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Nutrition
Weight control
Supplements
Vaccines
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| Stella and Bridgette with a special canine birthday cake from Petlicious |
Nutrition
When dealing with your companion's health, we cannot make significant changes or
improvements, unless they are eating food that contains their appropriate nutrition. Since there is truth in the statement “you are what
you eat”, our companion animals should be fed high quality foods with balanced nutrition. There is much debate these days about nutrition, and there is more information
available than ever, thanks to the horrible food recall with the Chinese gluten. I strongly recommend that owners read
a bit on the subject, so they can make educated decisions about their food choices (since our pets can't choose for themselves).
Some points to consider:
Whether you home prepare your pet’s food, or feed a commercially made raw,
canned or dry kibble, the ingredients listed should be of high quality meats (avoiding low quality by-products,
"meats" that aren't designated from a certain animal, etc.). Since our companion animals are carnivores,
the high quality meats should also be the primary ingredients in their diet - this includes both muscle
and organ meats.
We also need to take
into account the digestibility of the ingredients. The carnivores do not digest well many of the carbohydrates that
are often found in their foods. When we chose ingredients or supplements that are vegetable based instead of animal
derived, it may not be adding any benefit to the food at all. For example, if you use a omega fatty acid supplement
that is flax or sunflower seed derived vs. fish oil - it will only be 15% absorbed by your pet's GI tract (so you would
have to feed almost 7 times more to get the same benefit). Also, some of these ingredients that are not absorbed correctly,
are also not broken down into the simple sugars they are supposed to be. So, the animal absorbs a longer chain (carbohydrate),
which then is able to stimulate the immune system (where a simple sugar would not do this). So, we see a chronic low
grade inflammation which wouldn't otherwise be present. Grains and corn, have been the ingredients that have been
found to be most responsible for this effect. So, by decreasing grains alone, you can decrease the inflammatory
cycles in your pet. Adding digestive enzymes to your pets daily routine, can greatly help them with their foods, especially
if feeding a dry kibble diet.
Adding probiotics
(the good bacteria that lives in the GI tract) can also help promote good digestion. Keeping the GI flora in good health
will also help to prevent the GI from absorbing those ingredients which it isn't meant to (both the bad bacteria, and
the poorly broken down carbohydrates).
Adding high quality omega fish oils to your companion's diet is also
extremely beneficial. It is both a natural anti-inflammatory and a natural building block of the skin and coat.
It will help with pain and inflammation, and help to maintain GI health and a strong immune system.
Table scraps:
Traditionally veterinarians have told their clients not to feed table scraps because they are too fattening or will unbalance
the diet. The truth is, it depends what kind of food you're offering. The addition of good quality whole foods
can help to balance a potentially deficient diet. Even if you are feeding a good quality commercial food, fresh "people
food" can add moisture, vitamins and minerals to supplement what you're feeding. As long as you do not
feed more than 20% of the daily intake as "table scraps", you will not "unbalance" a commercial diet.
Also, if you take into account feeding a balance when you feed the table scraps (i.e. mostly meat, some veggies, etc.) you
can feed larger quantities. In fact, many people feed a wonderfully balanced completely home made diet. Things
you should stay away from includes fats, rich foods (that can cause pancreatitis) and high calorie starches (i.e. the
only time your dog gets scraps is your pizza crust).
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Weight control
The number one problem health
problem American pets today is obesity... being overweight can contribute not only to serious metabolic diseases (i.e.
Diabetes, liver disease, etc.) but can also contribute to the development of orthopedic issues and arthritis. A recent
study in Labrador Retrievers also proved that keeping your dog lean can add 20% to his lifespan. And in this study,
the most common cause of death in the heavier group was cancer. So, as with people, keeping your companion lean is the
cheapest and most effective form of preventative care. Not to mention, it gives them a happier and more energetic life
style - many owners of older pets report that when they the excess pounds off their dogs, the dogs begin to act
like puppies again! |
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Supplements
If you are feeding a high quality well balanced food, it is less important
that you supplement your companion's diet. If you do add supplements, it is important to chose ones that are
of animal origin (when possible) and are whole food supplements. We have found over the years that by breaking down
the components of the vitamins and reproducing them in a lab, is not as effective as feeding a whole food source (for example,
eating an orange, is more effective in helping your immune system than eating a vitamin C tablet).
Vaccines
Vaccinations work by stimulating our immune
system to recognize the virus or bacteria we are being vaccinated against. When we are vaccinated, our immune
system builds a response by producing antibodies, so that months or years later, when we come in contact with the pathogen
again, our immune system can fight it off. How well our immune system responds to either the pathogen or the vaccine
is dependent on our general health. If we are in poor health, we are more likely to get sick then if we are healthy,
active and eating a good quality diet. The current standard of care in veterinary medicine is to consistently give vaccinations,
without knowing whether or not our pets actually need an additional vaccine. If we vaccinate a pet while it still has
a competent immune response from the last vaccine, we can cause over stimulation of the immune system. In theory,
this can then participate in causing immune mediated diseases (i.e. Lupus, immune-mediated anemia, etc.) or a chronic low
grade inflammation (that can participate in arthritis). This is why titer testing should be considered in all of our
companion animals, but even more so, in all animals with any type of health issue.
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Hands-on Healing: A Holistic Veterinary Service, LLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (414) 355-0370
hands-onhealing@sbcglobal.net
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