The best introduction to the use of Aloe Vera in veterinary practice is the book "Aloe Vera - Nature's Gift" by David Urch.

For a detailed examination of the book, its contents, and of Aloe Vera in veterinary practice click here.

Experimental Acute Radiodermatitis Following Beta Irradiation.
Lushbaugh, C.C., and Hale, D.B. (1953, July). Cancer, Vol. 6, pp. 690ff.

Lushbaugh and Hales studied the healing of radiation burns in rabbits. They found that by treating the damaged skin with an extract from Aloe Vera, the healing process was hastened both in the degenerative state and in the actual healing phase. Burns treated with Aloe Vera would heal within 2 months, whereas the untreated ulcers had not completely healed 4 months after the radiation.


Experimental thermal burns
Rovatti B, Brennan RJ.. Ind Med Surg. 1959 Aug;28(8):364–368..

In studying the healing of thermal burns in animals, Rovatti and Brennan found that when an ointment derived from the gel of the Aloe Vera plant was used, not only did the wounds heal quicker than those treated with normal preparations, but there was also less scarring.


Experimental use of Aloe vera extract in clinical practice.
Morthway, R. B. (DVM). (1975, January). Veterinary Medicine/Small Animal Clinician,70, 89.

Morthway was one of the first veterinary surgeons to have an article published on the use of topical Aloe Vera in his veterinary practice. He compared 76 cases of dermatitis treated with topical Aloe Vera preparations with the type of response he would have got if he had used his normal antibiotic/steroid type preparations. These cases of dermatitis ranged from allergies, ringworm, abscesses, to inflammation of the skin, infections
of the skin, lacerations and wounds, lip fold dermatitis, pyoderma, cysts and ear problems. In 95% of the cases treated with Aloe Vera, he found an excellent-to-good response equal to his normal topical preparations. In nearly 20% of cases treated with Aloe Vera, he achieved better results than if he had used his normal topical preparations. He found no toxic reactions and no other adverse side-effects.


Creatures in our Care, the Veterinary uses of Aloe Vera.
Coats B. and Holland R., 1985.

This is an excellent book that covers many of the species that vets have to treat on a daily basis. It gives a good account of the history, theory and literature review behind Aloe Vera. It is also a useful reference book, when it comes to looking up the amounts of Aloe Vera to administer and frequency of use. In addition there are some very good before-and-after pictures of cases.


Management of Burns: Equine Medicine and Surgery.
Baxter, G.M. Vol. II, pp. 1625-9

Reported that Aloe Vera gel relieves pain, decreases inflammation, penetrates deeply into the skin, stimulates cell division and kills bacteria and fungi. He concluded that Aloe Vera is the most effective topical treatment for burns.


Aloe Vera extracts in equine clinical practice.
Green, Peter. Veterinary Times, Vol. 26 No.9, Sept. 1996.  

Peter Green, a veterinary surgeon from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England used Aloe Vera to treat post viral lethargy syndrome and skin diseases in the horse. He compared the responses with those of normal veterinary preparations. With post viral lethargy syndrome, he gave 240 mls per day in their food for 3 to 5 weeks, and his results indicated that there was a significant proportion of horses that responded to the oral Aloe Vera gel. For skin conditions such as ringworm, mud fever and allergies he found that the results using the topical Aloe Vera preparations were as good as he would expect using normal veterinary preparations, such as antifungal agents, antibiotics and steroids.  [The full .pdf article is here]


Therapeutic protocol for thermally injured animals and its successful use in an extensively burned Rhesus monkey.
Cera, Lee M. (DVM), Heggers, John P. (PhD, MT[AMT]), Hafstrom, William J. (MD), & Robson, Martin C. (MD). (1982, July/August). Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association,18, 633-638.

Abstract: This article from the University of Chicago Burn Center, is exceptional because the 70% burns received accidentally by this monkey should have been fatal, but the animal was not only saved but quickly returned to good health by treatment, the primary part of which was by Aloe vera.


The therapeutic efficacy of Aloe vera cream in thermal injuries: Two case reports.
Cera, Lee M. (DVM), Heggers, John P. (PhD), Robson, Martin C. (MD), & Hafstrom, William J. (MD). (1980, September/October). Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association,16, 768-772.

Abstract: This report by the University of Chicago Burn Center is about two dogs, both mixed shepherds, who were accidentally burned over such a large portion of their bodies that ordinary treatment would have been considered nearly futile. The very successful use of an Aloe vera cream is carefully documented.

Studies of the effect of acemannan on retrovirus infections: clinical stabilization of feline leukemia virus-infected cats.
Sheets MA, Unger BA, Giggleman GF, Tizard IR. Animal Medical and Surgical Hospital, Irving, TX. Mol Biother. 1991 Mar;3(1):41-5.

Acemannan, a derivative of aloe, is an immune system stimulant. Acemannan is known as an antiviral agent for several viruses as well as an interferon inducer.

Feline Leukemia (FeLV) is considered the most important severe cause of illness and death in domestic cats. Forty percent of cats are dead from the disease within four weeks and 70% within eight weeks. A 1991 joint study between the Animal Medical Hospital, Irving, Texas, and the College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University trialled the use of Acemannan to treat FeLV

The study included 50 cats, all of which were serologically positive for feline leukemia. The cats had failed to respond to conventional treatment. All of the cats were severely ill. The cats were injected regularly with a solution containing acemannan, a product derived from aloe vera. The study results reflected:

At the end of the 12-week study, 29 acemannan-treated cats were known to be alive. Two of the original 44 were lost to follow-up and one other died of an unrelated cause, giving a 71% survival rate for those cats that completed the study. Of 15 cats that died of FeLV-related disease, five died from malignancies or marrow aplasia within nine days of entering the study. These cats can be considered to have been terminal--beyond rescue by any available therapy. Seven other cats died during the 12-week study, and three died within four weeks of completing the study. Analysis of 11 historical controls at the same clinic indicated that nine cats died or were euthanized within two months, and one other was dead within five months of being diagnosed with FeLV.

All owners of surviving cats reported that they were pleased with the results of treatment, stating that their cats had returned to their normal state of activity and were healthy, happy pets. The study is most significant for two reasons. First, 29 cats that should have, according to all previous scientific studies, been dead were still alive after 12 weeks and apparently were normal. Second, based upon the study and other documentation, the US Department of Agriculture approved the use of aloe vera in treating the disease. This was the first time that internal usage of aloe vera in the treatment of disease was approved by a regulatory body.


Induction of Apoptosis in a Macrophage Cell Line RAW 264.7 By Acemannan, a -(1,4)-Acetylated Mannan (Acemannan for the treatment of fibrosarcoma in dogs and cats)
Lalitha Ramamoorthy and Ian R. Tizard; Molecular Pharmacology Vol. 53, Issue 3, 415-421, March 1998

Summary
Acemannan is a polydispersed -(1,4)-linked acetylated mannan with antiviral properties. It is an immunomodulator, and studies in our laboratory have shown that it causes activation of macrophages. In the presence of IFN, acemannan induced apoptosis in RAW 264.7 cells. These cells exhibited chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, and laddering characteristic of apoptosis. The induction of apoptosis by acemannan and IFN does not seem to be mediated by nitric oxide, since N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, the nitric oxide inhibitor, had no effect. Acemannan in the presence of IFN also inhibited the expression of bcl-2. These results suggest that acemannan in the presence of IFN induces apoptosis in RAW 264.7 cells through a mechanism involving the inhibition of bcl-2 expression.

Introduction
Apoptosis is a form of cell death that can be induced in susceptible cells by a wide variety of normal physiological stimuli as well as by deleterious environmental conditions. Some of the characteristic features of apoptosis include cytoplasmic shrinkage associated with membrane blebbing, followed by chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation. Although all cells undergoing apoptosis exhibit these changes sequentially, it is believed that these events occur independently and under the control of separate and distinct metabolic pathways. Anticancer drugs are known to induce apoptosis in target cells ;  and although the interaction of these drugs with the cellular targets has been studied extensively, the mechanism by which these chemotherapeutic agents induce apoptosis is unclear. One of the mechanisms seems to be by the activation of the sphingomyelin signal transduction pathway.
Acemannan is a polydispersed -(1,4)-linked mannan isolated from Aloe vera . It is believed to be an immunostimulant and is conditionally licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the treatment of fibrosarcoma*** in dogs and cats. Preliminary trials indicate that acemannan immunostimulant maybe an effective adjunct to surgery and radiation therapy in the treatment of canine and feline sarcomas. However, little is known about the mechanism of action of this compound. Mannans with significant antitumor activity have been isolated from yeasts and it has been shown that they act mainly by the activation of macrophages. Acemannan causes the activation of mouse macrophages and, in the presence of IFN, induces nitric oxide synthase in RAW 264.7 cells . In this article, we report that acemannan in the presence of IFN also induces apoptosis in RAW 264.7 cells and that this induction seems to be by a nitric-oxide-independent mechanism.

***Note on fibrosarcoma:  Fibrosarcoma is a tumor of mesenchymal cell origin that is composed of malignant fibroblasts in a collagen background. It can occur as a soft tissue mass or as a primary or secondary bone tumor. Fibrosarcoma was diagnosed much more frequently in the past; it is now more reliably distinguished histologically from similar lesions, such as desmoid tumors, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, malignant schwannoma, and high-grade osteosarcoma.

The 2 main types of fibrosarcoma of bone are (1) primary and (2) secondary. Primary fibrosarcoma is a fibroblastic malignancy that produces variable amounts of collagen. It is either central, arising within the medullary canal, or peripheral, arising from the periosteum. Secondary fibrosarcoma of bone arises from a preexisting lesion or after radiotherapy to an area of bone or soft tissue. This is a more aggressive tumor with poorer prognosis.