My family’s current pet is a Cavapoo that we acquired in the summer of 2020. When we got her, I had already had my food awakening (as far as human food goes). I wanted a vet who would align with my holistic understanding of food and natural wellness, so I found a local Veterinary Herbalist who also specializes in animal acupuncture. At our first appointment in 2020, I said, “I fed my last dog kibble, but that was before I knew anything about nutrition. That cannot be the best way, right?” He looked me in the eyes and said, “It is the equivalent of feeding a child only Cheez-Its for her entire life.” Okay. My assumptions were confirmed. But what “better than” option could my family afford? And how would nutrition play into the health, wellness, and longevity of our dog? I want to share with you what I’ve learned about pet nutrition and chronic inflammation.
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REAL FOOD NUTRITION
Our holistic vet helped me to understand the “better than”options for feeding a dog or cat. Just like with people, real food nourishes. The more processed a food, the less nourishment it can offer the body. Our vet recommends cooking real, single ingredient foods for our dog. I have done this for years. While it sounds daunting, it only takes me a few hours a month. I cook large batches of food in my two instant pots. Then I portion and freeze food for the entire month. I won’t share pet food recipes, but I will link a few resources that I’ve found helpful.
For the past year and a half, I’ve added a nutritional supplement to our dog’s home cooked food. This is Bark and Whisker’s Meal Mix. The above website (Meal Mix For Dogs) offers many recipes that serve as a base for this nutritional supplement.
The Forever Dog Life, by Dr. Karen Becker is also a great resource to use for real food recipes.
Treats can be real food too. Our dog LOVES pea pods, blueberries, bananas, and apples.
Fresh chicken and chicken stock are nourishing for pets too.
CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN PETS
Our dog has struggled with chronic inflammation since she was a puppy. Before I found our current holistic vet, I took her to one appointment with a conventional vet. I’m well aware that vaccines, especially many at once, can cause damage to the body’s immune system. I was trying to speak to this vet about vaccines…which ones we wanted to do that day, or not. The vet dismissed my concerns and quickly stabbed our dog with a five in one. Sure enough, she reacted to the combo vaccine. She developed a tumor-like growth where she was vaccinated. This lump beneath her skin lasted for about a year. She also began to grow black hair from this place on her back. She is otherwise a fair haired dog. Most notably, her colon began to bleed soon after this. It was diagnosed as colitis, or inflammation in the colon.
In so many ways, our dog’s health history mirrors my own. I too have experienced ulcerative colitis. Knowing the pain of intestinal inflammation, I sought out another (more naturally minded) vet to help bring this under control. Our holistic vet relied heavily on herbs and diet to help heal our dog’s colon. While she’s had several years of remission, her digestive inflammation returned this past fall.
STRESS AND INFLAMMATION
Just like with humans, stress plays a large role in a pet’s inflammatory response. Last August, our dog was attacked by a much larger off-leash dog in our neighborhood. While our dog survived with minimal physical trauma, the emotional trauma was great. She screamed so forcefully during the attack that she broke blood vessels in her eyes. Her colon began to bleed again the following month. I did not connect these two events until I met with our holistic vet yesterday. He asked about emotional trauma and I brought up this attack. He said that he had just attended a talk about the relationship between stressful, traumatic events and the mucosal barrier in the colon. I’ve known this from my human experience, but for some reason, my brain didn’t piece it all together. The body’s stress response is directly connected to the health of the gut lining.
While we’ve managed to calm the most immediate inflammation in our dog’s colon, she is still underweight from the most recent flare. She’s experienced irregular bowel habits and mucus in her stool. She’s had upper GI symptoms like acid reflux and vomiting of bile. My initial reaction to her weight loss was to offer her more food, more calories. This over feeding has only prolonged her digestive issues.
BOWEL REST TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION
I spent an hour with our holistic vet yesterday. While there, I admired the books on his shelf. I have many of the same titles at home. His copy of Healing With Whole Foods was very well worn. He reminded me that digestive issues will not fully heal if the digestive system is constantly taxed by the work of digesting. Over feeding and feeding too often throughout the day inhibit healing. Aside from reducing the amount of food that we offer to our dog, he also told us to skip two meals a week. Forced fasting allows for bowel rest. It is in those restful hours when true healing happens. (This is no different from humans. It has convicted me to return to the practice of fasting once a week.)
When I asked about the possibility of bowel cancer in our dog, he told me that prolonged inflammation often leads to cancer. He said that it’s difficult to diagnose in dogs. A surgical biopsy of the colon is necessary, and even then there is some gray area. He said the line between chronic inflammation and “cancer” is sort of blurry and open to interpretation in the veterinary field. So it’s like a spectrum. In truth, it’s important to move away from any inflammation at all so that she doesn’t slide along closer to something that might be diagnosed as cancer. Colitis and cancer both produce irregular cells. Aside from some specific herbs to aid in lowering inflammation, he said that the most important tool is rest. It’s hard to deny a pet food, but ultimately, it can be to their benefit. (The same goes for humans as well!)
Please consult a veterinarian for help with feeding and fasting.
THE FOREVER PET
Like Dr. Becker’s book The Forever Dog implies, we all want a pet that lives forever. We know that’s not possible, but we can give our pets the best our resources can offer. Real food heals. Fasting lowers inflammation. In many ways, what is true for humans is true for our pets. If you’ve learned the value of real food and holistic nutrition for yourself and your family, look to your pets next. They too can benefit from this knowledge. The truth is, you have power over your pet’s nutrition and chronic inflammation. Your choices can lead them to healing. While our pets won’t live forever, we can help them to live longer, healthier lives for years to come. Pet nutrition and chronic inflammation are related. We can influence one by improving the other.
