What form of aloe vera juice is safe to give a bun?

[Jenk]

I can't recall which portion(s) of the aloe vera plant is/are safe for a bun to consume. Could someone verify that info.? Also, if you know what dose an 8.5-to-9-lb. bun could receive daily, please, share it.

I've a bun who's been very lackluster, especially in terms of appetite, since taking a high (vet-prescribed) course of Metacam for a painful injury. I'm wondering if my boy's digestive lining has become irritated--or, worse, ulcerated--for which reason I'd like give him aloe vera juice for maybe 1-2 months to soothe any possible gut irritation.

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[missyscove]

Aloe Vera is a known toxin when ingested by many mammals causing vomiting (obvioulsy not in rabbits) and diarrhea among other clinical signs.
I can't recommend feeding your rabbit any form of aloe vera. I know people sometimes ingest it and there is some evidence of positive effects on GI, but I would only use it topically on myself and not even then on animals that groom themselves.

 

[Azerane]

I wouldn't feed aloe vera either, I think it's only going to make his gut problems worse, not better. How long has he been off the meds?

 

[Jenk]

I wouldn't feed aloe vera either, I think it's only going to make his gut problems worse, not better. How long has he been off the meds?

He only has been off Metacam for three days. And someone just told me today that it could take at least a week for his digestive system to calm down a bit from the medication, if he's a bun who's more sensitive to it.

 

[JBun]

I think acid blocker meds are given to rabbits, in some cases. You could ask your vet about it if you think being on the metacam has caused some ulcer problems.

 

[jseiler]

The aloe latex contains the compounds that have a cathartic effect. If you have an aloe vera plant and cut a leaf, the yellow sap that is secreted from the rind is the aloe latex; you do not want to feed any animal the yellow sap. To process an aloe vera leaf at home one would fillet the inner gel out of the rind as if filleting a fish discarding the rind. This is quite a messy process and not very effective due to the highest concentration of active ingredients being between the inner gel and the rind. I cannot give an accurate feed rate due to not knowing the potency of a homemade end product.

My recommendation would be to use a product we developed in 1996 based on aloe vera juice called Pet-Aloe. This is a solid crumble that can be sprinkled on your rabbits food. The daily application rate for a 9-lb rabbit would be 1 teaspoon. The Pet-Aloe product can be found here.

If you want to stick with aloe vera juice I would recommend you travel to a health food store near your location. If you're in the Midwest I would recommend using our brand Pharm-Aloe. If you're outside the Midwest I would recommend using Lily of the Desert based on price for quality. You can also find aloe vera juice at retailers such as Wal-Mart or CVS Pharmacy but these juices have been watered down to 40:1 the potency of pure aloe vera juice. You can find a detailed brand comparison here.

The information about aloe vera being unsafe is based on pets eating the entire plant which includes the latex. All of our products are completely safe for human and animal consumption and it will be relieve ulcers and other irritations in the GI tracts.