The truth about cats & dogs; they can benefit from holistic health care too - includes sources for finding a holistic vet

Vegetarian Times, Nov, 1996 by Linda B. White

We All Know a whole-foods diet and natural medicine can help us lead healthier lives. But they can also benefit some family members you may not have thought of: your dog or cat.

Just like humans, our animal companions must contend with factors that tax their health, including dietary deficiencies, environmental pollution and emotional and physical stress, says Richard Pitcairn, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy in Eugene, Ore., and co-author of Dr. Pitceirn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cots (Rodale, 1995). Since entering veterinary practice in 1965, Pitcairn says he has seen a general deterioration in pet health. Wendy Volhard, author of The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog (Howell Book House, 1995), agrees, pointing out the life span for purebred dogs has been drastically reduced. A Newfoundland Club of America survey found the average life span of this breed has been halved over the past 25 years, from 14 years to seven.

Both Volhard and Pitcairn blame this decline in health on inbreeding, multiple vaccinations, allopathic drug treatments and the widespread use of nutritionally deficient commercial pet food. All of these stress the immune system, which can lead to chronic disease. And while quick-fix drug therapies can temporarily alleviate symptoms, they fail to get to the root of the disease, don't strengthen the body's defenses and may even cause undesirable side effects. Holistic medicine for pets is a gentler form of healing that encourages the body to restore itself, usually without side effects. As with humans, an important part of holistic care for animals is preventing illness. The best place to start? A healthful diet.

WHOLE FOODS FOR HEALTH

Although Most of us rely on commercial pet foods, that's not the ideal choice for animals. Pitcairn points out the average brand is both deficient in essential nutrients and abundant in undesirable additives. The amount of protein, for example, is often inadequate, either because it's indigestible or unbalanced in amino acids. Furthermore, animal protein in pet food usually comes from by products that may include diseased and damaged meat, hooves, hair, feathers, feces and road kill. It also may be contaminated with antibiotics, pesticides, hormones, heavy metals and other toxins. Artificial colorings and preservatives are widely used.

A better option is to use a good-quality natural pet food. Read the label. Volhard says to pick a pet food that contains two animal proteins in the first three ingredients and is naturally preserved with vitamins C and E. Avoid products that contain artificial colorings; preservatives such as BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, propylene glycol, propyl gallate and sodium nitrate/nitrite; and animal by products, unless the company identifies them as organ meats. The drawback with even high-quality packaged foods is they must be cooked, which destroys enzymes, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. For this reason, experts recommend you at least supplement these pet foods with raw foods, as well as vitamins and minerals.

The best diet for cats and dogs is the one on which they have evolved naturally: a whole-foods diet emphasizing raw foods. Although it may take a bit of effort, most holistic practitioners recommend you make your own pet food. Several books provide recipes for preparing cat and dog meals, using dairy products, high-protein grains, legumes and other vegetables, fruits--and, yes, meat.

If you're a vegetarian, you may feel uncomfortable feeding your pet meat, whether you prepare it yourself or buy it as packaged pet food. "I think there are global, ethical and social reasons to feed our dogs and cats a vegetarian diet," says Rob Silver, D.V.M., a holistic veterinarian in Boulder, Colo. However, "from a biological standpoint, there's a need for dogs, and certainly much more so for cats, to have meat."

The fact is, you've chosen to live with an animal with pointed teeth, sharp claws and a relatively short intestinal tract--an animal designed to catch, eat and digest meat. "We have to accept nature the way it is," Volhard says. Or, as Michael W. Fox, D.V.M., and vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, puts it, "It's rather anthropomorphic to try to make our pets vegetarian."

Strictly speaking, dogs are omnivores, and Pitcairn says they can survive on a meatless diet, if you're careful about what you feed them. However, because dogs require more protein and calcium than people, you can't simply share your vegetarian meals with Fido. Pitcairn urges his clients to follow recipes designed specifically for dogs and to provide a lacto-ovo, rather than vegan, diet.

Meeting a cat's nutritional needs with a vegetarian diet is much more difficult. As true carnivores, they require a high-protein, high-fat diet and don't assimilate plant foods very well. In the wild, their primary source of vegetable matter comes predigested in the intestines of their prey.

They also need arachidonic acid and the amino acid taurine, both found almost exclusively in animal sources; taurine deficiency can lead to blindness and heart disease.