Dr. Khalsa's Natural Dog E-Book

Deva Kaur Khalsa VMD

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Seitenzahl: 589

Beschreibung

A pioneer in holistic veterinary medicine, Dr. Deva Khalsa shares her effective, integrative approach to natural health and healing for dogs in this invaluable book. Expanded and updated, Dr. Khalsa's Natural Dog, in its second edition, presents an inspired way for dog owners to design a diet specifically for their dog's needs, lifestyle, age, and health. Developed over decades of practice and study, Dr. Khalsa's methods combine traditional veterinary medicine, wholesome nutrition, and holistic therapies, such as alternative methods, herbal remedies, and botanical medicine. In the new edition, Dr. Khalsa will present the latest research on such important issues as avoiding and treating cancer, chronic gastrointestinal problems, allergy elimination, and effective holistic treatments for ten common problems.In the Foreword, Dr. Marty Goldstein, a colleague of the author for over four decades, says that Dr. Khalsa "knows, feels, and practices healing, patient by patient…[and] this book… "is nothing more than a mirror of the incredible spiritual energy of a true healer." By using the simple methods and concepts put forth in Dr. Khalsa's Natural Dog, dog owners can effect positive, life-changing improvements for their beloved four-legged companions.INSIDE DR. KHALSA'S NATURAL DOGOver 100 original, wholesome recipes, including new grain-free and allergy free recipesA modern primer on canine nutrition and how to feed dogs for optimal healthThe secrets of herbal supplementation and the use of vitamins and mineralsHolistic strategies for dogs with special needs, including allergies, heart and kidney diseases, obesity, and diabetesExpanded, updated chapter on preventing, managing, and treating canine cancerPRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION"Dr. Khalsa has provided an invaluable book to help keep dogs well and to enable them to recover from a variety of health problems. Her holistically integrative approach … is a welcome contribution … for the good dogs around the world."Dr. Michael W. Fox, syndicated veterinary columnist"Natural Dog is the most comprehensive book on holistic dog care for the twenty-first century."Joanne Stefanos, DVM, author of Animals and Man"This book is a lively informative read for all those devoted to their canine companions!"W. Jean Dodds, DVM, world-famous veterinary hematologist

Leseprobe

Dr. Khalsa’s Natural Dog (2nd Edition)

Project Team

Editor: Amy Deputato

Copy Editor: Joann Woy

Design: Mary Ann Kahn

Index: Elizabeth Walker

Copyright © 2015 by Deva Khalsa, VMD

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishing, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this book has been applied for. ISBN: 978-1-62008-142-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the first edition of this book; Khalsa, Deva.

Dr. Khalsa’s natural dog : a holistic guide for healthier dogs / by Deva Khalsa.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-59378-647-2

1. Dogs—Health. 2. Dogs—Diseases. 3. Holistic veterinary medicine. I. Title.

SF991.K48 2009

636.7’0893—dc22

2008051862

This book has been published with the intent to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter within. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any errors, omissions, or adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein. The techniques and suggestions are used at the reader’s discretion and are not to be considered a substitute for veterinary care. If you suspect a medical problem, consult your veterinarian.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Part IEating For Life

1.That Special Connection

2.A History of Dog Food

3.Nutrition for the Novice

4.Cooking Up Canine Health

5.Designing Diet

6.The Cure Is in the Cupboard

7.The Benefits of “Supplemental” Health Insurance

Part IIThe Nature of Health

8.Rediscovering the Natural Path

9.Eliminating Allergies

10.Injecting Doubt into Annual Inoculationss

11.A New Look at Cancer: Prevention and Treatment

12.When It Comes Time to say Good-bye

Part IIIHolistic Fixes A to Z

Part IVThe Canine Café

Toppers

Meals in a Muffin

Casseroles and Loves

Yummy Stews and Soups

Toss and Serve

Eggs and Omelets

Raw Diets

Industrious Stocks

Fruits

Snacks and Treats

Birthday Treats

Special Needs Recipes

Acknowledgments

Resources

Photo Credits

Index

About the Author

Dedication

For my mother and father, and for Sam and Lucy, who shared their love and chocolate with me.

To thank and help all of our dogs and cats, I created Deserving Pets Everyday Essentials.

The 21st century is all about disease prevention.

Praise for the first edition of Dr. Khalsa’s Natural Dog

“Dr. Khalsa’s approach to canine nutrition by encouraging the feeding of fresh wholesome foods is a winning formula shared by a handful of other colleagues, like myself, and a select group of commercial pet food manufacturers. The Canine Café recipes are scrumptious! This book is a lively, informative read for all those devoted to their canine companions!”

— W. Jean Dodds, DVM

President, Hemopet

“Dr. Khalsa has provided an invaluable book to help keep dogs well and to enable them to recover from a variety of health problems. Her holistically integrative approach to health maintenance and treatment is a welcome contribution to the advancement of veterinary medicine and the good of dogs around the world.”

— Dr. Michael W. Fox,

Veterinarian, syndicated columnist and author of Dog Body, Dog Mind

“Natural Dog is the most comprehensive book on holistic dog care for the twenty-first century. Dr. Deva Khalsa is a pioneer in the field of holistic veterinary medicine in America and a dynamic international lecturer. Her years of experience with holistic therapies and energetic nutritional diets have given her invaluable information necessary to teach everything owners want to know to maintain optimum health, quality of life, and longevity for their pets.”

— Joanne Stefanos, DVM,

Author of Animals and Man: A State of Blessedness

Foreword

Deva Khalsa and I were founding doctoral spirits as the movement of holistic veterinary medicine was being born in the United States back in the 1970s. We are now referred to as “The Elders”—a term of which I am still proud. To me, Deva was not just “one of us” but someone I respected, consulted with, learned from, and truly admired as she was one of the few, even back then, who “got it.” There are two types of medical training: that in which medicine is learned and spit back in rote when treating a patient, or that in which medicine is learned, understood, incorporated within oneself, and ultimately applied within that same context for the betterment of the patient. Deva is an embodiment of the latter. She knows, feels, and practices healing, patient by patient. Importantly, she also has always been one of her own patients. You’ve heard it countless times: “practice what you preach” or “if you want to talk the talk, you better know how to walk the walk.” Well, she damn well did, and she still does. In the decades I’ve known Deva, she has barely aged. She beams. That’s called health. And, when you have it, you don’t have to heal—but you sure can when needed for others.

This book that she has written is nothing more than a mirror of the incredible spiritual energy of a true healer. If you want to call it holistic, then use the term to its fullest capacity—not just the whole patient but the entire picture—mind, body, spirit, environment, human/animal bond, and most of all, good old common sense. Learn from this book not to simply practice its methods but to really understand its contents, make them your own, and apply them. It’s not that much more complicated. It is pure and simple. Well done, Deva, and you’ll always have my love and admiration.

—Dr. Marty Goldstein

Author of The Nature of Animal Healing:The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guideto Caring for Your Dog and Cat

Preface

The Scottie Who Watched TV

Once upon a time there was a Scottish Terrier who lived with a bunch of other Scotties. He didn’t like his canine brothers and sisters very much, but he loved to watch television. His people had a super-big-screen TV that happened to have a very large and easy-to-use button for changing the channel.

His basic routine was to lie on the couch and watch television all day long. He liked only animal shows. When an animal show ended and something else came on, such as a game show, he would leave the sofa, go over to the television, and change the channel until he found another show with animals.

His people brought him to me so that I could give him acupuncture for his stiff joints. When they returned two weeks later, I asked, “How’s he doing?” and they said, “Well, we can’t really tell. All he does is lie around all day and watch television, and he still seems stiff when he stands up and stiff when he moves around.”

I gave him a couple more acupuncture treatments, asking “How’s he doing?” before each one. And we’d have the same conversation. On his fourth visit, his people said, “He doesn’t seem to be getting any better at all.” I thought some more and told his owners, “I think his problem is television. Pull the plug out for an hour or two each day (he knew how to turn it on), put a leash on him, and take him for a good brisk walk.” I also changed his diet to 70 percent vegetables with only 30 percent of his regular healthful kibble.

A month later, his people reported that he was like a new dog, moving around just fine. He liked his new diet and looked forward to his walks, and he still had a lot of time for television.

This book presents the readers with a genuine path to better health for their dogs, which can be as simple as finding the right diet and getting them some exercise. Of course, designing the right diet takes some thought and a bit of familiarity with some real data about nutrition. But it will all add up to better health for your dogs and fewer reasons to run to the veterinarian. Not that I have anything against veterinarians—I happen to be one. But I became one to assist my patients to be healthier, and this book serves that purpose well.

Learning the truth about what really keeps your dog in good health will free you from any confusion and make it possible for you to have a healthier dog, one who will give you many extra years of companionship.

Enjoy the journey!

Part I

Eating for Life

Looking out upon a majestic mountain or a tranquil lake, we see the splendor of nature. As we play with our dogs, we marvel at their joy in living. The beauty and complexity of life surrounds us. Every living thing on this earth has a system that sustains that life, a complex machine bustling with activity and full of energy. How well this machine is maintained will define how healthy your dog remains and how long his life will be.

There’s no getting around the fact that the amount of attention you can lavish on your dog depends on how many other demands are being made on your time. But if you’re fortunate enough to find time to devote to your canine companion, you may find that it enhances the quality of your life as well. And if you’re among the growing number of people who have largely given up nutritionally deficient and additive-laden processed foods in favor of natural options, you’re probably inclined to include your pets (who, after all, are members of your family) in this way of life.

Cooking is one of the ways that some people express their love for each other. While I find that our two-legged friends appreciate a great snack or meal, our four-legged friends are ecstatic over the same. Cooking for your dog, if that is what you want to do, can be an act of love, contributing in yet another way to your bond as a family.

1.That SpecialConnection

For as long as I can remember, I have felt good and somehow safe in the presence of dogs. I’ve always intrinsically trusted them. Dogs seem so dependable, sincere, and genuine. They have all of the good qualities we hope to find in people and very few of the bad qualities that we sometimes do find in our human kind.

I marveled, like many kids, at the frogs, butterflies, and squirrels that wandered through my little world. I tried to feed abandoned baby birds, and I rescued “stray” cats who just happened to belong to the neighbors; however, my attraction to animals went beyond a child’s natural curiosity. Even before I could put thoughts into words, I somehow realized that, in my world, animals were special. I would sit and watch the cooperation among the ants in the colony in my backyard. On the morning of my second birthday, rather than dreaming of presents and cake, I was painstakingly loading ants onto a shoebox lid and moving them to a “safe” location so that my mother wouldn’t kill them with boiling water before the party guests arrived.

Yet it was with dogs that I felt a special connection. When my parents took me out strolling in a carriage along the city sidewalks, I would call out a cheerful “Hello, how are you?” as strangers walked by with their dogs. Only the dogs understood that I was greeting them, not the people on the other end of the leads. Actually, I was returning the dogs’ greetings to me, which no one else seemed to hear.

I didn’t know then that I was entering into the ancient bond between humans and dogs, one so solid and so old as to seem primordial. In their exploration of this special bond, scientists have speculated about the domestication of the wolflike ancestors of the modern dog. Although they disagree about how and when it came about, they agree that this special connection between humans and canines exists. I like the perspective told in the following Native American legend:

Once we communicated with all animals as our equals, and we had great respect for all forms of life. But one day, the Great Spirit opened a chasm between the humans and the animals. This chasm was narrow at first. The dog looked at the human and was uncertain whether to stay or go with the animals. So he jumped over to his animal friends. As the chasm widened, he jumped back and forth, undecided, between the human and the animal worlds. Finally, at the last moment before the chasm was too wide, he took a great leap and forever joined with the humans. It remains this way to this day.

Evolving Together

The relationship with our “best friends” has continued to evolve in step with changing times and the changing needs for both species over the course of many millennia. Although humans no longer need dogs to ward off saber-toothed tigers, we have come to rely on their willingness to use their innate talents on our behalf in many other ways. Therapy and assistance dogs help people with various disabilities. Rescue dogs work alongside first responders at earthquakes and floods. Police dogs sniff out explosives and track missing children. The burly Saint Bernard bounding through alpine snowdrifts and the diligent Border Collie rounding up a flock of sheep are quintessential images of the canine service and work ethic.

Dogs don’t need special training or a purpose-bred body to fulfill a role among humans. The Westie who alerts the household that the mail has arrived, the Golden Retriever who waits with tail thumping for his young friend to come home from school, and the Beagle who curls up at bedside when Mom has the flu are all doing important jobs that improve the welfare of their chosen pack. “Work” of any type keeps dogs healthy and whole. It tones their bodies, engages their minds, and strengthens their relationship with the human species. How else can we explain why dogs risk, and sometimes lose, their lives helping humans if not for the bond with their extended families? We have the chance to experience the moment and to connect with our ancient past in a direct, elemental way when we make room in our hearts for a dog. Our brain fog clears, our senses are heightened, our emotions are accessible, and our spirits are elevated and refreshed as we relax with our four-legged friends. If you want to feel what I mean, it’s as simple as taking a walk with your dog. Suddenly, you will be able to smell the fresh air, see the beauty of your surroundings, and share the dog’s thrill of adventure, even if you take the same route every day. You can let a wave of love wash over you that comes just from being with a trusted and trusting companion.

I feel sorry for someone who has never known the unconditional love of a canine companion. Too many people I meet are so busy going about their lives that they forget what living is all about. Our dogs provide an immediate and penetrating perspective into our real lives in a world where the value of joy of the spirit is too often forgotten.

The deep connection we have with our dogs is derived from a spiritual source. Dogs are a link to a spiritual—if you will, divine—dimension within all of us, a dimension in our lives from which we’ve become increasingly separated in our world of seemingly endless noise.

Both the story of the Garden of Eden and the aforementioned Native American legend remind us that we were once nurtured by the “family” of all living things, part of a harmonious whole. Today, our ears are filled with ringing cell phones instead of singing birds. We spend more time sitting in traffic than under the stars. No wonder we often feel empty and exhausted; we have lost touch with the pulse that beats through all life.

One way to become reconnected and recharged is through our relationship with dogs, reliable guides who can lead us along on a path toward oneness with ourselves, with others, with the world around us, and with whatever may lie beyond.

Best Friends

Our dog lends a sympathetic ear when we need someone to listen and a supportive shoulder when we need someone to lean on. If our emotional train is heading down a destructive track, our dog can throw a switch to divert it in a more positive direction. If we’re happy, our dog knows it and celebrates with us. Always aware, even of minute shifts in the emotional breeze, dogs neither judge nor criticize nor advise; they just love and listen unconditionally.

The root of the word emotion is “move,” and dogs can move emotional mountains. Big boys who don’t cry shed tears at an old canine friend’s passing, and Type A overachievers discover the joy of stopping to smell the roses (or the fire hydrant) by following a dog’s lead. Over the years, I’ve been heartened to see caregivers who are usually quiet or controlled break out of their shells to express uncensored feelings about their dogs. Those who are typically unaccustomed to going the extra mile will drive for hours to bring their sick pups for treatment.

Setting that Special Example

Dogs not only motivate feelings but also model them. Honest and not self-conscious, dogs wear their hearts on their furry sleeves. They display their emotions clearly, without calculation or hidden agendas, and respond spontaneously to the situation at hand. Dogs don’t hold grudges. What would our lives be like if we could welcome home family members with genuine enthusiasm, no matter how hard a day it’s been, instantly forgive a clumsy step on the toe, or feel vulnerable enough to seek comfort in a scary storm?

Dogs live closer to nature than humans do, without such layers of insulation as houses, cars, and clothes. Their paws are on the earth, their noses in the air, their eyes and ears alert to the faintest rustle in the leaves. As we go exploring at their pace, treading lightly as they do, we have the chance to get acquainted with the natural world, which evokes a sense of tranquility and wonder.

While the “civilized” world makes constant demands on us, nature is constant only in sharing its abundant beauty, with no expectation of return, letting us know that we are all members of a peaceable kingdom. This is why witnessing a rainbow, watching a hummingbird hover, or wading in the ocean waves simply feels so good: the spirit is being showered with the gifts it needs to flourish.

Besides increasing our awareness of the world around us and our own selves, dogs help us tune in to others. Precisely because they are not human, dogs show us how to value diversity and cultivate tolerance of others, regardless how different they may be.

Spiritual Support

While humans often have trouble deciding who they are and tend to define themselves by their jobs and their possessions, dogs act from an unwavering spiritual core without being distracted by the irrelevant. Dogs see our essence, accepting and appreciating each of us for the unique beings we truly are. They make us feel loved, and we in turn become the loving beings reflected in our dogs’ eyes. When we spend an extra five minutes playing ball with our dog even if we’re exhausted, we are exercising our soul along with our body. And the stronger our spiritual muscles become, the easier it is to flex them in all of our relationships.

There is an old joke about the neurotic dyslexic agnostic insomniac who lies awake at night, worrying if there is a Dog. Of course, dogs are not the ultimate divinity (that would be cats—or so they think!). But dogs have a singular capacity to reawaken our slumbering spirits by reminding us that we two-leggeds, with our opposable thumbs and vastly inferior sense of smell, are also integral parts of the natural world.

Poetry of Canine Communication

Dogs expose us to new forms of communication, improving our ability to interpret subtle cues such as body language or facial expressions. This develops our empathy, which expands when we not only recognize another’s needs but also put them ahead of our own—which, not coincidentally, is how dogs behave toward humans.

Several of my canine patients have learned to smile, and they also, of course, know within what social contexts to smile. They usually “grin” when saying hello or to show pleasure. Their owners often need to explain to the uninitiated that their dogs are not growling or snarling, just smiling.

T. S. Eliot once said, “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” And so it is with dogs. You don’t have to understand them in the same sense that you might understand the meaning of a spoken word to know their feelings, desires, or needs—and vice versa.

Clever Canines

We can forever put to rest the term “dumb animal.” Although dogs, like humans, have different categories of intelligence that vary somewhat by breed and individual, dogs in general are quick studies in a range of complex cognitive functions such as processing new information, analyzing, drawing conclusions, and planning for the future (such as when a dog brings his owner the leash in anticipation of a walk)—all of which get a workout in the human-dog relationship. Dogs have even learned a “foreign” language. Some researchers believe that dogs can comprehend several hundred spoken words—not tones, but specific words—and even distinguish nuances in pronunciation.

Social Workers

Dogs come already equipped with a natural courtesy and deference to social order because of their evolutionary history. In their connection with humans, they have simply transferred their social graces to a different pack. Just as they detect friend or foe in the wild, dogs can evaluate, for example, which human is fun to be with or which one needs cheering up. Likewise, they sense whether it’s appropriate to greet a stranger with a sloppy kiss, a polite wag of the tail, or bared teeth. This type of skill makes them effective “social workers.”

They are also social icebreakers. Dogs relieve loneliness and lend a sense of belonging to those isolated from larger society, such as nursing-home patients, shut-ins, and prison inmates. When children play “tea party” with dogs as guests, they are rehearsing for social exchanges later in life. The self-esteem, discipline, and commitment they develop in caring for a dog are fundamental to a range of abilities necessary for becoming responsible members of society.

Together through Time

Dogs are at heel and matching us stride for stride as we progress on our journey through life. They thrive when they help us thrive; they experience the dignity and nobility of their spirits by giving us the opportunity to experience ours. Most of all, in their connection with humans, they get to be their truest selves: they get to be dogs. In acting toward them out of love, we convey that we honor who they are, just as they are. When they fetch a stick, they get to indulge their senses with activity and togetherness. When they become eyes for the blind, they make contact with their dependability and selflessness. Snuggling with us on the sofa gives them a rush of devotion, barking at the delivery truck summons their sense of responsibility, and not stealing a juicy lamb chop off the table puts them in touch with their trustworthiness.

Whatever power you believe fuels the spiritual universe, dogs plug us right into it. They relay a divine spark of energy that transforms our burned-out spirits and propels our passage through life. Through our connection with dogs, we tap into a limitless source of meaning and purpose, a vital current of wisdom and values from which we draw such qualities as compassion, sacrifice, integrity, hope, and loyalty.

Dogs set an example in both the ways they lead their own lives and the opportunities they present to us in conducting ours. There are many accounts of dogs who endanger their own lives to save others and who in many other ways demonstrate character traits that we admire in humans. Dogs, more keenly than humans, understand the unity of all life and know that the good of the whole depends on the contribution of each part.

Admiration for a Forgotten World

We find ourselves noticing many of the sights and sounds of nature as we walk with our dogs. Unconsciously, we tune into a world we have largely forgotten, one meant to sustain and fulfill us with its life and beauty. This world is one discussed by contemporary author Thom Hartmann in his book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight:

“Is there conscious life in you,” I said softly, looking at the maple and spruce . . . I wondered if the entire forest might answer me with “We are alive,” but instead I got a powerful sense of individual aliveness from each life-form I looked at. Each tree, the bird and the chipmunk, the soil under my feet teeming with microorganisms, each seemed to assert its own individual aliveness. Like the individual musicians in a symphony orchestra, they played together to create a beautiful sound. When you learn to communicate with other living things, you are, in fact, helping to rehabilitate a lost art of mankind—an intuitive skill known to more ancient cultures, but which the development of civilization, technology, and science have managed to obscure.

I raised my hands, palms out, imagined my life comingling with that of the forest around me, and was filled with a thrill at touching the life of the earth.

Dogs enable us to once again appreciate the aesthetics of this universe, loving and living fully within the moment. By extending ourselves to each other, we evolve toward wholeness, toward a more complete version of ourselves, just as a tree grows fuller when it extends its branches to the light. Once you experience such a profound connection with your dog, the seed is nurtured by your relationship and blossoms into a love that forever changes the landscape of your lives. It has certainly changed, and immeasurably enriched, mine.

I no longer remember the presents I got for my second birthday; however, I carry the gift of the ants to this day. It is the foundation for the choices I’ve made in taking a different approach to healing, one that is shaped by reverence for life. That gift is the same one that is offered to each of us, each day, in our special bond with dogs—that when we open ourselves to another, we can reach beyond our limitations and touch the spirit that sustains, and connects, us all.

Underestimating Dogs

A study published in May 2007 in the Journal of Current Biology proved to researchers that canines had surprising mental abilities. Dogs were able to do something that previously only humans were thought to be capable of: understand the concept within a situation and decide if and when to imitate that behavior.

Guinness, a female Border Collie, was trained to push a wooden rod with her paw to get a treat. Three groups of dogs were involved in this study. The control group had no contact with Guinness. When they were shown the device, they smelled the treat and used their mouths to push around the wooden rod to try to get the treat. A mouth is the handiest thing a dog has to get a job done, so it would naturally be what the dogs used.

Another group of dogs watched Guinness retrieve the treat with her paw, but she had a ball in her mouth every time she did it. When this group went to retrieve the treat, 80 percent of them used their mouths. The last group watched Guinness get the treat using her paw with her mouth free (no ball). A significant 83 percent used their paws to get the treat. The group that had watched Guinness get the treat while she had a ball in her mouth figured that the ball was preventing her from using her mouth, so that is why she had to use her paw. They did not have balls in their mouths, so they went for the far easier method—using their mouths!

The experiment stunned many researchers, for it showed that the dogs took in all of the nuances of Guinness’s retrieving her treats and decided accordingly which method would be best to use. In other words, the dogs assessed the situation. But as the researchers stand with dropped jaws, I am busy spelling out words like “walk” and “out” and adjusting my body language so my dogs cannot figure out some of the things I am up to.

2.A History of Dog Food

The very beginning of the human-canine relationship was probably a mutually beneficial hunting arrangement in which both parties shared the food. Fresh meat was necessary for the survival of a hunter society. As the ages progressed, the dog’s role expanded. Dogs were used for a multitude of purposes, ranging from killing vermin and rodents to fighting in battle, wearing armor. Some dogs herded sheep while others fought bulls. The lap dogs who entertained the French and English nobility were the fellows with the cushy jobs.

As the roles of dogs changed as time passed, so did their diets. When we moved forward from raw meat to cooked and prepared meals, our canine friends marched on beside us. As written language was developed, the word leftovers must have had a special place in the doggy dictionary.

The Tables Turn

Up until the nineteenth century, our dogs ate what we ate. The more affluent the owner, the better the dog fared. The diet of a typical working-class dog living a couple of centuries ago may have consisted of bread, potatoes, and boiled cabbage, while the elite and privileged would lavish their dogs with roast duck and consommé. Table scraps had not yet become a bad word.

In the mid-1800s, an enterprising fellow named James Spratt noticed stray dogs eagerly consuming moldy biscuits (called hardtack) tossed onto the piers by sailors. That observation inspired Spratt to develop the first commercial dog biscuit, Spratt’s Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes, in 1860. Before long, similar products emerged. The sellers of dog biscuits claimed that they prevented all manner of canine ills, ranging from worms to distemper, and that everything necessary for a dog’s health could be found in their products. Even the best table scraps, warned Spratt, “will break down his digestive powers,” making him “prematurely old and fat.” “Fresh beef,” Spratt claimed, could “overheat the dog’s blood.” Rival products, such as veterinarian A. C. Daniels’s Medicated Dog Bread, were advertised as being free of the inferior ingredients contained in other biscuits that caused “constipation, indigestion, and skin ills” (see Mary Elizabeth Thurston’s 1996 book The Lost History of the Canine Race).

Enterprising individuals found that they could take table scraps to a new low, economizing by mixing moldy and rancid groceries into a dog chow. The real expenses were the processing, the bag itself, and the advertising. Food considered unfit for man was sold as the only healthy fare for a dog! Daniels had reason to advertise that his food did not cause skin ills and indigestion because his competitors’ food did. Dogs were not nearly as healthy as they had been before this processed garbage was purchased and fed by misled owners.

Dog owners did not have much time to think about their dogs’ diet because the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Historically, the Industrial Revolution transformed agricultural economies into industrial ones. Goods, including food for families and pets, which had been traditionally made at home, began to be manufactured in factories. Cities grew quickly as people moved from rural areas into urban communities in search of work. The time that was once allotted to household duties was now spent working for an hourly wage. The rural way of life, with mothers cooking for their families, using products from their own farms, was quickly being replaced by a more frantically paced modern lifestyle.

Time for the Commercials

Cities now contained more concentrated populations, and the new working urban masses now needed to purchase their wares from stores. New businesses were formed, each competing with the others for sales.

Advertising first became a formal profession in the United States when Volney B. Palmer set up shop as an advertising agent in Philadelphia in 1841. Over the years, ads became more sophisticated and more cunning. Millions of dollars were spent on studies to discover what would persuade consumers to purchase a product. The phrase “truth in advertising” may make us think that what we see in an ad is indeed true, but truth, especially in presenting the results of research, can be ambiguous.

For example, I have always been amused by the Milk Bone advertisement claiming that these snacks help clean a dog’s teeth. In fact, what the research showed was that dogs who ate only dry food had cleaner teeth than dogs who ate only canned food. While the previous sentence is true, it does not mean that dog biscuits work to actually clean teeth. People can become confused when they learn that their dog will need to have his teeth cleaned—he got his Milk Bone every day! When people express skepticism and disbelief after I tell them what I just explained to you, I suggest that they stop brushing their own teeth for two weeks and eat two Milk Bones a day instead. So far, no one has complied.

Today, millions of dollars are spent every year to influence our choices and our thinking about dog food. Market researchers know when changes in public perception are starting to take place, and they are always scrambling to create the impression that they’re helping lead the way. Often, after average dog owners become more aware of the unhealthy ingredients in many of the well-known brands of dog food, things suddenly become “new and improved.”

Supposedly healthier products begin to appear on the same shelves as the food that we were previously, and falsely, told had all the “balanced nutrition” your dog needed. Commercials tell you that now there is real chicken in the bag. As before, however, manufacturers do not tell you that chicken by-products, composed of feet, feathers, beaks, and eyeballs, make up the bulk of the “real chicken” in the bag. Pictures of vegetables now decorate dog-food packages, and some boast of added vitamins. Supermarket brands usually heat and compress these vitamins, so any remaining vitamin content is negligible.

Media Myths

To dispel the myths perpetrated by the big advertisers, we first have to realize the extent to which we’ve been misled. Most dog owners have come to accept what these mega-companies have perpetrated—that our dogs cannot eat the same foods that we eat (disparagingly referred to as “table scraps”). Nothing could be further from the truth or better illustrate the manner in which advertising can corrupt our reasoning powers and plain common sense. A good starting point is to examine some widely held beliefs to see whether they make sense or, more than likely, are nonsense.

One such belief is that every single meal your dog eats must be nutritionally balanced. In nature, a wild dog achieves a balance over a period of time, rather than each time he eats. In any case, most prepared dog food is not balanced anyway, being abysmally lacking in some ingredients, such as greens, which provide necessary enzymes and chlorophyll. Dogs may be trying to make up for this by eating grass.

Another nonsensical decree is that changing your dog’s routine diet in any way will upset his digestive system. This media conditioning has gained a real foothold in the public mind, but it simply is not so. Feeding your dog different foods and offering a variety of wholesome, healthful ingredients is just about the healthiest way to feed your dog. It is true that dogs who eat the same poor-quality dog food for years and are then suddenly switched to another poor-quality dog food may get diarrhea. And there are dogs with unhealthy digestive systems who get diarrhea at the drop of a hat. Generally, however, a healthy dog’s digestive system will adapt to new foods. In fact, many chronically ill dogs recover from their illnesses once they stop eating dog food and are fed a variety of home-cooked foods.

Yet another myth is that dogs are strictly carnivorous and that animal protein must be their chief or only source of nutrition. Like a person, a dog can be a vegetarian, subsisting on veggies, grains, legumes, oils, and spices, or, for that matter, a lacto-vegetarian, living on a diet of eggs and dairy along with greens and grains.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell wrote The China Study, a book recounting the most extensive study ever done on cancer. Dr. Campbell participated in a groundbreaking study in which 2,400 Chinese counties were surveyed for death rates from cancer. Researchers then correlated cancer death rates with local dietary habits. Laboratory research confirmed the data amassed from the field. High animal-source protein levels in food predisposed people to cancer. Although the carcinogens in the environment do alter our cellular DNA and give cells the potential to change into cancer cells, it is a high level of animal protein in the diet that tips the balance and kicks off the actual transition into cancer cells.

Because much of this research was done on a cellular level, the findings would also apply to dogs. In 2006, I watched a documentary in which the commentator stated that one in two dogs is now getting cancer. This statistic does not reflect dogs who die of unknown causes at home or dogs who die with undiagnosed problems. Changing to a diet lower in protein can reduce the incidence of cancer in our dogs.

No Dogs Named E.T. Here

The fact is that dogs are not alien creatures from a strange planet who can eat only “special food” from a bag or can. They need vegetables, whole grains, and high-quality proteins, just as you do. Good nutrition is vital to your dog’s health, well-being, and longevity and could well make the difference in his ability to resist or recover from disease.

Back in the pre-dog-food days, the family dog would partake of the family’s bounty, as mentioned before. If it worked for people and their dogs back then, there’s no reason why it can’t work for you now. That doesn’t mean that a dog should be allowed to eat just anything that goes on the table; certain types of “people food,” such as chocolate, grapes, raisins, and onions, should be avoided. In addition, a lot of the chemical-imbued processed products intended for human consumption are fit for neither man nor beast. Excluding these items, there’s no reason why your dog can’t enjoy the same wholesome and nutritious foods that you eat.

The Dog Food Recalls

In March 2007, a massive recall of 60 million units of contaminated dog and cat food alarmed owners all over the United States. Dog food recalls are nothing new. Recalls had previously occurred in 1995, 1998, 2003, and 2005. The March 2007 recall was disconcertingly different, though, because many dogs who had partaken of the tainted food were rapidly dying.

Menu Foods of Canada is a very large corporation that produces pet foods for many major brand-name companies. They produce pet foods that I heartily do not recommend, and they also produce foods that are advertised as and that have the deserved reputation as some of the top holistic brands. Menu Foods simply cooks up, bags, and labels the pet food for many companies. The March 2007 Menu Foods recall spanned more than one hundred brands and labels that owners trusted.

The poisons found in the contaminated foods were thought to come from a single wheat shipment from China that had been delivered to Menu Foods in the United States. Thousands of concerned pet owners called their pet food companies only to find it an exercise in frustration. Many companies, to their credit, recalled foods that may have had contained wheat gluten from China even though no illnesses and deaths from their foods had been reported.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had the job of figuring out which ingredient in the food was causing dogs to become ill. At first, a rat poison, aminopterin, was blamed. A few weeks later, the EPA identified the contaminant melamine in wheat gluten purchased by Menu Foods from China. Melamine is a by-product of several pesticides, including cryomazine, a widely used insect-growth regulator. Made from melamine, cryomazine breaks back down into melamine after an animal ingests it. Cryomazine is also absorbed by plants and converted into melamine. The level of melamine in the wheat gluten was very high, at an astounding 6.6 percent.

In April 2007, the New York Times reported that the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company, one of the companies that shipped the poisonous wheat gluten, had run an advertisement looking for sources of melamine. It seems that just a little bit of this stuff added to wheat gluten falsely increases the protein content on testing, thus increasing the value of the sale. If the wheat gluten is higher in protein, the bag of dog food can boast of more protein without the expense of adding animal protein.

More and more pet foods were being recalled—more canned pet food, dry pet food, treats, and biscuits—all found to contain the Chinese wheat gluten. Investigators tried to locate every place this ingredient wound up, and the recall expanded as more and more products made with the contaminated wheat gluten were found.

Some early articles stated that a large number of dogs and cats died from the tainted food and that many more had become critically ill, suffering irreparable kidney damage. Although many animals may not have died immediately, their lives could have been shortened, with their kidneys eventually causing their demise. In the July 23, 2007, issue of USA Today, FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza was quoted as follows: “The sad truth is that we will probably never know with any confidence the number of animals that fell victim.” The FDA had received 18,000 calls by this time.

Melamine was not the only contaminated ingredient; cyanuric acid was also found. Both of these ingredients combine to form crystals in those who eat products that contain them. The crystals accumulate in the kidneys, causing kidney disease and, in a number of unfortunate cases, death from kidney failure. The life span of many animals whose kidneys were damaged will also be significantly shorter.

One month after the initial recall in March 2007, contaminated rice protein, in addition to wheat gluten, from China was also identified as being associated with kidney failure in pets in the United States. Rice protein is more expensive than wheat protein, and even some very well-regarded manufacturers of premium holistic pet food were shocked to find that they would need to recall their foods. At the same time, exported Chinese corn gluten was associated with kidney failure in South African pets.

A federal judge, US District Judge Noel Hillman, approved a $24 million settlement hammered out a week before the USA Today article, aimed at compensating owners of thousands of pets who were sickened or killed by this recall. This settlement was not on the basis of emotional damage or pain and suffering, but was intended to reimburse pet owners for the expenses connected with the illnesses and deaths of their pets. The chief defendant in the suit, Menu Foods, Inc., and some other manufacturers had already paid about $8 million to settle claims filed earlier.

Menu Foods, to their credit, did set up a short-term test program. Over a period of less than a month, roughly seven out of forty animals died of kidney failure from eating the contaminated food.

Shockingly, another scandal connected to contaminated milk powder arose in September 2008. Thousands of Chinese infants became ill with kidney problems after drinking milk made from powder laced with melamine, the same poison found in the pet foods. Dairy farmers were suspected of lacing the milk used in Sanlu brand formula to, once again, boost its protein content. The Chinese health ministry knew the food to be contaminated but did not release the information until reports of sick babies began to emerge. More than 60,000 Chinese babies were sickened, more than 6,000 were hospitalized, and 4 died as a result of melamine in their baby formula.

Genetically Modified Foods

Renowned veterinarian and author Michael Fox states that many varieties of genetically modified (designated as GM or GMO [genetically modified organism]) rice have been planted in Asia and wonders whether other GM rice, corn, and wheat from China, as well as GM corn and soy from the United States, may have been involved in the tragic poisoning. He feels that the fact that the pet foods were found to contain the rat poison aminopterin, also used as a genetic marker for genetically modified crops, notably wheat, was strong evidence that GM wheat, imported from China and not approved (yet) for human consumption, had been put into pet foods by American manufacturers. The manufacturers believed that what they had purchased was wheat gluten or rice protein, but it turned out to be wheat flour. This flour had been spiked by Chinese processors with melamine and cyanuric acid to make the flour test high in protein. When these two chemicals combined in dogs’ and cats’ kidneys, they formed crystals that resulted in kidney failure and death.

DNA provides the sheet music that instructs the body parts how to sing the song of life. Each cell plays the tune given to it with dedication. Each cell also plays the specific melody of the bodily organ it composes. Cells and bodies are in harmony with the DNA encoded inside of them. This is also reflected on the planet, as all living things intermingle and coexist. Over millions of years, countless combinations have been played out, arriving at the ones that worked best.

Transnational life science corporations are in the process of disrupting the genetic music, or blueprints, of living organisms (plants, animals, and microorganisms) and patenting them for profit. An increasing number of scientists warn that the current gene-splicing technology is crude. In genetic manipulation, the genes of nonrelated species are randomly combined with each other. The results are not predictable and therefore are dangerous.

The biggest experiment in human history has begun, with planet Earth as the test site and us as the guinea pigs. The architects of life, in contemporary times, are a few gigantic international biotechnology conglomerates. The Native Americans made important decisions based on the effect they would have seven generations later. Corporations make decisions based on how they can profit now.

Hidden Changes

About 70 percent of all processed foods in the supermarket contain unlabeled GM products. Many vegetables and fruits contain spliced genes to maintain freshness longer, to keep away insects, or to improve their color. GM soy formula for babies is commonplace. Genetically modified ingredients are also, of course, in your dog’s prepared foods.

Genetically engineered soybeans, canola, corn, and potatoes are found in packaged foods on the shelves of our supermarkets. There is a hidden menu, including GM squash, papaya, tomatoes, and dairy products, within the ingredient lists of prepared foods. Allergies skyrocketed after the stealthy introduction of GM foods to our food supplies.

It is more likely than not that soy is GM because about 70 percent of the soy grown in this country is modified for herbicide resistance. There is little or no regulation and no labeling requirements, so the best you can do is look for is “non-GMO soy” or “organic” on product packaging to protect your health. In North America, all soy that is labeled as “organic soy” is guaranteed not to have been genetically manipulated or treated with herbicides.

A Chilling Bedtime Story

The horror stories involving GM foods are too numerous to mention, but the story of L-tryptophan, a supplement once taken by people for sleeplessness or anxiety, offers a double insight into the mechanics of corporate greed and the suppression of the truth about genetic manipulation.

L-tryptophan is an amino acid derived from foods high in protein, such as meat and dairy products. Turkey is particularly high in tryptophan, which is why so many folks get sleepy after holiday feasts. Tryptophan is transported to the brain, where it is broken down by enzymes and turned into serotonin. Serotonin is used in the process of neurotransmission.

It’s important to note that the supplements that you and your dog take can come from natural sources or synthetic sources. Natural sources are better. In 1989, thirty-seven Americans died after taking a particular brand of L-tryptophan supplement; 5,000 people were permanently disabled. The culpable brand came from a company that used genetically engineered bacteria to generate the L-tryptophan.

When all of the lawsuits were tallied, the damages paid out to the victims came to more than $2 billion. But the PR spin on this event never exposed the real reason that these innocent people’s lives were destroyed. Instead, supplements were touted as dangerous and unreliable. The press never informed the public that the true cause was the use of GM bacteria to produce this particular brand. So every single brand of L-tryptophan was removed from the shelves, and the supplement was no longer available to the people it had helped.

There are two powerful lessons to be learned from this event. First, take any news that would affect a prominent corporation’s sales with a grain of salt and do more research to find the truth. Second, corporations without morals are creating “Frankenfoods” and taking no responsibility for the effect they have on the balance in nature. There appears to be little use of foresight regarding GM foods although there are many analogous parallels about the dangers of introducing new species of animals and plants from one country to another.

What’s Really in the Bag?

Back to pet foods. In the 2007 recall, one brand announced that it was recalling four foods containing rice protein concentrate that had been found to contain melamine, yet the package labels did not list rice. Dog food companies are legally required to represent on the labels what is in their foods. In addition, most pet food companies change the percentage of some ingredients from batch to batch. If they reformulate a food, they are required to note these changes on an updated label.

Several other companies were in the same fix. They recalled foods because of melamine-contaminated ingredients contained in their foods, but these ingredients were never listed on the labels. In short, it seems that the ingredients in dog foods have not been represented accurately.

Early Warning

The Reportable Food Registry has been set up by the FDA as a means of providing earlier warning of possibly tainted human or animal food products. The FDA Amendments Act of 2007 was enacted during the investigation of the massive pet food recall and required the agency to set up a web-based portal that food producers should use within twenty-four hours to report cases of adulterated products that have left their control.

In an earlier pet food recall in 2004, dry food manufactured for Pedigree Pet Foods in Thailand resulted in reports of kidney failure in hundreds of puppies in Asian countries, but no toxic compound was actually found. A pet food recall in 2003 was caused by an unidentified toxin and also involved food from a contract manufacturer whose labels misrepresented the contents in the packages. In 1998, pets were sickened by food contaminated by an aflatoxin; aflatoxins are about the most potent carcinogens on the planet.

Who’s the Watchdog?

What’s going on here? Isn’t anyone overseeing the production of pet food? The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a nongovernmental advisory body with no legal clout, administers tests on dog food. To pass these tests, a dog food must keep a small population of test dogs alive and seemingly well for the specified trial period, which is twenty-six weeks for adult dogs and less than twelve weeks for puppies.

As previously noted, federal law requires that commercial dog food contain no harmful ingredients and be truthfully labeled. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supposedly has responsibility for regulating pet food and food additives, as well as drugs for animals, the actual job falls to the individual states; therefore, the food is subject to regulatory codes that vary by state. Typical regulations consist mainly of testing for minimum percentages of crude protein, fat, fiber, and moisture. That is all—simply minimum percentages. There are no state or federal controls on additives, toxins, carcinogens, and the like.

Measurements of minimum percentages are duly reflected on the labels—but let’s face it, the protein content cited is a far cry from the quality, nutritional value, and usefulness to the body provided by, say, a steak, a chicken breast, or eggs. In addition, once such products are packaged for sale, there is no way to determine whether they actually contain the ingredients listed on the labels. You or I could cook up a great soup with vegetables and old leather shoes and then proudly announce the protein content to our guests. Like the protein in our soup, the protein in many dog foods is of negligible value, being of poor quality and almost impossible to digest or assimilate.

4-D Ingredients

The average bag of dog food is filled with a mélange of ingredients that would turn your stomach, and, more importantly, adversely affect your dog’s health. The protein in such dog food typically comes from what are called 4-D animals, meaning dead, dying, diseased, or disabled. Many have received potent drugs, including euthanasia cocktails, which have been shown to survive the rendering process. In fact, at least half of the dry dog foods tested several years ago by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine were found to contain residue of sodium pentobarbital, a drug used chiefly to euthanize dogs and cats, and occasionally horses and cattle, even though the Code of Federal Regulations forbids the use of such drugs in animals intended for food. (See FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, Survey #1, qualitative analyses for pentobarbital residue, “Dry dog food samples purchased in Laurel, Maryland,” March–June 1998.) Although the FDA concluded after an eight-week study that the levels detected were “highly unlikely” to have an adverse effect on dogs, the effects resulting from long-term dietary exposure aren’t really known.

The names used to describe the beef and poultry by-products you find listed on the labels of nearly all commercial dog foods are euphemisms used to conceal the noxious ingredients they really contain. A better description of these by-products would be “slaughterhouse waste products.” These normally include such items as chicken eyeballs, feet, and beaks as well as cow hide and tendons that have been hydrolyzed into an unrecognizable mash. This recycled garbage can harm an older animal suffering from impaired kidney or liver function.

A practice similar to that of rendering horses, dogs, and cats from the pound and roadkill into a protein by-product brought about the scourge commonly known as “mad cow disease” in Britain and elsewhere. This brain-wasting condition, apparently caused by the replication of a misfolded protein known as a prion, is believed to have proliferated in the cattle population as the result of animal by-products’ being used as animal feed. Basically, cows were fed the by-products of dead cows. The disease then crossed the species barrier, infecting humans unfortunate enough to have consumed beef from “mad cows.”

The Consumer Makes a Difference

Consumer outrage and the work of courageous holistic veterinarians have brought about significant changes in the way dog foods are manufactured today. When consumers realized that a commonly used preservative, ethoxyquin, could promote cancer and contribute to reproductive problems, they wrote letters of complaint to dog food companies and government representatives. Consequently, most pet food manufacturers removed ethoxyquin from dog and cat foods in the early 1990s. One veterinary prescription food manufacturer added ethoxyquin back to its dry food formulas but announced in fall 2008 that it was to be removed again due to the requests from consumers and veterinarians.

Many new healthier pet food companies were created in response to the consumer demand for healthy dog and cat food. In fact, the pet food industry began to self-regulate when companies began to check the ethoxyquin content of their competitors’ pet foods while claiming their own foods were free of the preservative. In fact, this self-regulating procedure found several companies to be untruthful in their claims, and the rival companies used this in their advertising claims.

Although BHT and BHA are still used today as chemical preservatives in dog foods, most of the preservatives in today’s pet food are chosen with a healthier philosophy. Vitamins C and E and rosemary are commonly used to preserve many brands of dog food.

Pet food companies are in the business of creating loyal and lasting customers. It’s simply the way to do good business. The ethoxyquin story shows the strong influence that pet owners can have when they are informed and active in their responses to these companies.

Don’t Be Misled

In summary, the labels on cans and bags of dog food do not provide a realistic indicator of what’s actually inside. In both the wording and graphic presentation, labels are designed to remove all references to the true nature of the contents. Words such as “rendered,” which would truthfully define the ingredients, are replaced with appealing images and language that make the food seem healthful and appetizing. The appearances of the foods themselves are designed to be deceiving as well. Semi-dry dog foods, formulated to resemble real foods such as chunks of beef or cheese, are some of the worst offenders. These foods usually consist of poor-quality protein jazzed up with the likes of propylene glycol and corn syrup along with a number of harmful preservatives and dyes.

By-Products

By-products are defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “derivative(s) made from other products.” This includes such waste products as feet, beaks, tongues, eyeballs, connective tissues, peanut shells, and newspaper. For example, poultry by-products often consist of beaks and eyeballs, while typical beef byproducts consist of hide and sinew.

Misleading descriptions are employed by supermarket brands that have been making garbage for years. My favorite is “real meat,” because pet food producers give themselves away with that one! Products may be labeled as “natural” or as containing supplements to benefit the older or arthritic dog. In actuality, the amounts of vitamins or joint supplements they feature are often so tiny that they are of no benefit whatsoever to the dog. Beware of major name brands that try to give the impression of being healthy or perhaps even holistic.

When a company spends millions to advertise a product, that cost goes into the retail price, at the expense of quality. You, in essence, are paying largely for the advertising used to entice you to buy the product rather than for the actual ingredients. By contrast, one reason that smaller, holistic, and healthy brands are likely to give you a lot more for your money is that they invest in quality ingredients rather than in costly advertising campaigns.

Separating the Good from the Bad

After reading this, you may want to learn how to prepare wholesome meals for your best friend. Yet you may still need to depend on store-bought dog food on occasion. The good news is that there are many pet food brands known for their wholesome methods of preparation and that take special care to exclude most of the noxious ingredients previously discussed. In fact, since the 2007 dog food recall, many such companies have gone to even greater lengths to make sure that they know where they get their products, what goes into their brands, and what the final product comprises. Dog food producers know that their reputations and their future sales depend on their integrity.