A Little Guidance Goes a Long Way! (cont.)
"It made him throw up."
After many years on kibble a pet's digestive system is used to a very limited range of grains and poor quality byproducts made up mostly of poultry. The spontaneous introduction to the diet of something as foreign to a pet's system as real food can be quite a shock to the digestive tract.
Imagine being a non-meat eater for years and one day someone takes you to Burger King for your first time and you order and eat your first Whopper... you might feel sick enough to throw up too! I can't empahsis enough the importance of a gradual transition to new foods for pets.
"She did really well at first and then her old symptoms came back."
Usually this results in a well meaning but uninformed pet owner preparing the new diet him or herself without the proper knowledge of what the pet’s nutritional requirements are. Surprisingly, a dog or cat's nutritional requirements are not at all the same as yours and mine. So if you use human nutritional guidelines, your pet will eventually start to slip in health again even if they are getting good healthy food.
(*This is why it is essential to obtain some guidance and support from an informed source when making big changes in your pet's diet.)
"He didn't like it."
Although the majority of pets take very well to a more healthy diet, some balk at it and are very suspicious of new smells, tastes and textures. This is particularly true with cats for whom commercial pet food holds powerfully addictive palatability enhancing chemicals. Fact: A big reason dogs are so attracted to cat poop is that palatability enhancing chemicals pass right through the cat's digestive tract and out with the poop waiting for the next customer!
"It gave her constipation (or diarrhea)."
A radical change in diet with people and pets alike needs to be effected gradually and with care so that the digestive tract can adjust to the new foods. Bowel upsets may also occur when an owner's enthusiasm leads them to feed a pet too much of the new 'good thing'. Again, guidance in obtaining correct knowledge of your pet's nutritional requirements is fundamental to a successful adjustment with good digestion and elimination.
"My vet said she was allergic to it."
There are definitely pets with allergies. In this writer's experience however, most of the mystery illnesses pets get are as a result of poor nutrition (and over-vaccination, but that's a subject for another day). An immune system unsupported by quality nutrition is bound to be unable to function properly and may develop sensitivities to normal things in its environment. These mysterious sensitivities often get dumped into what I call The Allergy Bucket. If we don't know what it is, must it be an allergy? Years of watching mystery illnesses disappear completely after restoring quality nutrition to pet diets begs one to wonder if much of what is passed off as allergies is actually symptoms of malabsorption and malnutrition. (Malabsorption is the inadequate absorption of nutrients from digested food in the alimentary canal. Malnutrition is a lack of healthy foods in the diet or an excessive intake of unhealthy foods leading to physical harm. Fact: Both malabsorption and malnutrition can be present in a pet who is eating regularly and carrying normal weight.
"I was afraid he would get bacteria like salmonella from raw food."
Unless your dog or cat is quite ill, its ability to handle bacteria in its digestive tract is far superior to our own. The acidity of canine digestive juices, for example, is much more powerful than that of humans. To give you a graphic if rather unpleasant example... most pet owners will admit that their dog's favorite hors d'oeuvre is cat poop. When a dog gets hold of some, the worst result is generally the passing of some pretty foul smelling gas. A cat walks in and out of its catbox and licks its paws without any ill effects. The consequences to humans of practicing the above behaviors however would be quite a bit more serious and dangerous.
"My vet says that most pet foods are perfectly fine."
For my most thoughtful response to this, please refer to my article,
"The Diet/Health Connection: The Word is Out!" which can be read in our November newsletter.
At Pet Wellness Resource Center, we educate pet owners daily on the correct food choices for each pet as an individual. Then we guide you through the simplest and most effective way to transition your particular pet with comfort and convenience to where they are enjoying and thriving on these foods.
We hope that this information has helped to alleviate some of your concerns about improving your pet's diet and that it has instilled confidence in you to learn more about the simple changes you can make in your pet's lives to keep them healthy and happy for many years to come.
Book of the Month (cont.)
Please, Can We Keep the Donkey? is a wonderful, large hardcover book that will not only make a great holiday gift for a special animal lover on your list, but you will know that all of the proceeds from this book go to support The Shadow Fund (The Fund For Animals with Medical Needs).
I have met the author Diane Sullivan who is also the founder of The Shadow Fund and witnessed firsthand the relief to pet owners who are overwhelmed by their pet's medical debt, and in some cases where it has saved pet lives.
Actress Betty White, an animal rights activist, wrote the introduction to these touching animal rescue stories. To read the interesting back story about this book and how it came to be click here.
Available at your local bookstore and www.Amazon.com
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