Medicinal Mushrooms For Pets

There is a lot of debate around what foods to fed and not feed pets, but as more and more research is showing mushrooms or fungi are some of the most powerful foods in the world. 

They not only have the power to save the world through their Mycelium, the vegetative part of the plant, but their microbes allow nutrients for other plants and soil. They are scientifically known to be the first organisms that grew on land, 1.3 billions years ago and then other plants followed several million years later. 

"Their importance to the planet is fundamental in that they use radiation like energy to grow. This then allows spores to grow, that attract insects, that lay eggs, that then become larvae, then the birds come that bring in seeds and so begins an oasis of life". Paul Stamets

Their ability to adapt to an ever changing environment is incredibly powerful for use in both your's and your pet's health.

We've asked Dr Pat Jordan, to go through why Medicinal Mushrooms specifically, are now one of the most import medicine foods. 

Mushrooms, have been used for thousands and thousands of years for health and for food. New research is showing us how fungi are able to help with some really current health issues. They are incredibly fast growing, producing naturally strong anti-biotics.  

Let's review some of the fungi and some of those issues!

Medicinal Mushroom Varities 

Chaga or Inonotus obliquus is traditionally fermented mushroom and a parasite in case you didn't know. Sustainability is an important issue when wild crafting this mushroom. Chaga is used for autoimmune and viral diseases so is an important medicinal so long as it is collected off or cultivated on Birch trees. Betulin is turned into Betulinic acid so long as the Chaga comes from Birch trees of the Betulina family. The rate where Chaga can be found on Birch in the wild is 1 in 1,000 to 20,000 trees!

Maitake or Grifola frondosa or sheep's head or "hen of the woods" and this mushroom is sometimes called, is a prime edible and brings good money when you sell it to chefs. When you find it they can be enormous and being one of the best wild mushrooms you can forage for food, which is a very good thing.

Maitake contains important polysaccharides which, as mentioned previously, help to enhance the activity of certain immune system cells, such as T cells, B cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells. Ultimately, polysaccharides from the Maitake mushroom act as immune system regulators.

One of the more famous constituents from this mushroom is the "D" fraction. This is the part that acts so well on the immune system. Plus these mushrooms provide the prebiotic fiber that feeds our important probiotics in the colon and makes even more immune benefits happen.

Shiitake or Lentinula eodes is one of the most studied mushrooms according to Christopher Hobbs. Shiitake is an excellent food as well as medicinal. There are immunomodulation, anti-cancer, anti-viral, hepatoprotective (liver protecting), anti ulcerogenic and they have anti-cholesterol properties especially in Shiitake.

Now for the more fancier mushrooms

Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor.  According to medicine folk in Mexico this mushroom is used to treat ringworm. There has also been research published about this mushroom as it's been used to treat hemangiosarcoma in animals, which is a cancer often seen associated with vaccination. Perhaps this mushroom also belongs in the group treating sarcomas because the hemangiosarcoma is a sarcoma of the myeloid system. 

This mushroom, Turkey Tail is even used as an adjuvant to chemotherapy. The constituents of most study are the PSP, polysaccharide peptide and the PSK polysaccharide K, two nitrogen rich polysaccharide constituents.

Phellinus linteus or the thousand year mushroom as it is known in Asia is very much directed as a medicinal and against cancer, cervical/uterine, colorectal, stomach liver and skin (melanoma) cancers but also implanted tumors or sarcomas in research with mice.

Since our animals are often victims of sarcomas, this mushroom is important to help keep cancer away. This mushroom is taken as a tea in China and Japan but the more powerful way, is to take properly manufactured powdered extracts.

Cordyceps sinesis you might not know, is also a food mushroom in China and often is in soups. 

The power of Cordyceps comes from it being an adaptogen for the lung and the kidney. It's properties are similar to ginseng but stronger, more potent. 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine it's used for the treatment of respiratory and pulmonary disease.  This would be well paired with Reishi that also can address respiratory infections and bronchitis prevention. 

Cordyceps is also used to treat immune disorders, cardiovascular diseases and used in association with chemotherapy treatments. 

This mushroom is believed to be a remedy for weakness and fatigue and known as a "rejuvenator" to increase energy.

Reishi, there is more than one species but it is a very special mushroom.  The luciderm species is also anti-hypertensive as well as anti-inflammatory and an anti-oxidant. 

Reishi is a cardiotonic and is great to add to things like heart tea recipes. This mushroom is a great protective from ionizing radiation. 

I use these mushrooms for their protection from EMF. Electromagnetic Fields have the biggest impact on our health. Being an invisible environmental vibrational toxin, it's important that we understand the impact and know how and what natural remedies to use for protection from the effects. 

Watching once again at the EMF Summit, the awesome Dr. Detrick Klinghardt, I saw that he too advises taking mushroom extracts every day to counteract the EMF electro-smog. 

Any mushrooms he advocated, because they have somehow successfully learned to thrive in an electro-smog environment, which unfortunately is now our world.

How to Use Medicinal Mushrooms With You Pet

Firstly, You should never give uncooked mushrooms to either dogs or cats. They lack the ability to digest them and in some cases, they can be toxic. Cats don't particularly like the taste of mushrooms so it's important that your mushrooms are cooked for both you and your pet as cooking them increases the availability of the nutrients for use by the organs such as the colon and liver. 

You could also try steaming your mushrooms but try using fresh and dried mushrooms are these are the best forms not canned and try sourcing organically grown mushrooms. 

There is much already written about the use of the mushrooms to treat cancer and balance immune systems in animals.  For example using Turkey Tail to treat hemangiosarcomas. Ask your holistic vet for more details, specifically around your own pet's health as medicinal mushrooms are both food and medicine so it's hard to speculate how much to feed without knowing the history of the pet.

However, it's a good idea to begin including them when feeding. They are an excellent natural form to support your pet's health both for pets that are healthy and those that are suffering with an illness. Think less is more with mushrooms, so your pet only needs a minimal amount, unless otherwise directed by your vet.

One of the best ways to get medicinal mushrooms into your pet's diet is through a properly formulated natural powder. If you don't have that available then try to include them as cooked, when feeding, or give them as a tea. You could also try using dried tinctures if you can get them.

Making a tea

If you're using dried mushrooms to make a tea, you'll need to use about 1/3 of a cup of mushrooms to 1 cup of water. Leave them to soak for 24 hours and the liquid is your tea or medicine. You can pour some of this medicinal "tea" over your pet's food and mix it in. You can also then cook the mushrooms to add to your pet's raw food but slice them into smallish chunks so they'll blend into your pet's food. 

Making a broth

You can also add mushrooms to your bone broth, click here for the recipes. and either give the broths directly or mix some of the broth with your pet's food.

Making a Smoothie

If none of these are an option, then think about giving a liver smoothie as this works well for both dogs and cats. Do not give your pet a liver smoothie everyday as liver is a very rich meat. If you feed too much liver to your pet, you will end up giving your cat or dog diarrhea. Consider the smoothie to be a replacement meal especially for cats that don't eat much, or feed some as a small treat.

You will need

A tablespoon of raw liver.

The juice from the soaked mushrooms or one or two small pieces of cooked mushroom.

You could add a small piece of parsley and a raw egg.

Add in some wild nettles or greens that your pet would normally forage for.

Pop into the blender and blend until it's a smooth paste.

You'll need about a teaspoons worth as a treat or added to your pet's food. Or use this as a supplement for a meal and feed according to your dog or cats normally meal time amount.

Bare in mind that any form of natural treatment will take time for you to see the physical benefits in your pet.  

Medicinal mushrooms are working with the body to allow natural restoration and healing and will generally start working from day one within the organs themselves.

However, for your to physically note the difference in your pet and depending on your pet's health, medicinal mushrooms generally take anything between 1 to 3 months for all the goodness growing on the inside, to be seen on the outside. 

If you have the patience to stick with it, you'll see great results and improvement in your pet's health and you could even help heal your pet back to health.

Mushrooms are one of the best gifts from nature for rebuilding the immune system.

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References
https://www.drbasko.com/portfolio-items/many-health-benefits-mushrooms-add-pets-diet/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY