So, you have decided that conventional medicine is not right for your pet? You want to pursue a more holistic method of pet care but where do you start?

The place to start is at home before you ever choose a medical modality or practitioner.

A truly wholistic medical plan starts with:

    THE ANIMALS' WORLD,

    THEIR ENVIRONMENT,

    THEIR COMMUNITY,

    THEIR FAMILY, and

    THEIR PERSONAL CARE and HOUSING.....HYGIENE (see Hygiene page)

The first step is normalizing the patient's world for their species keeping in mind the confines of domestication and living with human caregivers. Special care should be taken in providing species appropriate housing and schedules (for example: cats are supposed to be nocturnal and will want to play when you are trying to sleep). Private and personal areas should be provided - den areas for dogs, perches and lofts for cats, secluded litter areas, quiet and protected sleeping areas, and areas for play and socialization with others of their own species and other animals (including the human animals) in the household. Pets should be provided with toys for play and jobs so they have a purpose. Proper and adequate food and water should be provided on a correct schedule. A harmonious environment should be maintained.

Of all these, the area of greatest impact at this level is NUTRITION. Few things will go so far to foster health and wellness in your pet as will species appropriate nutrition. Yet, few areas cause as much concern and doubt in the care giver as feeding fresh and raw foods in a proportion and combination which approximates the evolutionary diet of these pets.

The major pet food companies have done a good job at convincing the public that, while they may be smart enough to feed their babies without a dietician on premise, they are not smart enough to feed their pets without relying of what comes from the companies' cans and bags. Makes you wonder how dogs and cats survived all those millennia before the advent of pet food companies. Pet food companies market to the human species - what appeals to human tastes. They do not address the needs of the animal.

Why is species appropriate nutrition and a diet of fresh and raw foods so important for our pets? For the same reasons that appropriate diet is important to us. The digestive tract of our pet species evolved over countless years to utilize the foodstuff presented in their natural environment. Their digestive system is structured -teeth for tearing flesh, crushing bone, and a short digestive tract - to derive proper nutrition from these foodstuffs to supply their body with the necessary energy and the proper "building blocks" to build and maintain properly functioning systems. Food not in this form provides incomplete and/or improper nutrition.

Modern processed foods are not in this natural form. These processed foods also contain impurities in the form of artificial colorings, preservatives, flavor enhancers, and fillers which not only do not provide useable nutrition but rob the body of energy as they are detoxified and eliminated. This is energy which would otherwise be available for health and maintenance.

What constitutes a species appropriate diet?   

Species appropriate diet for a DOG. Dogs evolved as scavengers and hunters. Although their dentition identifies dogs (and others of the canine species) as carnivores, they are in practice omnivores. Dogs will selectively graze certain plants (medicinal and tonic herbs in the spring, fruits and berries later in the year). This is normal species behavior but constitutes only a small portion of the normal canine diet.

Most of the plant material and grain in a dog's diet comes from the gut of their prey. In this form the vegetable matter has been chewed and partially digested by the prey.

If we look at the composition of the common prey of wild dogs, we can begin to formulate proportions for a species appropriate dog diet. Most of the prey for dogs are small to medium sized herbivores with fairly large gut capacities. Their diet would have consisted of leafy plant material, fruits, and seed heads. This gut material would then comprise part of the dog's diet, along with the muscles and organs of the prey.

Dogs evolved an eating style to maximize their food intake while being challenged by other family members for the food. In short, they bolt their food, taking little time to chew. They swallow large pieces of food (some of which may be later regurgitated and eaten at a more leisurely pace away from the group) as quickly as they can. Dogs who had more dainty nibbling habits were left hungry because the more aggressive members would have cleaned the carcass.

After the lone meal of the day, the group would den and digest until it was time to resume the hunt. Also on those days when no prey or carrion was found, the dogs would fast. During these fasts, the body would have time to replenish digestive enzymes and to repair the digestive tract.

To mimic this pattern, it is suggested that dogs should be fed once per day 5-6 days a week (unless they are still puppies or unless they have a medical condition which necessitates more frequent feeding). There are a variety of published diets for feeding fresh and raw foods (Pitcairn, McKay, Volhardt, and Billinghurst to name a few) each involving varying degrees of detail and labor. Try a "user-friendly" feeding scheme based on variety and moderation of components fixed within certain ratios of meats (including bones and organs), vegetables and grains.

The bottom line for dogs is that they should be fed a diet consisting of ~50-60 % raw meat (including organs and meaty bones. The bones must be boiled or, preferably, fed raw to be safe. Dry cooked bones are brittle, will shatter into sharp shards, and are indigestible.), ~35-45% raw and pureed vegetables (pureeing is necessary to break down the particle size and fractionate the cell walls to aid the dog's digestion, as would the chewing and partial digestion by their prey. Any vegetable can be used with the exception of onions which can cause severe blood disorders in dogs.), and 5-10% overcooked whole grains (overcooked so they are more easily broken down and digested by the dog. Whole grains are preferred over processed or fractionated grains.). Variety (more than 4 protein/carbo choices) and moderation will help ensure the diet is balanced over the long term.

The caveat to feeding this way is that the dogs must have a reasonably healthy digestive system and immune system before being introduced to fresh and raw foods. (See Hygiene / Healthy Gut Function page)

Otherwise the foods must be lightly cooked until the health and function of the dog is improved.