Have you ever stopped and wondered, why are so many pets sick?
This is a question I ask myself often, especially since I've had sick dogs and cats myself. In fact, I began to ponder this question so much that I began searching for answers.
Health is normal while illness is not. Unfortunately, we have come to a point in society where illness is so prevalent in pets (and humans) that we now believe illness is normal. Strange but true!
We have lost sight of the fact that we are all meant to be healthy and vibrant. Years of unhealthy eating and unhealthy lifestyles are finally taking their toll on our pets.
I am often amazed how there can be more veterinarian clinics than human medical clinics in towns and cities around the world.
I hear stories all the time of pets having cancer, kidney failure, diabetes, cataracts, skin problems and the list goes on and on and on. Worst of all, so many pets are suffering from human–like
health problems.
We all know the dangers of eating fast food
yet so many humans feed their pets commercial pet foods, the equivalent of a fast food diet for pets
.
Pets today are not starving for food, but they are definitely starving for nutrition — especially wholesome nutrition.
You are what you eat
— the food that one eats has an effect on one's health and this same principle applies to our pets.
If you really apply some common sense analysis of commercial pet foods, then you are going to begin to notice that in many ways, commercial pet foods are not healthy for our pets and are in fact, no different than fast food diets for humans. Commercial pet foods are killing our pets. I know that some will find this to be a harsh statement, but for those that have suffered the pain of a sick pet, then this statement is anything but harsh and in fact, can be more of an understatement.
But, we don't want to suffer from narrow–sightedness here and think only commercial pet food is bad for our pets. Humans can also make homemade pet food that is bad for their pets. One such way of making bad homemade pet food is by cooking the meat. We don't want to see things with a black and white view — commercial pet food bad, homemade pet food good — but instead, we want to get to the root of what constitutes good and what constitutes bad pet food.
The question however posed on this page is, why are so many pets sick?
While one can provide multiple reasons as to why so many pets are sick today, I am of the opinion that so many pets are sick today for one reason and one reason only — poor diets combined with a lack of wholesome and beneficial nutrition.
Diet is the single most important factor in health. To deny this truth is to deny the laws of nature.
- Why do we feed our pets unnatural pet foods?
- Was commercial pet food created for the benefits of pets or the convenience of humans?
- How can commercial pet foods be 100% balanced when the needs of pets are as individual as their personalities?
- If commercial pet foods are 100% balanced, then why are so many pets sick?
Nutrition is a science and like any science it is always changing. We discover more each day about nutrition just like we do with chemistry, physics, astronomy and other sciences. It's absurd to think any food can be 100% complete, but I guess it's the absurdity that sells commercial pet foods.
We live in a world today that wants a drug for this and a drug for that. Drugs may alleviate or suppress the symptoms, but do they solve the underlying problem(s)?
Most pets today that are sick must live with their disease. This is the common medical approach and belief. Diabetic pets for example are given insulin. Insulin helps the pet live with diabetes, but why not get rid of the diabetes and have the pet live without disease?
Although eliminating disease can be challenging, it is possible and many fresh thinking holistic veterinarians are taking on this challenge. Most holistic vets are aware that Native Canadian Indians have known how to help cure cancer for a long time using four herbs, now known as the Essiac Remedy. Others realize that in 1868, sixty years before insulin, Drs. Donkin and Tyson suggested a raw milk diet to their diabetic patients.
The key to a healthy life is a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle encompasses the food you eat, the way you live and more. Although we can create a drug to alleviate symptoms, we cannot create a drug that will create a healthy lifestyle — only you can do this for both you and your pets.
Dr. M. Scott Peck says in his book The Road Less Travelled
that self discipline is love translated into action
. The good news is that although it may be hard for us to look after ourselves, it's remarkably easy to ensure that at least our pets have a healthy lifestyle.
Unfortunately, commercial pet food has become like a drug. Most people believe it is easier to feed commercial pet food. Well, I'm here to show you that wholesome homemade food is just as easy. That's right, I said just as easy!
Luckily this book is a hassle free guide to wholesome homemade pet food. Within a day or two you will get into a routine. Then once you see your pets doing really well, you will never want to go back to commercial pet food. In fact, you may find that seeing improvements in your pets will inspire you to eat well also.
Homemade food will become a drug of its own. You will become addicted and you will then try to get all of your friends making the food also.
Luckily, this drug is legal because I've always said that wholesome homemade food will bring out the puppy in your dog and the kitten in your cat
.
Many of our pet's problems can be helped, may be solved, and may even be prevented if only we as humans were to feed wholesome food to our pets. The time has come and we can no longer overlook what we feed our pets. Too many pets are suffering from malnutrition.
Many people, including myself, have seen dramatic results and improvements in their pet's health by simply feeding natural and wholesome food.
Some have had to cancel appointments to get their pet's teeth cleaned after introducing natural foods, other have seen skin and coat problems improve or disappear completely; some pets experience less of a flea problem, bad breath, bad gas, and bad body odour have also been known to mysteriously disappear after introducing homemade food (although it is no mystery when you understand what is happening).
Some people have experienced even greater benefits from simply feeding homemade food. The one thing I have discovered is that nothing surprises me. The stories I have heard from people and the things I have seen are absolutely incredible and heart stopping. I have heard of cats clearing all of their symptoms of feline urilogical syndrome, feline leukemia, and even feline AIDS after incorporating wholesome food.
One lady told me she saw a remarkable change in her cat. Her cat had a behaviour problem that none of us would want. Her cat would go to the washroom, but never in the kitty litter. However, after introducing wholesome food, the cat began using the kitty litter.
How wholesome food will benefit your pet is a question only your pet can answer. Some pets are able to clear all of their symptoms, other make amazing improvements and still some see nothing major happen in the short term.
Our health, along with the health of our pets, is not only affected by what we do in this lifetime, but health is affected by what previous generations have done or didn't do. There are instances where people, including myself, have done everything humanly possible yet our pets still suffer from health problems. In these situations, what's important is to realize we did the best we could and we did everything with love.
In some cases, the benefits of wholesome homemade pet food may come down the road by reducing vet bills (this is a pleasant problem to have disappear), or by having your pet live a few years longer and helping your pet live a good, healthy and robust life.
Personally, I experienced a profound impact. Morris My Cat, who at age 15½ could no longer get up the stairs unless I carried him, began first walking and then running up the stairs within about a month of eating wholesome food. In addition, by spring, when he was outside a lot, he began jumping our 3 foot high fence. Morris My Cat, who was dying at the time that I made the switch to wholesome food, lived nearly two more wonderful years after the introduction of wholesome food.
I've also had the opposite happen. Katherine, affectionately known as Katy
, was diagnosed with lymphoma. She was given 6 weeks to live and the question is why? Why could a dog eating natural food get cancer? The reason lies in the health of previous generations. Although I did not cure Katy, she did live for an extra 4 months and we experienced many miraculous healing events. I wish that we would have known sooner about her disease, but alas it was not meant to be that way.
I always tell people that there are 3 things that affect health:
- diet
- love
- genetics
We can control the diet and love, but unfortunately, we cannot control the genetics.
Although we cannot control the genetics, we can change the genetics to some degree by changing the diet and lifestyle. As an example, if the child of obese parents chooses the same lifestyle as their parents, then that child will when they are older, enforce the genetics of obesity. But if changes are made to diet and lifestyle, then the chance of being obese will be a lot less. While the lifestyle and diet change can impact the obesity problem, it may still not be enough to change some hidden genetic problems. But at least, the diet and lifestyle change has prevented some health problems. So it is when we feed a wholesome raw meat diet.
So why do people like me feed wholesome food and why, according to my definition, are commercial pet foods not to be classified as a wholesome food?
Well, to understand the answer to the above questions, let's take a closer look at our pets. By understanding the principles of why we should be feeding wholesome and natural foods to our pets, not only will questions be answered for us directly, but we will begin to discover how to answer questions on our own — because we are after all our best teacher. As wise sages of India say, the Guru is within
.
Understanding principles is like sowing seeds. Just as with seeds, once a health principle is planted in your mind it will begin to sprout, flourish, and grow into new knowledge. Soon, you will begin to answer your own questions. Maybe it's hard to understand how you will teach yourself, but with time, you will understand what I mean.
I believe that regardless of what you do, you should always have fun. So, let's pretend we're in a movie theater. You've got the popcorn and I've got the drinks. We're going to watch a movie of words. The movie is called Pets Need Wholesome Food Also
.