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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 the pet is eating food that contains 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 include 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. Carnivores do not digest well many of the carbohydrates
that are found in their foods. When we chose ingredients or supplements that are vegetable based instead of animal derived, they
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 simple sugars as they are supposed to be. The animal absorbs a longer chain (carbohydrate)
that can stimulate the immune system (note: a simple sugar does not do this). Therefore there is 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. By decreasing grains alone, you can decrease the inflammatory
cycles in your pet. Adding digestive enzymes to your pet's daily routine, can greatly help them with their digestion,
especially if feeding a dry kibble diet.
Adding
probiotics (the good bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract) can also help promote good digestion.
Keeping the GI flora in good health will also help to prevent the GI tract 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 include fatty 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 health problem of
American pets today is obesity... Being overweight can contribute not only to serious metabolic diseases (i.e. Diabetes, liver
disease, etc.) but can 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. In this study, the two primary causes
of death in the heavier group was cancer and musculoskeletal problems (like arthritis). 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 get 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 choose ones that are
of animal origin (when possible) and are whole food supplements. We have found over the years that 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 chronic low grade
inflammation (that can contribute to arthritic development). This is why titer testing should be considered in all of
our companion animals, but even more so, in 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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