Wisdom of Healing

The massive pet food recall is a reflection of what is going on with big agri-business and the health of people and their pets throughout the world. We’re fueling poor physical and mental health, along with the need for more medications, by eating questionable fast and packaged foods ourselves and feeding them to our pets. This recall is just making it all the more easy to recognize such a growing problem with commercial foods produced for both people and their pets.

The solution, of course, is to eat real, fresh nutritious foods and feed them to our four legged friends, just as the countless generations did before World War II when our grandparents were fooled into believing that the new modern ways of the big agri-businesses would solve famine and other world problems, making everyone healthy and nourished and we would all live happily ever after.

There has been a lot of question about what we should be feeding our beloved pets with the growing list of recalled pet foods and snacks. Newscasters are reporting that more and more people are choosing to make homemade food for their cherished pets, but veterinarians are warning that this may not truly be a healthy option, either. And this may indeed be true, if we just substitute one junk food for another. So what are we to do?

We certainly can make very healthy homemade pet food, but we need to do some serious research to do so correctly. Whatever you decide, BUY ORGANIC! If you’re not yet eating organic foods yourself, the changes that you’ll see in you pet’s coat, teeth and overall health is likely to convince you to go organic forever!

I’ve made my own pet foods, off and on, for decades. As I researched this article, I found ridiculous information that suggested things like instant rice mixed with liver baby food, or crumbling white bread and hamburger meat together. These ideas would certainly NOT provide our little friends with the proper amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients necessary for good health and vitality. Remember; if we want healthy pets, it’s got to be ALL ABOUT QUALITY!

The raw food diet is considered the healthiest for our pets, but I’ve found that older dogs often don’t do as well with switching to it. (You’ll be able to tell by their bowel movements.) Wet food or kibble should be free of, or very low in, grains. Cats and dogs don’t eat grains in nature. These were added to pet foods as filler, and can increase allergies and other health problems.

I was going to write my detailed opinion as to why we shouldn’t be feeding our pets so much grain as is found in most pet foods, even many of the ‘natural’ kibbles, but Steve Brown and Beth Taylor have articulated everything I would have said so beautifully in this article: Do Dogs and Cats Need Grains?

They’ve also written a book that I’ll have to add to my reading pile, called See Spot Live Longer.

If you’d like to learn more about making homemade pet food, these links may help you:
Shirley’s Wellness Cafe
pet-grub.com

Look for these books to help with any particular health needs of your pet, or visit your local holistic vet (unfortunately still too few and far between):

Herbs for Pets by ML Wulff-Tilford & GL Tilford
The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Dr. Pitcairn\’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by RH Pitcairn, DVM, PhD
Four Paws Five Directions: A Guide to Chinese Medicine for Cats and Dogs by Cheryl Schwartz

If you’re looking for a holistic veterinarian, check out the Vet List found at Shirley’s Wellness Cafe. This one’s for the US, but she has other countries, as well.

If your pet was eating one of the recalled foods, or another food that you’re concerned about, and you’d like to learn more about a holistic approach to keeping their kidneys as healthy as possible, please visit The Holistic Approach for Chronic Renal (Kidney) Failure. This is wonderful information, primarily written by several veterinarians, that will support your loving pet in regaining their health and vitality, and help put your mind at ease.

Yogurt and probiotics are excellent for your pet’s health maintenance, as well as digestive and immune wellness. Please purchase organic unflavored whole milk yogurt (or kefir). Ideally, we want to feed yogurt or kefir to our pets about thirty minutes before their meal, but even on top or mixed in is beneficial. This helps to replace some of the health-giving microorganisms that live in the gut and support your pet’s health in numerous ways. If you want to buy the best probiotics, look for Natren, New Chapter and Bio-K Plus.

There was a phenomenal probiotic formulated specially for pets on the market, and I’ve personally known of some pets whose lives were probably saved by the use of these products when they were gravely ill, but the FDA forced them off the market, stating that they were useless. They were called Symflora from Pet Promise. What a shame that the FDA cannot leave a GREAT product be.

But the good news is that there’s another GREAT product for supporting your pet’s immune and digestive wellness. It’s called, Mush Blend for Pets made by Fungi Perfecti. MUSH consists of an organic combination of five of my most favorite healing mushrooms; Cordyceps, Reishi, Maitake, Shiitake and Turkey Tail, formulated to help promote superior health for your dog. Fungi Perfecti has recently come out with a delicious (according to the pets I’ve spoken with) treat called Muttrooms. Order online or request them from your local pet shop.

A note about vitamins and minerals: As I say, ‘If it sounds like a chemical, it’s a chemical. If it cannot be picked in nature, it’s not natural.’ We’ve been snookered into believing that chemical isolates, such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C in pure form) is natural. IT’S NOT! Really. It’s an isolated chemical, which has likely been made from genetically engineered corn, and through several chemical alterations, was purified into a single substance. Ascorbic acid is never found in nature in this purified form, and is NOT NATURAL! We can pick an orange, but not an ascorbic acid! Our body may certainly use a minute amount of this purified chemical, but the rest may not do us good, and research shows that it may indeed do us harm.

Please don’t use these chemicals, called vitamins and minerals, with your pets (or kids or yourself). Some of you may wonder why I suggest certain brands or products in my posts. I simply care about you, the reader, and your pets. New Chapter, Flora and Megafoods don’t make specific pet supplements, but I have crushed these multis (Flora makes high quality liquids; easy to use) to add to my pet foods, with great results over the years. Another excellent option is to buy powdered kelp or nettles (organic, of course) at your local health food store and use this in your pet’s food, even if you choose to opt for canned or kibble.

There are some other excellent options for pet foods for those of us that just cannot commit to making homemade food. You’ll find them at the better pet supply stores throughout the country and online. My favorite pet store in Boston carries virtually all the best brands and ships anywhere in the US. Skipton Kennel may be reached at 617-541-0520, but not online. They are wonderfully helpful and will provide you excellent service. Online, you may want to check out Pet Food Direct. They have a great selection, and seem helpful (but I don’t have personal experience with them).

There are ‘natural’ brands and organic brands that you may safely choose, but I would caution pet lovers against something that claims ‘natural’ but is not ‘certified organic’ if it’s not on my list below. Since there are no standards for the term ‘natural’ and is often misused, we may be easily fooled into purchasing a brand with tainted or impure ingredients.

Ask questions, and then ask for clarification with the answers that you receive. I am well aware of many of the various brands of organic and truly natural pet products on the market, having taught several classes on pet wellness. I have called several pet supply stores to ask them questions, only to be given a lot of incorrect and misleading information, especially at many of the bigger chains. Even when I’ve asked them if they were sure about their answer, and to please go look on the label to be certain, they’ve come back to the phone and given me false information.

So, I’ve made a list of organic and natural pet foods, in the order that I feel represents the very best to the very good pet food manufacturers; (I’ve not listed medium to poor quality foods here):

Raw (usually frozen) foods: (Some of these brands also offer canned, kibble and treats)

Steve’s Real Food for Pets
Nature’s Variety (certified organic ingredients)
Bravo! Raw Diet
Primal Raw Pet Food
Raw Advantage
Bil-Jac Premium Dog & Cat Foods
Oma’s Pride
Abady

Canned and kibble:

Timberwolf (certified organic ingredients)
Karma (certified organic ingredients)
Castor & Pollux Organix (certified organic ingredients)
Innova (their EVO line is grain free)
Canidae (no wheat, corn, soy)
Newman’s (certified organic ingredients)
Fromm
Halo
Neura
Solid Gold
California Natural (produces specialty foods for allergen sensitivities)
Eagle Pack
Pinnacle
Diamond
Royal Canin
Flint River Ranch
Merrick
Wellness
Blue Buffalo
Pet Promise

These brands may use good ingredients, but in my humble opinion, they’re using far too much grain:

Pet Guard
Wysong
Lick Your Chops

As you can see, there are quite a number of excellent and very good brands of pet foods on the market. With what we now know, we should not support companies whose suppliers cannot be trusted to insure the safety of our beloved pets’ health and wellbeing any longer. So, even when the recall is over, I hope that as a continent of committed pet lovers, we will have made a statement with our spending dollars that we’ve raised the bar significantly and we simply won’t chance poisoning our sweet four legged best friends ever again. They deserve the best of health; after all, they offer us increased wellness and mental health every day of our lives.

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