People are often unsure of how to use flower essences with animals and have lots of questions. Here, I am addressing the ones that I hear most often:
Are Flower Essences safe for my pet?
In over 80 years of use there has not been a single adverse reaction recorded. Flower essences are hypoallergenic and drug free. They 
contain the “energy”, but no components of the plant, so there is not potential for toxicity. This means that there is no way you can cause harm to your animal. They are 100% safe and work to raise the “vibrational energy” of your animal. They will help your animal to feel less stressed, less anxious and more at peace. Each flower essence will address a different emotional problem. Therefore always take your time to choose the correct flower essence by carefully working out the cause or the reason why your animal is behaving in a certain way. Most flower essences are preserved in brandy, just as Dr Bach did many years ago, in principle no preservative has been found to do a better job.
Can Flower Essences help physical problems?
They cannot directly help your animal’s physical problem but they can help with the way your animal deals with their physical problem. The key here is to understand that each animal will react in a different way emotionally to the same physical problem. It is important to understand that you are not treating the physical illness directly but you are treating your animal individually for how they are dealing with their physical illness. By changing your animal’s outlook, it will have positive effects on their physical condition.
How do I choose the correct essence for my animal?
In a lot of situations you will know exactly why your animal is behaving in a certain way. This will make your choice of flower essence a whole lot easier than when you have NO clue to the new behaviour your animal is exhibiting. When this happens to me, I take a piece of paper and record all of the things I can think of that may have caused stress to my animal. I list their behaviour, any physical problems, their history and any key words to help me understand what is truly going on. What you then have is a complete picture of all of the elements in your animal’s life. From this list you can match a flower essence to behaviour.
You can also dowse for the correct Flower Essence using a pendulum. And there are other fun ways in which your animal will take control of their own healing: Space flower cards (each card has a picture of the actual flower) out on the floor and let your animal chose a card. See which card they are drawn to, as that will be the flower essence they need. Or show the bottles to your animal; they will show interest in the bottle they require. You can also let your animal smell each bottle – to us it will smell of brandy but our animals are clever peeps and they will be able to pick up on the vibrational energy of each bottle.
How do I make up a treatment bottle?
You will need the following:
- 30ml (1 oz.) Treatment Bottle
- Chosen Flower Essences
- Label
- Still Mineral Water
- Pen
Armed with the flower essences which have been chosen by either you or your animal, you will need to make up a treatment bottle. You can
put up to 7 flower essences in each bottle, but if possible try to keep the choice to a maximum of 3. This is my opinion but I truly feel that less is more. It allows you to focus on the main issues of your animal’s behaviour. When 7 flower essences are added, the issues can become clouded and, again my opinion, I feel that the treatment bottle will not be as effective, as there are too many vibrational flower energies.
- Add 2 drops from each flower essence to the treatment bottle
- Fill the treatment bottle with still mineral water
- Label the treatment bottle with the animal’s name, flower essences, dosage and date
- Shake the treatment bottle vigorously to release the flower energies (also shake each and every time you use the treatment bottle)
- Give 4 drops 4 times a day
- This treatment bottle will keep for 3 weeks in the fridge
The 4 drops can be added to your animal’s food, drinking water, treats or licked from your hand, in fact any ingenious way you can think of. Never insert the pipette of the treatment bottle into your animal’s mouth as it can break off and hurt your animal. It would also become contaminated, making the treatment bottle useless.
If you do not have a treatment bottle you can add 2 drops of your chosen flower essence stock bottle to your animal’s drinking water. Each time they drink they will get a dose of the flower essence. If you are adding the flower essence stock bottle to drinking water for a horse. I would personally add 10 drops as the volume of water in a bucket is much more than a bowl.
Fish cannot have flower essences added to their water directly; they are administered to fish by placing the treatment bottle next to the fish tank. Shake the bottle vigorously every day, so the “Vital Life Force Energy” of each flower is released. This will be transferred to the fish water.
How to make a mist bottle
If you would like to use the flower essences externally, make up a mist bottle.
You will need
- A Mist Bottle
- Chosen Flower Essence
- Still Mineral Water
- Label
- Pen
Mist bottles can be used to spray into an area such a stable, kennels, and any room. A mist bottle is excellent for dogs or cats who suffer 
from travel sickness as it can be sprayed into the car before they get into it. Also spray the mist bottle into a horse trailer before the horse enters. They can also be sprayed onto the animal’s fur or feathers. Some birds enjoy having their feathers misted, but if they do not, spray the mist bottle into the cage when the bird is not in there.
- Add 2 drops of your chosen flower essences into the mist bottle
- Fill with still mineral water. Label the mist bottle with the animal’s name, flower essences, dosage and date
- Shake the mist bottle vigorously to release the flower energies also shake each and every time you use the mist bottle
- This mist bottle will keep for 3 weeks in the fridge
How often do I give the essences?
- For long term or chronic issues, give 4 times daily
- For acute issues, give four times a day up to as often as every few minutes
The beauty of flower essences is that you can do no harm, so you do not need to worry about giving your animal too many doses. Think of flower essences like beautiful music; as you listen to the lovely musical piece you feel uplifted and happy. When the music stops you can feel deflated. In times of acute stress, the extra times you give your animal a dose of flower essences. The more they will have this beautiful music washing through them and over them.
Keep an eye on any behavioural changes, some animals respond immediately and others will take a few weeks to respond to the essences. Write down any changes that take place, as it will help confirm that you have made the correct flower essence choices.
Is it harmful for my other pets to drink water with essences?
This is a question that I am asked often. As flower essences are the “energy” of the flower, they contain no component of the flower, therefore they have no harmful side effects. Essences that are not needed by an animal will have no effect. However there are times where the other animals will benefit, as unbeknownst to you they may require a particular flower essence
Can Flower Essences be used with medicine from my Vet or other treatments?
Flower essences are truly perfect to complement any medicine from your vet. They cannot interact with Western medicine because they contain only the “energy” of the flower. They can be added to creams, mixtures, compresses and any washes.
Flower essences can be used alongside or combined with any other healing therapy with no adverse problems.
Caroline Thomas
Wonderful information Caroline – thank you!