Future prospects of phytomedicine in dogs and cats: web-based survey among veterinarians in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

摘要

The objective of this study was to provide an overview of the future prospects of phytomedicine in dogs and cats. It involved a questionnaire survey, via the internet, of 2675 veterinarians in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The 189 returned forms were statistically analysed. The results indicated that there was an increasing interest in the use of phytotherapeutics in animal health, for example 80% of the respondent veterinarians regarded the use of phytomedicine as a growing trend. The efficacy of commercially available herbal medicinal products at present was assessed as very good or as good by 69% of the respondents, and nearly two-thirds were contented with the type of phytoproduct they use but considered changing to other products. In the future, the veterinarians would favour two types of application namely: orally administered liquid with food and orally administered solid with food. Poorly covered fields in veterinary medicine were the availability and quality of phytotherapeutics for endoparasitoses and ectoparasitoses and diseases of the eyes and ears. The veterinarians responded that there should be no difference in the price between herbal and synthetic drugs. The most important issues were efficacy, side effects, safety and acceptance by the animals. All these findings have relevance for the future of the phytopharmaceutical market.