For more than 30 years, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats has been the go-to resource for health-conscious animal lovers. This fourth edition is updated with the latest information in natural pet health, including groundbreaking research on the benefits of vegan diets for pets, as well as nutritionally complete recipes to give your pets optimal health that you can also enjoy, making home prepared diets easier than ever. The Pitcairns also discuss behavior issues, general nutrition, and a more humane approach to caring for pets. The Pitcairns have long been the trusted name in holistic veterinary care and continue to be at the forefront of natural pet health. Written with the same compassion and conviction, the fourth edition of Natural Health for Dogs & Cats will help you give your beloved animals the healthiest, happiest life.

Autorentext

Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM, PhD, and Susan Hubble Pitcairn

Klappentext

For more than 30 years, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats has been the go-to resource for health-conscious animal lovers. This fourth edition is updated with the latest information in natural pet health, including groundbreaking research on the benefits of vegan diets for pets, as well as nutritionally complete recipes to give your pets optimal health that you can also enjoy, making home prepared diets easier than ever. The Pitcairns also discuss behavior issues, general nutrition, and a more humane approach to caring for pets.

The Pitcairns have long been the trusted name in holistic veterinary care and continue to be at the forefront of natural pet health. Written with the same compassion and conviction, the fourth edition of Natural Health for Dogs & Cats will help you give your beloved animals the healthiest, happiest life.

Zusammenfassung
For more than 30 years, Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats has been the go-to resource for health-conscious animal lovers. This fourth edition is updated with the latest information in natural pet health, including groundbreaking research on the benefits of vegan diets for pets, as well as nutritionally complete recipes to give your pets optimal health that you can also enjoy, making home prepared diets easier than ever. The Pitcairns also discuss behavior issues, general nutrition, and a more humane approach to caring for pets.

Leseprobe
CHAPTER 1

WE NEED A NEW APPROACH TO PET HEALTH CARE

"Why don't you take care of this one?" my colleague asked me, with the look of someone about to unload an unwelcome problem. He pointed through the door to a little middle-aged dog sitting forlornly on the examining table. If his coat had ever been sleek, soft, and healthy, it was no more. Obviously, his hair had been falling out for some time, revealing large greasy patches that had an unpleasant odor. Even his spirits were low. Unfortunately, I'd seen cases like his all too often.

Waiting nearby were the dog's equally dejected guardians, an aging couple who had "tried it all" and still cared enough about their little companion to try once more. The dog's hospital record showed a long history of treatments--cortisone shots, medicated soaps, ointments, more shots, more salves--none of which brought any noticeable improvement.

"The poor little guy is just so miserable, doctor," began Mrs. Wilson anxiously. "We would do anything if we thought it would help."

It didn't take me long to decide that it was finally time to step off the beaten path and try out a new nutritional approach to this kind of case, an idea that had been brewing in my mind for some time. We were at a medical dead end and there was nothing to lose. But more importantly, I knew there was a good chance that what I had in mind might work. As I examined Tiny, I explained to the Wilsons why I thought an improved diet was their animal's best chance for recovery.

"Skin problems like his are probably the most common and frustrating of the conditions we try to deal with," I told them. "Because the skin is such a visible area of the body, it can show the first signs of underlying problems, particularly those caused by inadequate diet. The skin grows very rapidly, making a whole new crop of cells about every three weeks. It needs a lot of nourishment, so when the diet lacks what's really needed, the skin is one of the first tissues to break down and show abnormalities like the kind we see here in Tiny."

As we went on talking about the effects of diet and the shortcomings of highly processed pet foods based on low-quality food by-products, the Wilsons saw that a change could make a big difference. So we worked out a suitable feeding program for Tiny, emphasizing fresh natural foods.

Starting now, Tiny would eat meat, whole grains, and fresh vegetables. In addition, the Wilsons would give him several supplements rich in nutrients important to the health of the skin as well as to the rest of the body-- brewer's yeast, vegetable oil, cod-liver oil, kelp, bonemeal, vitamin E, and zinc. I also recommended that they bathe Tiny occasionally with a mild, non-medicated shampoo to help remove irritating, toxic secretions from his skin without burdening his body with harsh chemicals.

During the next weeks, my thoughts often went to Tiny, wondering how he was doing on this new treatment. A month after their first visit, the Wilsons returned to show the results of the treatment. Tiny was like a new dog.

"You wouldn't believe the difference!" Mrs. Wilson exclaimed. "He runs around and plays like he's a puppy again." Tiny was indeed full of life, jumping around excitedly on the examining table. His coat was much healthier, and hair was rapidly filling in the previously bare spots.

It was very rewarding to all of us, but most of all to Tiny. For the Wilsons, there was the added benefit of realizing that their dog's health was now in their control and that keeping him well did not require monthly injections of cortisone or other medications.

A NEW SENSE OF PURPOSE TAKES HOLD

Tiny's case was one of my first clinical attempts to apply the results of a long learning process concerning the vital role of nutrition in health. Now, after 27 years of seeing successes such as this with improved diet, the essential importance of nutrition in restoring health is obvious to me.

I did not, however, always approach cases in such a manner. My veterinary school training in nutrition had included little more than the admonition: "Tell your clients to feed their animals a good commercial pet food and to avoid table scraps." Beyond that, nutrition just wasn't considered an important part of our education. I accepted this attitude at face value, and after graduation I set out to conquer disease, armed with the usual arsenal of drugs and surgical techniques gleaned from my years of schooling.

Faced with the day-to-day challenges of my first job in a busy mixed practice (small and large animals), I soon learned that many diseases simply did not respond to treatments as I had been told they would. In fact, it often seemed that what I did to help mattered very little. I was like a bystander at the battle for recovery--doing a lot of cheering and occasionally making a contribution of sorts, but often feeling ineffectual.

So I tried to make sense of what I saw, and gradually several basic questions arose: Why do some animals recover easily, while others never seem to do well, regardless of which drugs are used? Why do some animals in a group seem to have all the fle…