Honey to treat burned animals
CHICO » When veterinarian Dr. Daniel Gebhart began receiving Bear Fire burn victims at Valley Oak Veterinary Center last year, he used a product containing Manuka honey and cannabinoid to treat his patients.
The product, called Wound Therabee, was still in development but Gebhart was willing to give it a try. He knew the product developer, Dr. Theresa Fossum, and had previously used Manuka honey to treat some of his burned Camp Fire patients in 2018.
“I’d worked with Dr. Fossum years ago at Texas A&M and I knew her company and line of products. She sent me samples to try,” said Gebhart.
The patients, 15 dogs and cats, treated with the samples had second and third degree burns mostly on their legs and paw pads, some were “burned to the bone,” recalled Gebhart.
“I’d used Manuka honey before but not combined with the cannabinoid. I think it did help the wounds heal faster and did provide an analgesic effect and pain control to the wounds. It helped with the inflammation and sped up the recovery process,” said Gebhart.
Wound Therabee combines sterile Manuka honey with hemp extract. This formulation, for wounds, sores, cuts and burns, contains 100% active Leptospermum honey (Manuka honey), harvested by bees in New Zealand and infused with cannabinoids including CBD; cannabigerol, or CBG; and cannabinol or CBN.
“We knew the benefits of manuka honey for healing as well as its anti-bacterial properties. There were also reports that CBG was
effective on very antibioticresistant bacteria and prior studies showed it was effective against staff infections. We also knew that CBD plus CBG helped with neuropathic pain and that CBN alleviated discomfort and restlessness. We decided to create a product that combined the benefits of all of these ingredients,” said Fossum.
Gebhart said, “with over 80 fires already this year, and, sadly, with the very real possibility of more to come, finding this incredible product was one of the few positives to come out of our fire experience.”
While Wound Therabee is now available directly to pet owners, Gebhart said any animal wound should be evaluated by a veterinarian before giving any medication or using any treatment.
“It’s a great product, well researched through a lot of studies with good quality control. I believe Dr. Fossum’s medications and ointments work well. She uses them on her dogs and I’ve had multiple pert owners comment positively on the products,” said Gebhart.