Children and animals typically progressfaster than adult human beings whenusing vibrational essences because they have fewer layers of characterand defenses built up over periods of time in response to the wounds weall experience in life.  Essences may be helpful for animals in verymany ways, among them in rescue work and in preparation for surgery; forfears, grief, separation anxiety, depression, tension, stress, emotionalupset, overwhelm, jealousy, mother-infant bonding, socialization issues,aggression, abuse, hyperactivity, aloofness, apathy; to aid in trainingor adjusting to new situations; and as a healing aid and support duringphysical illness.  One practitioner I know has reported that, whenepileptic animals are treated with  Rescue Remedy or Five Flower Formula,the severity of the attack decreases, the length of the attack is shortened,and attacks happen less frequently.

Sometimespets take on the emotions of their caretakers or are affected by theircaretakers' emotions.  In cases such as this, relief for the animalmay only be possible when the caretaker also takes essences and tries towork with his or her own emotional issues.  Some cases are only resolvedwhen both the caretaker and pet are involved with flower essence therapy. Some essence makers recommend that the caretaker and animal both take thesame essence or blend in order to improve bonding and to create a mutualresonance between them which facilitates healing. 

The best way to administer essencesto an animal is by mouth, six drops under the tongue or rubbed into thegums (some essence makers recommend four drops--you can experiment). If placing the essences directly into the mouth is not possible, you may,as an alternative, place the drops:
     *on atreat (dog biscuits, slices of apple, carrots, etc.)
     *in thepet's food
     *in theanimal's water 
     *on thepads of the paws
     *behindthe ears of the animal
     *on theforehead of the pet
     *in thepet's bath water
     *on aspot the animal will lick

Other alternatives for administeringessences include gently rubbing the essencesonto the palms of your hands and then applying them through petting theanimal, or mixing them into a cream or herbal oils and gently daubing themonto sensitive or sore spots. 

Birds are very sensitive. You may give the essences, with no preservative, dropped onto the tip ofthe beak, or you may place them in a bowl of water near the bird’s cage(to evaporate), mist the environment, or place them in the bird's water.

Do not place essences into a fishtank.  Place the flower essence bottle near the fish tank or bowl(the fish will respond to the vibrations), or rest a small bowl that contains flower essences near and above the fish bowl or aquarium. The water willevaporate and affect the fish. 

Some animals with tough skin likethe essences rubbed on their skins, and you may also put them in theirwater.
 
 

Pappagallois my beloved blue-fronted amazon parrot who has been a member of our familysince 1978, incredibly intelligent and a real talker.  When he wasa baby, I used to hold him cupped in my hands and kiss him all over hishead and back, and he liked it.  He was my precious little bird. Then he became an adolescent.  If he was out when I was in the room,he would try to dive-bomb my head and claw me.  I could not put myhand into his cage for any reason without getting bitten and ending upwith a bleeding wound that would take days to heal.  He would regularlydilate his pupils and fan out his tail and wings and looked like a maniac. Even if he appeared to be calm, he could change in an instant.  Iwas in danger even trying to pet him through the bars, yet he remainedfriendly with my husband and never bit him.  The vet told us he wassexually attracted to me and was frustrated (!).  I didn't know whatto do about that!!  So I just accepted that Pappagallo had a realpsychological problem, and I did not interact with him very much (at leastnot at close range!). 

In my beginning months of usingflower essences, I tried spraying him with Holly for awhile, but I sawno improvement.  I have to say that I did not know what I was doingvery much at that point!  I guess I thought he was just too far gone,and I didn't even think of using essences with him for a long time afterthe first attempt.  Then, much later, I read Healing Animals Naturallywith Flower Essences and Intuitive Listening by Sharon Callahan andgot inspired.  I decided to try working with Pappagallo again usingessences.  By this time I knew how to dowse and trusted it quite abit.  I put one of his feathers into my pendulum to help me pick uphis energy, prayed for an essence to help Pappagallo with our dilemma,and got Freedom From Fear by Angelic Essences.  This made me wonderif perhaps he had some fear related to being exposed and over the safetyof his cage.  I gave him the essence in his water daily for aboutthree weeks (my husband put it in!), and saw some improvement but not enough. 

I prayed and dowsed again, and thistime I got nasturtium made by Pegasus Products,a company that was founded by Gurudas.  A sister flower essence therapypractitioner had given me about 39 bottles of older, used Pegasus essenceswhich had been passed on to her, and this was one of them.  I alsohave nasturtium made by FES, but this was not the one I was directed to. Had I been directed to the FES nasturtium, I would have read the descriptionin the FES repertory.  But instead I went to the description of nasturtiumin the Gurudas flower essence book.  I have to admit that I am nota fan of the Gurudas books.  They consist of channeled material andspeak of the use of essences in Lemuria and Atlantis, among other things,and I find them very strange.  However, I always remain open to thefact that there may be accurate information about essences in these books,no matter how I feel about them, and so I always give them the benefitof a doubt.  And I have had several experiences with these books similarto the one I am about to recount regarding Pappagallo's essence. 

I read the description of nasturtiumand was struck by these words: ". .birds have less pure territorial instinctswith nasturtium.  This is a good essence to add to any bird seed"(Flower Essences and Vibrational Healing by Gurudas, Cassandra Press,1983, p. 182), and, indeed, I saw improvement in Pappagallo with the firstbottle.  He became much more loving, docile, and relaxed.  Heenjoyed being petted through the bars, would seek it out regularly, andwould close his eyes and eat it up.  I was able to put my hand intohis cage at one point when I had to and could even kiss his head and neckthrough the bars.  I could be in the room when he was out of his cage. If I could get him away from his cage, I could pet him all over, kiss him,and even allow him to gently take my finger in his beak!  At one point,when he was outside the cage and irritated with me about something, hegrabbed my finger and pushed my hand away instead of biting down practicallyto the bone and inflicting a painful wound. 

Our relationship has much improved,and I am very grateful to nasturtium!  I feel as if I have my littlebird back to a large degree.  But I am still careful with Pappagallobecause I know the degree of injury he can inflict if he wishes, and Idon't want to lose an eye or have my nose maimed for life!

First photo:  Bleeding Heart helpsanimals who are overly attached to their caretakers to develop more emotionalfreedom (courtesy of FES).

Second photo:  Mallow helps animalsdevelop trust and friendship, especially with humans (courtesy of FES).

Third photo:  Borage is helpful foranimals who are depressed due to illness, old age or a recent change (courtesyof FES).