“SamoVila is the Goddess of the woods in the Serbo-Croatian, Slavic and Russian culture, a fierce protector of all wild animals. She can shapeshift into her animals and she will cause death and unspeakable pain to those who harm her creatures.”

​

Oh no, I'm not like that, don't worry.

 

My name is Michaela Ritter and I am a Herbalist, Naturopath and Zoopharmacognosist.

​

SamoVila is all about herbs, health and, of course, self selection and self medication known as Zoopharmacognosy.

 

What is Zoopharmacognosy?

​

"Zoopharmacognosy is a behaviour in which non-human animals apparently self-medicate by selecting and ingesting or topically applying plants, soils, insects, and psychoactive drugs to prevent or reduce the harmful effects of pathogens and toxins. The term derives from Greek roots zoo ("animal"), pharmacon ("drug, medicine"), and gnosy ("knowing")." 

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoopharmacognosy)

 

In other words, it is the ability of animals to select herbs and other botanicals such as clays and soil, herbs, trees and barks, fruits, berries, roots etc in order to either maintain health or obtain and re-balance health, for example when they are sick.

 

​There are many very good books, articles and research papers, websites and videos available on how zoopharmacognosy became a science and how animals in the wild and in our homes use self selection to self medicate in times of need, that it would be idle to repeat all this information here. However, one thing is certain –

 

All animals in the wild do it!

 

Elephants, big cats, zebras, monkeys, goats, sheep, antelopes – the whole lot, yes, even insects use self medication in order to keep themselves in good health or heal themselves when things have gone a bit pear-shaped.

​

And our pets and farm animals do it too!

 

Ever seen your dog or cat eating grass just to bring the whole lot - and more - back up shortly after? This is self medication. Cows who will seek out nettle in large amounts just before and after calving. The horse with a tummy ache who suddenly ravages on yarrow. The horse that has severe endocrine imbalances who suddenly longs for agnus castus. The cat with intestinal parasites who suddenly starts licking on wormwood. The dog, whose liver had given up and who suddenly develops a strong liking to milk thistle seeds. These are all examples of self selection and self medication and there are many more!

​​

In order to understand the importance and availability of plants and other botanicals in the natural environment and the life of animals, let's have a quick dive into the evolution of plant and animal life on earth.

​

History and Evolution

 

​Plants evolved about 410 million years ago when green algae slowly started invading planet earth. About 13 million years later, the first four legged animals started to conquer land.

 

Horses, no bigger than the size of a cat, evolved roughly about 55 million years ago. Around 5,500 years ago humans started to domesticate horses for various purposes such as food but also for transport, agriculture and warfare.

 

Wolves evolved over a period of at least 300,000 years and about 130,000 years ago some of the wolves slowly transformed into dogs. The first evidence of dogs joining humans dates to around 14,200 years ago.

 

In comparison, the Homo Sapiens is believed to have evolved somewhere between 300,000 and 280,000 years ago.

 

Cats evolved to our modern cats around 3.4 million years ago and were domesticated around 7,500 years ago.

 

The wild ancestors of goats and sheep evolved during the latest ice ages and were domesticated between 11,000 and 8,000 years ago and used for their milk, meat and coats.

 

All these animals that we today keep as pet, companion or farm animals have lived without human intervention for millions of years until we domesticated them.

​

​During these millions of years before domestication, animals evolved alongside botanicals and developed the necessary mechanisms for gathering, digesting and absorbing material from a very large variety of plants, including grasses, herbs, shrubs, trees and even clays and soils, as and when they needed it.

 

When humans started to domesticate animals, we radically changed their lives to suit our needs. The domesticated animals were not able to roam free anymore as humans started to control where they would feed and when. For example since domestication of the horse, but in particularly in the last 100 years, we have controlled the way how horses live, breed, eat and socialise in a very drastic and impactful way. We have indeed very drastically changed their lives!

​

Today, we keep our horses on tidy and manicured paddocks, carefully watching the 'weeds' don’t take over. We keep them on paddocks that are far too nutritious for what their gastrointestinal tract was designed for. We isolate them, keep them away from other horses in case they start fighting and get injured. We take them out in order to work them (more or less) hard and if they are lucky this happens every day in the week. If not, they are confined, and on their own, to a paddock or, even worse, a stable - often for prolonged periods of time. We expose them to chemicals and man-made supplements and artificial foodstuff which their digestive and immune system is not designed to cope with, let alone absorb.

​​

Endocrine problems such as laminitis, EMS and Cushing's disease; skin problems such as rainscald and mudfever; allergies and autoimmune disease such as sweet itch and sarcoids; respiratory problems such as coughs and COPD; digestive problems such as ulcers, colitis and colic; neurological problems such as wobblers and lameness;  behavioral problems such as aggression, anxiety and refusal to be caught are all caused by the way we breed, feed and keep our horses today.

​

What can we do and how can we ensure the best natural life for our animals?

​

We cannot turn back the clock and go back to how things were even just 100 years ago. That would be silly.

 

But we can provide our animals with the best and most natural nutritional support we have available and give them back access to their most natural environment as best as we can.

 

Of course, our animals can’t roam for all those miles anymore and be free like a bird in the sky. But we can ensure that our anjmals today have access to the plant material they have evolved with and thrived upon for many million of years – herbs, grasses, berries, barks, clays/soil and even the essential oils from the plants themselves. We can do so by either offering these herbs to our animals regularly, or plant important herbs for them to self select as and when they need them.

​

How can we do this?

​​

Zoopharmacognosy gives our animals the ability to freely choose and select from a large range of botanicals – just as they would have done millions of years ago.

 

I will explain in detail how I can help your anmal to facilitate self selection and self medication so it can be the best possible in the section Services.

​

There is also a Blog where I shall be publishing articles, the latest research about plants and essential oils as well as Case Studies of horses, dogs, cats, cows, sheep, and so many other species that have been given the opportunity to choose and get the plant support they need.

​

If you would like to book an appointment you can find my Contact details in the Contact section.

​

IMPORTANT NOTE

​

​

Under the provision of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 only a qualified and registered veterinarian is allowed to diagnose and treat animals.

​

Zoopharmacognosy is NOT a method to diagnose or treat any animal in your care and it does NOT replace professional veterinary treatment.

​

The Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) and the Veterinary Medicines Directory (VMD) set out the UK controls on veterinary medicines, including their manufacture, advertising, marketing, supply and administration. It is the responsibility of anyone engaged in these activities to comply with the VMR .

​

Zoopharmacognosy, although regarded in the wild as self selection and self medication, is NOT regarded as medicines set out in the provisions of the VMR or the VMD. The botanicals selected and provided by SamoVila are supplements and are meant to support the general well-being, nutritionally as well as emotionally, of the animal by allowing the animal freedom of choice.

​