I know my pets and they're fine,like I've never had a problem,
but I can't you know, speak forother people's pets, right?
so there is that kind of yes,it's not like willy-nilly, just

(12:17):
because it's natural, it's safe,right.
And so you know, with certainherbs it comes down to the
correct dosage.
It also comes down to there area number of herbs that can be
toxic, right.
So, um, we need to haveawareness around those plants

(12:39):
and, like I said, it's not justwillingly oh, it's a herb, it's
natural, that's fine, I'll giveit to my cat.
Oh, my god, now my cat's havinga seizure or something, right,
so vomiting excessively, or Ihave to go to the vet, um.
So there needs to be thatawareness, that discernment
around that just becausesomething's natural doesn't mean
it's safe, um, it's like youwouldn't go and just give your

(13:03):
animal a drug without speakingto the vet about it.
You know, there's that certainaspect I consider herbs to be
safer than drugs and they aretechnically still considered a
drug.
So let's do a, let's do acontrast, a differentiating,
using the word differentiatebetween the two.
So you've got yourpharmaceuticals drugs, um, you

(13:25):
know, which is like yourmedicaid.
Well, no, even then, herbs andmedicine too, right?
So let's just keep it aspharmaceuticals, right?
yeah but then you could even saythat herbs are pharmaceutical
because they havepharmaceuticals.
So you know, then we're justdealing with the english
language, which is a mess, right?
So we've got the natural herbs.
They are medicine, they can asmedicines, right?

(13:46):
They can be used to treatparticular ailments and there's
so much research around that aswell.
The more that humans havestarted to use herbs for their
own health, as that interest hasgrown, there's been more and
more research.
There's plenty of veterinaryherbal texts, right, that go

(14:09):
into the research around theherbs with particular conditions
, ailments, or from anaturopathic perspective,
looking at, you know, the herbsthat support different organs,
different bodily systems, right?
So there is so much information, there's so much knowledge

(14:30):
around the way that herbs work.
But it's like anything you canGoogle it you're not necessarily
going to get accurate orreliable information.

Dr Edward (14:40):
Yeah, do you use herbs alongside, you know, as a
parallel treatment with vets whomight be prescribing
medications at the same time?

Ruth Hatten (14:49):
Yeah.
So I've got a few cases.
Often it comes up with severeanxiety cases and seizures.
So they're where I've had mostof the involvement with vets.
So, and usually I will say tothe client because they've
already gone to the vet and theycome to me because they want to

(15:12):
know what are their naturaloptions and obviously I need to
know everything that they're on.
If they're on medications, Ineed to know exactly what
they're on, because if we'regoing to do a herbal, I need to
assess which herbs I can usebecause, just like with you know
some herbs and this goes intothat not all herbs are safe

(15:32):
because it comes down to theindividual animal.
Is this herb safe for youranimal?
And so one of those factors isis your animal on medicine?
You know pharmaceuticalmedicines that's been prescribed
by the vet.
What are those medicines?
I've got the information that Iwill look at.
There's what's called cautionsand contraindications and drug

(15:54):
interactions, right.
So as a herbalist, I am lookingat all of that.
So when I'm making up a herbalremedy for a dog or for a cat or
a horse or what have you, Imake sure that I have that
information and I make sure thatI know I've got this massive,
massive spreadsheet that tellsme everything and I look at well
, what are the cautions andcontraindications?
Do any of those exist for thisanimal?

(16:16):
Then I'm looking at the druginteractions.
What medications are they on?
Is that contraindicated withthis particular herb medications
are they on?
Is that contraindicated withthis particular herd?
And usually thecontraindication or the drug
interaction is more that it willincrease the effect of the drug
, sometimes we, which can be agood thing, because then that
can mean when you might be ableto reduce the amount of that

(16:39):
drug that you're giving youranimal.
But always you need to checkthat in with your prescribing
vet.
And so that's when I say to theclient we can do this.
We have some options, like, ifyour intention because a lot of
people come to me and they'relike I don't want my animal on
these drugs I'm like, well, ifthat is your intention, we need

(17:00):
to work with your vet, becausethat gives me a broader scope in
terms of what herbs we can use.
But you need to communicatewith your vet, and if you're not
comfortable doing it, I'm happyto have a call with your vet
and discuss it with themone-on-one.
So there's none of that, youknow, breakdown in communication
.
And then, because it might be,because let's use, say, seizures

(17:24):
, for example, right.
So this is all about supportingthe neurological system, and so
we're looking.
There's a lot of herbs that haveanti-seizure properties,
anti-spasmodic, anti-spasmodic,anti-convulsant research that
has proven that they'reeffective with reducing the
severity and or occurrence ofseizures.

(17:45):
So we can go all out and reallygo strong, not strong, strong
it's.
I was going to say hit it hard.
But that's not the way I wouldeither use those herbs.
But if that animal is onseizure medication, well then
it's like this is probably goingto increase the effect of those
seizure medications.
So if you don't want to do that, we're not going to use those

(18:06):
herbs.
If your idea is that you want topotentially see if you can stop
those drugs or reduce the dose,let's work with the vet, and
they know what we're doing sothey can work, advise you on
when is appropriate time, if atall, to start to reduce the dose
of the drug.
But that's the vet that doesthat, um.

(18:29):
So that's how they can beworked in, used in conjunction,
but then they can also be usedif we're not, if we're like,
okay, well, next, let's not usethose.
We don't have the vet on board,um, so you're not going to have
that advice as we go, so let'sleave those herbs out.
What we can do instead is useherbs that don't have an
interaction with that drug, um,that are going to support other

(18:53):
aspects of your animal's healthas well, and also to incorporate
um liver support, so that wecan support the liver in
eliminating the toxic residue ofthose drugs.
Especially with those seeddemands, long term can have a
big impact on the liver, as youwould know.

Dr Edward (19:08):
Yeah, they're definitely phenobarbitone and
keper and all those things arethe things that have to go
through detox pathways in theliver and they do have a toxic
load.
But yeah, vets, hey, not not.
Funnily enough I'm being alittle bit tongue-in-cheek here
funnily enough, not all vets areopen to the idea of using herbs
no.

Ruth Hatten (19:26):
And I do say to the clients look, there are plenty
of vets out there who are open.
I can give you a few names.
If you want to reach out,research them and see who you're
comfortable with, you know um,because I think it's important
um for them to know that thereare other options.
There are vets out there whoare open and who are willing to

(19:49):
work with you, like yourself,using natural remedies, because,
at the end of the day, ifthat's going to be the best
thing for your animal, then whynot explore it?

Dr Edward (20:03):
Do no harm, right?
Yeah, and yeah.
It's a curious thing that Ithink vets get kind of boxed up
in their training.
I know I was when I firstgraduated For sure, and I know
that I'm perfectly happy withpeople using herbs and whatever.
But the other thing I'd say topeople is you know, it's okay
for you to stand your bed up andsay, yeah, well, my animal,
this is what I want to do.

(20:24):
And that can lead to a littlebit of healthy conflict with
some vets and some vets take itbetter than others but I really
think it's important that peopleadvocate, even if it does upset
their vet a little bit, becausethat's our job, isn't it?
To look after our animals andreally take responsibility for
how we're going to care for them, you know.

Ruth Hatten (20:43):
Yeah, because it's so important.
It's like you are your pet'sguardian.
They are so dependent upon you.
It is your responsibility to dothe absolute best that you can,
and if that means that you knowyou need to stand up and say no
, I don't want to do that.
There has to be another option,and if you're not able to
present me with those options,then there's other people I can

(21:04):
go to.
And it's not it's not like acriticism, although there's, you
know.
You know, I know what vets aregoing through, what they're
dealing with on a day-to-daybasis.
But there are plenty of vetsout there who have gone out and
done additional training innatural fields of veterinary
medicine the infant, the coursesare there, the information is
there, you know, and it's like,if you want to get, if you're

(21:27):
getting a lot of clients whowant to explore those natural
options, you don't want to losetheir business well then it says
to me so go and do someadditional training, open
yourself up to this whole otherworld of medicine, you know,
because it's only going to growright well, you'd hope so.

Dr Edward (21:45):
Um.
So, with herbs, how do you see?
How do they work?
What?
What do they do?
What are the benefits of herbscompared to, perhaps, a
synthetically made prescriptionmedicine?
What?
Yeah if you go to a deeperlevel of the kind of plant and
the energetics and all that sortof thing.

(22:06):
How do you understand that?

Ruth Hatten (22:09):
yeah.
So I mean, first of all, you'vegot something that's synthetic,
man-made, and something that'scompletely natural.
In saying that, though, a lotof medicines, their core active
ingredient is derived from aplant, but then they've added
all the extra things and they'vemade that plant unnatural.

(22:32):
They've created an unnaturalproduct, even though it started
off.
You know, what they can do isreplicate what one of those
active constituents of the plantdoes, and then they create a
medicine around it, right?
You know?
Yeah, you would know that, um.
So, first of all, you've gotsomething.

(22:53):
So you've got something that'sman-made.
You've got something that, um,is um, uh, artificial, what's
the proper word?
So it's, it's chemical, but youhave chemicals in nature too.
There's chemicals in everything.

Dr Edward (23:05):
I suppose, I suppose synthetic would be how I'd call
it yeah, something that made youknow it's.
It's artificially createdthrough chemical processes
rather than naturally createdthrough the chemical processes
of life in a plant you've also.

Ruth Hatten (23:22):
Another difference between the two is is the the
intelligence of mother nature.
So there are these plants outthere, um that most, if not all
of them will not I mean, wedon't know right so I would say
most if not all of them, basedon my knowledge that currently
exists, um have medicinalcomponents, have have medicinal

(23:44):
benefits, have health benefits.
So, it's not just about that.
Plant is not important justbecause of one active
constituent, one active part.
There could be several activeparts, and then there's all the
inactive parts.
And I'm going to use turmericas an example, because it's a
well-known herb, herb mostlyconsidered as a spice with human

(24:07):
usage.
You know, we add it to our foodand we don't.
Most people don't think oh mygod, I'm eating herbs because it
is powerful, it is an herbantioxidant, anti-inflammatory,
so good for the liver, so goodfor everything, right should be
a staple um for you and youranimals, right?
Because I also think there aresome cautions and

(24:27):
contraindications, so it's not100% safe for everyone.
So don't just go willy-nilly.
And if you give too muchturmeric, some animals can get
diarrhea, and I've also had someanimals that even at the right
dosage, they react.
So that's always thatdisclaimer.
So if we look at turmeric, andmost of it, most health
conscious people know that theactive constituent in turmeric,

(24:51):
or the one that's considered theactive, the singular active
constituent, is curcumin.
And so that's why, you see,even even in the natural world,
you still get those that thingof, oh, it's only the active,
that's important, right?
And so that's why you see allthose.

Dr Edward (25:06):
there's so many curcumin supplements and
sometimes we need the curcuminthat that's kind of the whole
western reductionist kind ofworldview too, which is exactly
a bit at odds with a moreholistic view of the wholeness
of a thing and the entourageeffect and all this other kind
of.
If people haven't heard of theentourage effect, I'm sure you

(25:29):
can explain what that is.

Ruth Hatten (25:30):
Or synergy right.

Dr Edward (25:32):
Yeah, yeah.

Ruth Hatten (25:34):
And so that's exactly right.
And that's one of the otheraspects as well, and that's what
I'm getting to in a verylong-winded roundabout way is
Mother Nature, the intelligence,the whole plant.
So it's not just about thecurcumin.
There are other constituents inthat plant that help, that give

(25:55):
turmeric its therapeutic effectright.
And so nature has devised thisplant, you know, as a whole, to
support the body, right.
So those active constituents,those inactive constituents work
together to increasebioavailability, to increase

(26:18):
absorption to.
Also there are other nutrientfactors in those inactives that
will help the active to.
What comes back.
It is that bioavailability toreally open up and um, I'm not
using any scientific words thismorning because I'm, like you
know, tired to to open up andbasically have a positive effect

(26:44):
right.
So when you've got thatsynthetic, man-made
pharmaceutical medication thatmight, or that supplement,
that's just curcumin that's notthe way nature intended for
these plants to be consumed theywon't necessarily have as good
as good an effect as when you'retaking the whole plant.

(27:06):
Because of this synergy onething, one thing helps to, one
thing works to help the other.
So one aspect of the plant willhave a certain um feature that
then it's like the human body.
That's probably a good way toshow it.
We all are all bodies, we are,have all systems.
You know, obviously, between ahuman body or an animal body,

(27:29):
the differences, differentsystems with a plant body.
But one part of the human bodyor the animal body does not
stand alone.
Everything is connected.
When we eat some food, we takea herb or something, it goes in.
It goes in, you know, it startswith the digestive system, in
our mouth, it goes down theesophagus, it goes down.

(27:50):
Then you know, it makes its waydown down into the stomach um,
I'm thinking of where things aresituated within the body,
anatomy.
Then stomach, down into theliver.
Liver does things with it.
Then it goes any waste oranything, it will process all of
that and off it shoots to whereit needs to go.
Within the body.
Everything is connected, right,so it goes.

(28:11):
Everything is assimilatedthrough all of the processes
that exist within the body.
It is the same with plants.
So there, you cannot or you can.
But it's not accurate tocompartmentalize because
everything is connected.
So the therapeutic aspect ofthe plant comes because of this

(28:32):
holistic, this synergistic, thiswhole plant.

Dr Edward (28:41):
I hear you and I'm so on the same page as you.
I just pulled up a thing aboutturmeric, and only you know 1%
to 6% of the plant, of the rootis curcuminoid.
So it's not even just curcumin.
There's a whole host of similarkinds of things and 34

(29:05):
essential oils and a whole lotof other stuff that science
probably hasn't even got tomeasuring yet.
In this, this simple littlebright yellow flavorsome pungent
root that we love to use incooking right yeah, and that's.

Ruth Hatten (29:13):
you make a really good point there and I'm glad
you did it, because science isalways changing and you know,
I've had this debate with peoplemy entire life.
Oh, we have to rely on science,only the science matters and
I'm like, well, it matters, butit's not the be all and end all,
because science is limited towhat research has been done.

(29:36):
There is so much we don't know.
In part, if we want to relyupon the science we may not know
, there's a lot that we don'tknow because the science hasn't
been done yet.
Oh, when they eventually?

Dr Edward (29:47):
do the science.

Ruth Hatten (29:48):
When eventually someone pays the money to a
research lab to do the research,what about all these other
constituents in turmeric?
What do they do Until thatresearch is done?
You're not going to convincethose you know, those people
that 100% rely upon science thatit's more than just curcumin.
It's not that it doesn't haveany benefits, it's literally

(30:13):
just because the money hasn'tchanged hands for that research
to be done I hear you so.

Dr Edward (30:21):
So what are you?
What's your favorite herb orherbs, I mean?
For me I reckon cbd cannabiswhole plant extract rich in
cannabis, rich in c whole plantcannabis extract rich in cbd
have to be my absolute favoriteherbal medicine.
But do you have any particularherbs or herbal medicines that
that are more important for you?

Ruth Hatten (30:43):
um, I, it's.
For me, it's more about, like,um, just the ones that I'm
attracted to.
There are ones that I'mattracted to because of what
they do, but it's more so aboutI just have this resonance, um,
and that might sound a bit airyfor otis, because I imagine
you're going to be having youprobably do have vets as well

(31:03):
well, I don't know.

Dr Edward (31:05):
I don't know.
I mean, people have particularherbs that some people like and
they're cooking and some peopledon't.
I think that there's that.
There are kind of you talkabout a resonance, but it also
could be a physiologicaldifference.
That means that your system isactually more in harmony with
those particular herbs and otherherbs.
You know, I think there's awhole lot of individual
variation.

Ruth Hatten (31:26):
Yeah, totally so.
For me it always comes down tothat very much.
I love that plant because itdoes these things, but there's
just something about this plantthat I just really, really,
really, really love.
So those plants are right atthe top of the list.
The one that always comes frontof mind is dandelion, and one
of the reasons is becausedandelion is kind of like the

(31:47):
underdog of the herb world, likeeveryone just thinks it's a
pesty weed because it just growseverywhere and it takes over
everything and it's like, yeah,but oh, my God, it is so good
for you, we have it in abundance.
It's like a gift.
I mean, they're all gifts fromnature, right.
But it's just like here, takethis beautiful liver-supported,

(32:08):
gallbladder-supported,kidney-supported, et cetera, et
cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Herb I'm gifting it to you, useit, etc.
Etc.
Herb um, I'm gifting it to you,use it, like it's everywhere.
It's an abundance, use it.
You know, um, and it's also veryyou know, the flower of the
dandelion, the beautiful, brightyellow, like the power of the
sun and the joy when you see.
You know, yellow is a veryjoyful color, right?

(32:31):
So it also has to me.
When we're looking at more froman emotional and spiritual kind
of perspective.
It's like the symbolism of theplant for me is like joy and
freedom, because it's like Iwill grow anywhere and you will
never shut me down, like youknow, like it's just like power,
you know and you know energy, Iknow energy.

(32:55):
So let's bring in also thecolor of the yellow is the solar
plexus, chakra.
And the solar plexus, um, is,you know, a liver, is a big part
of the solar plexus, a liver.
The solar plexus is, you know,one of the interpretations of it
is the power center.
You know, I am worthy, I amstrong, I am courageous.
So we see that with the colorof the yellow, like the color of

(33:18):
the sun and the power of the,sun right.
So and then you've got, when the, the seeds, you know the little
dandelion wishes, and you, as achild, you blow them.
So there's also that kind ofbeautiful aspect of dandelion
that I love.

Dr Edward (33:33):
So it's not just about the health benefits, it
also the symbolism of the plantyeah, and I I hear your whole
voice and your being light upwhen you start talking about
dandelion, which is super cool,and for me I'm also thinking
well, you know, for me I thinkdandelion, there's a vitality,
it does something beyond all thekind of medicinal things.

(33:53):
It's got this vitality, likeyou say, it can grow anywhere.
It's the first thing that popsup and provides bitter greens in
spring.
It's got a really vital lifeforce to it and you know all
your people out there.
As long as you're in a placewhere things are not getting
sprayed, you can, while you'reon your walk, you can pick up
some dandelion greens and youcan mince them up and put them

(34:16):
in your pet's food and it really, really helps support their
vitality and has all sorts ofother benefits as well.
You know a lot of these thingswe forget.

Ruth Hatten (34:27):
Natural laxatives.
It's a gentle laxative, it'snot a harsh laxative.
So it just helps to keep thingsmoving and that's part of you
know also that helps with theproduction of bile from the
liver, so that's going to helpwith digestion of fats.
Like it's just an amazing it's.
It's the plant that keeps ongiving and the more you read

(34:47):
about it and the more you learnabout it, the more you fall in.
I did, anyway, more you fall inlove with it, right, um, but
just like you say as well, aslong as it's not sprayed, but
also never pick any herbs thatare on the side of the road
because of all all the fumes andeverything going past there, um
, so you can often find it onthe side of the road, but it's

(35:08):
also can be easily confused withcat's claw because they do look
very similar.
So, audience, just get ontoGoogle and do dandelion versus
cat's claw and you'll see.
I mean, I've got some books withbeautiful images of both side
by side where you can see howyou can easily mistake one for

(35:29):
the other.
Cat's claw has kind of, theleaves are furry, and that's the
main, the easiest point ofdifference.
The leaves are furry.
That's the main, the easiestpoint of difference.
The leaves are furry.
Dandelion leaves are smooth.
There's no fur, right, um, andit's cat's tongue, the cat's
closet, it's cat's tongue, oh mygosh cat's ear.

Dr Edward (35:47):
I think you're talking about.

Ruth Hatten (35:48):
That's the one, yeah, yeah, cat's ear, which I
always think of cat's tonguebecause it's furry, like a cat's
tongue, and so that's how Inormally, when my brain's
functioning better, I rememberthe name, right, the furry cat's
tongue, but then it's cat ear.
So, yeah, I always think cat'stongue and so that.
But that's a really easy way ifyou, you know, you don't.
You don't really need to knowthe names, you can just remember

(36:10):
.
Ruth said the cat's tongue isfurry.
That's not dandelion.
Ah, that's the cat one, right,not for cats, just cat in the.
That's not dandelion, ah,that's the cat one, right, not
for cats, just cat in the name.
And so the dandelion has thesmooth, smooth leaf.
But, yeah, another one as wellis marshmallow.
I love marshmallow because it'sreally it's such a healing plant

(36:31):
Like one of the main actions ofmarshmallow is demulcent.
And for those of you who don'tknow what's a herbal action,
that's the way the herb works inthe body.
It's the action that the herbdoes, right.
So one and herbs have severalactions.
This is one of the otherreasons why I love herbs is like
they're not a single focus.

(36:52):
You know they can have five, 10, 20, 50 actions right, actions
right, yeah, but one of the mainones in marshmallow is
demulcent, and demulcent meansthat it's soothing and
protective of the mucusmembranes.
So marshmallow really can shine,can help in in like urinary
conditions, in digestiveconditions where there's been

(37:15):
scarring or inflammation, and so, um, if you think of like a
urinary tract infection or ifthere's like urinary stones that
can cause scarring along theurine, the, the membranes, the
soft tissues of the urinarytract, so marshmallow root can
come in and heal those mucousmembranes in the in the urinary

(37:37):
tract, can heal those mucousmembranes in the
gastrointestinal tract.
Um, and so that can.
That is a herb that I do usequite a lot because, you know,
animals are not the animals.
Humans are coming to me fortheir animals conditions that
have, you know that that um,that inflammation or that damage

(37:58):
to the mucous membranes and whohave we got here?

Dr Edward (38:01):
hello.
Jen nearly always turns upsomewhere in a podcast episode
to say hello and and help out.
If you're listening, you won'tbe able to see her, but she's
just jumped up on my knee andbeing all cuddly lovely she's
beautiful.
Maybe she's like oh, I likemarshmallow too she's been
probably out there eating selfself-selecting herbs and grasses

(38:22):
out of our garden.
I would say yeah, good girl.

Ruth Hatten (38:26):
So so they're two.
Like, I could go on and on andon about my aprons, but they're
the first two that always, thatalways come to mind.
Oh, I just remembered anotherone that always comes to mind
ashwagandha oh, ashwagandha is aabsolute.

Dr Edward (38:42):
I use it a lot in my practice yeah, any kind of.

Ruth Hatten (38:47):
You know it again.
That's a plant that does somany things, most commonly known
for its support on the nervoussystem.
Um, and it's such a.
It's not a herb that has areally over powerful taste and
it's gentle in its action, butit's still very effective, and

(39:09):
so that's one of the reasons whyI do use it a lot.
Um, I take it myself as well,um for nervous system support,
like you know, but it's alsoimmune support.
Um, there are so many I'm justtrying to visualize my
spreadsheet where I've got allof this stuff listed um that it
does so many wonderful things.
But, yeah, I'd say they're mytop three, and not necessarily

(39:31):
in any order down the line thatcome up.

Dr Edward (39:35):
So now a lot of people take herbs.
These days, herbal medicine andsupplements are something that
has.
Well, you know, we all used totake them and then Western
science kind of took over and weforgot about them and there's a
big kind of renaissance innatural medicine, herbal
medicine.
So a lot of people might betaking milk, thistle or

(39:57):
echinacea or you know I canprobably think of dandelion or
ashwagandha or maca powder orwhatever.
You know, there's a lot ofdifferent things that people
might take.
So when it comes to what herbsare safe for people, how does
that compare to dogs and cats?
Are there any things that aresafe for people?
How does that compare to dogsand cats?

(40:17):
Are there any things that aresafe for people that might not
be safe for dogs and not safefor cats?

Ruth Hatten (40:24):
If we're just doing a generalisation, it mostly
just comes down.
It mostly comes down to dosage,unless you're looking like.
When you mentioned maca, I alsothought, because I often
combine the two.
I also thought cacao, but thenI was like well, we're not going
to give our pets cacao, right?

Dr Edward (40:41):
No.

Ruth Hatten (40:42):
But that's an example, right, where the plant
is safe for you know, becausecacao is plant medicine as well.
Right, it's a plant.

Dr Edward (40:51):
Absolutely.

Ruth Hatten (40:52):
Whereas cacao is beautiful, beautiful heart
medicine and so many otherthings as well.
That would be a very clearexample.
Great for us, not great forthem, but most I mean I'm just
thinking of what I have.
Could I give all of that stuffto my apples?
Yeah, I could, except, like Isaid, except for the cacao.

(41:14):
Even maca has a place, like so,nutritionally rich maca, right?
Yeah, but mostly, mostly, itjust comes down to the dosage.
When we're looking at it from ageneralised perspective,
because obviously we've got theindividual circumstances that
might mean that it's notappropriate, right?

Dr Edward (41:36):
And there is the occasional herb that can be kind
of really toxic for dogs andnot for humans and I I I was
looking at a, a particular cbdhemp extract that had other
herbs in it, called sleepy time,that had some relaxing herbs
and it had hops in it.
You can't give hops.
Hops is very toxic for dogs.

Ruth Hatten (41:59):
Yes, I don't use hops in my practice um, because
it's not one of those.
It's also not a readilyavailable because mostly I only
use organic um herbs.
Um, so it's not as readilyavailable.
But you know that's a goodexample of one.
But then also that when youread the literature um and
you're reading quotients, likethe literature on veterinary

(42:21):
herbal medicine um, there thereare mentions of mention of
certain herbs where they mightsay there's there's a certain um
belief or you know that this istoxic, but there's actually no
significant, there's no evidenceto actually um prove that um

(42:42):
claim yeah so you know, it'salways like looking at those
things with a grain of saltbecause there's there's not
always certainty, and so, youknow, always for like
practitioners, but also for petparents themselves, is like but
mostly for practitioners.
It's kind of like, just becausesomething is regarded in the

(43:05):
mainstream as toxic doesn't meanthat it is.
You've got to go beneath that.
You've got to look at whatactually is the research.
What does it say?
Was it just you know?
Was it legitimate research?
Was it done on a wide enough?
Was the study wide enough orwas it just you know?
Was it legitimate research?
Was it done on a wide enough?
Was a study wide enough or wasit just a potential?
And was it potential in aspecific circumstance?
You know, it's not so easy tojust say, well, this is, you

(43:27):
know, across the board, this istoxic.
Right, there are some thingswhere you know.

Dr Edward (43:30):
Another one, of course, is like well, foxglove,
but that's also toxic for humanswell, digitalis, absolutely,
it's toxic at the wrong dose andI suppose that gets into the
whole thing.
That what's the differencebetween a, a poison and a
medicine?

Ruth Hatten (43:44):
right and nearly always it's the amount that you
give and that's what I mean.
Like it comes most of the timeit just comes down to dosage,
like.
Like a lot of that research aswell, where they've said this is
toxic is because they've usedridiculous amounts, right, like
it's like the study on garlic.
You know, we can talk aboutgarlic because garlic is also a

(44:06):
herb.
Every, almost every singleclient.
Where they've seen in mywellness plans garlic, they're
like but isn't garlic toxic?
No, and then I tell them aboutthem, about, you know the study
that was done and they usedridiculous amounts of garlic
like you're not going to go andgive a whole bulb of garlic to
your dog.
That's just crazy no, you'renot.

Dr Edward (44:25):
And and I think another thing that I'm always
really sensitive to and thinkabout a lot and this this also
plays into adverse reactionsfrom pharmaceutical drugs is
you've got a bell curve ofsensitivity in, or a normal
distribution of sensitivity to,any and any kind of active
ingredient, whether it's herbalor whatever.
And if you have a dog right onthe super sensitive end, then

(44:49):
what what might be a beautifultherapeutic dose for the the
mean or the median or whatevercould actually be fatally toxic
for a dog that's got an extremesensitivity in that natural
distribution here exactly, andthat's whether it's
pharmaceutical or because thatcan happen with the natural too,
you know, and happens, and Iwould say it mostly.

Ruth Hatten (45:10):
The herb that that would most likely occur in,
based on what I've seen in myexperience, is turmeric.
There can be quite a sensitivein those ovaries or in those
extra sensitive animals.
Turmeric can be contraindicatedfor them, or we all we need to
give a lower dose.
You know, just because they'rehaving a reaction won't

(45:32):
necessarily mean it's not anoption for them at all.
And this brings up anotherinteresting point as well.
As like, dosage is individual,so there's a wide range For a
lot of herbs you can have.
The dosage for animals canrange from 50 milligrams to 500
milligrams per kilo of bodyweight, right, whereas sometimes

(45:54):
it can be much shorter.
It can only be 100 to 250 ofthe that they're.

Dr Edward (45:59):
I'm talking about therapeutic dosing, right oh
well, that's when you get thewhole therapeutic index, which
is basically the, the range ofsafety, of amount per kilogram
exactly.

Ruth Hatten (46:11):
But you know you could give.
You could have a dog or a catthat's fine on that top range.
I never recommend top range,I've never needed to.
But then you could have a dogor a cat that's fine on that top
range.
I never recommend top range,I've never needed to.
But then you could have ananimal who only needs the lowest
dose and that's all they need,because their body is
assimilating that so well.
And so there is an art indosage and that's why it's like,

(46:32):
you know, you buy a supplementsays this is theage, or my dog
had a reaction because yourdog's an individual and that's a
generic product for a genericmarket.
You know, like that's wherewhen you work with a
professional, even if you'reusing a generic product, they
can go.
Well, I know your dog, so Ithink you should give 50% or 25%
of that dosage, you know.

Dr Edward (46:55):
Do you think that you would need to use a lower dose
rate of herbs that areorganically or biodynamically
grown compared to ones that aregrown with a more industrial
type um farming?

Ruth Hatten (47:07):
it's an interesting question because then it brings
up does do um?
Does the exposure to toxinsdecrease the efficacy of the
plant or does it just make itdirty like dirty in that it's,
you know, has to?

Dr Edward (47:21):
Yeah, as it's contaminated.
Yeah.

Ruth Hatten (47:23):
Because it's contaminated, I don't know.
And this comes back to theargument that has existed
forever, as long as well sinceorganic food started to become
popular, popularized.
There is still that school ofthought that there is no
difference between, um, thehealth benefits of organic and

(47:45):
non-organic foods, it just.
But then you've also gotgenetic modification right, so
that brings a whole other layerof it, you know, whereas
properly organic food, there isno genetic modification.
The food is the way natureintended.
That's why it's not perfect.
It's why that carrot looks likeit's got a twin.
You know, um, they're togetherthey're like um, yeah, um, or

(48:09):
lumps and bumps, and it's not aperfect because it hasn't been
genetically modified right.
So there is imperfection innature and that's a beautiful
lesson as well.
Total sidetrack.
But you know, I always think ofit when I'm in the bush and
nature's so messy.

Dr Edward (48:22):
Give yourself permission to be messy like
nature you know actually that'sperfect and when you get to
understand chaos, mathematicsand stuff, you realize that all
harmony arises out of chaoticprocesses anyway, as a natural
function of energetics andreality.
But you know, when I goshopping for veggies here at

(48:45):
Kassamane, our local town, we'vegot a beautiful place that has
an organic section and aconventional section.
Yeah, and what I've noticed isthat all the conventional
project produce is about twicethe size of the organic produce
yes, yeah and I honestly I can'teat conventional veggies and

(49:05):
fruit anymore because the flavorand the intensity and the life
force is so anemic in theconventional.

Ruth Hatten (49:13):
I just can't do it yeah, and so you can correlate
that with herbs, because they'reall plants, right, they're not
different just because one is atomato and one is a dandelion,
right?
So you know, I think for me andthen that's partly you know my
choice in when I'm making herbalproducts, my clients, animals,

(49:34):
and for myself and for for myanimals, because of my stance on
organic and as close to natureas possible, but that's so
important to me.
So when I'm creating thoseproducts for my clients' animals
, that carries through right,because my underlying belief is
that organic is better, becauseit's cleaner, and there is

(49:57):
certainly I cannot say it withany guarantees or any hard core
evidence to back it up, but it'smore like.
For me, my feeling is, becauseit's cleaner, it's probably
going to be more therapeutic.
It also has because it hasn'thad.
If you think about the nature ofthose sprays, like most of the
time we talk, you know, let'spark genetic modification for

(50:19):
the moment.
When we talk about the sprays,it's like you know, the
pesticide, the fungicide sprays,yeah, they are designed to kill
, to destroy, right?
So is it a possibility?
That's, while it's killing anddestroying the pests, it's also
killing and destroying part ofthe nature, part of the vitality
of the plant itself, thereforeaffecting the therapeutic nature
of it.

Dr Edward (50:40):
I reckon my personal take on this is that it's a
vitality and a life forcedifference between organics and
biodynamics and, you know,wild-crafted Though there are
some ethical concerns withwild-crafted herbs too yeah
definitely.
Slippery almond, that can be aproblem.
Slippery almond.
Wild crafted herbs too, thatcan be a problem, slippery
almond um, what's the other one?
The japanese one?

(51:01):
That they're low for vitality.
I can't remember the name, butmight come to me in a minute.
One of the roots that they useextensively in chinese medicine
that is almost extinct in thewild as well is it not weed?

Ruth Hatten (51:15):
that just no, no, no, no, there's no problem it
might pop into my head in aminute I've got another one in
my head as well.

Dr Edward (51:24):
That's often but, um, yeah, I I think it's vitality
and for me, you know you and Iboth work with, with energy,
western herbs one, but that'salso one that's.
That's one of them, but thereare a number of herbs that are
starting to frankincense, youknow, and sandalwood are other
ones that are becoming very andpalo santo.

(51:48):
There's a number of differentplants that there's immense
pressure on.
That ethically, we probablyshould be finding a way to grow
them more organically andsustainably in a in a more kind
of cultured way than in the wild, because they are.

Ruth Hatten (52:01):
They are doing that with golden seal, um, you know,
and so it's when you're sortingthose herbs, it's just that's
one of those things to check ishow is how?
Is this grown?
Where is this grown?
Is this, you know, if it iswild crafted, is it?
You know?
We shouldn't be choosing thisfor this particular herb because
it's so damaged.
You know, there's all thoseother factors as well that come

(52:23):
into play, but definitely withthe um life force and the
vitality, like I 100 agree withyou because, like I said, it's
like those, those chemicals aredesigned to kill and so, whilst
they're designed to kill theplant, the pest, I still think
it's it's killing part of thatlife force, of the oh absolutely
I agree with you, and you knowalso, pumping them up with

(52:47):
fertilizers also dilutes lifeforce and damages the integrity
of the animal.

Dr Edward (52:53):
It's a bit like pumping up a weight lifter on
steroids right, their musclesget bigger, but it damages their
systems in different ways.
And I thought of the animal.
It's a bit like pumping up aweight lifter on steroids right,
their muscles get bigger, butit damages their systems in
different ways.
And I thought of the nameginseng is the other one, that's
oh yes of course very heavilyharvested in the wild, and it's
sort of you got to have ethicalconsiderations too definitely
yeah, and luckily, because thereare so many herbs we can

(53:18):
substitute.

Ruth Hatten (53:19):
You know, like slippery elm, you know, um
marshmallow, um, is itmarshmallow?
And certain aspect of itmarshmallow can be used in place
of slippery elm.
Um psyllium is another one yeah, and you can also see it in the
pricing, like that's one of thereasons why slippery elm is so

(53:40):
expensive because it's not asreadily available as other
plants, you know, because it isabsolutely.

Dr Edward (53:49):
Um.
So are there any kinds of herbsor plants that you think are
great to have growing in yourplant for your pets to
self-select if they want to?

Ruth Hatten (54:00):
yeah like I love nettle nettle nettle.
Yeah, yeah, I love alfalfa,chickweed, chickweed.
Hello dandelion because yourfavorite one yeah, go against
the grain people and actuallygrow, cultivate dandelion
yourself.
Yeah, you know, um, um, I'mactually thinking of doing a

(54:28):
course next year on like um,pets, pets, herbs for pets, you
know, just for daily wellness,um, and how to actually you know
if you want to grow themyourself and also how to use
them and dosages and stuff likethat.
But they're some of the andit'll probably include at least
three of those.

(54:48):
But yeah, alfalfa chickpeanettle um they're, you know,
they're very safe herbs, verygentle herbs, even just.
And also I mean my cats lovelemongrass.
They absolutely die forlemongrass.

Dr Edward (55:02):
Okay, and lemongrass is kind of hard.

Ruth Hatten (55:05):
It's very hardy and even with that lemon scent,
like it's not a lemon, a truelemon scent.
But I never thought that mycats would and it was by
accident that I discovered likeout of, because I often will get
them different types of grassesto have on the deck as well, as
you know if they can't bebothered walking down into the
garden to eat the grass there.
But you know, it was byaccident.

(55:27):
I had lemongrass and they wentto that versus the cat grass or
the cat mint and I was like shit, that's surprising because it's
also quite spiky.
Yeah, it is it's quite a tough,tough, yeah, I know so.
Whenever I get it it doesn'tlast very long at all, so you
can go and you can also get catgrass catnip, I mean cat, yes,

(55:50):
catnip, but cat mint.
All those beautiful grasses areavailable, and you know that's
also a common myth as well, thatoh my god, there's something
wrong with my dog or my catbecause they're eating grass.
You know no, no, not at allbehavior.
It can be a sign thatsomething's up if they're eating
more than they normally are,and that's where observation and

(56:10):
getting to know your animal isreally important, because you'll
know what their you know normaleating habit is when it comes
to grass, and you'll know whattheir you know normal eating
habit is when it comes to grass,and you'll identify are they
eating more today?
Well, yeah, they are.
Does it mean you need to rushthem off to the vet?
I might get in trouble forsaying this, but not necessarily
, like it could literally bethat they've gone and eaten

(56:31):
something they shouldn't andthey just kind of clear it out
because they instinctually knowthat the grass is a purgative.

Dr Edward (56:41):
Oh, look, you know, I reckon dogs and cats vomiting
for dogs and cats is a bit likeburping for us and occasional
vomit I don't worry about at all, I just think that's just it's.

Ruth Hatten (56:48):
If it's happening, and especially if there's a lot
of grass in their vomit, like ithappens with mine, they'll
overdo it?

Dr Edward (56:53):
Oh, absolutely In the wild dogs regurgitate for their
puppies, so it's a very easy,much more common thing for dogs
than humans vomiting I think,yeah, um, and I knew all the
other kind of culinary herbs.
Could you have them in thehouse as well?
In?

Ruth Hatten (57:12):
case you could, you know, have turmeric, but be
careful that you're not toogiving too much, that they get
diarrhea.
I always say start small, startwith the smallest tiny little
pinch as well, because turmericcan also create a palatability
issue.
Um, if you put too muchturmeric in your dog and your
cat's not going to eat theirdinner, right, yeah, start

(57:32):
really really small.
Um, yeah, your common thingslike that that most people will
have in their pantry, right,like oregano, basil, um, thyme
thyme is a beautiful, so isoregano beautiful, beautiful
antimicrobial um can also helpwith parasite prevention.
Um, antifungal, um, justthinking what, what are, what

(57:55):
are the herbs I have, like in myspice, in my spices oregano,
basil, thyme, um, like, evenwhen we're talking about alfalfa
, you know if you buy, if you'rebuying the sprouts.
Unfortunately, most alfalfa isconventionally grown.
I have a friend who started.
I was over at her house theother day and she started
sprouting like, like, she justbuys like organic alfalfa seeds,

(58:18):
organic fenugreek, organicfennel, all kinds of seeds, and
she started sprouting.
She's like Ruth, it's so easy.
I'm like, I love alfalfa but Inever buy it because it's really
difficult.

Dr Edward (58:30):
No, it's super easy to sprout those things, and
that's something that you canabsolutely add into your pet's
diet for vitality minerals,vitamins, all sorts of goodness
in sprouts yeah, and so it'slike it doesn't have to be.

Ruth Hatten (58:45):
Yes, it's very easily and convenient to buy
those dried herbs, but again,you can buy like the sprouted
versions, like the, the alfalfa,but, yeah, don't buy the
conventional because they areheavily, heavily sprayed alfalfa
get online order some organicalfalfa um seeds, you literally
get a little like a sprout.

(59:05):
You can just get cheesecloth,wrap them in there, soak it, you
know, refresh that water liketwo or three times a day, and
then you'll see magic happen theseeds.
Seeds will start sprouting.
You can have it in your salads,you can give it to animals, you
know, beautiful, high nutrientsource of food, right and really
affordable if you're justgetting the seeds, you know.

Dr Edward (59:27):
Absolutely Okay.
So we're coming to the end ofthis conversation, which has
been fascinating.
Thanks for sharing your wisdomwith us today, and we always
finish with a couple ofquestions.
So what do you think ishumanity's biggest blind spot
when it comes to your work andour shared journey of healing
and evolution on this planet?

Ruth Hatten (59:46):
first of all, that it even exists.
The amount of people that havefound me and said I didn't even
know that there was such a thingas an animal naturopath.
If I'd known about you I wouldhave contacted you years ago.
And often that comes from aplace of sadness because they've
lost a pet and it's like if I'dknown about you then I could
have done all of this stuff thatI'm doing for my animal with

(01:00:07):
you now for that animal.
And then it's like well, youknow, you knew you had the
information that you weresupposed to have at that time,
so don't beat yourself up aboutit.
You know you were supposed tohave at that time, so don't beat
yourself up about it.
You know you were meant to comeinto, I was meant to come into
your environment now like hugelearnings for you, and now
you've got all this informationto go forward.
So that's the first thing isthat people like us even exist,

(01:00:28):
right?
The next thing is that you knowit's not as difficult as people
and I will say standard vets andpet industry as they put
forward how difficult it is tocare for your animals in this
way.
Like anything when you startsomething new, it can be a bit

(01:00:51):
of a challenge because it's newand you're going through a
learning process.
But once you've learned it itjust becomes second nature.
And the easiest example of thatis it's feeding the food that
you feed like you're going froma kibble diet to a fresh food
diet.
It's a big change, you knowit's it's.
If you're just buying the food,it's not such a big change.
But if you want to exploremaking the food and doing that

(01:01:14):
properly, then that's a bigchange.
Just opening that kibble bag tooh my god, now I've got to
prepare their food massivechange, big learning curve.
You know I've been through it.
I went through it years andyears and years ago and it was
just as difficult for me then asit's going to be for anyone.
Right, like, yeah, you know I'mno, I'm not gonna say I'm no
expert.
I am now, but back then Iwasn't right'd started my

(01:01:36):
studies but I wouldn't have putmyself hold myself out as an
expert back then, but now for meit's just, it's so easy, and
then you've got all the positivebenefits that outweigh that
disgusting opening that bag andfeeding that process dead food,
right.
So it's not as hard as the petindustry, as standard vets tell
you that it is.

(01:01:56):
So that would be the secondthing you know, and coming to
that is like it's reallyaccessible, you know, and that
we can personalise the treatmentfor your animal when we're
using things like herbs.
You know I have some genericproducts that I sell just for
like to help with detoxificationand things like that.

(01:02:16):
It does have beautifuldandelion, um, but I also most
of the herbal medicines that Imake are personalized, right, so
I get all the information aboutthe animal and I tailor it
exactly to what I see thatanimal needs, and that's
something that you know.

(01:02:37):
Going and just buying a drug,that's never going to give you
that personalized medicine,right, um, so I'd say that's
probably like.
A third thing is like you canreally tailor this.
You can really tailor natural,natural foods, natural medicines
to your animal.
You can't do, in a way, um withthe pharmaceuticals, um, but
yeah, it all just comes down tothere is another way of caring

(01:03:00):
your pets and it's not.
It's not as hard as everyonesays it is awesome.

Dr Edward (01:03:06):
Thank you for that.
And last question what is thechange that you want to be and
inspire others to be in thisworld that we share?

Ruth Hatten (01:03:18):
Well, you know part of it.
You could say everything that Ijust said to answer your other
question that it's not as hardas most people think it is.
The other thing as well that ismore of like a general animal
perspective, is that it's notjust about our cats and dogs.
Every single animal matters.
And having that awareness andthat understanding and that

(01:03:41):
respect, um, for the inherentvalue of all animals in all
existence, whether they'reconsidered to be pests or what
have you, they are all here fora reason.
They all have their ownindividual inherent value.
And, yeah, if you ask me, theworld would be a horrible place

(01:04:02):
without animals.
You know, um, I can't, I don'tthink I'd want to be here if
there weren't non-human animalslike, oh, I hear you, I hear you
.
Yeah, so it really just is.
You know, every animal matters,every life matters.

Dr Edward (01:04:23):
Beautiful.
Well, Ruth, thank you so muchfor coming on and exploring the
power of herbs, which is immense, and I would encourage you all.

Ruth Hatten (01:04:31):
Every plant matters .

Dr Edward (01:04:33):
Every plant matters, every living energy.
Every living energy, Everyliving living, living energy for
living, living living energy,and so you're an animal
naturopath, um you, you helppeople with individual sessions,
I think you have trainingprograms and things like that.
So where, where can people findyou if they're curious about

(01:04:54):
learning more and maybe workingwith?

Ruth Hatten (01:04:56):
you.
Yeah, the best place, the mainhub, is my website, um.
Ruthhattoncom.
Um.
You know, really easy as longas you get the spelling right.
But even if you just google myname, you'll find it.
You'll find it, um.
And then there's like there's ablog there.
I've also got a podcast.
You know, I've got social mediatoo, but you'll find all of

(01:05:18):
that information on the website.

Dr Edward (01:05:20):
And it's Ruth Hatton H-A-T-T-E-N, so you've got the
spelling, so you can get thereeasily.
Dot com, not dot com.

Ruth Hatten (01:05:28):
Dot au, just dot com yeah, because I work with
people like all over the world,so yeah, Beautiful.

Dr Edward (01:05:39):
Well, it's been awesome having you on.
Been really interesting,far-ranging conversation.
Um, have a beautiful day.
Make sure you give your dogs apat.
For me and all the listenersout there.
If you could, please give yourpets a pat for both of us,
that'd be lovely, yes, pleasewe'll see you all in the next
episode thank you.
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