Healthy food can be "thy medicine."

Grandpuppy Cash

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

― Hippocrates

Recently my beautiful Grand puppy Cash was very ill. She started losing weight, coat became dull and muscles became weak. She is only 7 years old and all of a sudden she couldn't even make it up the stairs by herself. We knew something was terribly wrong! A lot of my work is done from home, so Cash came to stay with me for a week. I took her to my veterinarians, that I adore, and had tests done. 

I believe as wonderful as my veterinarians are, they are they only have so many hours in the day that has to be shared between clients. I also believe that every veterinarian cannot specialize in every area, such as nutrition, supplements, etc. I think one of the things I love about my veterinarians is they have an open mind and do not condemn me for doing my own homework. I am very holistic, and they are very respectful of my beliefs. I believe every being is different, we have to be our pets’ advocates and it is our responsibility to research. We have to decide what is going to be the best route for our beliefs and for their individual specific symptoms. Indian Shamans (healers), would come stay at your house and observe every aspect of your everyday life, before they would decide the best route to take. You cannot find a medical professional with that kind of time on their hands.. We have to put in that time.

The tests ruled out some things with Cash's condition, and it gave us the tools to find the best route for her. I have studied nutrition, but I also contacted nutrition experts, many friends, one a canine nutritionist. I went through the book, Canine Nutrigenomics from Dr. Dodd's, also a nutrition guru.

Cash had been on a lot of antibiotics in the past from chronic UTIs. She was also on a dehydrated food that when she ate too fast my daughter added less water thinking it would keep it thicker for her. We believe the combination of a compromised colon that was not able to absorb nutrients and a food not being properly hydrated, was causing her to basically starve. Antibiotics can wreak such havoc on the colon! My veterinarians prescribed vitamin B shots. We started her on some very good digestive enzymes, raw goat's milk, a different food, pumpkin, bone broth and more.

I am thankful, Cash is getting stronger and better every day! I believe it is due to the veterinarians, whole food, proper nutrition and the army of people with knowledge that I accessed, a lot of reading, and love sent to her by so many!

My friend Paula and I have written here in the past about the ever-important subject of nutrition. I urge you, to do your own research, be your pets advocate. Even if something is not wrong with your pet now, nutrition is the best preventative and important factor in life.

It disgusts me the things that FDA allows and if you get me on my soapbox I will go on and on. So instead I would like to offer you a few facts.

Dog Food Advisor states, according to the pet food industry , Official Publication, American Association of Feed Control Officials, “Generic meat meal can be legally made from road kill, dead, diseased or dying farm animals — even euthanized cats and dogs.”

 “FDA testing found pentobarbital in Nutro dog food ,Ol Roy dog food,Trailblazer dog food, Dad’s dog food,Weiss Value dog food,Super G dog food, Richfood dog food,Pet Essentials dog food, America’s Choice dog food, Ken-L-Ration Gravy Train dog food,Heinz Kibbles n Bits, Kibble Select dog food, Champ Chunx ,ProPlan dog food, Reward dog food” 

I would like to ask you to think on this, could you survive on dry cereal your whole life? Possibly, but would you thrive? 

I highly recommend  home cooking,ONLY after you research the proper ways(if you do it without research and unbalanced you can do more harm than good)

Learn to formulate through a course and or reading:

https://www.myhealthydog.dog/complete-canine-nutrition-overview-1?fbclid=IwAR1nqfnaCtFNpgm1F0OF5pnWTVdOUD81oQ3s62-_bf11uijMEM2_0uJGrv8

The book, Canine Nutrigenomics from Dr. Dodd's.

If you don't want to homecook please PLEASE DO HOMEWORK and RESEARCH. Where is your meat source from? Go to stores like Must Love Dogs in Grand Haven MI where the owner is a canine nutritionist and can advise you. 

Some good dog food names to look for,in my opinion are: Stella and Chewy, Answers, Zignature, and  Dr Harvey's.

I suggest adding some whole foods,raw goats milk, bone broth or at the very least water to hydrate the kibble so it is more readily absorbed and easier on the kidneys.Adding 5 minute boiled eggs, blueberries, steamed broccoli in the food processor and/or a no salt added sardine to  kibble. A good digestive enzyme like "Carna 4" added to your dogs food can help them absorb more of the nutrients they need to stay healthy. Some healthy treats your dog will beg for more of are : dehydrated organs and homemade goodies with blueberries, tart cherry juice, coconut oil, coconut flour, eggs and cinnamon. Remember to introduce new foods slowly so the digestive system can adjust. A body needs time to adjust to a new food , just like humans can not transition from junk food to all salads without a digestive adjustment.

We all need whole foods to keep our bodies functioning optimally, and our furry friends are no exception. 

Healthy food can be "thy medicine."

My dog Odin and grandpuppy Cash ...best friends Odin is so thankful his buddy is better.