From:
nzweezul
Date: 2002-05-03 15:54:00 UTC
Subject: Re: slippery elm
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "thekatzmeeow" <thekatzmeeow@a...>
wrote:
Where can I get the Slippery Elm Bark? Can it be used
> as a supplement for healthy ferrets or is it just for those with
> digestive problems?
Hi there
First of all, why do you want Slippery Elm ? Do you, or does one of
your human or animal family, have a dietary or digestive problem? If
so, has it been assessed by a competent professional? If so, what
diagnosis has been made and what sort of treatment advised? Then, and
only then, is it time to begin thinking about "helping yourself" in
an educated way.
Slippery elm isn't a supplement, its a dietary aid (for want of a
better term) or a herbal treatment material. It's an official drug of
the United States Pharmacopoeia,as well as many others, and is
generally supplied as a beige coloured powder which contains a very
soothing mucilage. As well as being soothing internally and
externally, the mucilage protects tissue without damaging it and is
itself to some degree nutritious - hence the "patent invalid drinks"
known sometimes as "Slippery Elm Food". Slightly different grades of
the powdered bark can be used internally or externally.
As the mucilage does form such an effective protective lining to the
stomach and even the intestines when taken internally it would indeed
affect the absorption of other drugs being taken orally, for any
reason. I wouldn't take Slippery Elm, for instance, if I were using
the oral contraceptive pill.
In and of itself, it is harmless and indeed nourishing for species
with a suitable digestive tract. But it is NOT and I emphasise NOT to
be used as a "supplement" for a healthy carnivore. A medicine, yes,
when needed, but not a supplement, please!
I am a conventional medical professional with a great interest
in "alternative" treatments especially some of the traditional ones -
but that is what they are - treatments, or medicine, for a disease,
or a symptom of a disease - and not to be used indiscriminately just
because they are available without a prescription or a licensed
professional!
Let ferrets be ferrets!
S.