Your Pet’s Health - Holistically

The following article was reprinted from the Organic Gardening Almanac with permission of the author. All rights reserved. No part of this article shall be reprinted without the express permission of Cyberpet.

Propylene, glycol, BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, dextrose, maltrose, sucrose, fructose, sodium propionate, titanium dyoside, sodium nitrite, cancerous growths, growth hormones, antibiotics, cortisone, claws, beaks, roadkill, the list is almost endless.

If you were a dog or cat out to hunt for your dinner, it’s rather doubtful that you would be attracted to any of the above ingredients, much less eat those same things every day for the rest of your life. But when you, as a pet’s caregiver, feed Fluffy or Bowser, the canned or dry foods found in the supermarket or in most pet stores, that is exactly what you are doing. We are condemning our pets to the strong potential of contracting diseases and/or conditions that used to be rare, but are now seen by veterinarians in epidemic proportions. Symptoms include: excessive, scratching, chewing, licking, dermatitis, hot spots, dry flaky skin, oily matted coats, hair loss, eye problems, weight problems, hyperactivity, lethargy, diarrhea, constipation, arthritis, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, parasites and more.

For the same reasons that you may have elected to be not just a vegetarian or vegan, and for the same reasons you wouldn’t want your children to eat junk food and chemically preserved foods meal after meal after meal, it’s important to understand just what’s in the food we so injudiciously feed our pets every day for every meal of their lives.

Why do we continue to feed this chemical soup slop to those who don’t have a vote, much less a choice? Because we’ve been told it’s okay by the manufacturers, the veterinarians, the shopkeepers, the breeders, etc.

But why? Because they want our pets to be harmed? Not likely. Because they want to make a bigger buck? Perhaps. But more likely because they just don’t know better. Through our research, we have learned that veterinarians typically receive no more than 4-6 hours of nutrition out of four years in vet school. Even more surprising, many vets told us that their nutrition courses were taught by representatives of the pet food manufacturers! Self-serving? I’d say so.

Perhaps as readers of this fine, enlightened publication, you have more sense than to just plop drugs and chemicals into or onto your body just because a doctor told you to. But did you ever transfer that "healthy" (excuse the unintentional pun) skepticism to your pet’s doctor? Until we were faced with the tragedy of our thirteen-year-old collie-huskie, we didn’t either. Tiffany-Anne was the most loved dog in the entire world, according to her mother and father (me). Her illness was the result of blind obedience to a traditional vet who had no clue that his lack of knowledge regarding nutrition and diet could have contributed to her sudden death.

So what can we, as regular folks, do? Simple. Feed your pets what their bodies were meant to eat before we got lazy and let the manufacturers and doctors tell us what’s best.

Our paradigm or model is simple. How did Bowser of Fluffy live and eat in the wild 100 years ago? Because 100 years is not enough time to make deep, basic changes to their evolution: nor had we so royally screwed up our land and the fruits of our land yet; and our food animals were not laden with insecticides, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, acid rain, chemical-spill runoff, toxic waste, radiation and the whole panoply of insults to good, clean Earth that exists in and on our farmlands today.

Dogs and cats are really hunters and omnivores, not the strict carnivores that most folks think. As any human hunter will tell you, hunters don’t make a kill every time they go out to hunt. Neither did dogs or cats when they went to hunt for their meals. What happened back then? Well, Monday morning, Bowser’s great-great-great grandfather goes out to hunt for breakfast. After many unsuccessful attempts, he finally catches a rabbit that happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. (I know the thought is upsetting, but it is real life.) So here’s Bowser, proud to have caught his breakfast, although by now, it could be lunch. What does he do? Does he tear off a hunk of shoulder or haunch? No. He goes directly for the belly, opens the belly and his first bite, meant for nutritional purposes, is of the contents of the stomach. What is in the stomach of a rabbit and other prey? Greens and grains. That’s what rabbits and most other prey of dogs or cats eat - greens and grains. Those greens and grains are already half-digested by the prey’s own enzymatic action. Result? Bowser and Fluffy’s ancestor's breakfast, lunch and dinner usually consisted of greens, grains and organ meats, all organic. Yep. Heart, liver and kidney are the preferred meats, not hard meats from shoulder or haunch, although those parts probably will get eaten. There was little cancer or diabetes in animals of that day - at least not in the epidemic proportions found in every city and town in today’s society.

Now, back to us and what we can do. "I work long hours and am out most of the day," you say. "It’s difficult enough for me to cook for myself and the family. Do I now have to cook for Fluffy too?" Or, "My pet is sixteen years old and all we fed him/her was XYZ brand and table scraps. There wasn’t any problem." My replay to that is twofold. First and foremost, you both are lucky. Secondly, ten, fifteen, twenty years ago, the components and make up of commercial foods were different, the amount of processing and fast food functions was different, and the origin of the raw materials was different. If the levels of poor animal health were not as high as they are, why would these selfsame manufacturers come out with products supposedly formulated for, and marketed as, answers to animal health problems, like uretic formulas for cats with urinary tract diseases or formulas low in ash and high in bulk? What inevitably occurs? Sell garbage to the unsuspecting caregiver, then sell more garbage to counteract the effects of the original garbage.

Well, there are alternatives. The first and foremost line of defense is, as always, knowledge. In this case, the acquisition of knowledge is easy. There are a number of excellent books that review the circumstances under which animal foods are produced, the effects these foods have on our beloved pets, and then detail how to produce, quite quickly and easily, a diet that not only provides quality nutrition, but also supports the immune system, turns disease around, can drastically reduce flea and worm infestation, and save you big bucks as well. Following this article is a short list of top pet resource books available in either your library, from Whiskers Holistic Pet Products Catalog, or several other sources. Any of these books listed will give you the tools to effectively and naturally begin the process of alleviating many of the ills that afflict companion animals in today’s "modern" society.

Another alternative is the use of top-quality processed foods-not the kind you find in a supermarket or the kind you see on TV. As a matter of fact, it’s my personal belief that the more a dog/cat food is advertised on TV, the worse it is - despite and in spite of the claims by the TV vets and/or breeders. My reasoning is simple. As with the now old-fashioned, computer-based acronym GIGO, Garbage In Garbage Out, if the food is made with garbage, then no matter what you do to it in the processing (including the processing itself), you can only get garbage out.

Following the book list at the end of this article is a list of manufacturers whose foods (both dog and cat, canned and dry) when supplemented with fresh, raw or steamed vegetables, vitamins and nutritional supplements, can be the base for an excellent, healthy, nutritious and immune system-supportive diet. These foods are usually not available in most stores, but can be found either by mail order from Whiskers or other local or mail-order sources. Are they more expensive? That is a difficult question to answer, both because of regionality and the sometimes unscrupulous tactics of some purveyors. For the most part, these food should not be more expensive than those foods touted by the major manufacturers as "premium" or "super premium" (but which are really just more expensive junk).

The subject of companion animal nutrition is huge and full of controversy, but when you are on the receiving end of a river of sick animals and their distraught owners, the controversy stops the minute a convert to natural feeding and nutritional supplements comes to you with tears of joy and words like, "My dog wouldn’t stop chewing/scratching the base of her tail (or paws or neck) and all the vet could do was shoot her with cortisone. But now (four to six weeks later), since I’m feeding her (one of the foods listed below) and the veggies and vitamins, all that has stopped and she’s happy and running around like a puppy again." Or: "It cost me a pile of money at the vet and all they did was drug the cat and he still scratches himself to pieces, but once I changed foods and added those veggies and stuff, he seems to be fine again." We hear this and much, much more every day.

Understand, this is not meant to be a blanket condemnation of all vets. As with human doctors, most are as good as their schooling and belief systems allow them to be. But here again, there are alternatives. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to refer you to all the holistic vets in your state. Since there are only about 300 holistic vets in the entire U.S., you’ll probably end up working with one by phone. Don’t be dismayed. This kind of long-distance relationship works very well for thousands and thousands of caregivers. We do stress however, that you find a local vet with at least an open mind, one who will be willing to work under the direction of your long-distance holistic vet. It is not as difficult as it might seem; in the world of human medicine we get second opinions and have primary, secondary or specialist doctors all the time. Besides, if your current vet is so stuck in his/her ways that a new technique or thought process wounds his or her sensibilities, I’d want another, more flexible-minded practitioner immediately anyway. The phone number for the President of the American Holistic Veterinary Association is (410) 569-7777.

It is very important that you understand that scratching and other aberrant behaviors are often symptoms of a deep-seated medical problem. Very often those problems result from allergies related to food and naturally brands can often resolve the situation, but not always. You should always have your pet checked by a vet. Any vet is better than none, just don’t be blinded or bulldozed into letting them do whatever they want just because they are doctors. Use what is inaccurately termed as "common sense" (in my observations, sense is not very common these days). Ask questions. Don’t be bullied. If the vet gives you the old "who are you to question me" attitude, find another vet. It’s the life and health of your pet and you are entitled to good, sensible, practical answers. Just another reason to be in communication with a holistic vet. One phone call can often resolve a lot of potential problems. At the very least, your holistic vet can answer the questions on a professional level and give you appropriate direction.

How do you feed your pets any of the new foods? It’s simple. Let’s start with how to change over from what you are currently feeding to what you now know you should be feeding.

The process is a simple weaning. Wean on and wean off. You are going to need about a week’s worth of the old food and a like amount of the new food for the first 9-12 days. It’s pretty much a given that the sicker animals are, the more "finicky" they are. Truly healthy pets will eat just about anything you put in front of them. It’s the sick or potentially sick pet that won’t eat at all or will only eat one flavor from one maker. Pets get addicted to all the sugar and salt in the junk foods, just as people do. The better a food is, the less junk (like sugars and salts) are in it, therefore, it is less palatable to our pet junk-food junkies.

Take the total amount of food you would feed your pet in a day. Of that total, 75% would be the "old" food and 25% the new food - physically mix them together. (By the way, you should not feed a pet just dry or just canned food. There are nutrients in each that are not available in the other.) Give this 75-25 % mixture for three meals a day. Follow the premise of the old Polish general’s proverb: feed your loved ones a big breakfast, your friends a large lunch and your enemies a huge dinner. Give your pets a big breakfast, a large lunch and a small dinner.

Keep the 75-25% ratio every meal for four days. Then change to 50% old and 50% new for four days and finally, change to 75% new and 25% old for four days. It’s just a crossover process. No big deal. But once your pet in on the new food for a week or two, start to add in the really good stuff: vegetables, grains and meats.

If you don’t have one, a good old-fashioned "knuckle buster" vegetable grater with "teardrop" openings, the kind grand mammas used to use, is an excellent tool. Grate just enough carrot or broccoli, zucchini or chopped-up sprouts to fit on the end of a teaspoon and mix into the combined wet and dry pet food. Do that every meal, every day, for three or four days. Then switch to the tip of a teaspoon plus a little more at every meal for four days, and so on. Add beans or steamed cauliflower, baked yams, brown (only) rice, organic only raw egg, zucchini, potato, legumes (well, you get the idea).

Observe the result. Does your kitty or pooch eat the veggies? If Bowser eats the veggies, great. If not, find veggies he will eat. Remember to increase the amount of veggies slowly, gradually. Ultimately, the goal is to feed 40% to 50% raw or steamed veggies plus cooked grains to the balance of top quality processed foods. This system provides the nutrition and life force of live foods, as opposed to dead, process-only foods the big companies push.

The next caveat is mostly for cat households, but can apply to dog households as well. Do not leave food down all day or all night. Repeat: do not leave food down. Do not leave food down. I hope you get the message. Do not leave food down.

Leaving food down is the best way to starve your cats, while at the same time making them fat and sloppy, with bellies that hang down and swing in the breeze. Fat, starving cats are almost always the result of well intentioned caregivers riddled with guilt because they had to go to work all day (and maybe part of the night too). But if we harken back to 100 years ago - or even today - a cat that hunts for a living can go days without a meal. All fasting does is sharpen the cat’s appetite and reflexes: the cat won’t starve. As a matter of fact, most holistic vets recommend you put your animals on a fast one day a week and one weekend a month.

Whether you fast them or not, do not leave food down. The reasons are too long to go into here. Here is a workable feeding method for those who work or are out of the house for long periods of time.

First, get a wide-mouthed glass jar with a good cover and put the food into it. You’ll need fifteen minutes to half an hour for the next step, so adjust your schedule accordingly (don’t get nervous, this isn’t that big a deal). Put a sufficient amount of food down for Bowser to have for a good-sized breakfast. Pick up whatever is left over after 15-30 minutes, put it back in the glass jar, close the lid, wipe the spot on the floor where the food was and go to work, secure in the knowledge that Bowser won’t starve to death in your absence. By the way, don’t refrigerate the food in the glass jar. Cats especially don’t like refrigerated food and what is in the jar won’t go bad in twelve hours or so if it’s processed. (Raw meat should be refrigerated immediately.)

Now you come home and Bowser comes to greet you at the door. Kiss and pet Bowser and any other deserving beings in the house and hang up your coat. Don’t get sidetracked here because Bowser has been patient all day. Now you feed Bowser the second meal. Remember, even though it's 6:00 pm or 7:00 pm, this is his lunch. Once again, don’t leave food down. If anything is left over, pick it up and wipe the spot.

The last meal is a small one and should be put down about an hour before you go to sleep. This way, a slightly hungry Bowser won’t bite your toes in the middle of the night to tell you he’s hungry. That’s how you feed your pets three times a day even though you work or go to school.

"But why can’t I just put a bowl of crunchies down and walk away?" you ask. First, most dry food is composed of corn or rice sweepings or some other junk wrapped in chemicals and sprayed with proteins and preservatives created in a test tube. Did you ever see Fluffy or Bowser go out looking for a bowl of dry cereal for breakfast? I don’t think so. Secondly, Fluffy and Bowser are not ruminants. Cows are ruminants. They eat a large quantity of grasses and store some in a second stomach so the breakdown action of their enzymes has partially digested the food without their active participation, making it easy for them to digest when they bring that cud up for a second chewing. Cats and dogs only eat what they need at a particular moment. Their digestive enzymes need time to act on the food they consume.

As an example, I’m sure you’ve all heard of the famous Pavlov’s dogs experiment. If you recall, Pavlov, a Russian scientist, wanted to test the effects of conditioning. He had noted that his dogs salivated before the went to their meal, so he rang a bell just before his dogs ate. The dogs eventually salivated just from the sound of the bell.

Why does this have any significance? To illustrate the point that dogs salivate before eating a meat meal. The salivation process brings enzymes to the food being eaten while still in the animal’s mouth. Therefore, the breakdown process has already started as the dog is eating. When you leave food down for indiscriminate grazing by Fluffy or Bowser, the constant access to food stops that important salivation/enzymatic production process. Moreover, the food already in their short little digestive tracts, waiting to be digested, gets pushed down and away from the location where food is digested, so it never gets fully broken down into its component nutrients or into the bloodstream as life/health giving nutrition. It is simply processed as bulk and shoved out of the system, with only the other material broken down.

Many manufacturers tout the digestibility of their foods. What they don’t tell you is how much of that food can be assimilated and actually used by your animals. The digestibility of the food is a primary concern. The government, in its infinite wisdom, mandates that the protein in pet food be at least 12 percent digestible. So when you look at the label and it gives you a protein amount, remember that only 12% of that total is actually digestible. If that is the case, then what is the protein made from that is NOT digestible? You don’t really want to know, but some of those things are listed at the beginning of this article. The government takes for granted that manufacturers will use such garbage that they, the government, must regulate it to the extent that the food must be at least 12% digestible. Pet Guard, for example, is 85% digestible. Just think what it would be like for the health and well-being of you and your family if your family’s foods were only 12% digestible.

Regarding organic foods, what else is there to say? YES. Feed organic meats, vegetables, eggs (particularly) and grains every time you can. I know this may be sacrilege, but non-organic, fresh, raw or lightly steamed veggies are better than no fresh foods at all. In the case of cats, that is true of even meat. Some non-organic meat is better than no organic meat. Just do the best you can and don’t get too crazy about it.

As for humans, your animals are what they assimilate. As long as they are in your care, they no longer have choices in the maintenance of their health. Fresh, raw or lightly steamed vegetables, meats and grains are essential to their well-being. The cost of fresh veggies, even in combination with the best processed foods listed above, will be significantly less than feeding supermarket or so-called premium foods alone. Not to mention the enormous cost of poor animal health those foods precipitate.

Finally, to be complete, as there are many alternatives to pet food and feeding methods, so too are there alternatives to your pet’s medical care. Acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs, Bach flower Remedies, chiropractic, Tellington Touch, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), behavior modification and other modalities have all proven extremely efficacious and are available to our pet through the network of holistic veterinarians around the country.

We offer an open invitation to any and all concerned pet caregivers. If you have a problem, give us a call at 1-800-944-7537. We’ll assist you in any way we can.

Suggested Readings
Frazier, Anitra and Norma Eckroate, The New Natural Cat. Penguin Books.
Lazarus, Pat. Keep Your Pet Healthy the Natural Way. Keats Publishing
Levy, Juliette de Bairacle, Cats Naturally. Faber & Faber Ltd.
McKay, Pat. Reigning Cats and Dogs. Oscar Publications
Pitcairn, Richard, D.V.M., Ph.D. and Susan Hubble. Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats. Rodale Press.
Plechner, Alfred, D.V.M. and Martin Zucker. Pet Allergies, Remedies for an Epidemic.
"Rationale for Animal Nutrition," an interview with Dr. Randy L. Wysong. Inquiry Press.
Stein, Diane. The Natural Remedy Book for Dogs & Cats. The Crossing Press.

Suggested Pet Foods
Wysong (85-90% organic)
Pet Guard (largely organic)
Solid Gold (large percentage organic, dry only)
Precise
Nature’s Recipe
Pro Plan Turkey and Barley (from this manufacturer, this particular turkey and barley only)
Natural Life
Abady

Phil Klein and his wife Randy are owners of Whiskers, an international mail order company and retail health food store for pets. Following 8 months of antibiotics, medications, x-rays and office visits totaling over $2000 to cure their dog, Tiffany-Anne, of a "rare" bladder infection, the Kleins changed vets. By changing her diet and putting her on the right mix of vitamins, Tiffany’s "rare" condition was completely cured within 3 weeks. Through Whiskers, the Kleins are committed to helping others find better ways to care for their companion animal friends. For a free catalog, call 1-800-944-7537.