Love The Brilliance Of Sunflowers For Your Horse Or Dog

Have you ever considered sunflower seeds as a supplement for your horse or dog? Or how they can be a great skincare ingredient for your animal?

Here's why they can be useful for your horse or dog's health!

First of all what are sunflower seeds?

As the name suggests they are seeds from the sunflower. Sunflowers are usually large vibrant plants. And their flower can contain hundreds if not a couple of thousand of seeds.

They can not only taste great. But the seeds have a variety of nutritional benefits.

What nutritional benefits are there from sunflower seeds?

They contain several vitamins and minerals such as:

• Thiamine
• Vitamin E
• Omega-6 fatty acids
• Magnesium
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B3
• Selenium
• Plus others too!

Sunflower seeds can be fed as a dietary supplement to your animal.

Or you can find sunflower seed oil in skincare lotions for animals too. Veterinary research (below) has even demonstrated benefits of sunflowers in equine and lamb wound care too.

Veterinary research has taken place to show benefits of feeding sunflower seeds.

This includes:

• Effects of dietary flax seed and sunflower seed supplementation on normal canine serum polyunsaturated fatty acids and skin and hair coat condition scores (2001)
• Effects of Topical Application of Sunflower-Seed Oil on Experimentally Induced Wounds in Horses (2012)
• The effects of topical application of sunflower-seed oil on open wound healing in lambs (2004)
• BONOS (Ε. ΜΠΟΝΟΣ) E., CHRISTAKI (Ε. ΧΡΗΣΤΑΚΗ) E., & FLOROU-PANERI (Π. ΦΛΩΡΟΥ-ΠΑΝΕΡΗ) P. (2017). The sunflower oil and the sunflower meal in animal nutrition. Journal of the Hellenic Veterinary Medical Society, 62(1), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.12681/jhvms.14836

Are there any issues with feeding sunflower seeds to your animal?

Yes there can be. Depending on how they're given to your dog or horse, and how many.

For instance, the shells of the seeds should be removed before feeding to dogs. They're difficult to digest and can cause health issues. Also don't season them! If people eat them, they may season them, don't season them for our dogs! Get more information at Emergency Vet USA here.

As with any food or supplement. Do feed to your animal within the guidelines advised by your veterinary surgeon or professional animal nutritionist. It's possible to feed too many sunflower seeds. This is of course the case with many feeds.

It's important to remember that just because a product is natural, that it's not always best to use a lot of it. Sometimes less is more!

Where to buy sunflower seeds for your horse or dog?

You can find sunflower seeds in good pet or equine feed stores. Always choose sunflower seeds which you can be assured are of high quality as possible.

Companies such as Dorwest Herbs include sunflower in some of their skincare balms too.

If you're unsure if your animal can benefit from sunflower seeds or oil. Then do speak to your veterinary surgeon for advice first.

Like help finding a holistic veterinary surgeon or complementary therapist for your animal?

Please email me at info at taranet . co. uk

Please remember that if your horse, dog or other animal is unwell. Or on any kind of medication or other supplement. Then always speak to your Veterinary Surgeon first before using any supplement or therapy. Even natural ones. To avoid any possible issues.

And do you know someone who'd find this helpful? Please share, the more we can spread awareness of the benefits of natural therapies the better! :)

Find out more about other natural animal therapies here at Taranet. Or read other articles in this Natural Pet Health Blog. Take a look at the sitemap here to explore!

About the Author

Suzanne Harris is founder of this Taranet website at www.taranet.co.uk, and also provides business coaching to horse and dog care and veterinary professionals.