Heal Thy Pets

This month I will speak about several different aspects of growth as it applies to our animals' health.

Remember last month I listed the 5 key steps to improving the health of your animals.

1. Feed the best diet
2. Vaccinate the least
3. Treat the underlying energy problems, rather than merely eliminating current symptoms.
4. Know the possible outcomes of treatment
5. Provide the best environment for the individual animal

The physical focus of growth will be diets for young, growing animals. From a spiritual perspective, we will look at our growth to be open to different approaches to help our animals heal. Also, to be open to changing the way we think about health (for people, animals, or the planet) to a perspective that allows for the best possible life for all.

Which is the best for people to eat – the most organic and freshly prepared, or the healthiest brand of processed foods? Is it better for us to eat the same two or three meals every day, or to eat a broad variety of foods, emphasizing those foods which are local and in season? Do our children, once they are weaned, eat vastly different food than adults? Many people puree their dinner for their young babies.

The same basic guidelines apply to animals as well.

Source of ingredients: For the health of your animal and for the health of the planet, the ingredients should be the most consciously raised - organic vegetables, free-ranging holistically treated animals. We want to find "happy" plants and animals. Even in the regular grocery store, some produce and meat is "happier" and gives off a clearer energy. The same is true for your animals. Some of you may have to look at fears (of bacteria?) or ethics (meat?) or time (dry food is easier) money (I do not earn enough). Confronting these issues around feeding your animals will strengthen your spirit and your will – and you will be healthier, and so will your animals.

Physiology of the carnivores: Do wild dogs and cats strike matches, build a fire and cook their meat? Do they pull out a knife and de-bone their prey? Do they leave piles of bones with the meat eaten off (occasionally). Do they grow grains or eat mostly grains and bread in the wild?

They have ripping and tearing teeth, bone crunching teeth, do not chew their food, have a small muscular stomach with a high-acidity rating and a very short digestive tract that food passes through quickly. They eat chunks of meat, skin, bones, fur and organs.

Preparation of ingredients: Briefly, the best diet for dogs, cats and other carnivores is re-creating their natural prey - raw meat including raw bones for dogs and cats, grated raw vegetables as well as cooked vegetables, maybe some grains, seeds and nuts, and supplements. If bones are not eaten, then a calcium supplement is needed. Second best is same quality, but cooked. No expert knows the physiological pathways for the digestion of every food and the digestion is slightly different in every animal. So there is no "complete and balanced" diet – either processed or freshly made. There are now many good books on home-preparing food for your animals to coach you, I offer courses to help you transition to fresh food, and Whole Dog Journal has many articles comparing the different approaches.

Every animal needs and wants a different combination at different times in their lives, just as we do. The many holistic veterinarians can help your animal's transition to a healthier diet. These diet guidelines are very general and you will probably do best after reading several books and doing some consulting.

Processed foods: On a scale of 0 -100, even the best processed foods are a 0. If you are feeding some commercial foods, buy ones with the best ingredients.

Are you doing it right? With any food change, observe each of your animals for the effect that particular food has on them. Keep a journal to track any current symptoms or new ones that appear or disappear. You decide what is best. Experiment. Have fun. Share your food. Discover new foods you both like. Read animal "cook" books for new ideas, not the "right" way. Go on-line and search the plethora of sites on animal diets.

Puppies and kittens: Puppies and kittens need a high protein diet and that is exactly what the fresh food diet recommendations include. Dogs (and puppies) need 40-70% meat and cats (and kittens) need 70-95% meat. They can use a higher level of fat and often need more frequent, smaller meals because of their smaller stomachs and high metabolism.

I am sure these diet suggestions make sense to you, even if there are some practical issues you may need to grapple with. Changing your approach to vaccinations may take some real growth on your part since there is still a big push from veterinarians at the local level to give many vaccines on an annual basis. A wonderful list serve is at yahoo groups – justsayno2vaccs. Many people feel deeply that animals should develop their own immunity from their mother and subsequent exposure to the diseases. Then their immune system will have a generalized resistance to many things, not merely the specific antibodies to specific diseases. There is a risk, of course, with this approach – the young may succumb to a preventable disease.

We will discuss the ample evidence for not giving annual vaccines in later articles (if you are facing a vaccination visit to the veterinarian now, just say no to any but the legally required Rabies and have a good physical). The harder question is which vaccines to give puppies and kittens, and infant children, too. I recommend reading "Vaccination: A Sacrament of Modern Medicine" by Richard Moskowitz, MD and "A New Look At the Vaccine Question", by Richard Pitcairn, DVM.

When you choose the veterinarian for your kitten or puppy (or older, newly adopted animal) find one who is open to you taking more control and more responsibility for your animal. A veterinarian does not need to be holistically trained to be respectful of the impact your spiritual growth path may have on the health care decisions you make for your family, including the animals. Please feel free to send in your questions and share your successes. e-mail them to: webmaster2@saskworld.com

By Christina Chambreau